I build myself up, and fly around in circles…
Posted: February 2, 2011 Filed under: Thought Food Leave a comment »Despite having imported my Livejournal to this blog, every now and again I’m compelled to check out the halcyon days of yore; days where I used twelve words when seven would do and generally kept it real about what was going on in the life of a collegian recently returned from sabbatical. I didn’t know dick about making a blog visually compelling; in fact, it was months before I figured out how to embed pictures or hyperlinks into text. HTML? Forget about it. I learned how to do the most basic of the basic just last year. All I knew how to do was type. There was a purity in my ignorance that I’m almost covetous of now. I just wrote and pressed ‘post’ and some friends would read it and some friends would like it. It didn’t get anymore complicated than that. Self-serving as it was, I talked about myself and things that interested me. I did it because I like to talk. I put it out there because I hoped people would vibe with it. (Sidebar: Anyone who writes outside of a private journal and says that the sense of an audience doesn’t affect their writing is a prick. It’s certainly foolish to claim that every writer caters to an audience, but I defy the writer who “just writes” and “just happens to leave it around for people to consume”).
Long paragraphs, zero pictures, song lyric titles. If that wasn’t enough, I’d leave to random thoughts at the end of an entry, lest someone be starved for my thoughts on ‘Space Age Pimpin’ (still the greatest rap slow jam in history if you as me). These were the days when I told a version of the truth that was either the real McCoy or close to it; watering down out of concern for public image mattered little then. Sure, I had my fair share of “wow, he went there” material, but I was no one’s Hunter S. If you had to ask me, I’d say it was all in the delivery.
Then, one day, I blinked.
I became aware of the audience; the stakes for who could get hurt or how I could hurt myself became palpable. I got safer and safer. Was I a better writer? I think so, but there was certainly some piss and vinegar missing. I started thinking about what I was going to write; thinking about how to make it really cook. I was thinking about the reading experience rather than just saying “fuck it” and letting it rip. I forgot how to write freely.
Not too long ago, a friend asked if I’d kept a repository of my old AIM away messages, which were replete with salt being thrown on skinny girls. (Why the skinny girl hate? Because, despite the fact I have little against the skinny in actuality, I felt it necessary that someone tell them they’re not thaaat tight). Anyway, I said I didn’t, nor did I remember many of messages. My friend lamented the fact that I had and quipped that they’d make for a great book. I agreed, but as I saw the pages of my skinny girl hate book flutter away, I was struck that the thought had even crossed my mind at all. Yes; a bit more maturity certainly (hopefully) gives you a better sense of perspective. Cherishing memories is something that seems to grow in importance with each passing day. Still, the whole thought process seemed rather sad to the writer I used to be. Hating on skinny girls amused me at that moment. Nothing more or less. Perhaps I should have seeing as I fell into the trap of dispassionate perspective anyway.
There’s so much more texture to my life now, yet as I scroll through the pages of my old blog, I find myself saddened by what I lost and troubled that I might never find it again.
Peace to…
Penultimate Thought: While I enjoy ‘The Best Man’, I can’t help but get hung up on this point: Wasn’t shit gonna go down either way between Taye Diggs and Morris Chestnutt? I mean, dude was gonna read the book eventually, right?
Final Thought: Skinny girls are like drinking out of a colander: Useless.
Conversations with The Feath: Land of Milk and Honey
Posted: October 6, 2010 Filed under: conversations with the feath Leave a comment »
INT. — DAY– D’ANGELO’S
Jon and The Feath are enjoying delectable submarine sandwiches while Juice lightly drools on herself in her car seat. Having finished her 100% real lobster roll, The Feath leans back in her chair and stretches, sated and content. Jon looks across the table at her and shakes his head.
The Feath: What?
Jon: Nothing. Just…your boobs look HUGE.
The Feath: Yeah?
Jon: I mean, the shirt helps, but they’re look hefty.
The Feath: Right.
Jon: Wanna hear something really sad? Just now I was looking at them all big and thought: “Man, her boobs look big. Maybe she needs to pump.”
The Feath squeezes her boobs to see if this is true. It is not.
The Feath: …You didn’t wanna motorboatin’ ‘em?
Jon: Nope. I’m washed up.
SCENE
Conversations with The Feath: Ballin’
Posted: July 2, 2010 Filed under: conversations with the feath Leave a comment »
INT. — NIGHT – THE LIVING ROOM
After a long day and dinner with Jon’s parents, Jon, The Feath and Juice are sitting on the couch winding down.
Jon is tagging long-overdue wedding photos and The Feath is reveling in the glory of successfully settling Juice, who’d had a bout of the grumpies due to a fit of gas post-feeding.
With Juice calm, The Feath looks at the fruit of her loins, caressing what many have noted to be a perfectly-shaped head.
The Feath: (Smilingly lovingly) Her head is just so…throwable. Like a little duckpin ball.
SCENE
Updates According to Pitts: June 28, 2010
Posted: June 28, 2010 Filed under: Updates According to Pitts Leave a comment »Did Yours Truly pull off a three-peat? My goodness!
Book of Odds: Swearing In
As a lover of language, I have rarely deleted a good expletive when the circumstance has allowed. (Read: I have home training and I don’t just go swearing any old place. I mean, do you know my mother?)
According to The Feath, who is less curse-friendly than I, my use of foul language is melodious; it has a rhythm and a tempo smooth enough to be missed in the flow of conversation. “You,” she says, “are no John Malkovich.”
That makes sense. My biggest influences in that regard weren’t as interested in the percussive use of a blue note; rather, there was a melodious improvisational feel that made the words seem like cool linguistic accents rather than utterances that would get you in trouble. As I grew up, my parents made it clear that the language Richard Pryor used was not to be flung freely about their house, but they didn’t go so far as to demonize it. How could they? Some of the playwrights and poets they respected most have been known to use language that would make a sailor blush.
Check out the rest at Book of Odds
Pitts Think: J Day + 24: Apparently, She’s Not a Duke Fan
Someone was very excited about the USA-Ghana World Cup match and saw a good opportunity to share her thoughts on Blue Devils Nation.
Check out the massacre at Pitts Think.
Might try to get up the Convos that I’d threatened to do last week and neglected to do because I’m me.
And with that, I’m off to attempt to organize my professional and personal life. Until next week…Huzzah!
Conversations with The Feath: Taking That Walk
Posted: June 21, 2010 Filed under: conversations with the feath Leave a comment »
INT. — NIGHT — JON’S PARENTS’ HOUSE
Jon and The Feath are at the kitchen table with papers strewn all about. Their wedding is a week away and there are still many things to do for what they hope will be a special weekend for all involved.
Having battled over the guest list and the seating chart, the pair have turned their attention to the reception music. Music holds a very special place in their hearts. It was music that brought them together in the first place.
Unlike the other phases of planning, the music selection process is going fairly well. All the dances have, for the most part, been accounted for. Now, their brains are racked in pursuit of an entrance song.
Jon makes the following suggestion
The Feath: I mean, it’s alright. It’s just–
Jon: That’s the smooth shit! I wanna come out to something kinda slick but, you know, endearing.
The Feath: Uh, I mean I like the song, but I’m not sure it’s a wedding song, ya know?
The song begins to wind down, a winding down that includes Bootsy speaking in the end, imploring the woman in question to believe that he’s sincere, sincere in a way only Bootsy Collins knows how.
The Feath: …Did he just say “you can see me coming, coming all over you”?
Jon: Yeah, but we can fade that part out.
The Feath gives Jon a blank stare from across the table.
Jon: So…how about Willie Hutch?
SCENE
Updates According to Pitts: June 21, 2010
Posted: June 21, 2010 Filed under: Updates According to Pitts Leave a comment »Back for a record-breaking second installment!
The Re-Education of JPW: The Untouchables
The first day I got back from daddy leave was my last day working for The Root. Having done my morning posts, I got a curious email which evolved into a “we’re going a different direction” phone call. For whatever reason, I wasn’t mad when I got the word; fifteen seconds into unemployment, I knew there wasn’t any time for that. Really, the hardest part was having Juice there as an unwitting witness. I was on the day shift that morning and she interrupted the phone call with a cry of hunger. My former boss asked if that was the baby. I answered yes, momentarily puzzled as to who else he thought it might be.
Check out the rest on Book of Odds
Pitts Think: J Day +16 ~ Giving Propers
One day, I hope my daughter thanks me for being the strongest, smartest, most handsomest daddy in the whole wide world…
Check out the rest on Pitts Think
The Buzz Morning Headlines: 6.21.10
Oops.
Busy week coming up. Should be able to bang out a few Conversations, which I anticipate will be rather amusing. Stay up.
Updates According to Pitts: June 14, 2010
Posted: June 14, 2010 Filed under: Updates According to Pitts Leave a comment »Here is the first installment of updates which you may or may not care about in the slightest. If you’re in the former party, enjoy; if you’re not, my daughter wants to know why you don’t love her daddy.
The Re-Education of JPW: Juice on Delivery
Nervous and excited, Jon can’t help but take in the sight. The Feath is about give birth and is surrounded by a room of six or seven women totally committed to her pushing this baby out. Despite the delivery room’s modern bells and whistles, Jon can’t help but feel as though he’s been invited to an ancient rite.
Check out the rest on Book of Odds
Pitts Think: J Day +10: Jai Ho!
As Juice browns out, she’s starting to take on a certain…’Slumdog Millionaire’ quality.
The Buzz Morning Headlines 6.14.10
‘Karate Kid’ Does Big Box Office; Karate Still Not Chinese
World Cup May Silence Vuvuzela Horn; Wu-Tang Clan in Mourning
Tightening the Velvet Rope: Janet Jackson’s Weight Loss Journey
AZ: “Constitution? We Don’t Need No Stinking Constitution!”
Rebirth of Slick: Obama Plans Fourth Trip to Gulf
Check more of my headline fresh at The Root
That’s about all for now. I’m continuing to work on the Mixed Magic season schedule and feel confident we will be doing awesome things. For this summer, keep an eye out for Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Greatness of Gospel and a very special guest comic who will likely get our non-profit license revoked 
Until next week…
