SUNDAY
armchair revolutionaries and the imperial presidency: naked as a jaybird
another 12/15 hour day and came up short again
man im tired
i get the 10 pages redpen done, but then i have to input it
damn near a days work in itself, thats what keep coming up short
then i try to read over what ive done and its not reading smooth yet
which means i have to redpen it again, which means i dont move forward
working in miles and moving in inches, no wonder people give up
but i knew this was the crunch redpen and this about what i expected
a daily struggle to catchup, a desperation driven process
so im about 14 pages behind schedule now
so that makes today a catchup day instead of a rest day - thats a bummer
gon make time for some commentary today though on an issue i consider
a more fundamental threat to the american dream than terrorism
saw where a repub ally of the whitehouse, rep hoekstra
head of the house intelligence committee, wrote a private letter
to the bush administration complaining that his committee
was not being briefed on still more intelligence programs
beyond the ones we have already heard about
I have learned of some alleged intelligence community activities about which our committee has not been briefed. If these allegations are true, they may represent a breach of responsibility by the administration, a violation of the law, and, just as importantly, a direct affront to me and the members of this committee who have so ardently supported efforts to collect information on our enemies."
they do this when they want to be on record as having protested policies
they are not allowed to speak on but fear might one day be found illegal or unconstitutional
i been expecting for some time now
that there are further programs we still know nothing of
and can only imagine what manner transgression they must be
there is very little that i would put beyond this administration
they are already deep into the it cant happen in america zone
i figure thats why they jumped the times so hard recently
behind the financial thing - so as to intimidate the press from
disclosing any more programs - or even digging into them
look, you want to intimidate the press you need to move
to iran or zimbabwe somewhere where they play that
i am very conscious of the fact that my outrage once again exposes
me as an irredemptive dreamer and to the ridicule of my political friends
but i still believe in what america could be
i assure you i understand that its true history is one of rapacious real politic
but it has also been an ideal and a potential that i for one believe in
i will always ask of the american people their very best
and it is part of my multicultural strategy that the black struggle
be americas conscience and consciousness, its moral center
there will be a day that folk will trust the word of rickydoc
and i tell anybody who will listen, dude naked as a jaybird
last time i looked we were still electing a president, not a king
stil some question about whether we legitimately elected this one
manipulation of elections appears to be an integral part of their not in america agenda
they are almost fascist in their contempt for american democracy
and the american people
i fear this party isnt over just yet
another administration ally on the committee, heather wilson of new mexico, said:
"I think the executive branch has been insufficiently forthcoming on a number of
important programs, there's a
presumption that if they don't tell anybody, a problem may get better or it will
solve itself."
no shit sherlock
more like they assume folk will just forget about it and
move on to the next crises
leaving fanatics in charge of the field
hold on yall, keep the faith and fight them at every turn
what they want we cannot allow
we are in a struggle for americas soul
well
look like i should have used o ye generations on this one
im outta here,
got to input about 5 pages worth of yesterdays manuscript, then do todays 10
but since i didnt have 10 scheduled for today, hopefully i will catch up w/myself
(or at least cut the backlog down to a less discouraging 4 or 5)
also 15 hour days mean i aint been online and falling behind w/my organizing activities,
thats a bummer that will require its own catchup - emails, posts, calls, infrastructure design,
player maintenance issues
amazing how much of my work as an organizer as moved
on line these days, armchair revolutionary indeed
its a much wider field of play, but that just mean
you got that many more obligations and responsibilities
cant put that off much longer, things fall apart
ima get on that sometime today, have to . . .
soon as i get my daily 10 . . .
soon as i get my daily 10 . . .
god help me, i just want my 10
in struggle
rdoc
SATURDAY
hello world, i cannot stay
deep in the zone trying to keep up my schedule
worked all day yesterday inputting previous days work
(inputting redpen longhand onto computer manuscript is in itself a draft)
so i worked like a dog 10 hours or so and didnt move a page forward
not one page
so now im 10 pages behind schedule again
im spose to be on page 50 today and im just on 40,
being behind 10 pages is doable, i can always catch up 10, 20 is not
20 i cannot allow
but im dragging today, means burn out coming, all i want to do is lay there
read scifi
got up this morinng and sat at the sacred desk and 30 minutes later
i realize im just sitting there - tired as i can be - today gon be rough
tomorrow is sunday, my scheduled day off, so i got to crunch
through today in spite of being bone tired - cause aint no rest
for the weary chile - i cannot allow myself to fall behind 20 pages
so forgive me yall but rickydoc can not stay ,. . .
some quickies and im gone
saw where a judge has ruled georgias voters id law unconstitutional
a luta continua
saw where political warfare left 16 dead in haiti slum - apparently recently
deposed interim government created slumgangs to fight aristedes gangs, the
government is gone but the gangs remain
saw status quo in darfur - the rebels have lost credibility lately,
dont you just hate it when it turns out you were a naive dreamer again
a patsy for a samo samo routine,
ohwell, doesnt change facts on the ground, folk dying hard there
interesting what makes one crises the crises while similiar situations fester
and the worlds humanitarian energy gets channelled primarily into that one
until it has been 'resolved' to point of refocusing on the next most pressing outrage
something here i will have to work at when i get the time
okay, thats it, im outta here
probably think of some more quickies through the day
and eventually find links for them, but for the moment im gone . . .
also owe folk email returns, listserve posts, callbacks, etc etc etc
ima get to all that sometime today too, soon as i clock my daily 10
tried to yesterday but i didnt get my 10, i dont get my 10 dont nothing
else get done cause ima work the 10 till i drop in my tracks - bes like that sometime
woodshed summer its do or die
you dizzy tired but you trying to finish the phase, right
you be sitting there, right, and you think you working and actually you sleeping
and you just dreaming that you working
and its like okay - naptime
be right back
now thats what im talking about, thats the zone
and i love it, thats when Work get done, thats what i live for
im outtta here . . .
rdoc
(note: wanted to use my new salutation - o ye generations
but it didnt feel right, felt pretentious - i will know when its right, so will you)
(note 2: i know im boring many of you with this daily account of my
struggle to produce but for me my Work is always in part addressed to young writers and designed to help them be - thats babajohns voice in me
i love making books, and i love helping other folk make books
its part of my definition of myself as true writer and literary hoodooman
i encourage most everybody i touch to write, and if they do write to get their work done
thats what i do, spread the power - from this process i draw a great deal of my own power
(what tickle me about mfa programs is the schoolhouse pay me to do what i could not live w/o)
basically what im doing here is saying this is how i crunch it
this how i get my work done, other writers do it differently
but if you want to write and my stylee speak to you, rickydoc gon give
you a manual - follow my lead
in struggle
rdoc
FRIDAY
reconstruction blues
reading this interview with eric foner, author
of forever free: emancipation and reconstruction
a book about the myths of reconstruction
myth: that reconstruction was vindictive to south
reality: only if south is just white south, and only because it tried to franchise blacks
myth: that blacks were children lead by carbetbaggers et al
reality: black struggles to establish themselves as citizens after slavery was unrelenting
myth: that kkk was relatively benign org mostly scaring offblack voters w/ghost sheets
reality: a bunch of nightriding yahoos and murderous homegrown terrorists of the first order
myth: current efforts to weaken black democatic support by claiming to be the party of lincoln
reality: the party of lincoln lost potential black support w/nixons racist "southern strategy" and bushs katrina response
and other such anti mythology, he talks about how these myths are still effecting influence on american society, how for instance social security was designed to exclude blacks
one myth the interview doesnt cover is that of nathan bedford forrest, slavetrading founder of the kkk, unreconstructed icon of memphis/the south and beneficiary of southern apologists w/all sorts of shaky theories to account for his massacre of black soldiers at fort pillow
reality: im bringing that sucker down in rest for the weary, ima shredding his mythwork lie by lie
in struggle
rdoc
speaking of struggle
you probably wont be able to get to this article
wash post like you to be a subscriber
so ima tell you the gist of it or you
check out this alternative account
apparently jay z is mad at cristal because when asked
about the rappers glorifying cristal champaigne, the
director was less than enthusaistic:
"that's a good question, but what can we do?
we can't forbid people
from buying it. I'm sure dom perignon
or krug would be delighted to
have their business."
this was relatively benign and perhaps understandable
after all they are in the image business you know
but jay z, expecting a little more kowtowing maybe, yelled racism
and is now calling for a boycot of the $400 dollar bubbly
the post author was amused at the call to boycot cristal and
basically swore never to buy another bottle again
she also asked that we save the racism charge
for real battles - use when it counts
otherwise it loses its power
how about we all toast to the power
with some good delicious spring water
in struggle
rdoc
showtime
15 a day is killing me, everyday im falling further behind
now im so far behind its discouraging me
gon have to cut back to 10 a day and restart the clock
give myself a fighting chance
may not be able to do 10, been averaging 5 but ima try 
10 cause 5 wont get it, if i have to do 5 thats the whole summer for one draft and that just barely
so 10 a day, 1 day a week off and i will have 350
pages by about august 10th or so,
that gives me about two weeks cleanup draft before school starts
thats cutting it mighty damn thin but a production schedule have to be doable or it doesnt serve its purpose
ima little down at the moment
struggling to get production up to speed and not
altogether pleased with the richness of my text
still feels a little thin to me
ohwell, doesnt matter how i feel does it
best for me not to judge quality at this point
aint got time to be caught up in no angst
its showtime
rdoc
THURSDAY
getting a groove on
ive fallen woefully behind on my page count
spose to be on page 75 by today, im on page 30
averaging daily 5 instead 15, may have to cut back daily production goals
hopefully 1st full zoneweek will bring better daily pagecount, we shall see
saw where they denied bail to the 7 idiots in miami
their only danger was to themselves - the government informant
walked them thru just enuf paces to build a bullshit case
and justify thebush administrations repressive policies
look yall, we stopped another attack, dont rein us in now
when i was a young turk the big thing was black nationalism
black power and all - challenging the system
i was one of the angry young men, folk called me bullet
because i wore this 50 caliber machine gun shell necklace
but the government and cointellpro taught our young asses what was
and was not allowed as political activity
armed revolution is not only likely to get you hammered
it is just not a viable option in the hightech society of 21st century america -
its a kiddie joke, more youthful revolutionary romanticism than anything else
and in this case possibly a silly scam by the idiot in chief
(both of them)
the rightwings info-based resurgence is a more viable model of 21st century revolution
and we havent even mastered that model much less come up with something new
got this young black professor on my job who stuck in the 60s and think all that
60s rhetoric is still revolutionary, young fellow w/very kiddie ways, missed the party and
has no idea of 21st century stylee - swear he a revolutionary and so clueless its sad
instead of being on the cutting edge, he is about 50 years out of date
i hope the young turks of this generation, specially all the islamic blackfolk
got more sense than to be drawn to some youthfully romantic notions of jihad
not only is it just youthful stupidity in todays climate
it dont make no sense - its not even our war
in struggle
rdoc
WEDNESDAY
day 5 and still 2 days behind
maintaining daily 15 and whittling down backup
im just glad he wasnt black
that was my response to hearing about
the rape murder by an american soldier
please lord dont let him be black
right or wrong every black person
representing and when black folk do evil
we all take it very personal
my question is what did that boy do to get
thrown out of a warzone in the firstplace
apparently this is same unit that had
two soldiers kidnapped and beheaded
and army looking into theory it might
have been tit for tat
this is not a clean war
it is not a just war and it
is dirtier than most
the bush administration thought they
could get away with fighting dirty
but dirt just leads to more dirt
folk say we cant leave
i say we cant stay
in struggle
rdoc
TUESDAY THE 4TH
hello world: good lord willing
been out of pocket
got caught in the flood
whenever i hit the road its always good lord willing
and the crick dont rise
me and my little volvo tank
got beat up some
had to hang out in the city
for awhile
my place in the city is up in washington heights
and i enjoyed the week i spent there
wash heights is a dominican neighborhood and i feel right
at home there, but it made me conscious that i been coming
from the wrong mode on immigration issue
when i was a hoodoo cub i split my personality
into three parts, actually more but the others have
withered over the years
what has remained are the poet, the player and the hordesman
three different mes for different occasions and personality requirements
the poet was for love and writing, the player for the game
the hordesman for the horde
the hordesman i believe has pretty much retired
havent had much use for it lately
but when i was a young cub my ideological goal was to forge
the black race into a conquering horde and fling them into battle
this effort was inconclusive but it was the ruthless hordesman
that took care of that - the player was equally strategic but not ruthlessly so
im my hoodoo maturity i am still about power but my understanding
of power is more spiritual now
it is the poet, a quite sensitive fellow and hopeless dreamer
who is in charge of spiritual matters, also in charge of
love and relationships
the key was making sure you evoked the right mask to
take care of the right business,
for instance didnt want the player handling love
or the poet handling politics
so anyway i been dealing with immigration thru the player
and the player was pleased that the immigration bill fell thru
one it interferes with repub plans to garner longterm hispanic support
and two it means they need us, if it was an easy deal they wouldnt need us
as allies and we need them to need us - gives us the almighty and sacred leverage
but whilst i was hanging out up in washington heights i realized that
i should be dealing with this as damn near a family matter
so im taking it from the player and giving it to the poet
put a little more love in the calculations
another matter i thought about while i was on the road trying to
get thru or around that flood was my hello world salutation
those of you been with me awhile know thats my favorite salutation
i use it when im feeling pretty good and strong
i like saying "hello world" because this blog, meagre readership though it be
makes me feel like im speaking to the entire world and i like that and i
like to encourage that headset in me
but i was thinking about a line i wrote in an earlier post
like high magicians throughout history i basically want to rule the world
i said it kinda tongue in cheek but not only would i actually like to rule the world i
want to shape the future too - ruling the world is not enuf
i need a salutation capture that cosmic scope im looking for
friend of mine once accused me of having delusions of grandeur, i told her i
dont have delusions of grandeur, i have a god complex
as an aspirant prophet i want to speak to generations upon generations of humanity
wouldnt it be cool if i could occasionally sprout true prophecy on this blog
i decided some time ago since i was putting in all the creative energy im investing
in this 'daily' blog for such small readership i might as well do what i whatever i please with it
aint like i got no constituency to worry about
except you loyal surfer, some of the sharpest folk in the world
you see what im saying
my readership dont need no pablum, they take they broccoli straight
you can keep that brown rice, just bring me some broccoli please, i like it rare
so ima speak my truths and trust my literary instinct
you notice how intimate the tone has got lately
i been telling you things i dont tell myself
god wouldnt it be nice if i could manifest my prophetic thing
in some cool and transcendent manner
talking about not being quite sure how it works
this prophet thing im figuring it out as i go along, im walking blind
but i do believe i got the calling
folk think prophecy about foretelling the future but au contrary it is about hooking up current social behavior to destinical consequences and providing direction based on divine sanction - god told me to
or else
so im thinking how hello world puts me in a certain headset when i write
and im thinking what salutation would put me in that prophetic state of mind i aspire to
that cosmic state of mind
a salutation that would generate posts shaped by that sensibility
and directed to all the generations unto eternity
after much consideration i decided on
o ye generations . . .
i offer preemptive apologies
its going to sound kinda pretentious i know
and it will be awkward and forced for me at first
but it will put me in that prophetic headset
address my dialogues to the generations to come
and eventually conjure its own reality
publicly acknowledging my prophetic aspirations like that
frightens me on a lot of levels, no telling where this path lead
but whatever it go im gon walk it
o ye generations
it is i, rickydoc rootdoctor
answering the call
be well
rickydoc conqueroo
note: same same i evolved those three faces as a young hooodoo
i seem to be using variants of rickydoc in my maturity
so far ive come up with
rickydoc flowers - who is little more than myself, basically my public magical name
manifesting my social identity as a hoodooman and claiming to be magical
then theres rickydoc trickmaster - which i tend to use when im claiming magical authority,
asking to be trusted as a font of strategic and spiritual knowledge
and most recently rickydoc conqueroo -
not quite sure what role that magical mask plays, it only showed up about a month or so ago and i tend to use it rarely and only when my power has come down on me and im swimming in more magic thjan i can comfortably handle -
i know it has something to do with being the mount of the conqueror but im not quite sure how thats working - im kinda assuming its the prophetic voice manifesting - we shall see
back to the saltmines
redpen 1: 15 pages a day will get me to the promiseland
(end of draft) by end of the month, time enuf for redpen 2
damn flood threw me off my game
the 4th already and im 2 days behind schedule
damned if the creek didnt rise
later . . .
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