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Martin Luther King's
Letter from Birmingham Jail
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This response to a published statement by eight fellow clergymen from Alabama (Bishop C. C. J. Carpenter, Bishop Joseph A. Durick, Rabbi Hilton L. Grafman, Bishop Paul Hardin, Bishop Holan B. Harmon, the Reverend George M. Murray. the Reverend Edward V. Ramage and the Reverend Earl Stallings) was composed under somewhat constricting circumstance.
Begun on the margins of the newspaper in which the statement appeared while I was in jail, the letter was continued on scraps of writing paper supplied by a friendly Negro trusty, and concluded on a pad my attorneys were eventually permitted to leave me. Although the text remains in substance unaltered, I have indulged in the author's prerogative of polishing it for publication.
April 16, 1963
MY DEAR FELLOW CLERGYMEN:
While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statements in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.
I think I should indicate why I am here In Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against "outsiders coming in." I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Frequently we share staff, educational and financial resources with our affiliates. Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct-action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise. So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here I am here because I have organizational ties here.
But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco-Roman world, so am I. compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.
Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.
You deplore the demonstrations taking place In Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.
In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action. We have gone through an these steps in Birmingham. There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case. On the basis of these conditions, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers.
But the latter consistently refused to engage in good-faith negotiation.
Then, last September, came the opportunity to talk with leaders of Birmingham's economic community. In the course of the negotiations, certain promises were made by the merchants --- for example, to remove the stores humiliating racial signs. On the basis of these promises, the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to a moratorium on all demonstrations. As the weeks and months went by, we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise. A few signs, briefly removed, returned; the others remained.
As in so many past experiences, our hopes bad been blasted, and the shadow of deep disappointment settled upon us. We had no alternative except to prepare for direct action, whereby we would present our very bodies as a means of laying our case before the conscience of the local and the national community. Mindful of the difficulties involved, we decided to undertake a process of self-purification. We began a series of workshops on nonviolence, and we repeatedly asked ourselves : "Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?" "Are you able to endure the ordeal of jail?" We decided to schedule our direct-action program for the Easter season, realizing that except for Christmas, this is the main shopping period of the year.
Knowing that a strong economic with with-drawal program would be the by-product of direct action, we felt that this would be the best time to bring pressure to bear on the merchants for the needed change.
Then it occurred to us that Birmingham's mayoralty election was coming up in March, and we speedily decided to postpone action until after election day. When we discovered that the Commissioner of Public Safety, Eugene "Bull" Connor, had piled up enough votes to be in the run-oat we decided again to postpone action until the day after the run-off so that the demonstrations could not be used to cloud the issues. Like many others, we waited to see Mr. Connor defeated, and to this end we endured postponement after postponement. Having aided in this community need, we felt that our direct-action program could be delayed no longer.
You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are quite right in calling, for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent-resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.
The purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue.
One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and my associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely. Some have asked: "Why didn't you give the new city administration time to act?" The only answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act.
We are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Albert Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to Birmingham. While Mr. Boutwell is a much more gentle person than Mr. Connor, they are both segregationists, dedicated to maintenance of the status quo. I have hope that Mr. Boutwell will be reasonable enough to see the futility of massive resistance to desegregation. But he will not see this without pressure from devotees of civil rights. My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.
We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has almost always meant 'Never." We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."
We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we stiff creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging dark of segregation to say, "Wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross-county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger," your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you no forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness" then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.
You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws.
This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may won ask: "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer lies in the fact that there fire two types of laws: just and unjust.
I would be the Brat to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all"
Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distort the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority.
Segregation, to use the terminology of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, substitutes an "I-it" relationship for an "I-thou" relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things.
Hence segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and awful. Paul Tillich said that sin is separation. Is not segregation an existential expression 'of man's tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness? Thus it is that I can urge men to obey the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court, for it is morally right; and I can urge them to disobey segregation ordinances, for they are morally wrong.
Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal.
Let me give another explanation. A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law. Who can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up that state's segregation laws was democratically elected? Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a majority of the population, not a single Negro is registered. Can any law enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically structured?
Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.
I hope you are able to ace the distinction I am trying to point out. In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist.
That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty.
I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.
Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience. In our own nation, the Boston Tea Party represented a massive act of civil disobedience.
We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." It was "illegal" to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country's antireligious laws.
I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fan in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with an its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.
In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But is this a logical assertion? Isn't this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn't this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock? Isn't this like condemning Jesus because his unique God-consciousness and never-ceasing devotion to God's will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? We must come to see that, as the federal courts have consistently affirmed, it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate violence.
Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber.
I had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom. I have just received a letter from a white brother in Texas. He writes: "An Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry. It has taken Christianity almost two thousand years to accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth." Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely rational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills.
Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this 'hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.
We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to 6e solid rock of human dignity.
You speak of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. At fist I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist. I began thinking about the fact that stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are so drained of self-respect and a sense of "somebodiness" that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part of a few middle class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the masses. The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up across the nation, the largest and best-known being Elijah Muhammad's Muslim movement. Nourished by the Negro's frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded that the white man is an incorrigible "devil."
I have tried to stand between these two forces, saying that we need emulate neither the "do-nothingism" of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the black nationalist. For there is the more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest. I am grateful to God that, through the influence of the Negro church, the way of nonviolence became an integral part of our struggle.
If this philosophy had not emerged, by now many streets of the South would, I am convinced, be flowing with blood. And I am further convinced that if our white brothers dismiss as "rabble-rousers" and "outside agitators" those of us who employ nonviolent direct action, and if they refuse to support our nonviolent efforts, millions of Negroes will, out of frustration and despair, seek solace and security in black-nationalist ideologies a development that would inevitably lead to a frightening racial nightmare.
Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro.
Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained. Consciously or unconsciously, he has been caught up by the Zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of Africa and his brown and yellow brothers of Asia, South America and the Caribbean, the United States Negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of racial justice. If one recognizes this vital urge that has engulfed the Negro community, one should readily understand why public demonstrations are taking place.
The Negro has many pent-up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go on freedom rides-and try to understand why he must do so. If his repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression through violence; this is not a threat but a fact of history. So I have not said to my people: "Get rid of your discontent." Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. And now this approach is being termed extremist.
But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God." And John Bunyan: "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." And Abraham Lincoln: "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." And Thomas Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that an men are created equal ..." So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we viii be. We we be extremists for hate or for love?
Will we be extremist for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime---the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jeans Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.
I had hoped that the white moderate would see this need. Perhaps I was too optimistic; perhaps I expected too much. I suppose I should have realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race, and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action. I am thankful, however, that some of our white brothers in the South have grasped the meaning of this social revolution and committed themselves to it. They are still too few in quantity, but they are big in quality. Some-such as Ralph McGill, Lillian Smith, Harry Golden, James McBride Dabbs, Ann Braden and Sarah Patton Boyle---have written about our struggle in eloquent and prophetic terms. Others have marched with us down nameless streets of the South. They have languished in filthy, roach-infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of policemen who view them as "dirty nigger lovers." Unlike so many of their moderate brothers and sisters, they have recognized the urgency of the moment and sensed the need for powerful "action" antidotes to combat the disease of segregation.
Let me take note of my other major disappointment. I have been so greatly disappointed with the white church and its leadership. Of course, there are some notable exceptions. I am not unmindful of the fact that each of you has taken some significant stands on this issue. I commend you, Reverend Stallings, for your Christian stand on this past Sunday, in welcoming Negroes to your worship service on a non segregated basis. I commend the Catholic leaders of this state for integrating Spring Hill College several years ago.
But despite these notable exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church. I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church; who was nurtured in its bosom; who 'has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of Rio shall lengthen.
When I was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery, Alabama, a few years ago, I felt we would be supported by the white church felt that the white ministers, priests and rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leader era; an too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained-glass windows.
In spite of my shattered dreams, I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership of this community would see the justice of our cause and, with deep moral concern, would serve as the channel through which our just grievances could reach the power structure. I had hoped that each of you would understand. But again I have been disappointed.
I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers declare: "Follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the Negro is your brother."
In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard many ministers say: "Those are social issues, with which the gospel has no real concern." And I have watched many churches commit themselves to a completely other worldly religion which makes a strange, on Biblical distinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular.
I have traveled the length and breadth of Alabama, Mississippi and all the other southern states. On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings I have looked at the South's beautiful churches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward. I have beheld the impressive outlines of her massive religious-education buildings. Over and over I have found myself asking: "What kind of people worship here? Who is their God?
Where were their voices when the lips of Governor Barnett dripped with words of interposition and nullification? Where were they when Governor Walleye gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred? Where were their voices of support when bruised and weary Negro men and women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of creative protest?"
Yes, these questions are still in my mind. In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears have been tears of love.
There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love. Yes, I love the church. How could I do otherwise? l am in the rather unique position of being the son, the grandson and the great-grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.
There was a time when the church was very powerful in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.
Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators"' But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide. and gladiatorial contests.
Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Par from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent and often even vocal sanction of things as they are.
But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it vi lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.
Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.
Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic. Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world? Perhaps I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world. But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom, They have left their secure congregations and walked the streets of Albany, Georgia, with us. They have gone down the highways of the South on tortuous rides for freedom. Yes, they have gone to jai with us. Some have been dismissed from their churches, have lost the support of their bishops and fellow ministers.
But they have acted in the faith that right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. Their witness has been the spiritual salt that has preserved the true meaning of the gospel in these troubled times.
They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.
I hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. But even if the church does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham, ham and all over the nation, because the goal of America k freedom.
Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America's destiny. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cotton king; they built the homes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation-and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.
Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping "order" and "preventing violence." I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if .you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys; if you were to observe them, as they did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department.
It is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handing the demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves rather "nonviolently" in pubic. But for what purpose? To preserve the evil system of segregation. Over the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends.
But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends. Perhaps Mr. Connor and his policemen have been rather nonviolent in public, as was Chief Pritchett in Albany, Georgia but they have used the moral means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of racial injustice. As T. S. Eliot has said: "The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason."
I wish you had commended the Negro sit-inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation.
One day the South will recognize its real heroes. They will be the James Merediths, with the noble sense of purpose that enables them to face Jeering, and hostile mobs, and with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer. They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy-two-year-old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride segregated buses, and who responded with ungrammatical profundity to one who inquired about her weariness: "My fleets is tired, but my soul is at rest." They will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience' sake. One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo-Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
Never before have I written so long a letter. I'm afraid it is much too long to take your precious time. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else can one do when he k alone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, think long thoughts and pray long prayers?
If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.
I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil rights leader but as a fellow clergyman and a Christian brother.
Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.
Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." ~~~~~ Dom Helder Camara poverty politics homelessness justice disability accessability prejudice tolerance addiction liberation ignorance resourcefulness illiteracy education abuse struggle hate love depression celebration disease health greed generosity
Poverty Is Not an Accident
Nelson Mandela
Sunday, February 08, 2004
Mule
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
Many times, during my life, when I've felt like I was feeling today, I've referred to my situation as being treated like a mule. I'm expected to be permanently strong, hard working, docile, barren, ugly: only wanted when something needs doing.
Well, I'm watching "King," a movie about MLK, right now. As he was courting Coretta, he explained about his family.
His grandpa was a share cropper. As a kid, his daddy worked with mules. Dr. King Sr. went to school covered in mule hair and smelling of mules. The other kids tormented him.
But he said, "I may look like a mule. I may smell like a mule. But that don't mean I have to THINK like a mule!"
Dr. King Sr. came to Atlanta with fifteen cents in his pocket. He built a middle class dynasty within the Black Baptist church. Nobody ever called him "boy."
I'm really conflicted; that movie, and an American Masters episode about James Baldwin are on simultaneously.
James Baldwin: "I don't think I've ever been in dispair about the world; I'm enraged by it. I can't afford dispair."
Many times, during my life, when I've felt like I was feeling today, I've referred to my situation as being treated like a mule. I'm expected to be permanently strong, hard working, docile, barren, ugly: only wanted when something needs doing.
Well, I'm watching "King," a movie about MLK, right now. As he was courting Coretta, he explained about his family.
His grandpa was a share cropper. As a kid, his daddy worked with mules. Dr. King Sr. went to school covered in mule hair and smelling of mules. The other kids tormented him.
But he said, "I may look like a mule. I may smell like a mule. But that don't mean I have to THINK like a mule!"
Dr. King Sr. came to Atlanta with fifteen cents in his pocket. He built a middle class dynasty within the Black Baptist church. Nobody ever called him "boy."
I'm really conflicted; that movie, and an American Masters episode about James Baldwin are on simultaneously.
James Baldwin: "I don't think I've ever been in dispair about the world; I'm enraged by it. I can't afford dispair."
I'm Edward Scissorhands
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
I get so sick of being treated like a freak.
I walked to the store today. Cars literally got in my way, staring at me. Why? I was dressed nicely. I was just pushing my cart and walking my dog. Jesus!
Some winos started circling me in front of Family dollar.
There's a painted island in the middle of the road there. So, I waited for oncoming traffic and ordered Porkchop into the island. I was going to get right back on the same side of the road, after passing the winos.
But I wanted to wait for the oncoming traffic from the other direction. I knew this maneuver would be confusing for Porkchop, and didn't want to take the chance he'd walk into traffic.
I was waiting for a minivan, followed by a pick up. The minivan slowed, and I waved it on. The bastard driving it flipped me off!
I'm in a lot of pain today. A LOT. I've been cleaning house the past, two days. Nothing major, but, for reasons I don't understand, my shoulders and neck are REALLY bad. Pushing the cart aggrevates it.
When I got to the check out, I explained that I was in a lot of pain, and asked for help, removing the groceries to be scanned.
The clerk acted all put-upon and gave me a lecture. He told me I was at the wrong register...as if I should know this? He made a big production about it and wouldn't shut up. I finally lost my temper, put the groceries back in the cart, and went over to the other register, which had 4 people in line and a very slow clerk. The other man's line had noone in it but me.
He STILL wouldn't shut up about it, so I yelled. I said, I walk 2 miles to buy groceries there. I'm a regular customer. I'm disabled. I never ask for help. And the ONE TIME I politely request assistance, I have to endure this passive-aggressive resistance and a lecture on how stupid I am for getting in the "wrong" lane! Like I'm Miss Cleo, the psychic, or something, and should KNOW there's a "right" lane?
Again, on the way home, stares. Blatant, slack jawed, bug eyed stares, giggles and comments.
I came home with 10 lbs of oranges, 2 gallons of milk, a 23 lb. turkey and a bunch of other stuff. How the hell am I SUPPOSED to get that all home one mile, without a car???
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
So, I'm watching Edward Scissorhands, in Spanish..which actually makes it even more interesting. I've actually heard 2 Spanish puns already, and it's only 14 mins. into the movie!
She's driving him home, thru her suburb, and people are STARING, slack jawed, bug eyed, and phoning each other to gossip!
People suck.
ANYway, I bought some tofu today, so I can stir a couple of tablespoons per day into gravies, sauces, etc. It's got estrogen and it's got that good cholestorol or omega 3 or whatever in it, and it's much more neutral than TUNA every day!
I also saw that SHRIMP has omega 3 in it! So, I'm waiting for a shrimp sale. A couple of tablespoons of shrimp a day certainly wouldn't be hard to eat! LOL. But I'll wait 'til I can get it for three bucks a pound or less.
I got big, fat limes, 8/dollar and HUGE, naval oranges, fifty cents/lb. The oranges are quite tasty.
I'm waiting for my turkey to thaw. It's big enough, it can almost last the whole month, if I'm careful.
I broke it down: I have twenty a month for meat, twenty for fruits & vegies, and twenty for everything else.
I've already spent fifteen on the turkey.
Sigh.
Well, I'm going to watch ol' Eddie Scissorhands now. I need a good cry.
Burrrr...Mugwart's been outside! He's walking on my nekkid calves with icy puddy toes! jees! He gets cold very easily, and it's my job to warm him up. brrrrrrrr it's like having someone poke me with an ice cube! Ever heard that song, "Popsickle Toes?" I don't remember who sang it, but I LOVE that song! I swear it shoulda been written about cats!
"When I Look In Your Eyes"
by Diana Krall
When God gave out rhythm
He Sure was good to you
You can add, subtract, multiply and divide by two
I know today's your birthday and I did not buy no rose
But I wrote this song, instead, and I call it ";Popsicle toes.";
Popsicle toes
Popsicle toes are always froze
Popsicle toes
You're so brave to expose
All those Popsicle toes
You must have been Mr. Olympian
With all that amplitude;
How come you always load your Pentax when I am in the nude?
We can have a birthday party and you can wear your birthday clothes, Then we can hit the floor and go explore those Popsicle toes
You've got the finest North America This sailor ever saw
I like to feel your warm Brazil and touch your Panama.
But your Tierra del Fuegos are nearly always froze
We've got to seesaw 'til we finally thaw those Popsicle toes.
Isn't that cute?
I get so sick of being treated like a freak.
I walked to the store today. Cars literally got in my way, staring at me. Why? I was dressed nicely. I was just pushing my cart and walking my dog. Jesus!
Some winos started circling me in front of Family dollar.
There's a painted island in the middle of the road there. So, I waited for oncoming traffic and ordered Porkchop into the island. I was going to get right back on the same side of the road, after passing the winos.
But I wanted to wait for the oncoming traffic from the other direction. I knew this maneuver would be confusing for Porkchop, and didn't want to take the chance he'd walk into traffic.
I was waiting for a minivan, followed by a pick up. The minivan slowed, and I waved it on. The bastard driving it flipped me off!
I'm in a lot of pain today. A LOT. I've been cleaning house the past, two days. Nothing major, but, for reasons I don't understand, my shoulders and neck are REALLY bad. Pushing the cart aggrevates it.
When I got to the check out, I explained that I was in a lot of pain, and asked for help, removing the groceries to be scanned.
The clerk acted all put-upon and gave me a lecture. He told me I was at the wrong register...as if I should know this? He made a big production about it and wouldn't shut up. I finally lost my temper, put the groceries back in the cart, and went over to the other register, which had 4 people in line and a very slow clerk. The other man's line had noone in it but me.
He STILL wouldn't shut up about it, so I yelled. I said, I walk 2 miles to buy groceries there. I'm a regular customer. I'm disabled. I never ask for help. And the ONE TIME I politely request assistance, I have to endure this passive-aggressive resistance and a lecture on how stupid I am for getting in the "wrong" lane! Like I'm Miss Cleo, the psychic, or something, and should KNOW there's a "right" lane?
Again, on the way home, stares. Blatant, slack jawed, bug eyed stares, giggles and comments.
I came home with 10 lbs of oranges, 2 gallons of milk, a 23 lb. turkey and a bunch of other stuff. How the hell am I SUPPOSED to get that all home one mile, without a car???
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
So, I'm watching Edward Scissorhands, in Spanish..which actually makes it even more interesting. I've actually heard 2 Spanish puns already, and it's only 14 mins. into the movie!
She's driving him home, thru her suburb, and people are STARING, slack jawed, bug eyed, and phoning each other to gossip!
People suck.
ANYway, I bought some tofu today, so I can stir a couple of tablespoons per day into gravies, sauces, etc. It's got estrogen and it's got that good cholestorol or omega 3 or whatever in it, and it's much more neutral than TUNA every day!
I also saw that SHRIMP has omega 3 in it! So, I'm waiting for a shrimp sale. A couple of tablespoons of shrimp a day certainly wouldn't be hard to eat! LOL. But I'll wait 'til I can get it for three bucks a pound or less.
I got big, fat limes, 8/dollar and HUGE, naval oranges, fifty cents/lb. The oranges are quite tasty.
I'm waiting for my turkey to thaw. It's big enough, it can almost last the whole month, if I'm careful.
I broke it down: I have twenty a month for meat, twenty for fruits & vegies, and twenty for everything else.
I've already spent fifteen on the turkey.
Sigh.
Well, I'm going to watch ol' Eddie Scissorhands now. I need a good cry.
Burrrr...Mugwart's been outside! He's walking on my nekkid calves with icy puddy toes! jees! He gets cold very easily, and it's my job to warm him up. brrrrrrrr it's like having someone poke me with an ice cube! Ever heard that song, "Popsickle Toes?" I don't remember who sang it, but I LOVE that song! I swear it shoulda been written about cats!
"When I Look In Your Eyes"
by Diana Krall
When God gave out rhythm
He Sure was good to you
You can add, subtract, multiply and divide by two
I know today's your birthday and I did not buy no rose
But I wrote this song, instead, and I call it ";Popsicle toes.";
Popsicle toes
Popsicle toes are always froze
Popsicle toes
You're so brave to expose
All those Popsicle toes
You must have been Mr. Olympian
With all that amplitude;
How come you always load your Pentax when I am in the nude?
We can have a birthday party and you can wear your birthday clothes, Then we can hit the floor and go explore those Popsicle toes
You've got the finest North America This sailor ever saw
I like to feel your warm Brazil and touch your Panama.
But your Tierra del Fuegos are nearly always froze
We've got to seesaw 'til we finally thaw those Popsicle toes.
Isn't that cute?
happy Sunday
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
I'm heating up the house, getting ready for a shower.
Today's food stamps day, and Porkchop and I are walking up to Smith's to go shopping in awhile.
Those marked-down chickens and half-turkeys I bought last month lasted. Just cooked the last chicken yesterday!
It's bright and sunny, but cold right now.
Hope all are well!
I'm heating up the house, getting ready for a shower.
Today's food stamps day, and Porkchop and I are walking up to Smith's to go shopping in awhile.
Those marked-down chickens and half-turkeys I bought last month lasted. Just cooked the last chicken yesterday!
It's bright and sunny, but cold right now.
Hope all are well!
Saturday, February 07, 2004
Medicaid
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
Medicaid
The largest man to sit the gov'ner's chair
Wants me to co-pay health, like he pays his.
How can't he understand this isn't fair?
My bathroom isn't marble, like his is.
Bill Richardson, I tell you, isn't svelte;
He never walks as long as he can fly.
But he says I must tighten up my belt,
Or else the state's economy will die.
But three per cent of six hundred's eighteen:
Four sacks of food, or nine round trips by bus.
I guess he thinks that he's not being mean,
But he don't know life like the rest of us.
I'll have to go without, at three per cent.
I had to pawn my belt, to make the rent.
http://rriverstone.com/poetry/medicaid.html
The largest man to sit the gov'ner's chair
Wants me to co-pay health, like he pays his.
How can't he understand this isn't fair?
My bathroom isn't marble, like his is.
Bill Richardson, I tell you, isn't svelte;
He never walks as long as he can fly.
But he says I must tighten up my belt,
Or else the state's economy will die.
But three per cent of six hundred's eighteen:
Four sacks of food, or nine round trips by bus.
I guess he thinks that he's not being mean,
But he don't know life like the rest of us.
I'll have to go without, at three per cent.
I had to pawn my belt, to make the rent.
http://rriverstone.com/poetry/medicaid.html
Friday, February 06, 2004
Rogi's Kitchen
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
It has occurred to me that y'all might not know where I've stashed my recipes. It also occurs to me that, since this blog is owned by Google, it makes a helluva lot of sense for me to post my recipes HERE, so they'll google better...duh.
These come from Rogi's Kitchen
It has occurred to me that y'all might not know where I've stashed my recipes. It also occurs to me that, since this blog is owned by Google, it makes a helluva lot of sense for me to post my recipes HERE, so they'll google better...duh.
These come from Rogi's Kitchen
Bananas Riverstone Crepes
Carrot Salad
County Fair Foods
Cookies, Crackers and Snacks
Discounted Meat Handling
Fantasy Dagwood Sandwich
Enchiladas
Fried Chicken
Green Eggs & Ham Pasta Salad
Ham Kills!
Mac & Cheese
Meat Loaf
Popover Pancake
Stew for Breakfast!
Stretching Foods With A Japanese Mandolin
Turkey DInner
Turkey Soup
shameless enchiladas
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
No, I did not use enchilada sauce. shudder.
I baked a small beef roast the other day, in plenty of broth. I use meat as a seasoning, rather than a main course.
So, I combined, in my food processor, the following:
1 can Ranch Style pinto beans
4 oz. beef roast
1/4c broth
I chopped, rather than pureeing, so the meat had plenty of texture.
I emptied the meat mixture into a mixing bowl.
I refilled the food processor with the following:
1/2 onion
4 cloves garlic
1 small can, tomato sauce
1/4 c salsa
I stirred 1/2 of the tomato mix into the beef mix.
I warmed 16 tortillas in my cast iron skillets. This makes them more flexible and easier to roll, fold or whatever.
I THINLY sliced 8 pieces of cheese, apx. 1 1/2 inches wide by 4 inches tall. I cut them into long strips.
With an icing spatula, I smeared each tortilla with the meat mixture (apx. 3 tablespoons, each). I sprinkled each with about 2 tablespoons prepared rice. I laid a strip of cheese in each one.
I rolled them up and placed 8 in each of 2 pyrex baking dishes.
I covered all with the remaining meat mix and covered with remaining tomato sauce. I sprinkled the last of the rice on top.
I baked in the oven for 15 minutes, at 350 degrees, Farenheit.
It may be an urban legend, but I've been told that eating beans in combination with rice provides a more complete combination of proteins. It works with other protein-rich grains, too. So the corn tortillas help.
I used Ranch Style beans ONLY because I once encountered a close-out sale, in which each can cost me only twenty five cents! I bought 2 cases, and have been slowly eating them down, ever since. I normally wouldn't recommend purchasing canned beans, since home-cooked dry beans are so much cheaper.
Because the enchiladas contained so little fat, I could eat a serving of 4 with a tablespoon of sour cream.
Reducing the amount of cheese I'd norally use in enchiladas did not negatively impact the flavor nor the texture of the enchiladas.
I also sprinkled a small amount of juice from a can of black olives over the prepared enchiladas before serving, and served each enchilada with an olive on top.
Costs:
Canned beans:.....$0.25
Canned tomatoes:..$0.10
Salsa:............$0.05
Beef:.............$1.00
Rice:.............$0.05
Tortillas:........$0.75
Cheese:...........$0.50
Onion, Garlic.....$0.10
Olives............$0.05
Sour Cream:.......$0.05
TOTAL:............$2.90
I think. If I added that up right. I still have a head ache and can't see too well.
Remember: that's 16 enchiladas, four per meal, four meals total.
No, I did not use enchilada sauce. shudder.
I baked a small beef roast the other day, in plenty of broth. I use meat as a seasoning, rather than a main course.
So, I combined, in my food processor, the following:
1 can Ranch Style pinto beans
4 oz. beef roast
1/4c broth
I chopped, rather than pureeing, so the meat had plenty of texture.
I emptied the meat mixture into a mixing bowl.
I refilled the food processor with the following:
1/2 onion
4 cloves garlic
1 small can, tomato sauce
1/4 c salsa
I stirred 1/2 of the tomato mix into the beef mix.
I warmed 16 tortillas in my cast iron skillets. This makes them more flexible and easier to roll, fold or whatever.
I THINLY sliced 8 pieces of cheese, apx. 1 1/2 inches wide by 4 inches tall. I cut them into long strips.
With an icing spatula, I smeared each tortilla with the meat mixture (apx. 3 tablespoons, each). I sprinkled each with about 2 tablespoons prepared rice. I laid a strip of cheese in each one.
I rolled them up and placed 8 in each of 2 pyrex baking dishes.
I covered all with the remaining meat mix and covered with remaining tomato sauce. I sprinkled the last of the rice on top.
I baked in the oven for 15 minutes, at 350 degrees, Farenheit.
It may be an urban legend, but I've been told that eating beans in combination with rice provides a more complete combination of proteins. It works with other protein-rich grains, too. So the corn tortillas help.
I used Ranch Style beans ONLY because I once encountered a close-out sale, in which each can cost me only twenty five cents! I bought 2 cases, and have been slowly eating them down, ever since. I normally wouldn't recommend purchasing canned beans, since home-cooked dry beans are so much cheaper.
Because the enchiladas contained so little fat, I could eat a serving of 4 with a tablespoon of sour cream.
Reducing the amount of cheese I'd norally use in enchiladas did not negatively impact the flavor nor the texture of the enchiladas.
I also sprinkled a small amount of juice from a can of black olives over the prepared enchiladas before serving, and served each enchilada with an olive on top.
Costs:
Canned beans:.....$0.25
Canned tomatoes:..$0.10
Salsa:............$0.05
Beef:.............$1.00
Rice:.............$0.05
Tortillas:........$0.75
Cheese:...........$0.50
Onion, Garlic.....$0.10
Olives............$0.05
Sour Cream:.......$0.05
TOTAL:............$2.90
I think. If I added that up right. I still have a head ache and can't see too well.
Remember: that's 16 enchiladas, four per meal, four meals total.
Thursday, February 05, 2004
NOW with Bill Moyers
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
NOW:
* America's families on the economic edge-you may be surprised by how many hardworking families are a paycheck away from financial disaster. Bill Moyers talks to bankruptcy expert and Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren about what she's learned.
* Food, music, and famous guest speakers may be coming to a town near you. NOW checks out the Rolling Thunder Democracy Tour.
* Political candidates are hardly seen in person these days, but more often get out their message via television commercials. But, who's profiting from these expensive ads? And are we getting the knowledge we need to vote smartly?
* Unique perspectives from the election frontline. David Brancaccio travels to Greenville, MI, a town of 8,000 about to lose 2,700 jobs to a closing factory. How will their frustration be reflected in Saturday's Democratic caucus?
==============================================
ELIZABETH WARREN
When bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren set out to write a book about overspending by America's two-income families, she discovered something that defied conventional wisdom. "I thought this...book is gonna be about too many trips to the mall, too many Game Boys," Warren says. But what she found was that, "Expenses have more than eaten up all of mom's income...and eroded what dad earned.... They actually have less money to spend than their one-income parents had a generation ago." Bill Moyers goes in-depth with Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Warren who reveals some surprising facts about the plight of America's two-income families.
==============================================
ROLLING THUNDER
On the surface it may seem like an ordinary county fair - food stands, live music and guest speakers - but here people have gathered to ignite voters by putting the party back into politics. Inspired by the 19th century Chautauquas - the traveling education, lecture, and arts movement - the Rolling Thunder Down Home Democracy Tour is a series of one-day festivals aimed at bringing together people in a sort of citizenship fair. And, many prominent political-minded folks joined their tour, including filmmaker Michael Moore, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. and columnist Molly Ivins. "Politics ought to be a part of your life. It's not something that is just in the last 30 days of an election," says tour organizer Jim Hightower, "The whole idea of a Rolling Thunder is to be festive... and to think 'Hey, this isn't bad. I could do this. If this is what politics is, I might participate."
==============================================
BUYING TIME
Since the early days of the political television ad in the 1950s, the days of shaking hands and kissing babies seem to be over. Political candidates - and not just presidential contenders - are relying on high-cost advertising to reach voters, even as the costs to air these ads have grown significantly. But who's profiting from these increasingly expensive campaigns? And, is the public getting the information they need from these ads to vote wisely? Featured on the program, nine-term New York Congresswoman Louise Slaughter discusses the burden of political advertising and laments the days of grassroots outreach and meeting her constituents face-to-face. It's so sterile just to sit in a room and film something or have a picture of you walking down the street with strangers - doesn't really say anything about you."
==============================================
THE POLITICS OF PAIN
With the Michigan Democratic presidential caucus meeting on Saturday to choose their candidate, some of the pressures on working families are on display in a small town in Michigan. David Brancaccio travels to Greenville outside of Grand Rapids, where just a few weeks ago, the refrigerator manufacturing Electrolux factory announced that it was closing next year. The move will cost 2,700 jobs in a town of just 8,000. Will their frustration be reflected in the ballot box at this Saturday's caucus? � NOW goes to the Great Lake state to see what's on the minds of some of its citizens.
==============================================
NOW WITH BILL MOYERS continues online at PBS.org (www.pbs.org/now). Log on to the site for 10 surprising facts about the middle-class; for a look at who makes up the middle-class and where they stand today; for resources to find out how the presidential candidates are addressing middle-class issues; for income disparity and state-by-state resource map on jobs; for the history and the evolution of campaign advertising; for more on Rolling Thunder and Chautauqua; for NOW's election 2004 hub including facts and figures, online tools and debates on important issues; and more.
==============================================
It has come to our attention that there is a rumor circulating in cyberspace that NOW is under threat of cancellation because of pressure from our critics. It's not true and we have no idea how the rumor began to circulate. PBS has funded NOW through 2004 and we are steaming forward with production.
NOW:
* America's families on the economic edge-you may be surprised by how many hardworking families are a paycheck away from financial disaster. Bill Moyers talks to bankruptcy expert and Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren about what she's learned.
* Food, music, and famous guest speakers may be coming to a town near you. NOW checks out the Rolling Thunder Democracy Tour.
* Political candidates are hardly seen in person these days, but more often get out their message via television commercials. But, who's profiting from these expensive ads? And are we getting the knowledge we need to vote smartly?
* Unique perspectives from the election frontline. David Brancaccio travels to Greenville, MI, a town of 8,000 about to lose 2,700 jobs to a closing factory. How will their frustration be reflected in Saturday's Democratic caucus?
==============================================
ELIZABETH WARREN
When bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren set out to write a book about overspending by America's two-income families, she discovered something that defied conventional wisdom. "I thought this...book is gonna be about too many trips to the mall, too many Game Boys," Warren says. But what she found was that, "Expenses have more than eaten up all of mom's income...and eroded what dad earned.... They actually have less money to spend than their one-income parents had a generation ago." Bill Moyers goes in-depth with Harvard Law professor Elizabeth Warren who reveals some surprising facts about the plight of America's two-income families.
==============================================
ROLLING THUNDER
On the surface it may seem like an ordinary county fair - food stands, live music and guest speakers - but here people have gathered to ignite voters by putting the party back into politics. Inspired by the 19th century Chautauquas - the traveling education, lecture, and arts movement - the Rolling Thunder Down Home Democracy Tour is a series of one-day festivals aimed at bringing together people in a sort of citizenship fair. And, many prominent political-minded folks joined their tour, including filmmaker Michael Moore, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. and columnist Molly Ivins. "Politics ought to be a part of your life. It's not something that is just in the last 30 days of an election," says tour organizer Jim Hightower, "The whole idea of a Rolling Thunder is to be festive... and to think 'Hey, this isn't bad. I could do this. If this is what politics is, I might participate."
==============================================
BUYING TIME
Since the early days of the political television ad in the 1950s, the days of shaking hands and kissing babies seem to be over. Political candidates - and not just presidential contenders - are relying on high-cost advertising to reach voters, even as the costs to air these ads have grown significantly. But who's profiting from these increasingly expensive campaigns? And, is the public getting the information they need from these ads to vote wisely? Featured on the program, nine-term New York Congresswoman Louise Slaughter discusses the burden of political advertising and laments the days of grassroots outreach and meeting her constituents face-to-face. It's so sterile just to sit in a room and film something or have a picture of you walking down the street with strangers - doesn't really say anything about you."
==============================================
THE POLITICS OF PAIN
With the Michigan Democratic presidential caucus meeting on Saturday to choose their candidate, some of the pressures on working families are on display in a small town in Michigan. David Brancaccio travels to Greenville outside of Grand Rapids, where just a few weeks ago, the refrigerator manufacturing Electrolux factory announced that it was closing next year. The move will cost 2,700 jobs in a town of just 8,000. Will their frustration be reflected in the ballot box at this Saturday's caucus? � NOW goes to the Great Lake state to see what's on the minds of some of its citizens.
==============================================
NOW WITH BILL MOYERS continues online at PBS.org (www.pbs.org/now). Log on to the site for 10 surprising facts about the middle-class; for a look at who makes up the middle-class and where they stand today; for resources to find out how the presidential candidates are addressing middle-class issues; for income disparity and state-by-state resource map on jobs; for the history and the evolution of campaign advertising; for more on Rolling Thunder and Chautauqua; for NOW's election 2004 hub including facts and figures, online tools and debates on important issues; and more.
==============================================
It has come to our attention that there is a rumor circulating in cyberspace that NOW is under threat of cancellation because of pressure from our critics. It's not true and we have no idea how the rumor began to circulate. PBS has funded NOW through 2004 and we are steaming forward with production.
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
Cleopatra
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
Cleopatra
Through hypodermics, feces, broken glass
She picks her way, arms crossed on breasts, head down,
No lap-top, books or pencil -- and no class --
From locked-down school to project, won't look 'round.
The War Zone robs her dollies, roses, stars;
Corrodes the satin cheek; defiles the eye.
She's all concrete, chain link, pad locks and bars.
It's lie and lay and lye and dye and die.
Low riders pass; they slow; elbows probe out
Of rolled-down, darkened windows; mufflers purr.
"Yo, ho! Gimme dat booty!" demons shout.
At twelve-year-old girl body, not at her.
Lift ev'ry voice, and sing a sacred prayer
For post natal abortion, walking there.
http://rriverstone.com/poetry/cleopatra.html
Through hypodermics, feces, broken glass
She picks her way, arms crossed on breasts, head down,
No lap-top, books or pencil -- and no class --
From locked-down school to project, won't look 'round.
The War Zone robs her dollies, roses, stars;
Corrodes the satin cheek; defiles the eye.
She's all concrete, chain link, pad locks and bars.
It's lie and lay and lye and dye and die.
Low riders pass; they slow; elbows probe out
Of rolled-down, darkened windows; mufflers purr.
"Yo, ho! Gimme dat booty!" demons shout.
At twelve-year-old girl body, not at her.
Lift ev'ry voice, and sing a sacred prayer
For post natal abortion, walking there.
http://rriverstone.com/poetry/cleopatra.html
KUNM
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
Oooo, I want so much for that nearly-twenty years not to have happened! I realized today I can't work the computers. I can't access wav files, and have no idea how one does sound on computers.
I tried to print ONE PAGE of my dang blog for a reporter today. It printed TWENTY SEVEN PAGES, THREE TIMES! I was mortified!
I'm so scared I'll be perceived as the doofus at the rolodex.
I'm so scared I'll never catch up.
I'm so scared of being left behind.
I have so much talent. I have so much love. I have so much creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, motivation.
But, for most of the days of my life, I'm perceived as a crazy bag lady, pushing my cart and picking trash.
By the way, on the way home, I found a 30 gal., molded plastic trash barrel, with lid, in a dumpster, and it has wheels. I can store fire wood in it. It's cracked on the bottom, so I can't use it to soak laundry or anything. Come to think of it, it'd make a great composter! hmmm....
I also found a 2 drawer filing cabinet.
I'm going to ask Rachel Kaub, the volunteer coordinator, of she'd like to have it for her office. I was thinking, last time I was in there, that they need one. There's a big pile of papers on the floor...
I actually spent money today. On the way there, I stopped at the Swiss bakery. I got 3 or 4 day-old bear claws and a bag of sugarless almond cookies. And, on the way home, I stopped at...gasp!....Wendy's for 4 bacon cheeseburgers: two for lunch, two for supper. I have a beef roast, thawing in the fridge. But it'll take at least 2 hrs to cook.
First song Carol Boss played on free form was "brother, can you spare a dime?" I was walking across campus, and just sang and sang...to hell with what people thought.
once, I built a tower to the sun: brick and morter and lime; once, I built a tower; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?"
right on.
So, I totally freaked out in the radio station today, feeling like a frumpy, dumpy dinosaur who woke up in a science fiction version of a radio station. Where people burn cds and post .wav files. Hell, I used to edit my news stories on cassette tapes with real Scotch tape! HONEST TO GOD!
Now, there's blackberries, cell phones, lap tops....
and I'm on a webtv, pushing a cart, wearing trash. gawd.
I want those years back! I'm SO SORRY I EVER moved to Kentucky! As long as I was in California, I was on the radio. I was part of the community.
Now, I'm a fringe, a freak, a failure in the eyes of most of the people I pass.
These little blogs, which so few people read, have kept me sane. Even though only about 10 people read each blog, each day and visit my humble domain.
Without these blogs, I don't know WHAT I would have done!
I want to HELP! I want to CONTRIBUTE! I want to CREATE! And, gawd help me, I want to pass on some of what I know!
I'm trying to be patient. But I have a serious feeling I don't have much time left. And I have the feeling this might well be my last chance.
This means SO much to me!
I asked Rachel today if I could speak with her a minute. I told her how I feel, short version.
She understood and I thanked her for hearing me.
I asked to withdraw my application for the radio theater coordinating position. But I also said I have lots of energy for working in it. I just don't have the technical detail skills, and it would take me too long and would interfere.
I also said I'm more than willing to learn anything anybody's patient enough to teach me.
It's a 2 hr. round trip walk to that station. As much as I wanted to just hunker in bed today with my cats, I did it. The snow chased me home. The wind was like a hacksaw.
And I'd do it again tomorrow, if they'd let me.
Renee, the news director, has been extremely ill since I started. She's been in the hospital. So, I have to wait 'til she gets back.
In the mean time, though, as marginally as it is, I'm back in the middle of my first love: A public radio station, in the news department. Oh, I'm only organizing the rolodex, true. But I'm back where I belong.
I'm not as hip and kewl and connected and politically correct and presentable as most of the people whom I see around me.
But the voices in the halls, hovering over my borrowed desk, in the ladies room stall next to me, on the elevator and in the parking lot are the voices I listen to every day. They're voices I trust and respect.
Hopefully, I'll be one of them again soon. I've been silent too long.
Wish me luck. This means the world to me!
Oooo, I want so much for that nearly-twenty years not to have happened! I realized today I can't work the computers. I can't access wav files, and have no idea how one does sound on computers.
I tried to print ONE PAGE of my dang blog for a reporter today. It printed TWENTY SEVEN PAGES, THREE TIMES! I was mortified!
I'm so scared I'll be perceived as the doofus at the rolodex.
I'm so scared I'll never catch up.
I'm so scared of being left behind.
I have so much talent. I have so much love. I have so much creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, motivation.
But, for most of the days of my life, I'm perceived as a crazy bag lady, pushing my cart and picking trash.
By the way, on the way home, I found a 30 gal., molded plastic trash barrel, with lid, in a dumpster, and it has wheels. I can store fire wood in it. It's cracked on the bottom, so I can't use it to soak laundry or anything. Come to think of it, it'd make a great composter! hmmm....
I also found a 2 drawer filing cabinet.
I'm going to ask Rachel Kaub, the volunteer coordinator, of she'd like to have it for her office. I was thinking, last time I was in there, that they need one. There's a big pile of papers on the floor...
I actually spent money today. On the way there, I stopped at the Swiss bakery. I got 3 or 4 day-old bear claws and a bag of sugarless almond cookies. And, on the way home, I stopped at...gasp!....Wendy's for 4 bacon cheeseburgers: two for lunch, two for supper. I have a beef roast, thawing in the fridge. But it'll take at least 2 hrs to cook.
First song Carol Boss played on free form was "brother, can you spare a dime?" I was walking across campus, and just sang and sang...to hell with what people thought.
once, I built a tower to the sun: brick and morter and lime; once, I built a tower; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?"
right on.
So, I totally freaked out in the radio station today, feeling like a frumpy, dumpy dinosaur who woke up in a science fiction version of a radio station. Where people burn cds and post .wav files. Hell, I used to edit my news stories on cassette tapes with real Scotch tape! HONEST TO GOD!
Now, there's blackberries, cell phones, lap tops....
and I'm on a webtv, pushing a cart, wearing trash. gawd.
I want those years back! I'm SO SORRY I EVER moved to Kentucky! As long as I was in California, I was on the radio. I was part of the community.
Now, I'm a fringe, a freak, a failure in the eyes of most of the people I pass.
These little blogs, which so few people read, have kept me sane. Even though only about 10 people read each blog, each day and visit my humble domain.
Without these blogs, I don't know WHAT I would have done!
I want to HELP! I want to CONTRIBUTE! I want to CREATE! And, gawd help me, I want to pass on some of what I know!
I'm trying to be patient. But I have a serious feeling I don't have much time left. And I have the feeling this might well be my last chance.
This means SO much to me!
I asked Rachel today if I could speak with her a minute. I told her how I feel, short version.
She understood and I thanked her for hearing me.
I asked to withdraw my application for the radio theater coordinating position. But I also said I have lots of energy for working in it. I just don't have the technical detail skills, and it would take me too long and would interfere.
I also said I'm more than willing to learn anything anybody's patient enough to teach me.
It's a 2 hr. round trip walk to that station. As much as I wanted to just hunker in bed today with my cats, I did it. The snow chased me home. The wind was like a hacksaw.
And I'd do it again tomorrow, if they'd let me.
Renee, the news director, has been extremely ill since I started. She's been in the hospital. So, I have to wait 'til she gets back.
In the mean time, though, as marginally as it is, I'm back in the middle of my first love: A public radio station, in the news department. Oh, I'm only organizing the rolodex, true. But I'm back where I belong.
I'm not as hip and kewl and connected and politically correct and presentable as most of the people whom I see around me.
But the voices in the halls, hovering over my borrowed desk, in the ladies room stall next to me, on the elevator and in the parking lot are the voices I listen to every day. They're voices I trust and respect.
Hopefully, I'll be one of them again soon. I've been silent too long.
Wish me luck. This means the world to me!
I don't wanna
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
Woke feeling poopy. Lots of pressure in my head, verging on a headache, threatening me not to over exert myself.
Stayed up too late, to see Kucinich shoot 3 pointers while holding a doll. He's a tiny guy, but, apparantly, was a good basket ball player in school. The host kept trying to make a joke of him, but Kucinich ain't about that. Oh, he's funny as heck, but he ain't the butt of anybody's joke; he believes too much in what he advocates.
I guess holding the doll was to be a reference to politicians kissing babies? Who knows... those tv types are all under the influence of something, if only hubris.
Woke with the dog and old Mugwart slobbering on me.
I've got to shower before I go to the radio station. I'm dreading it, and I've got to do it soon, so my hair will be dry before the long walk to the station. I'm woozie, and always fear falling in the shower.
It's in the low 20s outside. The walk will be torture.
I feel guilty, because I want to call the station and beg for a snow day. But there's hardly any snow on this side of town. And I don't want to look like a flake.
Of course, nobody else at the station will have walked as far as I, on aching legs, with creaky back, pushing a cart. But I always forget that car people have it easier than I; I always just feel inadequate, an outsider, a loser.
Well, it's a quarter to nine. I'll be leaving at about ten; it's an hour walk each way.
So, I'd best shower now, so I have time to prepare some food and let my hair dry.
I get embarrassed about how weird I am. It's tempting to give up.
But I can't stand not trying. Being at the radio station feels like my last chance to prove I'm worthy. It's a real struggle. Like all people, I feel failure. And, no, I don't want to embarrass myself.
But I seem to be the only truly-low-income person who's willing to take a public profile. I have a LOT more to say about that.
But right now, I need to shower.
Woke feeling poopy. Lots of pressure in my head, verging on a headache, threatening me not to over exert myself.
Stayed up too late, to see Kucinich shoot 3 pointers while holding a doll. He's a tiny guy, but, apparantly, was a good basket ball player in school. The host kept trying to make a joke of him, but Kucinich ain't about that. Oh, he's funny as heck, but he ain't the butt of anybody's joke; he believes too much in what he advocates.
I guess holding the doll was to be a reference to politicians kissing babies? Who knows... those tv types are all under the influence of something, if only hubris.
Woke with the dog and old Mugwart slobbering on me.
I've got to shower before I go to the radio station. I'm dreading it, and I've got to do it soon, so my hair will be dry before the long walk to the station. I'm woozie, and always fear falling in the shower.
It's in the low 20s outside. The walk will be torture.
I feel guilty, because I want to call the station and beg for a snow day. But there's hardly any snow on this side of town. And I don't want to look like a flake.
Of course, nobody else at the station will have walked as far as I, on aching legs, with creaky back, pushing a cart. But I always forget that car people have it easier than I; I always just feel inadequate, an outsider, a loser.
Well, it's a quarter to nine. I'll be leaving at about ten; it's an hour walk each way.
So, I'd best shower now, so I have time to prepare some food and let my hair dry.
I get embarrassed about how weird I am. It's tempting to give up.
But I can't stand not trying. Being at the radio station feels like my last chance to prove I'm worthy. It's a real struggle. Like all people, I feel failure. And, no, I don't want to embarrass myself.
But I seem to be the only truly-low-income person who's willing to take a public profile. I have a LOT more to say about that.
But right now, I need to shower.
Monday, February 02, 2004
ain't got lettuce for lettuce
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
thanks, Jude.
FYI-Feb.2, 04
Lettuce A Luxury For The Poor
by the Associated Press
Washington-
�� For the poor, lettuce may be a luxury. Analysts have concluded that people who have to worry about missing meals choose calorie-packed foods such as pasta because they provide more energy for the buck than fruits and vegetables.
� "Energy-dense foods composed of refined grains, added sugars or fats may represent the lowest-cost option," said Adam Drewnowski, director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington. For people in poverty, choosing these kinds of products " may represent a deliberate attempt to save money." he said. Drewnowski led a study that compared foods based on the cost of calories in each ounce.
Findings were published in the January issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
� Water content was a major factor. Nutrient-dense foods like pasta have little if any water, lettuce and other produce are juicy. Lettuce works as diet food because it lets people feel full on fewer calories. Drewnowski said the poor cannot afford to water down their calories.�
�
This also points out to why so many poor people (ESP. Native Americans) develop diabetes.
� Please forward this to your Congress person, Mayor etc. they need to understand this.
Bet dem boyz had to go to college to figger dat one out, huh?
DUUUUUUUUUH!!!
lmfao!
thanks, Jude.
FYI-Feb.2, 04
Lettuce A Luxury For The Poor
by the Associated Press
Washington-
�� For the poor, lettuce may be a luxury. Analysts have concluded that people who have to worry about missing meals choose calorie-packed foods such as pasta because they provide more energy for the buck than fruits and vegetables.
� "Energy-dense foods composed of refined grains, added sugars or fats may represent the lowest-cost option," said Adam Drewnowski, director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington. For people in poverty, choosing these kinds of products " may represent a deliberate attempt to save money." he said. Drewnowski led a study that compared foods based on the cost of calories in each ounce.
Findings were published in the January issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
� Water content was a major factor. Nutrient-dense foods like pasta have little if any water, lettuce and other produce are juicy. Lettuce works as diet food because it lets people feel full on fewer calories. Drewnowski said the poor cannot afford to water down their calories.�
�
This also points out to why so many poor people (ESP. Native Americans) develop diabetes.
� Please forward this to your Congress person, Mayor etc. they need to understand this.
Bet dem boyz had to go to college to figger dat one out, huh?
DUUUUUUUUUH!!!
lmfao!
Pickin' and grinnin'
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
Ooo, Mr. Dawson's broadcasting Free Form today: 1st broadcast for African American History Month. He's got a 6 cd set, apparantly produced by Harry Belefonte? It's a history set, and wow, is the music FINE! Dangdest collection of music the last 2 hrs!
One cut was even a slave master, preachin to his slaves all that Jesus propoganda! Fascinating!
I've been laughing and crying and cussing and bopping for two hours! LOL
I found the BEST stuff in a dumpster today! Another wig; I now have FIVE WIGS!: shocking pink, royal blue, black, and two brown curly ones! Could come in handy for protests....yeah, like the FBI wouldn't know it's me, with Porkchop and my cart! LOL
I found some mardi gras beads. I found 2 pink flamingos...little ones, but good enough for my cart. A cotton sweater and several pair of men's boxers (I wear em under skirts in summer) funny ones, with chickens and stuff on em. I found a kewl plastic bracelet; when u press the center jewel, all 3 jewels blink! Neato!
I found some xmas lights. I found some long telephone cords and boy, do I need them!
But the BEST was my hoochie mama dress. Black velveteen bra with spaghetti straps, cups covered in shocking pink maribu feathers and mylar, with dozens of strands of opalescent, diamond-cut, plastic mardi gras beads, hanging below the knees. I mean, that sombitch must weigh twenty POUNDS!!
I put it on over my clothes and laughed my ass off! I have so many places to wear something like that, you know....
But it really made my day and looks funny as the dickens, hanging from one of my filing cabinets. The cats love it!
"The Long Road To Freedom:" Mr. Dawson just announced the name of that 6 cd set. Man, I'd love to own THAT!
I fished that hoochie dress out of the dumpster while that white massah was preachin to his slaves. I was cussin my head off. I'll always remember that, every time I look at that dress.
Well, I'm gonna raid the ice box. I'm starving, even after 4 small chicken tacos. I could eat a buffalo!
====================
HEY! It's what? Tuesday now. I just got it thru muh thick head to go LOOK UP that Harry Belefonte set! Hey, I was tired from walkin back n forth across campus and from trash pickin on a cold day.
Here it is: http://www.blackanthology.com/product/
If I may suggest, Mr. Belefonte has a life long history of commitment to African American issues, culture, history and rights. So you can be sure this has been a very professionally-approached project of gathering the sounds of African American history.
If you can afford this, buy it. Buy it 'cause I, and millions like me, can't. MAKE your kids listen to it, if you have to! Do NOT let these voices fall silent!
Bless you, Mr. Belafonte! Bless you, too, Mr. Dawson!
Happy African American History month!
Ooo, Mr. Dawson's broadcasting Free Form today: 1st broadcast for African American History Month. He's got a 6 cd set, apparantly produced by Harry Belefonte? It's a history set, and wow, is the music FINE! Dangdest collection of music the last 2 hrs!
One cut was even a slave master, preachin to his slaves all that Jesus propoganda! Fascinating!
I've been laughing and crying and cussing and bopping for two hours! LOL
I found the BEST stuff in a dumpster today! Another wig; I now have FIVE WIGS!: shocking pink, royal blue, black, and two brown curly ones! Could come in handy for protests....yeah, like the FBI wouldn't know it's me, with Porkchop and my cart! LOL
I found some mardi gras beads. I found 2 pink flamingos...little ones, but good enough for my cart. A cotton sweater and several pair of men's boxers (I wear em under skirts in summer) funny ones, with chickens and stuff on em. I found a kewl plastic bracelet; when u press the center jewel, all 3 jewels blink! Neato!
I found some xmas lights. I found some long telephone cords and boy, do I need them!
But the BEST was my hoochie mama dress. Black velveteen bra with spaghetti straps, cups covered in shocking pink maribu feathers and mylar, with dozens of strands of opalescent, diamond-cut, plastic mardi gras beads, hanging below the knees. I mean, that sombitch must weigh twenty POUNDS!!
I put it on over my clothes and laughed my ass off! I have so many places to wear something like that, you know....
But it really made my day and looks funny as the dickens, hanging from one of my filing cabinets. The cats love it!
"The Long Road To Freedom:" Mr. Dawson just announced the name of that 6 cd set. Man, I'd love to own THAT!
I fished that hoochie dress out of the dumpster while that white massah was preachin to his slaves. I was cussin my head off. I'll always remember that, every time I look at that dress.
Well, I'm gonna raid the ice box. I'm starving, even after 4 small chicken tacos. I could eat a buffalo!
====================
HEY! It's what? Tuesday now. I just got it thru muh thick head to go LOOK UP that Harry Belefonte set! Hey, I was tired from walkin back n forth across campus and from trash pickin on a cold day.
Here it is: http://www.blackanthology.com/product/
If I may suggest, Mr. Belefonte has a life long history of commitment to African American issues, culture, history and rights. So you can be sure this has been a very professionally-approached project of gathering the sounds of African American history.
If you can afford this, buy it. Buy it 'cause I, and millions like me, can't. MAKE your kids listen to it, if you have to! Do NOT let these voices fall silent!
Bless you, Mr. Belafonte! Bless you, too, Mr. Dawson!
Happy African American History month!
Saturday, January 31, 2004
It's not going to be too hard
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
I can make one can of tuna last about three days, eating a couple of bites a day.
And heaven knows, oatmeal's a cheap source of fiber. I'll buy some dried fruit to add to it.
I made a wonderful salad today!
2 lbs carrots, shredded in food processor
3 oranges, halved and segmented.
1/4 cup unsalted peanuts, ground
1/4 c candied cranberries, ground
1/2 c dried apricots, ground
3 pieces candied ginger.
I mean, that's EASY to eat! 1/2 c chopped fruits or vegies is a serving; I'm trying to eat a minimum of 5 servings/day. And that salad goes down really easily!
A few bites of chicken or cheese on the side and a few crackers, and it's a really good meal.
I just have to be more creative in how I combine foods.
I can do this!
I'm very proud of dropping 4 lbs. in one week! My breasts now portrude farther than my belly again! LOL
I can make one can of tuna last about three days, eating a couple of bites a day.
And heaven knows, oatmeal's a cheap source of fiber. I'll buy some dried fruit to add to it.
I made a wonderful salad today!
2 lbs carrots, shredded in food processor
3 oranges, halved and segmented.
1/4 cup unsalted peanuts, ground
1/4 c candied cranberries, ground
1/2 c dried apricots, ground
3 pieces candied ginger.
I mean, that's EASY to eat! 1/2 c chopped fruits or vegies is a serving; I'm trying to eat a minimum of 5 servings/day. And that salad goes down really easily!
A few bites of chicken or cheese on the side and a few crackers, and it's a really good meal.
I just have to be more creative in how I combine foods.
I can do this!
I'm very proud of dropping 4 lbs. in one week! My breasts now portrude farther than my belly again! LOL
Queen
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
Queen
"I am a big loser," Whoopi has said,
For, of all things, Slim Fast, for their dollars.
I can't imagine what was in her head,
I think of our grandmas, shackles, collars.
I think of whips, brand irons. What's defeat:
Resisting fire hose, dog, shot gun and rope,
To shelter babies, earn them bread to eat,
To drudge for shelter, try to give them hope?
To sell junk food, they tore the air with screams?
To keep complacent we, who have so much?
To peddle pastas, chocolate, ice creams,
These women suffered, never eating such?
These Queens of Africa flow in our veins;
Don't desecrate their screaming labor pains.
http://rriverstone.com/poetry/queen.html
"I am a big loser," Whoopi has said,
For, of all things, Slim Fast, for their dollars.
I can't imagine what was in her head,
I think of our grandmas, shackles, collars.
I think of whips, brand irons. What's defeat:
Resisting fire hose, dog, shot gun and rope,
To shelter babies, earn them bread to eat,
To drudge for shelter, try to give them hope?
To sell junk food, they tore the air with screams?
To keep complacent we, who have so much?
To peddle pastas, chocolate, ice creams,
These women suffered, never eating such?
These Queens of Africa flow in our veins;
Don't desecrate their screaming labor pains.
http://rriverstone.com/poetry/queen.html
RADICALLY reduce water usage!
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
I live in a small apartment, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. One of the worst droughts in history is going into its, I think, fifth or sixth year. Yet, I have an extensive garden, in my yard and in the empty lot next door.
Yet, I use very VERY little water: about one fourth normal usage.
How?
Simple.
Get a tub. Put it in your shower. Get a shower massager on a hose, particularly one that shuts off when not in use, without turning off hot and cold.
Run the hot into the tub until it warms; don't let it go down the drain.
Stand in tub. Shower with reduced flow. The massager has higher pressure with less water, and you won't feel the difference. Shut water off from massager, when not in use during shower. You'll have to turn off the shower with faucet handles when done, or hose could burst! When finished, dangle massager over tub to drain.
My tub holds 16 gallons. One shower half fills it. That's about eight gallons. A normal shower is twenty five gallons.
I shower every OTHER day, rather than every day. On "off" days, I take "bird baths" in the sink. I walk a lot, as I have no car. I do a lot of heavy, physical labor, such as gardening. Yet, except if I get really nasty, I don't need a daily shower.
Now, sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of bleach into the tub water.
The average, low-flow toilet flush takes about four gallons. A regular toilet flushes about ten. Use your shower water. I find I can flush urine with toilet paper with half a gallon. And the bleach keeps both the tub and the toilet clean.
Your shower water can be used to mop floors, too. And it's good for soaking bath mats, towels....I have a hamster cage soaking in my tub right now.
So, right there, just for the shower, I've reduced my usage from fifty gallons in 2 days to 8! And flush my toilet for free.
Put water with a drop of bleach in the sink to rinse dishes, rather than letting water run down the drain.
To warm sink water, place a bowl or pitcher under the stream, to collect warming water, rather than letting it flow down the sink. I use it to water plants, fill pet dishes, and fill my drinking water filter decanter in the refrigerator.
Also, in the kitchen, one can buy a connector for the discharge plumbing, screw it to a garden hose, and flush kitchen sink water out into the garden.
My washer is outside. I have attached old vacuum cleaner hoses to the discharge hose and extended them uphill, to the end of a flower bed. When the washer discharges, it flushes the water into my garden.
I use half the recommended soap in my wash, and enhance my laundry with such things as vinegar or washing soda. I use as close to environmentally-friendly soap as I can get. Since both wash- and rinse-cycle water gets discharged and flows over a large area, the soaps get diluted. I also have to suppliment the watering of that bed with a LITTLE fresh hose water.
And the soaps discourage insects.
Each fill of the washer is a minimum of twenty gallons. So, I'm saving a minimum of forty gallons, per load of laundry.
Finally, there are NO dripping faucets in my house. There are drip-catchers under every water source, to make sure I'm not wasting water.
I live in a utilities-paid complex. But I don't want to hear the landlord whine about the water bill. In addition, I can't, in good conscience, be irresponsible with any utilities, considering the environmental impacts.
So, that's how to radically reduce your water usage.
I live in a small apartment, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. One of the worst droughts in history is going into its, I think, fifth or sixth year. Yet, I have an extensive garden, in my yard and in the empty lot next door.
Yet, I use very VERY little water: about one fourth normal usage.
How?
Simple.
Get a tub. Put it in your shower. Get a shower massager on a hose, particularly one that shuts off when not in use, without turning off hot and cold.
Run the hot into the tub until it warms; don't let it go down the drain.
Stand in tub. Shower with reduced flow. The massager has higher pressure with less water, and you won't feel the difference. Shut water off from massager, when not in use during shower. You'll have to turn off the shower with faucet handles when done, or hose could burst! When finished, dangle massager over tub to drain.
My tub holds 16 gallons. One shower half fills it. That's about eight gallons. A normal shower is twenty five gallons.
I shower every OTHER day, rather than every day. On "off" days, I take "bird baths" in the sink. I walk a lot, as I have no car. I do a lot of heavy, physical labor, such as gardening. Yet, except if I get really nasty, I don't need a daily shower.
Now, sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of bleach into the tub water.
The average, low-flow toilet flush takes about four gallons. A regular toilet flushes about ten. Use your shower water. I find I can flush urine with toilet paper with half a gallon. And the bleach keeps both the tub and the toilet clean.
Your shower water can be used to mop floors, too. And it's good for soaking bath mats, towels....I have a hamster cage soaking in my tub right now.
So, right there, just for the shower, I've reduced my usage from fifty gallons in 2 days to 8! And flush my toilet for free.
Put water with a drop of bleach in the sink to rinse dishes, rather than letting water run down the drain.
To warm sink water, place a bowl or pitcher under the stream, to collect warming water, rather than letting it flow down the sink. I use it to water plants, fill pet dishes, and fill my drinking water filter decanter in the refrigerator.
Also, in the kitchen, one can buy a connector for the discharge plumbing, screw it to a garden hose, and flush kitchen sink water out into the garden.
My washer is outside. I have attached old vacuum cleaner hoses to the discharge hose and extended them uphill, to the end of a flower bed. When the washer discharges, it flushes the water into my garden.
I use half the recommended soap in my wash, and enhance my laundry with such things as vinegar or washing soda. I use as close to environmentally-friendly soap as I can get. Since both wash- and rinse-cycle water gets discharged and flows over a large area, the soaps get diluted. I also have to suppliment the watering of that bed with a LITTLE fresh hose water.
And the soaps discourage insects.
Each fill of the washer is a minimum of twenty gallons. So, I'm saving a minimum of forty gallons, per load of laundry.
Finally, there are NO dripping faucets in my house. There are drip-catchers under every water source, to make sure I'm not wasting water.
I live in a utilities-paid complex. But I don't want to hear the landlord whine about the water bill. In addition, I can't, in good conscience, be irresponsible with any utilities, considering the environmental impacts.
So, that's how to radically reduce your water usage.
Friday, January 30, 2004
no diabetes!
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
What a relief! Yes, I pee a lot. Yes, I get dizzy when I eat. Yes, I'm fat. But I haven't acquired type 2 diabetes....yet!!!
But I'm playin' with fire, hunny!
Y'know, I've dropped FOUR POUNDS this past week, just from knockin the soda pops off my diet? Dang!
So, the BAD news, of course, is that I eat like a poor person, or like a sedentary American fast food junky. I don't eat fried stuff much...very rarely. But I have bad cholesterol, from too much animal protein and too little fiber.
My nurse practitioner wants me to eat fish every day! Christ! Fish is like four dollars/lb on SALE!
But then, I remembered Polar tuna. I'll never buy any other brand of canned tuna again! Packed in water, big flaky chunks...fresh tasting. And it goes on sale frequently for twenty nine cents/can. So, I usually have a whole case or part thereof around the house.
I do NOT need to eat a whole can of tuna every day! And it would drive my cats crazy, anyway. But I can eat a fork full, three times a day, before regular meals.
Same with oatmeal. I don't need to eat a whole bowl full at a time. Just eat a few bites before a regular meal!
And I've GOT to score more fruits, vegies! It's always an issue in winter, when the garden's dead.
I looked at the USDA food pyramid. I'm sure 6-11 servings of carbs/day must be wrong, with only 4-8 or so fruits/vegies. If I reverse the amounts, I should b ok.
I can eat rice. Don't mind a bit. But trying to imagine eating eleven slices of bread every day made me turn a bit green!
I'm hunting for HDL foods. There's so MUCH GARBAGE on the 'net! But, in addition to more fishies, I can certainly eat more beans and stuff.
Basically, I have to eat more of an indigenous diet than industrial. It's pretty simple. And common sense.
My sore teeth make me a bit lazy about raw foods. It's easier to chew a soft chicken sandwich than a salad!
BUt I have my food processor; I can grate carrots, for instance, for sandwiches...
I'll figure it out. I'm certainly not stupid.
I can throw in some soy, too. I like tofu and stuff. Soy milk sounds disgusting, though... But just plain ol' soy beans would b ok, and they're cheap.
I've either gotta start eatin like I'm a Mexican from Veracruz (doesn't that sound wonderful??? fresh fish, fresh fruits....rice, beans...) or like I'm Japanese (that ain't exactly a hardship for me, either! LOL).
Or move to Mexico...which is tempting....but they don't have webtv...never mind.
I sort of lost interest in cooking, after my baby died and I lost my home. There's nobody to cook for, for one thing. For another thing, I'm very far from any food pantries here. I don't know where to get free food easily anymore. So, I'm afraid to spend money on anything but protein, sugar and carbs! Vegies and fruit are about a buck a pound. I'm afraid of feeling hungry.
Well, I'll figure it out. Maybe I can get leftovers from the food coop, although that's very far away from my house. I wish Smith's marked down wilty stuff...they throw it OUT!!! jerks.
Project Share is very far from my house. And they serve meals, not grocery sacks, apparantly. And you KNOW how badly I want to sit and eat a meal with homeless people! moan....talk about a psyche out!
I WILL figure this OUT, dammit!
Mean time, I didn't buy either the sale hamburger (which was just bloody lard, when I got a good look at it) nor the sale sodas at Stadium today.
I'm switching to tea. Mix 2 teabags of good stuff with 2 bags of cheap, generic crap (100 bags/$1). Add not-quite-boiling water (about a liter?) and half a teaspoon of sugar. Refrigerate. Warm in microwave as needed, or drink cold.
Tastes lovely. Right now, I've made up darjeeling/generic.
I always mix generic and good stuff, even my coffee, which is 3 parts crap to 1 part fresh-ground beans on sale. My coffee rarely costs me over a dollar fifty a pound this way, but still tastes lovely.
Well, I'm almost bleeding, I'm so tired...It was a LONG day out there!
So, I'm signing off to listen to DemocracyNOW!, heat up a cuppa, and have an Evil Cigarette, my 9th today. I'm gonna b off em within just a few months, at this rate! Usually, by this time of day, especially having had to wait for buses and be around angry people, I'd have smoked twenty cigs by now! Easy!
I'm pretty proud of that!
What a relief! Yes, I pee a lot. Yes, I get dizzy when I eat. Yes, I'm fat. But I haven't acquired type 2 diabetes....yet!!!
But I'm playin' with fire, hunny!
Y'know, I've dropped FOUR POUNDS this past week, just from knockin the soda pops off my diet? Dang!
So, the BAD news, of course, is that I eat like a poor person, or like a sedentary American fast food junky. I don't eat fried stuff much...very rarely. But I have bad cholesterol, from too much animal protein and too little fiber.
My nurse practitioner wants me to eat fish every day! Christ! Fish is like four dollars/lb on SALE!
But then, I remembered Polar tuna. I'll never buy any other brand of canned tuna again! Packed in water, big flaky chunks...fresh tasting. And it goes on sale frequently for twenty nine cents/can. So, I usually have a whole case or part thereof around the house.
I do NOT need to eat a whole can of tuna every day! And it would drive my cats crazy, anyway. But I can eat a fork full, three times a day, before regular meals.
Same with oatmeal. I don't need to eat a whole bowl full at a time. Just eat a few bites before a regular meal!
And I've GOT to score more fruits, vegies! It's always an issue in winter, when the garden's dead.
I looked at the USDA food pyramid. I'm sure 6-11 servings of carbs/day must be wrong, with only 4-8 or so fruits/vegies. If I reverse the amounts, I should b ok.
I can eat rice. Don't mind a bit. But trying to imagine eating eleven slices of bread every day made me turn a bit green!
I'm hunting for HDL foods. There's so MUCH GARBAGE on the 'net! But, in addition to more fishies, I can certainly eat more beans and stuff.
Basically, I have to eat more of an indigenous diet than industrial. It's pretty simple. And common sense.
My sore teeth make me a bit lazy about raw foods. It's easier to chew a soft chicken sandwich than a salad!
BUt I have my food processor; I can grate carrots, for instance, for sandwiches...
I'll figure it out. I'm certainly not stupid.
I can throw in some soy, too. I like tofu and stuff. Soy milk sounds disgusting, though... But just plain ol' soy beans would b ok, and they're cheap.
I've either gotta start eatin like I'm a Mexican from Veracruz (doesn't that sound wonderful??? fresh fish, fresh fruits....rice, beans...) or like I'm Japanese (that ain't exactly a hardship for me, either! LOL).
Or move to Mexico...which is tempting....but they don't have webtv...never mind.
I sort of lost interest in cooking, after my baby died and I lost my home. There's nobody to cook for, for one thing. For another thing, I'm very far from any food pantries here. I don't know where to get free food easily anymore. So, I'm afraid to spend money on anything but protein, sugar and carbs! Vegies and fruit are about a buck a pound. I'm afraid of feeling hungry.
Well, I'll figure it out. Maybe I can get leftovers from the food coop, although that's very far away from my house. I wish Smith's marked down wilty stuff...they throw it OUT!!! jerks.
Project Share is very far from my house. And they serve meals, not grocery sacks, apparantly. And you KNOW how badly I want to sit and eat a meal with homeless people! moan....talk about a psyche out!
I WILL figure this OUT, dammit!
Mean time, I didn't buy either the sale hamburger (which was just bloody lard, when I got a good look at it) nor the sale sodas at Stadium today.
I'm switching to tea. Mix 2 teabags of good stuff with 2 bags of cheap, generic crap (100 bags/$1). Add not-quite-boiling water (about a liter?) and half a teaspoon of sugar. Refrigerate. Warm in microwave as needed, or drink cold.
Tastes lovely. Right now, I've made up darjeeling/generic.
I always mix generic and good stuff, even my coffee, which is 3 parts crap to 1 part fresh-ground beans on sale. My coffee rarely costs me over a dollar fifty a pound this way, but still tastes lovely.
Well, I'm almost bleeding, I'm so tired...It was a LONG day out there!
So, I'm signing off to listen to DemocracyNOW!, heat up a cuppa, and have an Evil Cigarette, my 9th today. I'm gonna b off em within just a few months, at this rate! Usually, by this time of day, especially having had to wait for buses and be around angry people, I'd have smoked twenty cigs by now! Easy!
I'm pretty proud of that!
moan
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
OK: in 45 minutes, I head out to the bus stop. I'm going back to the clinic today for results of blood tests.
I also have another errand to run, the bus to which only runs once an hour.
I'll be gone a long time and I'll return very tired.
Don't expect much from me today.
OK: in 45 minutes, I head out to the bus stop. I'm going back to the clinic today for results of blood tests.
I also have another errand to run, the bus to which only runs once an hour.
I'll be gone a long time and I'll return very tired.
Don't expect much from me today.
Thursday, January 29, 2004
"Health:" a sonnet
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
Health
I've scrubbed your toilets, pulled your garden weeds,
Washed rest'raunt dishes, taken out your trash,
I've fact'ry worked, until my body bleeds,
To pay off bills that leave me no more cash.
It's me, out on the streets, whom you avoid:
The tired one, no stylish clothes, no car.
I don't smell good and you look so annoyed.
If you brushed me, designer clothes I'd mar.
I check you out at Wal*mart, wash your wheels;
I clean your laundry, even clean your pet;
I watch your kids and old folks. Yet, it feels,
You look at me as though we've never met,
Don't know I'm sick, exhausted, under paid;
You do not know someone on Medicaid.
http://rriverstone.com/poetry/health.html
I've scrubbed your toilets, pulled your garden weeds,
Washed rest'raunt dishes, taken out your trash,
I've fact'ry worked, until my body bleeds,
To pay off bills that leave me no more cash.
It's me, out on the streets, whom you avoid:
The tired one, no stylish clothes, no car.
I don't smell good and you look so annoyed.
If you brushed me, designer clothes I'd mar.
I check you out at Wal*mart, wash your wheels;
I clean your laundry, even clean your pet;
I watch your kids and old folks. Yet, it feels,
You look at me as though we've never met,
Don't know I'm sick, exhausted, under paid;
You do not know someone on Medicaid.
http://rriverstone.com/poetry/health.html
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
it's not fair
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
dammit, I ought to be able to walk to the radio station and back without needing to spend the rest of the day in bed!
I'm in SO MUCH PAIN!
I have no idea how to make this better! Every time I walk somewhere, I need to rest the next day. If I don't, I'm in big trouble.
It's so dang discouraging!
dammit, I ought to be able to walk to the radio station and back without needing to spend the rest of the day in bed!
I'm in SO MUCH PAIN!
I have no idea how to make this better! Every time I walk somewhere, I need to rest the next day. If I don't, I'm in big trouble.
It's so dang discouraging!
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
mmmph!
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
Offer your feedback and comments at Rogi's Kitchen Table.
at 7:30am, twenty one degrees out, I trudged my useless and coffee deprived butt down to the bus stop to go to the clinic for blood tests.
I'm being tested for diabetes, among a host of other crap, so I couldn't eat or drink anything but water until the blood was drawn.
You don't want to meet me, early on a cold morning, when I haven't had any coffe and have to walk alot.
I was a grumpy gal.
The guy was from Cuba; his English was funny, but man, can he draw blood! Barely felt it! I was outta der in ten minutes!
JUST missed a bus to go back. It's a 40 minute wait 'til the next one, so I walked into Stadium Grocery, next door. Found jalapeno dip: pure sour cream, yummy, for fifty cents a half pint. Bought 4. They're having hamburger and avacados on sale next week, so I'm gonna b makin tacos! Jalapeno dip will be GREAT on em!
Drove everybody in the grocery crazy, tellin stories and tryin to stay warm for awhile.
You're not gonna believe this, but I'd packed a THERMOS full of coffee, so I could have a cup the second he stopped drawing blood! Straight up! Started drinkin it right in the blood room, kept sippin all the way thru the grocery, and moved on to the bus stop with it!
By the time I got home, my bladder was near bursting.
Sat around awhile, thawing out.
Then I grabbed Porkchop and we took off for the radio station.
Stopped by the Swiss bakery on Harvard, specifically looking for day-old stuff. Got a loaf of wheat bread. They have buy one get one free on Mondays, so I've already told the radio station I'm volunteering on Mondays, instead of Tuesdays from now on!
Nibbled bread across campus. Got there early. Poured me a cup of coffee and came back downstairs to hang with Porkchop and have a last smoke.
Porky has a nice stashing place. A little, blind alcove with juniper bushes, out of the way, out of sight. I just threw his blankie on the ground, under the junipers and said, "go to bed." He likes it. I had him tied to the cart. Nobody even knew they were there.
Finished one of the 2 rolodexes today.
Introduced myself, formally, to Marcos Martinez and some of the news staff.
Slooooowly walked back across campus at 1pm...might have been a bit later; wanted to finish the whole rolodex b4 leaving.
We hung at the duck pond for awhile. There's one, white duck with a red face who I KNOW was somebody's pet. SHe's not a bit scared of people or of Porkchop. Swims right up to him. He's scandalized! He hates water!
I may try to catch that duck and bring her home. I may....could sure use the eggs!
Ducks are good company. Messy, but good company!
Trudged thru the alley south of Central, looking for whatever. Some lady offered me dog food money. I thanked her but turned her down.
OH! I found the wire baskets from a dishwasher today! I need another thing to hang from a toggle hook in the kitchen to hang my gadgets on. This thing's perfect: insulated wire, on a swiveling spindle! I'll hang it some other day though. I've got to go back to the station tomorrow. And Thursday's trash day. I need to save my strength.
Porky and I finally staggered in at about 2:30. Basically, I was rippin and runnin for seven hours in the cold today. I'm totally pooped.
So, blogs and dishes and all kindsa stuff are just gonna have to wait for my tired butt.
Came in and totally raided the fridge: potatoe salad, kosher pickle, chicken breast and two slices of balogna with thin-sliced cheese rolled up in em. Soda pop and a cig! Except for the bread, that was the only thing I've eaten all day.
Five outta six cats are within six feet of me...I think they missed me. Snuffy's in the dresser drawer. Miss Thing's pressed against my right thigh. Mugwart's pressed against the left. Ivan's on the steamer trunk I use as a coffee table/cat bed in here. Osa's in the window seat, staring at birds. Chaco's sleeping in my closet, in a basket of napkins and table cloths. Porkchop's pressed against the soles of my feet, which feels wonderful.
Amy Goodman's on, but I aint got the stomach for more Bush/Iraq crap right now...
My feeties really hurt and so does almost every other body part. My ears and nose are still thawing out. I'm so chilled, I don't know if I'll ever be warm again!
I'm takin a dang NAP!
Run the world without me for awhile, would you?
Offer your feedback and comments at Rogi's Kitchen Table.
at 7:30am, twenty one degrees out, I trudged my useless and coffee deprived butt down to the bus stop to go to the clinic for blood tests.
I'm being tested for diabetes, among a host of other crap, so I couldn't eat or drink anything but water until the blood was drawn.
You don't want to meet me, early on a cold morning, when I haven't had any coffe and have to walk alot.
I was a grumpy gal.
The guy was from Cuba; his English was funny, but man, can he draw blood! Barely felt it! I was outta der in ten minutes!
JUST missed a bus to go back. It's a 40 minute wait 'til the next one, so I walked into Stadium Grocery, next door. Found jalapeno dip: pure sour cream, yummy, for fifty cents a half pint. Bought 4. They're having hamburger and avacados on sale next week, so I'm gonna b makin tacos! Jalapeno dip will be GREAT on em!
Drove everybody in the grocery crazy, tellin stories and tryin to stay warm for awhile.
You're not gonna believe this, but I'd packed a THERMOS full of coffee, so I could have a cup the second he stopped drawing blood! Straight up! Started drinkin it right in the blood room, kept sippin all the way thru the grocery, and moved on to the bus stop with it!
By the time I got home, my bladder was near bursting.
Sat around awhile, thawing out.
Then I grabbed Porkchop and we took off for the radio station.
Stopped by the Swiss bakery on Harvard, specifically looking for day-old stuff. Got a loaf of wheat bread. They have buy one get one free on Mondays, so I've already told the radio station I'm volunteering on Mondays, instead of Tuesdays from now on!
Nibbled bread across campus. Got there early. Poured me a cup of coffee and came back downstairs to hang with Porkchop and have a last smoke.
Porky has a nice stashing place. A little, blind alcove with juniper bushes, out of the way, out of sight. I just threw his blankie on the ground, under the junipers and said, "go to bed." He likes it. I had him tied to the cart. Nobody even knew they were there.
Finished one of the 2 rolodexes today.
Introduced myself, formally, to Marcos Martinez and some of the news staff.
Slooooowly walked back across campus at 1pm...might have been a bit later; wanted to finish the whole rolodex b4 leaving.
We hung at the duck pond for awhile. There's one, white duck with a red face who I KNOW was somebody's pet. SHe's not a bit scared of people or of Porkchop. Swims right up to him. He's scandalized! He hates water!
I may try to catch that duck and bring her home. I may....could sure use the eggs!
Ducks are good company. Messy, but good company!
Trudged thru the alley south of Central, looking for whatever. Some lady offered me dog food money. I thanked her but turned her down.
OH! I found the wire baskets from a dishwasher today! I need another thing to hang from a toggle hook in the kitchen to hang my gadgets on. This thing's perfect: insulated wire, on a swiveling spindle! I'll hang it some other day though. I've got to go back to the station tomorrow. And Thursday's trash day. I need to save my strength.
Porky and I finally staggered in at about 2:30. Basically, I was rippin and runnin for seven hours in the cold today. I'm totally pooped.
So, blogs and dishes and all kindsa stuff are just gonna have to wait for my tired butt.
Came in and totally raided the fridge: potatoe salad, kosher pickle, chicken breast and two slices of balogna with thin-sliced cheese rolled up in em. Soda pop and a cig! Except for the bread, that was the only thing I've eaten all day.
Five outta six cats are within six feet of me...I think they missed me. Snuffy's in the dresser drawer. Miss Thing's pressed against my right thigh. Mugwart's pressed against the left. Ivan's on the steamer trunk I use as a coffee table/cat bed in here. Osa's in the window seat, staring at birds. Chaco's sleeping in my closet, in a basket of napkins and table cloths. Porkchop's pressed against the soles of my feet, which feels wonderful.
Amy Goodman's on, but I aint got the stomach for more Bush/Iraq crap right now...
My feeties really hurt and so does almost every other body part. My ears and nose are still thawing out. I'm so chilled, I don't know if I'll ever be warm again!
I'm takin a dang NAP!
Run the world without me for awhile, would you?
Monday, January 26, 2004
Cosmetics
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
Offer your feedback and comments at Rogi's Kitchen Table.
Cosmetics
"Hey, look! That's Pepe's house!" the 'hood rats shout.
They point to "Cops," the show on my tv.
There's Chui, Justine's uncle, coming out,
Assisted by the blue gang, A.P.D.
A "whore motel" on Central is the scene,
For immigrants and gangsters, side by side:
When times are tight and money is too lean
No questions asked, a place to live or hide.
May'r Marty Chavez told our cops today
That "Cops" show is no longer welcomed here.
It doesn't look good, showing us this way.
It scares the tourists off, fills them with fear.
The War Zone disappears from Marty's view.
But, for the War Zone 'hood rats, it's still true.
http://rriverstone.com/poetry/cosmetics.html
Offer your feedback and comments at Rogi's Kitchen Table.
"Hey, look! That's Pepe's house!" the 'hood rats shout.
They point to "Cops," the show on my tv.
There's Chui, Justine's uncle, coming out,
Assisted by the blue gang, A.P.D.
A "whore motel" on Central is the scene,
For immigrants and gangsters, side by side:
When times are tight and money is too lean
No questions asked, a place to live or hide.
May'r Marty Chavez told our cops today
That "Cops" show is no longer welcomed here.
It doesn't look good, showing us this way.
It scares the tourists off, fills them with fear.
The War Zone disappears from Marty's view.
But, for the War Zone 'hood rats, it's still true.
http://rriverstone.com/poetry/cosmetics.html
"Welfare:" a sonnet
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
Offer your feedback and comments at Rogi's Kitchen Table.
Welfare
Sad, sickly, slow, ashamed, grieving and weak.
I stumble over cracks; I trudge and limp.
You hurl rocks, bottles, spit and hatred speak:
"Pig! Welfare leech! Trash Picker! Lazy wimp!"
"Stop ripping off my taxes! Get a job!"
I scurry off to hide. You laugh at me.
Half blind, my breath comes short; my muscles throb.
I stifle tears. Why can't you let me be?
A quarter century I've worked so hard:
Assembly, maid, fast food joints, door-to-door.
With acids, feces, concrete, blood and lard
My mind is stained; can't do it any more.
I eat and wear the garbage I can find.
Hate me, while Halliburton robs you blind!
http://rriverstone.com/poetry/welfare.html
Offer your feedback and comments at Rogi's Kitchen Table.
Sad, sickly, slow, ashamed, grieving and weak.
I stumble over cracks; I trudge and limp.
You hurl rocks, bottles, spit and hatred speak:
"Pig! Welfare leech! Trash Picker! Lazy wimp!"
"Stop ripping off my taxes! Get a job!"
I scurry off to hide. You laugh at me.
Half blind, my breath comes short; my muscles throb.
I stifle tears. Why can't you let me be?
A quarter century I've worked so hard:
Assembly, maid, fast food joints, door-to-door.
With acids, feces, concrete, blood and lard
My mind is stained; can't do it any more.
I eat and wear the garbage I can find.
Hate me, while Halliburton robs you blind!
http://rriverstone.com/poetry/welfare.html
Sunday, January 25, 2004
ding dong, the tooth is dead!
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
Offer your feedback and comments at Rogi's Kitchen Table.
that dead molar is finally loose. I know I could pull it out of the socket; it's just floating in there.
I've been pulling at it, using the tooth above it as a lever. Sort of like wiggling it back and forth. I've been doing it for weeks.
It wasn't a painful procedure. In fact, it actually felt a bit like scratching an itch, deep in my jaw.
I'll have to be careful not to swallow it when I eat. I need to keep it in the socket, until I know what to do.
It would be fun, though, to pull it out in front of people and really gross them out! And then put it back in!
But I'm not going to remove it. I don't know if I could set the roots back into the holes properly again, for one thing. For another thing, I don't want to push food down in there. That's been an issue, anyway. Food contamination has been a major source of my pain. I've been swishing warm coffee, tea, water and hydrogen peroxide in the socket: anything to ease the pain and irritation.
So, until I can figure out how to get to a dentist or oral surgeon, I'll just have to be careful when I eat.
I've gotten used to chewing only on my right side, anyway. But that side, too, only has one upper and one lower molar left. And none of my molars line up right anymore.
But thank heavens! That damned tooth is DEAD!
I just hope it doesn't cause gangrene.
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that dead molar is finally loose. I know I could pull it out of the socket; it's just floating in there.
I've been pulling at it, using the tooth above it as a lever. Sort of like wiggling it back and forth. I've been doing it for weeks.
It wasn't a painful procedure. In fact, it actually felt a bit like scratching an itch, deep in my jaw.
I'll have to be careful not to swallow it when I eat. I need to keep it in the socket, until I know what to do.
It would be fun, though, to pull it out in front of people and really gross them out! And then put it back in!
But I'm not going to remove it. I don't know if I could set the roots back into the holes properly again, for one thing. For another thing, I don't want to push food down in there. That's been an issue, anyway. Food contamination has been a major source of my pain. I've been swishing warm coffee, tea, water and hydrogen peroxide in the socket: anything to ease the pain and irritation.
So, until I can figure out how to get to a dentist or oral surgeon, I'll just have to be careful when I eat.
I've gotten used to chewing only on my right side, anyway. But that side, too, only has one upper and one lower molar left. And none of my molars line up right anymore.
But thank heavens! That damned tooth is DEAD!
I just hope it doesn't cause gangrene.
Saturday, January 24, 2004
I'm disgusted
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Well, I've counted my calories today. I didn't eat anything differnt than I normally do, except I reduced my sodas by 3/4.
I calculate that I actually EAT only about 1,500 to 2,000 calories per day.
I've almost eaten 1,500 today. I couldn't finish my stuffed, baked potato. It was only about the size of my fist. It had about 2 tablespoons of beef roast, a pat of butter, a VERY thin slice of cheese (about 1/2 the width of a slice of American cheese), 2 tbsp. sour cream. I couldn't finish it.
I HOPE eleminating the sodas from my diet will be enough of a calorie reduction so I can drop the weight.
I do NOT over eat! But my body's gotten so efficient at storing fat, because my nutrition is so sketchy.
For years, people have called me a pig, a slob, a sow, etc.
I never eat snack foods. I rarely eat fast foods. I rarely drink alcohol. I seldome eat fried stuff. I do eat sugar, but it's usually in something I home baked, and not a lot at one sitting.
This whole time, I didn't think I was eating excessively. And I know I get excercise.
It's a dang mess!
Basically, I'm fat because I'm poor.
Offer your feedback and comments at Rogi's Kitchen Table.
Well, I've counted my calories today. I didn't eat anything differnt than I normally do, except I reduced my sodas by 3/4.
I calculate that I actually EAT only about 1,500 to 2,000 calories per day.
I've almost eaten 1,500 today. I couldn't finish my stuffed, baked potato. It was only about the size of my fist. It had about 2 tablespoons of beef roast, a pat of butter, a VERY thin slice of cheese (about 1/2 the width of a slice of American cheese), 2 tbsp. sour cream. I couldn't finish it.
I HOPE eleminating the sodas from my diet will be enough of a calorie reduction so I can drop the weight.
I do NOT over eat! But my body's gotten so efficient at storing fat, because my nutrition is so sketchy.
For years, people have called me a pig, a slob, a sow, etc.
I never eat snack foods. I rarely eat fast foods. I rarely drink alcohol. I seldome eat fried stuff. I do eat sugar, but it's usually in something I home baked, and not a lot at one sitting.
This whole time, I didn't think I was eating excessively. And I know I get excercise.
It's a dang mess!
Basically, I'm fat because I'm poor.
urban legend alert!
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
Offer your feedback and comments at Rogi's Kitchen Table.
well, on my 4th glass of water today, I got the worst head ache! I mean, it's a whopper.
So I wondered: 8 glasses of water per day? I'll be house bound, unable to go anywhere not within easy dash to a bathroom!
So I looked it up.
URBAN LEGEND!
http://www.snopes.com/toxins/water.htm
I'm still glad to drink a LOT more water than I've been drinking! But I need to pay attention to what my body's telling me.
Flushing all the salts and potassium out of my poor, ol', beat up brain ain't gonna help me a BIT!
I mean, I've drunk a day's worth of water in half a day, and my eyes are bulging and my sinus hurt!
Shoulda looked it up before I started drowning myself! HAH!
And I'm right about my food intake: I haven't been eating enough calories in a day. I was relying on the sugars in the sodas for calories. It's 5 pm and I've only eaten about a thousand calories. Estimates I've been reading show I should be eating at least 1,400 to 2,200 per day!
I can't figure out HOW to eat another thousand calories today! I made some pop corn, with a tiny drizzle of butter (about a tablespoon for about eight cups of popped corn) and a couple of sprinkles of cheese powder (from mac & "cheese" box).
I still have 2 pieces of produce left to eat today; maybe I'll have a baked tater.
I KNEW I haven't been EATING much!
This is going to take some serious adjustment! My diet has been radically off base. I knew this was true, because I can't eat a normal-sized meal in one sitting; my stomach shrank. Guess all that WATER will stretch it, huh? LOL
I'll figure it all out, but this is very confusing.
How the HELL am I going to cram another thousand calories down my throat before bed???
Whimper...
---------
I just looked up the calories in taters: about a hundred per. That means I'd have to eat TEN potatoes before bed in order to eat another thousand calories! Four oz. of chicken or turkey is only 350.
I have no idea how to eat enough food before bed time. I've only got about six hours left 'til then. I don't like sleeping on a full stomach.
THis is gonna be a lot harder to figure out than I thought...
I guess I'll need to eat a much larger breakfast.
I've never counted a calorie before in my LIFE!
I wish I could talk to a nutritionist: a REAL one, not some hippy quack!
ok...off to make a tater. Guess I can put cheese and sour cream on it, too, huh?
Offer your feedback and comments at Rogi's Kitchen Table.
well, on my 4th glass of water today, I got the worst head ache! I mean, it's a whopper.
So I wondered: 8 glasses of water per day? I'll be house bound, unable to go anywhere not within easy dash to a bathroom!
So I looked it up.
URBAN LEGEND!
http://www.snopes.com/toxins/water.htm
I'm still glad to drink a LOT more water than I've been drinking! But I need to pay attention to what my body's telling me.
Flushing all the salts and potassium out of my poor, ol', beat up brain ain't gonna help me a BIT!
I mean, I've drunk a day's worth of water in half a day, and my eyes are bulging and my sinus hurt!
Shoulda looked it up before I started drowning myself! HAH!
And I'm right about my food intake: I haven't been eating enough calories in a day. I was relying on the sugars in the sodas for calories. It's 5 pm and I've only eaten about a thousand calories. Estimates I've been reading show I should be eating at least 1,400 to 2,200 per day!
I can't figure out HOW to eat another thousand calories today! I made some pop corn, with a tiny drizzle of butter (about a tablespoon for about eight cups of popped corn) and a couple of sprinkles of cheese powder (from mac & "cheese" box).
I still have 2 pieces of produce left to eat today; maybe I'll have a baked tater.
I KNEW I haven't been EATING much!
This is going to take some serious adjustment! My diet has been radically off base. I knew this was true, because I can't eat a normal-sized meal in one sitting; my stomach shrank. Guess all that WATER will stretch it, huh? LOL
I'll figure it all out, but this is very confusing.
How the HELL am I going to cram another thousand calories down my throat before bed???
Whimper...
---------
I just looked up the calories in taters: about a hundred per. That means I'd have to eat TEN potatoes before bed in order to eat another thousand calories! Four oz. of chicken or turkey is only 350.
I have no idea how to eat enough food before bed time. I've only got about six hours left 'til then. I don't like sleeping on a full stomach.
THis is gonna be a lot harder to figure out than I thought...
I guess I'll need to eat a much larger breakfast.
I've never counted a calorie before in my LIFE!
I wish I could talk to a nutritionist: a REAL one, not some hippy quack!
ok...off to make a tater. Guess I can put cheese and sour cream on it, too, huh?
duck pond
You are reading http://livinginthehood.blogspot.com
Offer your feedback and comments at Rogi's Kitchen Table.
Well, it was a nice walk. Porky and I looked in the dumpsters of restaurants along Central and I found about twenty lbs. of chopped lettuce behind Wendy's. It was just fine. A little water logged...probably melted ice.
When we got to the pond, I threw some in the water and scattered the rest on the bank.
Big, fat fish and ducks swarmed to eat.
People throw their pet goldfish in the pond. I saw one dang near 3 feet long! There's a black, Japanese style gold fish about a foot long. Sure would like to catch him! I don't know if any of the fish are actual koi; water's too murky to see very well.
There are schools of minnows, too.
I don't know why Porky and I haven't been going to the pond. It's really not too far from my house: maybe ten blocks?
There's a lot of stuff at the university I should be seeing: museums, etc.
Heck, I'm only about half a mile or so from a university! I might as well enjoy it.
I'm drinking my water; got 3 large glasses down, so far, plus whatever I drank from my bottle at the pond. pee a lot anyway, so this is a real challenge. I don't dare go to the duck pond tomorrow; it'll be too hard to find a bathroom, once I get there. With about 16 oz. of coffee and 30 oz. of water in me, I almost didn't make it to the bathroom at the Humanities Bldg. today!
I've only eaten 2 small sandwiches today and a small piece of chocolate.
4 pieces of chocolate, I've learned, are 100 calories, but they're 33% of daily fat. I found that putting a bit of chocolate on my tongue while sipping coffee is fabulous! LOL.
I don't feel a bit hungry or deprived. In fact, by drinking a big glass of water with a small sandwich, I feel pretty stuffed and waddly after eating.
I'm wondering if drinking more water will help with the pain I feel from walking. While tired from our trip, I don't feel a need to rest for long. I'm sure it won't hurt. There's an acid which muscles secrete during exercise; it causes pain. I'm pretty sure hydration minimizes the effects. And it CERTAINLY can't be bad for my joints and connective tissues, the areas in which I experience most of the pain.
We left the duck pond when too many people started showing up. Although he was on leash, Porky's leash wasn't connected to anything. It weighs him down and slows him. He continues to obey commands, as long as I'm on the alert for dogs and other things he might attack. It was nice to let him have some freedom as we walked. He never went very far from me.
On the way home, I found a great treat: a shocking-pink wig. It's got crimped hair that's over shoulder length. I have no idea what I'll do with it, but it's so funny! I washed it and it's hanging in the shower to dry.
I have a few, light chores to do today, but I'm taking it kinda easy.
I have to return to the clinic for some blood tests, early Monday morning and, if it's not too cold, windy or rainy, I'll walk. It's about six miles, round trip. I think. Maybe only four. But the return trip is almost all up hill.
Although I took the bus there yesterday, I did walk home. It'll poop ya out, believe me!
Well, gotta pee! L8terz! LOL
===========
well, I found my problem. It's the soda pops!
I looked up calories per day on this thing http://walking.about.com/library/walk/blcalcalc.htm. I used my real weight and calculated. Then, I used my "ideal" weight and calculated.
The difference in calories is, guess what? Four sodas per day. Guess how many sodas I've been drinking per day (approx.)? Yep. SIX HUNDRED FORTY calories in sodas, per day, on average!
And I know why, too: appetite suppressant. Plain and simple. Explains the cigarettes, too. I only have $2 food stamps/day. If I spend about fifty cents of that on generic soda pop (about twelve cents/can), I won't notice I'm hungry! I'll betcha! DANG!
I haven't had a soda yet today; haven't felt the craving, cuz I'm full of water. I was drinking a soda with lunch and dinner, one for mid day snack and one at night.
I've been self-medicating, so I wouldn't eat too much! That makes me angry and sad all at the same time!
My poor, poor body!
Offer your feedback and comments at Rogi's Kitchen Table.
Well, it was a nice walk. Porky and I looked in the dumpsters of restaurants along Central and I found about twenty lbs. of chopped lettuce behind Wendy's. It was just fine. A little water logged...probably melted ice.
When we got to the pond, I threw some in the water and scattered the rest on the bank.
Big, fat fish and ducks swarmed to eat.
People throw their pet goldfish in the pond. I saw one dang near 3 feet long! There's a black, Japanese style gold fish about a foot long. Sure would like to catch him! I don't know if any of the fish are actual koi; water's too murky to see very well.
There are schools of minnows, too.
I don't know why Porky and I haven't been going to the pond. It's really not too far from my house: maybe ten blocks?
There's a lot of stuff at the university I should be seeing: museums, etc.
Heck, I'm only about half a mile or so from a university! I might as well enjoy it.
I'm drinking my water; got 3 large glasses down, so far, plus whatever I drank from my bottle at the pond. pee a lot anyway, so this is a real challenge. I don't dare go to the duck pond tomorrow; it'll be too hard to find a bathroom, once I get there. With about 16 oz. of coffee and 30 oz. of water in me, I almost didn't make it to the bathroom at the Humanities Bldg. today!
I've only eaten 2 small sandwiches today and a small piece of chocolate.
4 pieces of chocolate, I've learned, are 100 calories, but they're 33% of daily fat. I found that putting a bit of chocolate on my tongue while sipping coffee is fabulous! LOL.
I don't feel a bit hungry or deprived. In fact, by drinking a big glass of water with a small sandwich, I feel pretty stuffed and waddly after eating.
I'm wondering if drinking more water will help with the pain I feel from walking. While tired from our trip, I don't feel a need to rest for long. I'm sure it won't hurt. There's an acid which muscles secrete during exercise; it causes pain. I'm pretty sure hydration minimizes the effects. And it CERTAINLY can't be bad for my joints and connective tissues, the areas in which I experience most of the pain.
We left the duck pond when too many people started showing up. Although he was on leash, Porky's leash wasn't connected to anything. It weighs him down and slows him. He continues to obey commands, as long as I'm on the alert for dogs and other things he might attack. It was nice to let him have some freedom as we walked. He never went very far from me.
On the way home, I found a great treat: a shocking-pink wig. It's got crimped hair that's over shoulder length. I have no idea what I'll do with it, but it's so funny! I washed it and it's hanging in the shower to dry.
I have a few, light chores to do today, but I'm taking it kinda easy.
I have to return to the clinic for some blood tests, early Monday morning and, if it's not too cold, windy or rainy, I'll walk. It's about six miles, round trip. I think. Maybe only four. But the return trip is almost all up hill.
Although I took the bus there yesterday, I did walk home. It'll poop ya out, believe me!
Well, gotta pee! L8terz! LOL
===========
well, I found my problem. It's the soda pops!
I looked up calories per day on this thing http://walking.about.com/library/walk/blcalcalc.htm. I used my real weight and calculated. Then, I used my "ideal" weight and calculated.
The difference in calories is, guess what? Four sodas per day. Guess how many sodas I've been drinking per day (approx.)? Yep. SIX HUNDRED FORTY calories in sodas, per day, on average!
And I know why, too: appetite suppressant. Plain and simple. Explains the cigarettes, too. I only have $2 food stamps/day. If I spend about fifty cents of that on generic soda pop (about twelve cents/can), I won't notice I'm hungry! I'll betcha! DANG!
I haven't had a soda yet today; haven't felt the craving, cuz I'm full of water. I was drinking a soda with lunch and dinner, one for mid day snack and one at night.
I've been self-medicating, so I wouldn't eat too much! That makes me angry and sad all at the same time!
My poor, poor body!
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