Things Worth Writing Home About
On the sidebar you will notice a new addition, “Washington Square Park, 30 Oct 2006″. I found the scenario to be rather amusing and so I wrote about it. I used three bad words, two of them in quotations. Just thought you should know in case you don’t like bad words =). Otherwise, read it! It’s funny (I hope)!
I just watched an interview on CNN with Jean Claude Lamarre, director of “Color of the Cross”, the first American movie to depict Jesus as a black man. Aside from sounding like a self-serving, conceited imbecile when responding to the question about whether or not the depiction of Jesus as black is meant to be historically accurate (”This is probably more accurate than any other depiction of Christ you see today”; noteworthy is that being more accurate does not make it accurate), Lamarre, who bashes The Passion of the Christ during the interview, goes on to pick a fight with Christians who have a problem with his movie:
“If you are a Christian, truly a Christian, and you have a problem with this movie then you need to look inward. You need to really question what your values are because Christ told us that He was about inclusion and that He was about love and that He was about brotherhood. And so at the end of the day, if you have a problem with a black Jesus, then there’s something that suggests maybe you’re not inline with Christian values.”
I know that there are some folk out there who like to make a race issue out of everything but I really think that this one is stretching the fabric a little thin. What really got me about the movie was the teaser scene they showed. A black woman, who I can only assume was Mary, says to her husband, “Do you think they’re doing this to him because he’s black?”
Okay, now you’ve gone a wee bit over the line.
I’ve got the idea for this November’s novel. Now all I have to do is to make sure that I actually keep up with the word count. I’ve yet to make it to NYC for a meet-up and I’m going to miss their kick-off tomorrow night so that I can go to Tara Leigh Cobble’s CD Release Party at Arlene’s Grocery where I will hopefully enjoy some good music and catch up with some old friends (that was a really long sentence). However, I did make it to the CT kick-off today at Bennigan’s where Lizzie handed out the coolest Nano packets yet. Not only was there a word search (which I finished in 15 minutes) but there was also a really neat wooden pen, a tiny rock to put in my shoe when I can’t think of anything to write, a severed hand as a warning in case I don’t reach 50K, a quick-reference Nano guide and an emergency letter (check back mid-month to find out what it says!). Thanks Lizzie. You da bomb. For real.
It’s a gloomy, rainy morning here in CT and the rest of the day isn’t looking much better. This isn’t unexpected for October and I’m just glad that this is the only day we’ve really had like this so far. The wind is a little much, though. I feel like it’s going to burst through my antique windows any moment…by the way, antique windows are not cool.
But what’s really got me down today is my own stupidity. You see, I used the last of my coffee yesterday and, in my haste, I neglected to buy more before the Big Storm rolled in. And though I’m probably the last person to be scared of torrents of rain in conjunction with 50 mph wind gusts, I can’t shake this feeling that if I went out just to get coffee, something heavy would fall on my car and I don’t think my insurance covers that.
Not to mention the fact that I really don’t want to get wet. It’ll make me cold.
Sharing
I used to walk this way to work every day
I used to go to church here
The place I liked to eat cheesecake isn’t there anymore but that sort of thing happens
It’s funny that I wouldn’t taste Magnolia cake until now
I still haven’t actually tasted it
It’s in a bag on the table in front of me in this commercial dive of a coffee shop
I’m just waiting for someone to share
After a very nice lunch with Brother Johnny on 45th Street, I ventured back down to the Village to kill some time before Katie got out of class. I thought that I would find a cafe and drink some excessively strong coffee while reading and/or writing and so I ventured towards the West Village (mostly because it’s cleaner than the East Village). As I was walking, I realized that I’d never actually had a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery so I went there first. Then I wandered aimlessly looking for one of those cafes my heart so desperately desired. There was a place on Perry Street that I passed by and I can’t remember why. I wish, now, that I hadn’t. I came across Jack’s but all four tables were taken (the drawback to The Village is size). I thought I’d try a bigger place so I went to Rafaela’s. Surprise: Rafaela’s is no more =(. Feeling a little defeated, I continued to walk east where I found another coffee shop, also closed for good. I ended up drinking an espresso macchiato at Starbucks. I don’t even think you’re supposed to make an espresso a macchiato but you know what? I didn’t care at that point.
So where are all of my village coffee shops? Have we really let Starbucks take over the city? I certainly hope not. While I was able to write three poems and read a chapter in a book, I couldn’t help but notice what a commercial environment I was in. And for all that I did get accomplished, I’d be willing to bet I could have gotten twice as much accomplished had I not been sitting next to a long line of people ordering drinks that never existed until The Green slopped sweets into a “venti” cup of caffeine and told the world it was a Caramel Macchiato (ashamedly, I enjoy this drink).
I just spelled “dissuade” like “diswayed” and actually had to go and look the word up to figure out why MS Word put that ugly, red squiggly underneath it.
This might be a long novel writing season =/
I’ve been inspired by The Most Uber Cool Person I know to actually memorize my Christmas music this year. However, doing so suggests I’d actually be sharing this music with others which means I have to transpose some of it. Doing “Angels We Have Heard On High” in C is a little tough for those of us who are not Bing Crosby or Barry White. That being said, “The First Noel” needs a make-over from G for the afore-mentioned reason, though I suppose G would also work for Tiny Tim…I think I’m going to end this post now…
I had a whole tribute prepared but decided to spare my audience. For those who knew CBGBs, you know what things I’m compelled to say. For those who didn’t, well, you were probably the lucky ones, in the long run. Regardless, a world without CBGBs will be a different place based on principle alone. CBs didn’t just close. It died. It died and no one even wrote a requiem for the first, and greatest, punk rock dive America has ever seen.
Here in New Haven, we were always hanging out at The Tune Inn. But we envied and we hungered for CBGB OMFUG. And now they are both gone. Don’t get me wrong; it isn’t worth shedding a tear over. However, it is very worth remembering. I am not the same little punk rocker I used to be when these places found a way into my life journey. But I have no doubt that, without them, I wouldn’t be who I am today, for better or for worse. Goodbye Country, Bluegrass, Blues, and Other Music For Uplifting Gormandizers. Until the next musical landmark…
