This is All I Got

Got these feet, in these shoes, that walked a mile or two
Got these legs that done work that left them black and blue...

courtesy of Amel larrieux. Did she get the hottest name on the planet or what? She used to be with Groove Theory, they made one luxurious album and then split up. Her husband, Larrieux Larrieux or something like that, does all her production now. A friend of mine, bigtime jazz peformer, said she tried to do a set with uh...the xylophone guy, and totally blew. Another friend, a pretty good singer, said she sang well back in the late 90s. Ish changes.

Had a lively discussion today about the changes of hip hop/rap. Mostly rap. The people in the discussion were mid-to-late-30s guys who were debating Jay-Zs off-again/on-again retirement and rop (rap/pop) music in general. They were the ones who told me Li'l Wayne is an avid reader and total bibliophile. I figured there had to be more there than jut the red-rimmed eyes and throaty voice. One guy was like "Jay needs to shut up,he's 40 years old, he's not talking about slanging rocks and the streets any more." And anothr guy was like "Dude, WE ARE 40, and we damn sure aren't doing the same shit we were doing at 20 and neither is he!" One guy was a time warner exec, the other was with some other corporate entity and the third was a small-business owner. It was hilarious. Everyone had on a wedding ring. I was like "you guys wouldn't know what was hot if YOUR KIDS told you! Just appreciate the old shit you recall from your old days because even if you could go to the clubs and hear what's bootlegging from city to city you wouldn't understand it, you're too far in another path."

My dad was with me and he just laughed and laughed and laughed. He thought the entire thing was wicked funny and it was. it was a nice way to spend a half-hour or so. A very nice way. I'm glad I got to participate. it's nice not being laid up.

Oh wait, I learned a new word today: Towtrick or Tricktow...someone help me out here. Basically, a woman who will sleep with someone for any little thing. Big biz in small towns where landing a man in the military is a real come-up "girl, he got BENEFITS!!!" I howled. But it's real, small town's everywhere are filled with girls who are just trying to get by the only way they can think of and sex is the universal currency.

Incidentally, claire is still wondering how exactly she's going to deal with this death thing. She is also holding the joker/death hostage by impolitely refusing to excuse his presence. More details later.

Aint Nothin Free But jesus

Or so says the folks from the south. Maybe your people say it too. So, here I am, reading over writings at least 10 years old, sometimes more than that and I'm not old enough to feel accomplished by all of this. More relieved. I can meet the minimum numbers required by all the writing competitions. If you can't impress them with the quality, then at least overwhelm them with the quanitity, right?

Okay, that may work for the already wealthy and accomplished and the preponderance of spoken word "artists" (hint: most people aren't really listening so just scream the most incendiary phrases and you'll get ego-soothing applause). Instead, I'm going for quality and quantity. Suddenly I have faith in my faith of my words. heck, they are more dependable than my entire reproductive system - at least they are predictable and while they are often the result of pain, they are never a source of pain.

that Neil Gaiman's laid-back style is really rubbing off on me. I like the way some writers approach the craft. I would tend to say everyone except Americans, who are entirely too self-concious about being artists, but there are tortured artists the world over. But when I think of the writers i admire for just writing and approaching the whole venture the way one would approach cleaning the carpet after a year of college partying or refinishing a chair by Home Depot instruction - I like the idea of the simplicity of it all. You have a vocabulary, you use it, you expand it, you get curiouser and curiouser about the world and at the ned of the day you're trying to lie without showing the fierce machinations behind your poker face, though sometimes you smile at the shared joke. I like that approach to writing. Bono once said he admired hip hop artists because they understood capitalism - you wanna a hip hop branded chair - have a hip hop branded chair. it's a communal art form without the airs and snobbery of rock, classical music blah blah blah.

maybe i am a hip hop writer. in spirit. i mean, i am of the appropriate generation. we shall see.