Cross-posted at My Ongoing Struggle with Misanthropy Part I/Part II/Part III/Part IV/Part V/Part VI Mojada, part VII By Angie Sánchez By the time I reached high school I was fluent in English, however, I had a little bit of an accent. I knew the language…
Let me start out by saying I am not a violent man. Sure, I huff and I puff to blow off a little steam when I get frustrated. When I was in grade school, I thought I invented the F-word. I’ve been using it liberally…
the majesty of the past
is a low dollar delusional comfort
that dislocates my attention
while rolling down the street on my bicycle
so that I don’t even notice
the wind in my face
I went to bed last Thursday night a citizen of Chicago’s 46th Ward. I rose the next morning a citizen of the 47th. Without moving an inch. I don’t really mind; I’m not upset. For sentimental reasons, I’ll kind of miss having been part of…
BOB STOP IT from B2 L2 on Vimeo.
Mojada, part VI
By Angie Sánchez
The school year ended but I was enrolled in summer school and that summer was great. I made friends both Latino and American. I became friends with two little girls living in the building as us. Imagine they spoke no Spanish and my sister and I spoke no English, but we still managed to have the time our lives. Hanging out with them helped me practice basic English words. But I was still very hesitant and I would avoid using long sentences. My parents kept telling me that I needed to practice the language otherwise they were going to send back to México. At that time I really did not want to go back because I wanted to be here.
They call him Red. He’s a rooster that’s claimed as his territory the block of Washington Avenue between Baronne and Dryades streets in Central City. Diamond is one of several people on the block who look out for Red and she chatted me up last…
Sloganza(TM) 4 from B2 L2 on Vimeo.
John Hicks takes a drive up the Natchez Trace to experience a little of the 19th century. And wreck his mountain bike. NEW FRONTIER from John Hicks on Vimeo.
Part I/Part II/Part III/Part IV
Mojada, part V
By Angie Sánchez (via Jimmy Gabacho)
My first day of school was nerve wrecking. It only got worse when I boarded the bus. My dad was with me at the bus stop and he showed the bus driver the bus pass and I proceeded to board the bus and the bus driver told where to seat but I couldn’t understand her so I sat on the wrong seat. So, I’m standing in the middle of the aisle staring at her trying to figure out what she was telling me finally she gets up and points to the seat she wanted me in, she did it in a very rude manner. As a mater of fact I remember what she said to me now that I know English and she said something along the lines of me being stupid. So I think to myself and say “Umm No I was not stupid I just didn’t speak English!” She kept telling me where to seat and finally she gets up from her seat and points to where she wanted me to seat. I felt so stupid and embarrassed because everyone was looking at me and probably thinking how stupid I was or that poor girl doesn’t speak English.
What: A “Special Collector’s Edition” magazine called Oliver North: Portrait of an American Hero.
Where: Purchased in 1987 for $3.50 at an Eagle supermarket in northern Illinois.
Why?: Yes, it’s true, almost half of all Americans at one time were hot for Ollie North.
Huh?: You didn’t answer the question: Why?: I bought it to prove that I’d seen it. I recently dug it out of a box I had in storage and …
The scene: A top-security research lab. Monday morning, 8 AM. The present.
Enter BOB, researcher extraordinaire. His lab partner, EDDIE, is already at his desk. They drink coffee out of space-age mugs.
BOB: Morning.
EDDIE: Hey.
BOB: Holy cow. I really tied one on last night.
EDDIE: That Night Train is a mean wine.
BOB: You’re tellin’ me. What’s on the to-do list?
EDDIE: Nothing.
BOB: Nothing?
EDDIE: Zip. Nada. Zero. Zilch.
BOB: Sounds good to me. I need a nap.
EDDIE: You know, Bob, I’ve been thinking …
BOB: Yeah?
EDDIE: What say (sly grin) we weaponize some bird flu?
BOB: Highly lethal and contagious? A super-spreader?
EDDIE: You’re reading my mind.
BOB: I always got a hankerin’ for a powerful new pathogenic organism. Especially one with a little Armageddon flavor.
EDDIE: Or we could just play World of Warcraft until somebody catches us goofing off.
BOB: No, let’s stick with the bird-flu thing.
EDDIE: A few mutations and, well, you are your father’s brother.
BOB: Easy as falling off a log.
EDDIE: Whoa!
BOB: What?
EDDIE: It just hit me. Man, this is sweet.
BOB: C’mon, give.
EDDIE: We write up all the details and publish them in a major scientific journal.
BOB: Effin’ genius. That’s what that is.
EDDIE: I’m thinking Hollywood all the way. Six-figure option. Dustin Hoffman.
BOB: Anything I can do, personally, to get Dustin Hoffman back into a hazmat suit …
EDDIE: It’s not a win-win proposition. It’s more like a win-win-win proposition.