Tuesday, January 27, 2004 Like UNCC during an Ice storm. No class.
Well in this case it was a 3 hour delay which ment no class for me. The whole city kinda shuts down for a day or two each winter. What I dont understand is there are cities that deal with this for weeks and a time and they keep on truckin. And it's not like this is some crazey thing that has never happend before. This happens every winter, or so it seems, the powers that be only have to have a plan for a few days. Why do they drop the ball? Not that I mind missing work, but missing school kinda bugs me. I borrowed allot of money to go to school and I want my moneys worth. Enough of this complaining.
VOTE FOR ME!
I promise to:
-open the city roads and keep this city running.
-to give ever child in this city a balloon.
I'll work on the rest of the platform later.
Wednesday, January 21, 2004 THE MATRIX WEDDING
Agent Smith: Do you hear that, Mr. Gower? That is the sound of inevitability. It is the sound of your Wedding. Goodbye, Mr. Gower.
Lowercase: My name is Lowercase
I am in two weddings this spring. My Brother’s in May and Lowercases' in April. This past weekend Lowercase found the tuxedo he wants for his wedding. As a groomsmen in his wedding, I will be wearing black coat, black vest, black shirt, and a silver tie to match the bridesmaid’s dresses. I don’t know if the tie is bow or bolo. I have started to refer to this as the MATRIX WEDDING. I think my matrix name would be Nutella, as in the original hazelnut spread.
Wednesday, January 14, 2004 My friend Kathleen gives her account of the New Years Fight
My friend Claudia tells me that in her family, the saying goes that whatever you're doing at the new year is what you'll be doing all year long. (which is why Aunt Bea always used to spend new year's counting her money.) Mark, for you, I hope that saying ain't true.
I pull up to the house just, I mean *just* in time; the men are already in the ring, warming up to fight. About 20 minutes earlier I had been slurping red wine at a friend's parents' new year's gathering, but I chose to leave their tastefully appointed South Charlotte home with its leather furniture, fancy sausages, and stereo on which Radiohead and Ricky Martin were taking turns. I decided a much better way to end 2003 would be to watch two guys fight. On the side of a highway. In Rock Hill.
The border town provided all the atmosphere one could hope for on fight night: the lottery was at more than $200 million; neighborhood fireworks could be seen in every direction. In the distance people were firing gunshots to ring out the old year. The fight, which somebody told me was a felony if conducted in public, drew honking cheers from several passing trucks. "BOXING!" yelled the people in the U-Haul.
The only folks I knew at the party, apart from the Red Warrior himself, were James and Michael, but the library women were kind enough to let me watch the fight with them. Here's what I remember about it: The referee had a hat, scarf, and cigarette. The boxers did good. They bobbed and weaved and circled, sometimes seeming off balance but then suddenly lunging at each other. I had no idea who was winning. There was music sometimes, and sometimes silence. People were clustering together. Mark was bloody but unbowed. Drunk passersby showed up to fight the winner. After the fight an impromptu wrestling match broke out off to the side, and one of those guys was wrestling with a cigarette in his mouth.
The boxing action I sometimes didn't look directly at; I'm squeamish about hand-to-hand combat of any kind, except maybe thumb war. And I don't really know what it would mean if I did find pleasure in seeing Mark get punched in the face, gut, kidney, etc. But the event was something I'll not soon forget--standing in South Carolina cold, watching Mark box a marine in the last hour of the last day of 2003.
Friday, January 09, 2004 Sooooo Boooorwing
Some days I am amazed at how slow it is at the library. Today the high lights include a homeless woman hitting on a female coworker, and when I said “malodorous vaginal discharge”, to a woman on the phone. The rest of today has been like waiting to die. I am looking forward to the nonstop life I lead while in school. That starts Monday.
I’m 29 years old today. I share this birthday with the rock legend Kenny Loggins, and the world famous actor, Dustin Diamond (“Screech” from SAVED BY THE BELL and SAVED BY THE BELL: The New Class). Dustin is also 29 today. Clearly I am in bad company (by bad I mean good, you know like the kids say). I was never a fan of the Saved by the Bell series, but thanks to my friend; Jewboy, I saw more episodes then I care to admit. After school there was a block of two hours of Saved by the Bell, which spanned three different channels. Jewboy and his sisters watched these two hours of television greatness every weekday. So many of the times I went over to his house I had to endure the last few minutes of the show. I had learned the hard way about the BLOCK of BELL. After that I would not call or go over till it was over.
Kenny Loggins’ music was (is) something I did (do) enjoy. His music was like a gateway drug that could take you from pop-rock to lite-hits. Like a highway to the danger zone, his music led me to Richard Marx. This is the cross that I bare. Cursed with bad tasty in music.
Monday, January 05, 2004 Interview with The Librarian Barbarian
I took some time to talk with The Librarian Barbarian (PLCMC), about the Thrilla in Rockhilla. His fight on New Year’s Eve, against Lt. HighLife (USMC). The fight lasted for three, one minute rounds, when the Librarian Barbarian threw in the towel after the third round.
dutch69: Thank you for taking time out of you busy schedule, to speak with me.
Librarian Barbarian: No problem, I am happy to be here.
dutch69: Lets cut right to it. Why fight?
Librarian Barbarian: Because I could and no one else would.
dutch69: That is the dumbest reason for doing something I have ever heard. That even beats “everyone else is doing it”.
Librarian Barbarian: I know but I am always telling my friends that they should try, even though they know the outcome. I guess I was just putting my kidney where my mouth is.
dutch69: Was there a point in the fight when you thought that you could win?
Librarian Barbarian: During the first round I moved around allot and Lt. HighLife was missing me with his heavy hits. I could see those coming and move out of the way. When he would throw the heavy hits he left himself open for me. I did not think I could win but I knew that I could hit him.
dutch69: During the second round. What was with the monkey dance?
Librarian Barbarian: It was not a monkey dance. Lt. HighLife had swung low, too low, and I was showing him the area that he should be swinging at. I know that he was not trying to hit me low, but I thought that I should clarify the target.
dutch69: How did round two compare to round one?
Librarian Barbarian: Round two was when Lt. HighLife really came out swinging. He was nice enough to take it easy during the first round. We both wanted to make it a good show for the crowd, and he did not want to take me out in the first round.
dutch69: So you are saying that the fight was fixed.
Librarian Barbarian: No, I’m saying that he waited till the second round to start really beating on me.
dutch69: What happen to the anger ball, that people were talking about. You didn’t ever go nuts. That is what I had come to see. That is what we all came to see.
Librarian Barbarian: Well first of all that is what I did not want to happen. Because I would have gotten beaten down even more so. Lt. HighLife is stronger and in better shape. If I turned it up he would have turned it up also. That would have had the same outcome, but with more injuries, and we might not have walked away smiling.
dutch69: The third round was the only round were you really did anything. Then you quit.
Librarian Barbarian: We were both tired that round. But I knew something Lt. HighLife didn’t.
dutch69: What’s that?
Librarian Barbarian: This would be the last round. I only did anything that round because I wanted to end it swinging. He was probably expecting me to do about as little or less then I had in the earlier round. That is the only reason I got those few hit in during the third round. He sprang to life pretty quick and finished the round swinging.
dutch69: So if you knew that you would not win, why did you fight only to quit after the third round?
Librarian Barbarian: That is as long as I promised myself that I had to last. The beating could have been allot worse and I still would have tried to stay through the third round. I’m glad that it was not worse.
dutch69: Do you have any words of advise for the young readers out there?
Librarian Barbarian: Stay in school. Violence is not the answer, unless you are the Government of the United States. Never plan events while drinking.
