rootwork the rootsblog: a cyberhoodoo webspace

bitches, niggers and hos: imus, gladys knight and the power of the word

MONDAY MORNING

hello world, rootdoctor feeling pretty good today

been listening to mingus live: music written for monterey 1965
(remind me of when me and my daddy seen mingus at the downunder)

clocked some good pages this weekend after having given it all to schoolhouse lately - o that felt good

all week i do other folks stuff
but the weekend belong to me - my Work

then i pay for it during the week - no problem
moving into pre woodshed a little early this year

still fear that im just spitting in the literary wind but whenever has
that stopped a true writer - the generations will absolve me

let me do some quickies and im outta here

1) iraq

10 american soldiers died over the weekend, no telling how many iraqis - and 100s of 1000s of shiites marched against the american occupation

bush has run out of time - 4 years or is it 5, is long enuf

to do what bush wants to do would require another 20 years of occupation and thats just not gon happen, american people wont stand for it

be different it it had been a real war instead of a discretionary one
be different if there was a political will among the iraqis but there isnt

it is not 'supporting the troops' to keep them dying in a bullshit war

supporting the troops would not have them serving multiple tours
supporting the troops would not cut their benefits when they return home

or house the wounded in rat infested moldy hospitals
supporting the troops would send more money to the front and less money to halliburton

chenys retirement fund

2) private bushadmin/rnc email system - jackpot

apparently bush admin set up a separate email system in whitehouse
in order to keep their political emails off the official system

which mean that they have a treasure trove of politically compromising
emails set up precisely to avoid government record retention rules

excuse me, record retention laws

as you know dear regulators i like to call the shots before they go down
want to know whats happening before it happen - best you to check w/rick

i got it with the prophetic thing like that
take my word for it, this gon be a magic carpet ride

3) saw this great show on the history channel yesterday, banned from the bible II
about the books that didnt make the bible and what fascinated me

was that these books were basically sacred shortstories based on jewish history, myth and folklore
and they didnt make the bible for all kinds of reasons having to do with spiritual and cultural dynamics

and it put me in mind of this collection of shorts i want to do after i do rest for the weary
and the hoodoo book of flowers, ima do the hoodoo tales (w/geo hunts works)

sacred hoodoo shortstories

and that banned from the bible dealio gave me so many ideas of
how thats going to work - or not work as the case may be

im outta here
4 am and i got to clock me a 3 before the sun rise

cant afford it, i got so much to do - but if you want to be a novelist
got to take time, got to steal time - whenever wherever you can

ima take me a 3 this morning,
for which i will gladly pay woodshed catchup dues

in the name of the conqueror

rdoc

SATURDAY ADDENDUM

bitches, niggers and hos

dramatis personae: imus in the morning and his producer, somebody mcgurk
referring to rutgers women basketball team in ncaa:

imus: "thats some rough girls from rutgers, man they got tattoos
mcgurk: "some hardcore hos"
imus: "thats some nappy headed hos there, im going to tell you that"

cue the predictable responses - calls for firing him (i give him a week maybe two)
i felt sorry for the young sisters but hopefully they dismiss the ravings of a fool

but you know o regulators the only reason folk like this think they can call us any old thing
is cause we do it ourselves, bitches niggers and hos - all the time

i was myself tempted upon reading that reverends butts and bernard now lobbying

for the developer whose bid for starrett city in brooklyn was rejected
because of concerns he would raise rents and throw folk into the streets

so he cut the reverends butts and bernard in for a piece of the action:
and now they blackfacing him - we trust him they say

reminds me of andrew young blackfacing walmart

but this one seem particularly shameless
butts say if its money to be made he want his share

you would expect the right reverend butts of abyssinian to look out
for the people in this matter - one must ask what would martin do

i think thats one of the reasons blackfolk keep coming up with excuses
not to support obama, they scared they gon be disappointed again

taken for a ride

me, im giving the brother benefit of the doubt, hes paid what
a friend of mine once called the blacktax

as for butts, at least hes up front w/it, since im swearing off ho
ima just call it prostitution and be done w/it

that aint got no kick does it, and sellout dont quite cut it, what i
really want to call him is a ho - but i wont

rdoc
working in code

SATURDAY

hello world, old rootdoctor feeling a little subdued today
tired of huffing and puffing, tired of putting my business in the street

and im moving into a pre woodshed mode now, too desperate to wait till summer
i got to move some pages - and i apologize o regulators for the next 4 months or so

im going for the zone and its just gon be me and that novel
the world inside my head - i try to make it an interesting ride

for you

strange dance literary hoodoo online
hoodoo is an occult science, secrets are my stock in trade

but a literaryman, telling my business is what i do
spose to do it with some style

you might have noticed how tight and elliptical im getting
ima speak but ima speak in code

had an email yesterday, notice about an article on black bloggers
my boy prometheus 6 gave me a headsup some months ago, i got in touch

with her, she said she would get back to me, next i hear about it
is a notice that the article is out

guess i wont waste my time reading it, obviously she dont know
whats happening now

but then again, guess i will look at it, see if rootsblog at least got mention
if not, have to put her on the ill show you list

its a long list
rdoc

FRIDAY

schoolhouse been riding me
aint had time for Work or blog

and feeling a little tired of it all to tell you the truth
this blog take up a lot of my time to be so insignificant in the world

but i was just sitting here listening to gladys knights before me cd where
she do the classics, billie ella carmen sarah lena and them

it put me in a good space, put me in a very good space
you can imagine gladys knight throwdown on the classics

cant help herself, got the funk in her blood
i can relate

thought id pass the love on

rdoc
hanging tough

WHO KNOWS WHEN I WROTE THIS??

hello world, i been out of it, havent been posting have i

caught up in the end of the semester crunch,got to move palf
up a notch, got to move into my summer woodshed groove

just thinking about it make me tired
production mighty low to always be so overextended

been reading w/some concern about the housing mortgage debacle
because i figure many of those folk losing houses blackfolk and fellow travelers

read one account say even w/all the folk losing homes
bunch of folk got homes otherwise wouldnt have

say the majority of them will make the hump

folk in trouble need to get ahead of it, try to cut a deal
can often cut a deal, dont wait until its too late, get on it

i of course blame the bush admin, i dont know what they did
but im sure its their fault

have to watch them like hawks,
they offend me - they dont believe in governing

just released army report accuse a gen mccrystal of being highest general
in tillman coverup, turns out he just the latest bush scapegoat

they offend me

also i was reading where tech blogger kathy sierra threatened by cyberbullies
to point where she had to quit blogging and is in seclusion -  over tech issues?

darfur continue to wither and somalia in a shooting war now

these are situations i have put energy into, armchair energy apparently
i like to think words have power, in my heart and soul i believe this

maybe just not my words - i tell my activist literary students all the time
do your activism cause you got to do what you can when you can

but its your Words that will truly change things in this world
i would explain it to you but im questioning it myself these days

ohwell, let me try for a 6 today
make my case to the generations

doing beloved in my hoodoo lit class
now those are words of power

and maybe just maybe ive helped one family
keep their home - that would be sufficient unto the day

in the words of fellow hoodoo traveler
katrina omogun - im outta here

rdoc

on the nature of politicians: ray nagin, barack obama and the covenant of crabs

SUNDAY

hello world, i been off the grid

between schoolhouse, nonprofit paperwork for palf
and trying to keep a little novel momentum i been

swimming underwater and barely able to take a breath
but i did want to make a comment on the importance of

the hearings on the Justice 8 because its so representative
of the politicizing of government in the bush admin

bush and the repubs trying to dismiss it as partisan politics
bush say lets move on - but thats precisely the point and
what ought to infuriate the democrats

dirtytricks like pushing the state AGs to bring voter fraud cases that
end up throwing blackfolk off the voting rolls like they did in georgia

the elections results in ohio 2004 and florida 2000 were no fluke but the
result of unacceptable dirtytricks been institutionalized in bushs justice dept

gotta go - schoolhouse all day friday, palf all day saturday, got to
clock some pages today, article about somalian writer nuruddin farah
in todays washington post put me to shame:

"But mainly, he sits alone in a rented apartment he uses for a writing studio in Cape Town and maps out novels. He works from 8:30 a.m. till 4 p.m., on the theory that it's the hours and discipline that matter. Going for a word count encourages hasty work to fill a quota, he figures."

i think about my buddies from when i was a cub who fell by the wayside
because they just never got discplined about production - and then i see how much more
disciplined the primetime players are - its all in the discipline children, clocking pages

only 6 years older than i am and look at how much hes done

ohwell, just give me 3 today, maybe a 6
but before i go id like to thank the regulators for coming

through for me with the hits, it warmed my heart

i cried out for help but i didnt really expect it
seem there more folk appreciate what i do than i realized

thats what keep me going

all my love
rdoc

ALERT: CALLING ON RICKYDOCS REGULATORS

i need a little help gang

me and jeff doing this annual pan african literary gathering
pan african literary forum, its got potential of being true force

im spose to be handling the website

we getting one built but i put up a placeholder to hold the domain and google wont pick the thing up

make me look bad, like i aint pulling my freight

i just went and registered PALF manually but i need folk to link to it, go to it, generate some traffic so search engines start picking it up

im calling on the regulators, thats you partner

its just a page now, ima beef it up this weekend
make the trip worth your while

but right now i need you to take me on faith
i just need a minute for you to hit that llink, stop by for a cup of coffee

panafricanliteraryforum.com

the pan african literary forum (got to start mentioning it whenever i can)
gon gather african writers from around the globe every year

every year a different part of the black world, 3 years each to really get a feel
for the place, then move on

1st 3 in ghana, 2nd 3 in brazil, 3rd in south africa and so on
give an annual pan african literary prize upholding the panafrican vision of dubois and others

train young panafrican talent, o its gon be wonderful

but starting a non-profit is rough, we been fumbling stumbling trying
to put together a primetime operation

jeff been moving the ball, buncha folk signing on, and rickydoc slacking the website
help me get it off the ground will you - the game is in play

you know i am not happy about this drain on noveltime
but the game too strong to let it lay

my name on the package how
got to give it whatever i got to give

got to find me another gear

appreciate your help o regulators
Pan African Literary Forum

rdoc
(thanks chris, good looking out)

TUESDAY

apparently an attack ad depicting hillary as bigbrother
was put on youtube and signed off to barackobama.com

i suspect parkridge47, outed by the huffington post as phil de vellis
say he was doing guerilla work to show it could be done

and in support of barack obama, support like that obama dont need

apparently phil worked for blue state digital, political consultancy working
for obama and had to resign cause neither obama nor bluestate can afford

to be linked what dirtytricks against their own
if hillary does win the rightwing will get more use from that attack ad than obama does

lowblow hillary and put obamas name on it
that aint cool, makes them both look bad

phil sound real proud of himself dont he
probably a better career move for him than obama

rdoc

MONDAY

ray nagin got in front of a bunch of black editors
and start whining how he got targeted for

saying new orleans gon be a chocolate city again
i wouldnt trust ray nagin to run a goldfish bowl

the talk a good game but im told in circles of power that he selling new orleans out
how he trying to keep the poor from coming back and how he ask for money

not to rebuild but to buy out the poor who do return

that he has a vision of taking new orleans into 21st century
a vision in which poorer black folk need not apply

the proof is in the gumbo, if he was serious we would see some
crises selfhelp going down in new orleans, a sense of things being done

but you dont feel that happening, it make me cringe when i hear him sprouting blackness

which is why im reserved on obama, politicians are heartbreakers by definition

but i have decided to get on obamas wagon, caveats and reservations intact

i have said before that he strike me as sincere and as much as i fear being took
again by believing in somebody - ima give the brother benefit of the doubt

he seem to be sincere and he carry his blackness w/dignity

i aint gon begrudge him the strategic and tactical space he need to be a politician
maybe see if rootsblog can get him a little room to manuever - stay tuned

got a email forwarded to me recently - written by somebody name i believe barcardi l. jackson
knew a dancer back in memphis name bacardi light, wonder if its the same barcardi

cant be too many of those and i can hear that barcardi in this text:
you glow girl

-------------------------------------

On Barack: An Open Letter and Invitation to Thoughtful Brothers and Sisters In America
               
As I and my husband sat watching The State of Black America 2007, presented by Tavis Smiley, we were awe struck, motivated, inspired, filled with pride and edified by the broad ranging views of the impressive collection of black intelligencia represented on the stage. Following each of the richly-crafted commentary from rapper Chuck D to astronaut and engineer Mae Jemison to Professor Cornel West to poet Sonya Sanchez to one     of my innovative classmates Omar Wasow (just to name a few), I ooohhed and ahhhed out loud as each broke it down, laid it out and spoke truth to power. 

But then it happened . . . my enthusiasm came to a screeching halt!  Here we go again . . . that same gratuitous question mainstream media outlets across America seem to be commissioning ambitious black folk to answer and justify: Is our brother, Barack Obama, down enough with the cause to deserve our support? I just knew this panel of amazing minds and deep souls would once and for all stop the madness and give a resounding,     "we're not falling for another Rove-ian mindtrick to sidetrack us from the    substantive issues at hand to debate your historical lies and give credibility to your ignorance." 

I just knew this conscientious crew would cite to Obama's academic excellence and obvious intelligence, his outstanding achievements, his proven commitment to our community through his life's work, his impressive legislative record, his coalition-building skills and political experience.  But instead, Malcolm's proverbial     crabs started grabbing, pulling, pinching and reaching for dear brother Barack's neck.  I was mortified.                   

Seeming to come to his aid, one of my longtime heroes, Professor Olgetree, pointed out that Barack, Michelle Obama and others of his students had not only been impressive students at Harvard, but had dedicated their lives and careers to public service.  But, (damn it), he added, he can't take our vote for granted.  Then, Brother Cornel (whose audio version of Race Matters I listened to so many times I almost committed     chapters to memory) chimed in, not to save Brother Barack, but to highlight his absence from the State of Black America panel to be (how dare he) at some other event to boost his Presidential candidacy when he knew about Tavis' event more than a year ago. 

While Professor West did mention that his questions about the depths of one's love for the people were relevant for all candidates everywhere, they, unfortunately, were explicitly asked only of Obama.  Finally, our fearless leader and host, Tavis, who, by his own admission, knew Barack before he was "Barack Obama" sealed the tomb.  He assured the audience that, the night before, he got a call from an apologetic Barack who was unable to attend, but "really wanted to be here." 

As if completely cued in by the tone in Brother Tavis' statement, the audience gave a loud and unambiguously sarcastic "Aaawwww."  Adding salt to the wound, dear friend Tavis responded, "well, that's what he told me" in that familiar I-know-he-sounds- like-he's- full-of-it-but-I'm-going-to-pretend-to-be-his-brother-anyway delivery.

Now, I don't point out the dynamics of this dialogue to take away from the amazing legacies of Brothers Ogletree, West or Smiley.  They've all made important and lasting contributions to our community and will likely continue to do so, but I do question why they, and we as a community, tend to be so uncharitable toward our own, but inexplicably benevolent to others.    

For example, how does a white man who signed the deeply disparate crack-cocaine bill into law, introduced a devastating crime bill that further entrenched the prison industrial complex at the expense of black communities and black political power everywhere, oversaw the murder of more people on death row during his presidency than any president in the history of our country, completely dissed and dismissed our sister Lani Guinier, who would have been an amazing Attorney General for our country and for our community, purely for the sake of political expediency, get to be donned the    "First Black President"?  Is our loyalty so easily spawned because one acts like a "pimp," plays the saxophone and visits a few pulpits? 

I am absolutely amazed at the absence of critical black analysis about Clinton's     performance in office while Brother Barack has to be hyper-analyzed, criticized and have his thumbnails extricated for DNA samples before we'll believe he's one of "us."  There is no other candidate in this or any other Presidential race (save Shirley Chisholm who, in her day, was hung out to dry by the Black Caucus) who has had to work so hard despite an extraordinary track record to show us that he or she is about the business of making the country better for black people and thereby making the country better for all people.

Al Sharpton, you are absolutely right that everyone who looks like "us" is not one of "us" - at least to the extent that you mean not all black people work for what's in the collective best interest of black people (that is, if such a collective interest still exists - which is another discussion altogether) - but when did you become the blackometer? And, why raise a question of loyalty when you have no substantive evidence of disloyalty?  Just to hear yourself talk? Because he's getting more press than you? 

I'm not suggesting for a minute that Obama and every political candidate not be held accountable for their voting records, their political past, or even their personal judgment, but to question Obama's blackness simply because he is black is the ultimate irony and a dumb distraction, for which Republicans and racists everywhere are cheering us on. And, to question Obama's loyalty simply because he didn't make an appearance at this week's forum hosted by the black gatekeeper flavor of the month is sheer idiocy.                   
I think a more relevant question is what do the black commentators who make the television and radio appearances to raise and answer the question of Barack's blackness have to gain?  It certainly provides them with more face time before the American public and cushions their backsides with a blacker-than-thou throne (even if only in their own minds). 

I think a more relevant question to our so-called black leaders and academicians is     what (other than a supersized ego or potential profits) gets in the way of their unequivocal support of the only person in the race who has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to implementing policies that best serve black people?  To be sure, there may be valid critiques of Obama, but his absence from a forum, his failure to be stereotypically "black" or the fact that he is black are not valid or even useful critiques.

So, forgive me for being just a bit skeptical of those black politicians (who reside in key states - e.g., Brother Al and South Carolina State Senator Robert Ford) whose primary critiques are that Barack just may not be black enough or, even better, that America's just not ready for a black President, so they can gain the political spoils and spotlight press of selling out a brother early and often.

If I had the technological saavy, I would jump off this page with all the passion, hope, rage and volume of Spike Lee's Dap and tell you, brothers and sisters everywhere, please please please WAKE UP!!!!!!!! The best thing Barack can do for us is to win, not show up at yet another black forum simply to prove he's one of us by placating the egos who believe Barack should clear his calendar for their "ultimate black" event! 

There are plenty of other candidates (and so-called leaders) who warrant our scrutiny     and skepticism - not to mention a host of misogynistic lyricists, child molesting musicians, and other unaccountable black-community-made millionaires.  Barack, however, has proven with his excellence, his achievements, his commitments, and his life's work that he warrants our support.

Rather than using his credentials and connections to build his personal wealth, Obama chose to pursue careers like providing job training for residents of poor neighborhoods, directing voter registration drives and fighting for civil rights.  Unlike other candidates in the race, Obama has been consistent in speaking against sending our black babies to murder, and to be murdered by, brown people in the Mesopotamia for the sake of    multinational corporate interests. 

He has successfully forged coalitions with people across racial and political lines to introduce a host of legislation that would, among other things, get guns off our streets, reduce greenhouse emissions, and limit the influence of special interest     lobbyist on Capital Hill.

As for whether Barack's black enough, let us not forget that race exists in America not in our biology, genetic code or even our phenotype,but rather by the institutionalization of the economic and social construct of chattel slavery and its vicious offshoots.  Under that regime, "a dab'll do ya."

Whiteness equates to economic and social privilege and that    privilege fades as it traverses the racial spectrum.  Anyone who has any black ancestry living in this country, whether for a day or for generations, will experience the vestiges of slavery and the consequences of white privilege, making the question of whether one is descended from enslaved Africans or colonized and oppressed Africans irrelevant. 

It is not simply the experience of that oppression, however, that demonstrates     loyalty to our community and that deserves our community's loyalty, but rather recognition of the injustice of it and actions taken to dismantle     it.  Clearly, Obama has met this test!

Let the record of each candidate speak for itself.  But, for the sake of our ancestors and, more importantly, our descendants, do not inadvertently become a pawn of white privilege by demanding that Obama's record be scrutinized more closely and meet a higher standard than his white counterparts simply because some narcissistic crab in a barrel didn't find himself at the top.

Sincerely,   B.L. Jackson  A Sister Who Unequivocably And Without Apology to Hillary, Bill or Al, Supports Barack Obama for President And Invites Other Thoughtful Brothers     and Sisters To Do the Same

distinct loss of cool here
but i agree with her basically

this email appears to be a bit dated but
the questions still pertinent

i had my own objections to that state of black america roadshow
and travis covenant too - what good could it be, they didnt invite me

thats a felony
rdoc

in the zone and empty woodsheds: limping, lame and throwing my life away

5 am sun

woodshed over, back in the world

think im going thru and edit this weeks work to the bone
think maybe i was a little obsessive, woodshed you know

546 am sat

hello world, last day - wasnt my best woodshed
but it was okay

this blog has gotten mighty personal lately
getting tired of putting my business in the street

was reading latimes article how talking points memo guy
played  a role in the prosecutors firings

noted an article in local arkansas paper about fired prosecutor
asked his readers to send info about firings in their states

noted the pattern - inquiries picked up by majors
now bush admin ducking and dodging - now thats blogging

im drooling w/envy

just dont have the time to muckrake and write novels too
but i think ima chill the me me me for awhile

if i dont have commentary i will restrain myself
from just talking about any old thing that come to mind

i get to wailing and dont know when to quit
i been telling way too many secrets

later
rdoc

4 am fri

been a weak woodshed, world - didnt do my 4 last night

2 days and its back to the world - did i bring back power
or did i journey for naught

did i find redemption
or didnt i

8pm thurs

weak day, worked sporadically, didnt crunch

still not over, got 4 hours till midnight, that would
make it a strong one - lets at it rick

opening epigram always 1st to hit the screen

and you o mythmaker, o teller of tales
o weaver of lies, o fool of a trickster

is there nothing you hold sacred
is there no boundary you will not cross

in search of a song . . . .

yeah i done wrong, take the money, it
was a helluva opening line

and the novel is my god
what it need it get

looking for a 4 today
my love to you all

8 am thurs

damn - slept 5 hours, thats way too many
probably mugabes fault

boy gone king of scotland mad
a movie i by the way refuse to see

a little too hollywood darkest africa predictable for me

ran across a  darkest america washpost article (subsc) about
a slew of recent books bursting founding of america at jamestown myth

'a genesis birthed in hell' said one
cannibalism, murder et al and slavery too when

the decision was made to make some of the 1st africans
slaves instead of indentured servants - incorporating a mortal

flaw in the earliest vision of what america could be

best i get back to work on my counterspell
4 measely daze left  but im crunching pages - this what i live for

once read a discussion about whether frederick douglas
wrote his own books or if they were ghostwritten by white
abolitionists and one researcher made what he considered

a telling point - there is no paper trail of struggle he said

as to if there is or not i will not testify, i dismissed the argument
because i prefer to believe fred wrote his own accounts - all of them

my apologies for lnflicting my trail of struggle on you dear and loyal surfer
but that whats be on my mind a lot

getting Work done in the face of lifes demands
what separate the writers from the civilians

one of the threads im weaving in is making the narrator as storyteller voice
more conscious of itself, want to play with story and the act of story

probably texacos influence - mama day next ball up
looking forward to consulting w/a master of intertext

im outta here, another 5 hours gone -  like i aint serious up in here
like im just playing at being true force


3 am thurs

clocking pages and in the zone

dizzytired - i hate sleep when im in
the zone but sometime you just gotta . . .

worked a nice little brer rabbit riff in today, brer rabbit pondering the ways of humans and telling stories on them, o i enjoyed that -  tomorrow working in some riffs from gem of the ocean that will influence two major characters, give them more texture - that 285 year old conjurewoman spoke to me

took me 5 days just to get the zone, half my woodshed gone,
ohwell, cant fight the flow - needed the rest i guess, but im in the groove now

in the zone and clocking pages - and its all good in my world
bope its good in yours


12:58 wed

wouldnt exactly call it clocking pages
but i am clocking hours

1OAM wed - hello world

rickydoc limping, rickydoc lame
aint crunching pages - been laying about doing this and that

okay, today is the 1st day of my woodshed, 
now to sun will be 5 days, i will consider that a good woodshed

mean i will be behind the gun that week
playing catchup like rickydoc do

but i got to clock some serious woodshed days or i will feel like a fool
throwing my life away and at 56 i dont have life to just throw away

so anyway some commentary - the Justice 8

whats interesting to me is that the bush admin is so use
to a compliant congress they making silly mistakes now

whats even more interesting is that i had a lot to say about it all but now
that im sitting here all i can think about is my empty woodshed

im gone, maybe later
rickydoc running scared

all my love to everybody
rdoc

in the woodshed: babajohn killens and doris jean austin, clocking pages and the power of narrative

SUNDAY

hello world

ima news junkie, i spend a lot of time netwandering
i enjoy commentary

i note congressional hearings of prosecuters claim they were fired because they wouldnt do political dirtywork- well what about the ones who did - what do it take to be a loyal bushie, thats the story i want to see

i note how walter reed scandal exemplify enduring incompetency of post katrina bush admin -

they too used to getting away w/murder, havent figured out yet
they cant operate like they used to

but calling bush out seem redundant
if he fool you, shame on you::

"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."    President G.W.Bush

i dont have time for bush, its springbreak and i plan to zone that novel this week

this weblog takes a godawful amount of my noveltime but
it came along just when i needed it - like it was just made for me

no editors no industry no establishment gatekeepers on rickydoc
i am the master here

any other age i would have had to push a pamphlet on the streetcorner -
or sew them into the lining of old clothes

here im on the cutting edge and i know it
i aint got a lot of readership but i got good readership

and the struggle for literary respect dont really bother me
enuf historical/literary precedent that i can rationalize it

want to say/do something new got to be willing to pay dues
and pathmaker will be one of the attributes i give the conqueror

but feeling a little anxious right along in here
got a week springbreak and anxious to clock some pages

woodshed time
o wouldbe novelist of historical stature and significance

you gon flitch the time off with this and that
or are you gon clock some pages

woodshed is when you got to withdraw from the world and focus, according to
the way i heard it when john coltrane 1st came out to play they blew him off the stage

boy had this woodshed out back and he went into that woodshed and he practiced and practiced until he was the john coltrane and he come back and took the stage and said now play this

in the conquerors name (ida b and davidwalker too)
word by trickmaster - a desperate man

THURSDAY

the hope he aint black syndrome
hello world, so im reading on google news

about this former sailor paul hall who was just arrested for passing info about his ship 2001 to a jihadi website and im thinking i hope hes not black when i read:

"i corresponded with an e-mail site. It wasn't nothin' top secret like these people are saying, you know what I mean? I was just talking about, like the Cole . . . whatever."

might be black, interesting how the reporter dropped the g  - know what im saying - still hoping hes not cause

i am concerned that young black islamics and such like those haitian americans in florida last year will get caught up in this jihadi thing playing at being revolutionaries

like many of the black militants of my day, just caught up in revolutionary romance - make me cringe everytime one get brought up on charges

aint even our war - one of those confusion of allegiance issues
boy call hisself abujihaad

folk need to grow up real quick - apparently he did it before september 11th
- i suspect abujihaad didnt realize just how hot it was gon get

if he is black and i still hope he aint - its unfortunate
the allegiance of black islamics will be an issue eventually

thats gon be a difficult row to hoe

been re reading texaco for my hoodoo lit class
it amaze me how much of my own lick is in these works

everytime i  re read them i am again enlightened
this texaco a work of wonder - of course im taking notes

"in what i tell you, there's the almost-true, the sometimes-true, and the half-true.  That's what telling a life is like, braiding all of that like one plaits the white Indies currant's hair to make a hut.  And the true-true comes out of that braid. . . .you can't be scared of lying if you want to know everything." (pg 122)

damn right im taking notes
i dont steal, i intertext

true that
rdoc

WEDNESDAY

i was just thinking about a comment i made in previous post about
writers belief in the power of narrative and i might play w/that some this week

right now im dragging, got some personals dogging me

squeezing a little work in, strictly defense
do my daily 3 no matter what or i will really feel bad

but that iraq a bummer - 9 americans and 100+ iraqis yesterday - rootdoctor dont see no good options there for nobody - darfur etc still under and its just statusquo all over the world

also i been trying to set up the palf website, its glitched to high heaven and its rickydoc thats slack - again

im tired, im the kind of tired mean shutdown coming
 when the mind and body just quit on me and
i collapse in place

if you fight it you dont get nothing done and no rest either
adequate rest is an critrical component of the high achievement llifestyle

so when shutdown come i accept it:

a lotta sleep, a little tv (nothing heavy), space opera
scifi (dont have to parse it as i read it - escape to the stars)

2, 3 days i be good to go

still more fumes than fuel but beggars cant be
choosy can they

rdoc
hanging in there

and what you might ask does south memphis have to do with this
nothing, i just like the picture, it makes me smile

MONDAY

hello world, rootdoctor a little depressed today

online initiative for new ren writers guild doesnt seem to be working and was wandering about the net when i landed on the harlem writers guild site 

and there is a list of hwg writers there and it never cease to amaze me that i have been excommunicated - in spite of the fact that i was once executive director of the guild - amazing

true i left under pressure, thats when new ren was founded, but still - its actually kinda funny how they have just rewritten guild history to exclude me - writers tend to believe narrative trumps reality any day

interesting they still got doris jean and terry mac, my cronies in crime and co founders of new ren

i really miss doris jean austin, i have her last manuscript, wish i had her papers - need to think about getting that manuscript knocked together and published, maybe hunt down her sister and see if i can get ahold of her papers -but all that just contributed,what really gave me the blues was

i pulled out rest for the weary yesterday and finally got back
in the groove but looking at it was a bummer,

sections i thought were good to go were all of a sudden looking lame

will this damned thing never be done
will i never live up to my responsibility as custodian of john killens legacy

ohwell - all you can do is keep pushing rick, im sure there were times when
babajohn felt weary, buked and scorned, but he kept on pushing and i will too

i remember this dojo sign on nostrand that says:
i will not quit a fight nor die a loser

3 hours a day rick, get you to the promiseland
3 measely hours a day

in the conquerors name (and doris jean and imogunla and safiya too)
rickydoc flowers - hanging in there

.