The Daily (W)Rite
wk o2
“You can hang him from a tree,
but he can never sign with me.
There will never be a n***** in SAE.”
This was the SAE frat boy chant caught on tape and sent across the internet universe last night. And man did it cause backlash. President Boren of the University of Oklahoma (where the offense took place) closed the fraternity down giving the SAE students 24 hours to clear out. He also suspended the "gentlemen" who were directly involved in the incident. Moreover, this morning OU students held a silent protest denouncing the action of these punks.
I don't understand this kind of behavior in the 21st century. Hell, I didn't get it back in my day when folks expressed this racism nonsense out in the open. What bothers me most isn't the chant but the kind of thinking that goes on in the mind of anyone who would say something like this. What the hell were they thinking at the time that they chanted this garbage? What kind of person these days doesn't understand the harmful effect of racism on other people and on the stupid jerks who believe in it? And does it change anything to just shut down the fraternity and oust the frat boys responsible? Maybe. But wouldn't it be better to change the thinking of these dudes rather than just suspending them, forcing them into hiding? You can't change a person's mind if you don't confront them face to face. And you can't do it overnight. Takes time and patients to get folks to change. Do we as a people have the stamina and courage to truly change the minds, the spirits of people who are still buying into this racist nonsense?
1o:12 PM
Been reading up on the racist thing that happened here in Norman Town. Been reading Facebook and everybody has an opinion about it which is punish that frat boys as hard as you can. I don't think there's any folks that sided with the SAE. Well, maybe a few did. But they didn't come right out and say it. They said stuff like, "Oh, yeah? Why don't you say something about all the rappers that belittle woman with their rap lyrics?" I get it. Try to change the subject, or indirectly say what the frat guys did was okay because other people do things that are just as bad. Yeah, we get it.
Tuesday, March 1o, 2o15
Got up rather early to go with David to his dental appointment. On the way over there, guess what we talked about? yeah, the whole racist thing that happened at the University Of Oklahoma. Pretty much we talked about how OU was getting a lot of national publicity over it. We're not use to that! I mean, sure, when football season is going and the team is doing well we get our share of notice. But never about something like this. Over coffee at the Gray Owl we got it all figured out, though. All people have to do to STOP race hate is to listen to me and David for a few minutes. Man, we are geniuses when it comes to solving the world's problems. {smile}
Wednesday, March 11, 2o15
2:45am
I might dream about you tonight if it gets dark enough, if I ever get to sleep. I know how you are, though. You never show up when I need you, when I could use the sound of your English accent reminding me that my American voice is an insult to God and queen and proper grammar. No, you'll arrive as you always do when I'm not thinking of you at all, when I'm not consumed with the sound your tiny feet made as they echoed away from me down that crooked walkway of our old apartment. We were best together when we were poor living off the government, shopping when we needed to at the Goodwill for jeans, and t-shirts and worn-out tennis shoes. We were happiest when we worked as actors for Street Players . . . during the day performing children shows at elementary schools in the smallest towns that Oklahoma had to offer, then hurrying home to Norman to rehearse the adult show for the coming weekend. If I could close my eyes and dream of anything, it would be of you and me during those happy years when we foolishly thought of nothing else but each other.
11:o2pm
David and I walked around the OU campus this afternoon. It was warm out. People in shorts and short sleeve shirts . . . just walking around enjoying the day. Out front of the Student Union there was a small pen filled with alpacas! Yep! NOT llamas but alpacas. A crowd of students surrounded them. 21st century students are so funny. Everybody was snapping selfies with the alpacas. I don't know why I find that so humorous. I really love the 21st century and the strange Earth creatures that live in this galactic time zone.
David and me did our walkabout for an hour or so visiting some of the older buildings that we used to have classes in. Yes, a few have been renovated a bit, but the Old Science Hall where me and David performed and directed a lot back in our day still felt like home.
We ran into KK and it felt a bit awkward for me. Back in grad. school Kk was my mentor and really good friend. Her and her husband use to call me every week when I got that job at Highlands University. And they even showed up one day in Las Vegas to say, "Hi." But after a few years we lost touch with each other, and when I finally got back to Oklahoma . . . well, it was like we never really had a relationship. She and "hubby" are always too busy to go do something. It bothers me. So, when I saw her today I just sort of mumbled a "hey." She hugged me and it was . . . uncomfortable.
The only thing I hate about being back in Norman is that everything has changed in some way or other. People who were my friends, if they're still here, aren't really my friends anymore. {no smile}
Thursday, March 12, 2o15
This morning was . . . weird! I woke up to the sound of a crowd arcing very loud out side my window! I couldn't understand the language they were speaking . . . I jump out of bed, ran to the window, and opened the blinds . . . to an empty street. What the hell was going on? But pretty soon my seeping self caught up with consciousness and realized the noise that woke me wasn't coming from humans but from birds! Sparrows to be exact, a huge flock of them in the trees just chirping their little heads off! "Welcome to spring," they were saying. Yes. When I'm fully awake, I speak perfect sparrow.
And then there was a thump and two voices (human this time) mumbling something. I looked out the window again and there's my landlord on the A-shaped roof (that covers the front porch) with a young fellow wearing a tool belt with a million tools rattling with every move he made. I really was awake now so it didn't take me long to realize they were up there to fix the roof, which had been damaged by the ice we had on the two days Norman Town had winter!
Lots of little errands to run with David today: to the bank, to Old School Bagel (David is really getting addicted to them) and then a short stop at Homeland (David needed yogurt). I checked my bank account at Homeland. Not bad. Lot of expenses this last month, though. Hospital stuff, doctor office stuff killed my finances a bit. But I am surviving. Still, I may have to get a job to make ends meet. It's tough being retired.
All in all it was a decent enough day. Not earthshaking, quaking good, but a good day. Much better than yesterday when I was feeling like a lost dog. My feelings about life, my life do rollercoaster on me sometimes. And it ain't always fun; but it ain't always bad. You know what I mean?
Friday, March 13, 2o15
Ah,
that wonderful holiday: FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH! As a kid I remember Friday the
13th! it wasn't a holiday, but just a
day when you were scared shitless that something bad was going to happen to
you! Seriously, I remember once faking being sick because I didn't want to
leave the house cause I was sure if I went to school on Friday the 13th! I
would die! I got away with it a couple of times but after a few years of my
Friday the 13th! flu my mom caught on, and she passed on to me some great
advice that I have never forgotten. "Son," she said, "don't be
an idiot. Get your ass up and go to school!"
It wasn't until the '80s when the movies came out that I started thinking about Friday the 13th! as something sort of fun! Yeah, I was already a honorary old guy by the time the 80s rolled around, but I was in college and all my friends where relatively "young" and they were digging the blood and gore, and even though I wasn't really into the decapitations and stabbings and blood and stuff I went along with the crowd! And after a while I got as excited as they were about the "really cool" special effects. An that was the only redeeming thing about these movies. I mean, it was the same story over and over again: a group o kids go to Crystal Lake and each one dies a horribly graphic death at the hands of the hockey masked JASON! Okay, before you Jeopardy! smart, Friday the 13th! divas get up in my face, I know that in the first Friday the 13th! it was his momma and not JASON who was the killer! But JASON became the monster icon of the 80s NOT his dear old mamma! Anyway, the whole reason for going to a Friday the 13th! movie was to see the special effects, and how those little snot nosed, high school kids where gonna bite the big one! Horror movie special effects may be the ONLY good thing to come out of the 80s . . . that and music videos. {smiles and BOO!}
Saturday, March 14, 2o15
Well, the last entry for this week's blog. I'm starting to get a good rhythm to my writing. Hope it's interesting to read. Anyway, took the bike out this afternoon. It was a bit rough I haven't been out riding because of the weather and my lungs just weren't interested in breathing too deeply. they huffed and puffed most of the way to The Diner. Yeah, went to The Diner for a late breakfast. And the place was packed with couples and families. Luckily, I always sit at the counter at my favorite seat, the one in the middle that has plenty of room on either side for waitresses to stand and yell orders out to the hard working cooks. AND MAN, did they yell today! One waitress yelled an order that drilled into my right ear drum like a bullet. It was so loud and so high pitched . . . a banshee's cry! "EGGS OVER EASY WITH BAAAAAACON!" Damn.
I need to get out more for exercise, that's for sure. But I need to get out and just talk to people too. It's true, I go weeks maybe months without talking to anyone but David. Not that I mind talking to David, it's just that when I get around other people, other than David, I feel a little . . . uncomfortable? They scare me, maybe? Yeah, they do. People scare me, and when I'm scared I get angry, become more cutoff from people than I want to be in this life. So, this next week I'm going to try communicating with these Earth creatures. The more I don't make contact the less I'm able to write. Writing poetry is connected to living life; that connection is the creative umbilical cord that keeps the artist alive. So, a new adventure starts this next week. More interaction with this earthly beings.
{last smile for this 2nd week of March}
1o:12 PM
Been reading up on the racist thing that happened here in Norman Town. Been reading Facebook and everybody has an opinion about it which is punish that frat boys as hard as you can. I don't think there's any folks that sided with the SAE. Well, maybe a few did. But they didn't come right out and say it. They said stuff like, "Oh, yeah? Why don't you say something about all the rappers that belittle woman with their rap lyrics?" I get it. Try to change the subject, or indirectly say what the frat guys did was okay because other people do things that are just as bad. Yeah, we get it.
Tuesday, March 1o, 2o15
Got up rather early to go with David to his dental appointment. On the way over there, guess what we talked about? yeah, the whole racist thing that happened at the University Of Oklahoma. Pretty much we talked about how OU was getting a lot of national publicity over it. We're not use to that! I mean, sure, when football season is going and the team is doing well we get our share of notice. But never about something like this. Over coffee at the Gray Owl we got it all figured out, though. All people have to do to STOP race hate is to listen to me and David for a few minutes. Man, we are geniuses when it comes to solving the world's problems. {smile}
Wednesday, March 11, 2o15
I might dream about you tonight if it gets dark enough, if I ever get to sleep. I know how you are, though. You never show up when I need you, when I could use the sound of your English accent reminding me that my American voice is an insult to God and queen and proper grammar. No, you'll arrive as you always do when I'm not thinking of you at all, when I'm not consumed with the sound your tiny feet made as they echoed away from me down that crooked walkway of our old apartment. We were best together when we were poor living off the government, shopping when we needed to at the Goodwill for jeans, and t-shirts and worn-out tennis shoes. We were happiest when we worked as actors for Street Players . . . during the day performing children shows at elementary schools in the smallest towns that Oklahoma had to offer, then hurrying home to Norman to rehearse the adult show for the coming weekend. If I could close my eyes and dream of anything, it would be of you and me during those happy years when we foolishly thought of nothing else but each other.
11:o2pm
We ran into KK and it felt a bit awkward for me. Back in grad. school Kk was my mentor and really good friend. Her and her husband use to call me every week when I got that job at Highlands University. And they even showed up one day in Las Vegas to say, "Hi." But after a few years we lost touch with each other, and when I finally got back to Oklahoma . . . well, it was like we never really had a relationship. She and "hubby" are always too busy to go do something. It bothers me. So, when I saw her today I just sort of mumbled a "hey." She hugged me and it was . . . uncomfortable.
The only thing I hate about being back in Norman is that everything has changed in some way or other. People who were my friends, if they're still here, aren't really my friends anymore. {no smile}
Thursday, March 12, 2o15
And then there was a thump and two voices (human this time) mumbling something. I looked out the window again and there's my landlord on the A-shaped roof (that covers the front porch) with a young fellow wearing a tool belt with a million tools rattling with every move he made. I really was awake now so it didn't take me long to realize they were up there to fix the roof, which had been damaged by the ice we had on the two days Norman Town had winter!
Lots of little errands to run with David today: to the bank, to Old School Bagel (David is really getting addicted to them) and then a short stop at Homeland (David needed yogurt). I checked my bank account at Homeland. Not bad. Lot of expenses this last month, though. Hospital stuff, doctor office stuff killed my finances a bit. But I am surviving. Still, I may have to get a job to make ends meet. It's tough being retired.
All in all it was a decent enough day. Not earthshaking, quaking good, but a good day. Much better than yesterday when I was feeling like a lost dog. My feelings about life, my life do rollercoaster on me sometimes. And it ain't always fun; but it ain't always bad. You know what I mean?
Friday, March 13, 2o15
It wasn't until the '80s when the movies came out that I started thinking about Friday the 13th! as something sort of fun! Yeah, I was already a honorary old guy by the time the 80s rolled around, but I was in college and all my friends where relatively "young" and they were digging the blood and gore, and even though I wasn't really into the decapitations and stabbings and blood and stuff I went along with the crowd! And after a while I got as excited as they were about the "really cool" special effects. An that was the only redeeming thing about these movies. I mean, it was the same story over and over again: a group o kids go to Crystal Lake and each one dies a horribly graphic death at the hands of the hockey masked JASON! Okay, before you Jeopardy! smart, Friday the 13th! divas get up in my face, I know that in the first Friday the 13th! it was his momma and not JASON who was the killer! But JASON became the monster icon of the 80s NOT his dear old mamma! Anyway, the whole reason for going to a Friday the 13th! movie was to see the special effects, and how those little snot nosed, high school kids where gonna bite the big one! Horror movie special effects may be the ONLY good thing to come out of the 80s . . . that and music videos. {smiles and BOO!}
Saturday, March 14, 2o15
Well, the last entry for this week's blog. I'm starting to get a good rhythm to my writing. Hope it's interesting to read. Anyway, took the bike out this afternoon. It was a bit rough I haven't been out riding because of the weather and my lungs just weren't interested in breathing too deeply. they huffed and puffed most of the way to The Diner. Yeah, went to The Diner for a late breakfast. And the place was packed with couples and families. Luckily, I always sit at the counter at my favorite seat, the one in the middle that has plenty of room on either side for waitresses to stand and yell orders out to the hard working cooks. AND MAN, did they yell today! One waitress yelled an order that drilled into my right ear drum like a bullet. It was so loud and so high pitched . . . a banshee's cry! "EGGS OVER EASY WITH BAAAAAACON!" Damn.
{last smile for this 2nd week of March}
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