UrbanTherapy.

So, Donna and I went to WizardWorld, a yearly comic-book/collectibles convention out in Rosemont. We were there for about three hours, walking around and generally withstanding sensory overload.

Other people can speak of more cerebral issues with conventions like that, like the inclusion of minorities in the consumption, production, and enjoyment of comic books, collectibles, and such, but I’ll spare you my thoughts on that. Thousands of people come to WizardWorld Chicago (there are other conventions in other large cities) and millions of dollars of commerce are produced. Ot
s a chance to meet the creators and talk and communicate face-to-face, and that’s awesome, from a fan and a creator perspective. One day, I’ll make it.

Anyway, I’m inspired-ish, so I’m off to draw stuff.

Years ago, my biological father and I sat on the banks of some river? lake? body of water in central Arkansas, where he lived. It was a momentous occasion because I had visited him only a few times before.

This was a chance to actually talk, to share, to be able to share what I had learned and I had questions about, to get that confirmation from my father that I was coming into my own, that I was growing up. I was still in high school in Southern California, the 405 and Harbor freeways a world away from the kind of backroads that permitted two cars to pass on either side only if both drivers risked life and Coupe de Ville by getting close to the ditch on either side of the road.

Pop looked out onto the water and started in on a story. A long, involved story about his time at Malvern High School for Negroes, and one of his classmates whose body was at the bottom of said body of water.

Affirmation is what I needed from a man whose name I carry. I was a teenager, wanting to her that my father, the biological one, loved me and was interested in what was going on with me. I wanted to be there with him and listen to every story, but to be able to share my own opinions, my own goings-on, and to show him that I was becoming my own person was especially important to me then.

Now, I realize that Pop was really doing te best he could with what he knew. I looked at my Arkansas visits with the eye of a visitor; he looked at it as just another weekend that i just happened to be there. We all have issues, and I like to think I’ve gotten past a couple of mine, but this time of year, where I just mailed his card late, I start to think about these things. Also, the difference between him and my stepfather, who filled the void and then some when I had no father figure to attach to. The man who taught me to shave, tie a tie, enunciate my words, appreciate jazz, taught and listened when I was young and, frankly, pretty hardheaded.

I know I’m not the only person who’s rather “meh” about their biological fathers; just felt like typing that out.

I have a serious post to re-edit and put up, but first, an anecdote from my job. Semi safe for work.

some reasons why today did not completely suck, even though it’s monday:

–the announcement about apple’s new iphone. pretty pretty shiny shiny! and yes, i’m thinking about getting one. i do sorta kinda need a new phone.

–cedric benson getting cut. this actually made me happier than the iphone news.

–reading an interview with ll cool j (happiness in and of itself) in which he basically admits that his last few albums sucked. this made me feel better about “magically acquiring” said albums, b/c they really did kinda suck. i still love him, though. (what? you didn’t actually think i’d given up my 20+ year crush, did you?)

–having an impromptu dinner at bennigan’s with troy.

–being able to bitch about the rain and not the heat. i’m sure troy’s happy about this one also, b/c i swear i complained all weekend about just how hot it was. he’s not happy about the prospect (ok, eventual reality) that i will whine about the heat all summer long.

–wireless printing. i’ve been sitting on the floor watching dvr’d food network shows and wanted to print a couple of recipes. and i did…without having to plug my laptop in.

and now, i’m going to turn on the a/c and read a magazine in bed. why? b/c i can.

hope your monday was a good one. here’s hoping tuesday doesn’t completely suck.

Hey, people. Before this week has a chance to suck, we hope you had a decent weekend. I hear that people don’t enjoy 80 degree weather. I am not one of those people.

Anyway, on Friday night, I went to see Wayne Shorter. I’ve enjoyed his compositions for a while, and when tickets for this show went on sale last year, I was all over it. I invited a fellow jazz afficiando/co-worker from NYC to come out for the show, but circumstances demanded that we invite others, and Conor and Abby stepped up. We had a great time, so mad love to them. My official review is over here, so I won’t expound too much on that here, except to say that it was pretty awesome.

Saturday, I went to the Printer’s Row Book Fair. Through all the talk of Web 2.0, and the Kindle, and the stats that say people don’t read any more, I would asy that the turnout was encouraging in that regard. So…many..books. My inner (so what if it’s outer, bite me) geek came out. I was very fortunate I didn’t go wild and buy tons of stuff. We need more bookcases as it is.

As far as digital goes, I’ll throw this out there; I think that the notion of usage rights with music now is negatively affecting the adoption of electronic books. An entire industry (the digital rights management industry) has a job; make sure that no one who didn’t pay for the product can use it. So you have invisbible watermarks, usage restrictions, and proprietary formats that make the pleasure of sharing a hassle. And as long as digital restrictions interfere with enjoyment, one of two things happen for sure; people work to get around them, or they say fuck it and adopt something else.

I think it’s spring now. Really. For sure this time. The winter jacket’s in the cleaners and is hanging up in the closet, dammit; I can’t be having any more sub 40 degree days.

First, there are some changes to the stuff on the right. Links have been seperated, and a few of them actually open new windows, which i just learned how to program. I’ve also added a link to my Twitter joint, as I post a bit over there the small thoughts I happen to get.

Coming soon will be a muxtape link, which lets you listen to a playlist of music I’ve sequenced and uploaded. And during June, which is Black Music Month, I’ll try to change it every week. I’ll let you know when it goes live.

Bring on the hot!

Before I go to bed, I’d like to share this little tidbit. I was out this afternoon, enjoying the feel of warm sun on my face. Imagine my surprise when the forecast for tomorrow was for 20 degrees COLDER. “What the hell?” I thought, and consulted the Weather Channel.

“Special Weather Advisory”, the banner said. Click. “PNEUMONA FRONT ADVISORY”, screamed the headline. What the hell?

…PNEUMONIA FRONT MOVING DOWN WESTERN LAKE MICHIGAN…

(following has been translated from its usual ALL CAPS)

A pneumonia front currently in far southeast wisconsin will continue to rapidly drop southward into northern illinois and indiana tonight. This front has been marked by a drastic change in temperatures and a strong wind shift. Temperatures along the lake front have dropped from the low to mid 70s to the mid to upper 40s as the front passes. Winds have shifted from being light and out of the west to out of the northeast and gusting up to 40 mph at times along the lake.

A pneumonia front is a rare… Meteorological phenomena that is typically observed along the western lake michigan shoreline during the warm season. These fronts are defined as lake modified synoptic scale cold fronts that result in one hour temperature drops of 16 degrees fahrenheit or greater.

Nice to know that there’s a name for it.

i love it when recipes turn out well. i just made this for dinner. i mean, what could be wrong with pasta, bacon, and cheese? i added some canned peas at the end to make this seem somewhat healthier. i should stop eating, though, so i can actually be awake during voice class tonight. and i really hope troy likes this, b/c i may suffer a heart attack if i eat all of it by myself over the next few days.

a colleague gifted me with godiva on friday as a thank-you for a project we’d worked on. part of the present was a tin of milk chocolate pearls. i honestly set out to only have a few, but i couldn’t stop myself. ok, i could’ve stopped, but i didn’t want to. they’re THAT good. and now i’m somewhat but not really angry b/c the tin is empty. i really owe my colleague a thank-you note, with a warning that the chocolate pearls (that sounds kinda weird) could be habit-forming. try them at your own risk.

Usually, when e goes out of town, I get all share-y and verbose, and post forty seven times. This weekend: not so much. But I will share a couple of things that I thought of/had happened/amused me.

-I’m published…somewhere. A while ago, some random guidebook thing contacted me about using one of my pics from San Diego. I think the trend in Web 2.0 is using someone else’s content. Giving them credit of course, but think of it: millions of freelancers out there on Flickr and YouTube that have already been creative!

Anyway, I have no idea if this thing is getting published in book-form, but you can check it out here. That picture makes a nice desktop picture, which is why I took it. I’m happy that someone saw it and thought it was cool.

I’m getting old and sentimental. I cried at this. I probably shouldn’t share that, though. And it’s sports-related. I swear, there’s a story behind it. Viva le Bourque!

-We’d like to share the best song ever, for this week, anyway. Spank.

-Stay tuned for Black Music Month. There will be podcasts. There will be music. Indeed.

-e returns tomorrow, and my bachelor weekend will end. Damn, I spent a lot of money this weekend.

a co-worker and i tried the “free” mcdonald’s “southern-style” chicken sandwich today.  we decided that if you’ve had the mcchicken sandwich, then you’ve pretty much had the “southern-style” sandwich.  the chicken needed more seasoning, and the bun needed more butter.  they should’ve brought in paula or something.

mcdonald’s sweet tea, though, is better than i thought it’d be.  it’s actually, well, sweet.  those of you who have had the misfortune of being around when i order iced tea know that i am not stingy when adding sugar.  and i didn’t need to add any sugar to this.  it really is sweet tea, as far as i’m concerned.  it’s weird that i can order sweet tea north of the mason-dixon, let alone at mcdonald’s. and it’s weird that it’s only $1.  

i’m actually heading south of the mason-dixon again this weekend for erica’s long-awaited graduation from law school.  assuming the hotel actually comes through with their promised free ‘net access, i’ll try to share more randomness.   maybe i’ll have more sweet tea NOM NOM NOM.