SNHU MFA Graduate, Joelyn Drennan ... is an observer, a wonderer, and a dramatic conspirator, whose intense appreciation of literature is the driving force behind her writing aspirations. Her thesis, Canterbury: A Collection Of Stories, is a wonderful look at life on the rougher side of a trailer park (Canterbury Estates) ... these stories present some engrossing reading, amici ... Camille sells us Canterbury Estates during a phone call in the introductory story, The Sales Pitch … the caller never get a word in edgewise, but the one-way phone call works well. Love Is Blind deals with a married couple on the skids. The wife is a spoiled brat, but beautiful enough to keep the hard working husband an unsuspecting cuckold … it’s the two girls (their kids) who have been desensitized to their parents’ (especially their mother’s) fits. The ending to this story provides a very satisfying touch. There’s a story about a lucky fart (The Butterfly Effect), and another about a watered down version of marital bliss (Love, Lies and Chubby Chasers) … Ovi is performing in a cabaret in American Glitter with the intention of saving enough to bring his Mother over from Romania ... he gets help from a professional scam artist living in the same trailer park, a guy who has figured a way to beat the American system ... Whores Sleep Naked is a sexual coming of age story about a girl from an overly religious family (especially Dad) and what it finally takes to free oneself from the rigidness of a Bible thumper ...
Each of the thirteen stories is rife with humor, tragedy, and eccentricity. Joelyn is a die-hard Yankee living in Memphis, Tennessee, where she teaches writing at Southwest Tennessee Community College.
And a hat tip to Joelyn’s parents, former residents of God’s country (Brooklyn, NY) ... in fact from the very same neighborhood as my wife, Bay Ridge ...
Congrats to Joelyn ... she’s got the goods and is well on her way!
David Simon on the Zimmerman verdict ... creator of several now iconic cable series (The Corner, The Wire, Generation Kill and Treme (among many others) had this to say in a blog post titled “Trayvon.” Simon states:
“You can stand your ground if you’re white, and you can use a gun to do it. But if you stand your ground with your fists and you’re black, you’re dead,” Simon notes. “In the state of Florida, the season on African-Americans now runs year round. Come one, come all. And bring a handgun.” He continues:
“If I were a person of color in Florida, I would pick up a brick and start walking toward that courthouse in Sanford. Those that do not, those that hold the pain and betrayal inside and somehow manage to resist violence — these citizens are testament to a stoic tolerance that is more than the rest of us deserve. I confess, their patience and patriotism is well beyond my own … Tonight, anyone who truly understands what justice is and what it requires of a society is ashamed to call himself an American.“
Those who demand peaceful demonstrations need remember how this country was founded (riots that turned into revolution ... and eventually civil war) ... my take on the verdict can be found in Wednesday's post here at TK. If these wild west laws aren’t abolished soon, riots, as justifiable as the revolution and the civil war, are inevitable.
The fact, thus far, is this: You stand a much better chance of
getting off for killing a black man under Stand Your Ground, than you do if you kill a white
one. As a former coach of mine, Stew Yaker, a great guy, used to say, "It's as simple as that."
Read the statistics and be forewarned ... "The odds that a white-on-black homicide is ruled to have been justified is more than 11 times the odds a black-on-white shooting is ruled justified," Roman concluded. "No dataset will ever be sufficient to prove that race alone explains these disparities. But there are disparities in whether homicides are ruled to be self-defense, and race is clearly an important part of the story."
Or you can take from these Malcolm X quotes what you will ...
"We declare our right on this earth...to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary."—Malcolm X
"Concerning nonviolence: It is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself, when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks. It is legal and lawful to own a shotgun or a rifle. We believe in obeying the law."—Malcolm X
"It doesn't mean that I advocate violence, but at the same time, I am not against using violence in self-defense. I don't call it violence when it's self-defense, I call it intelligence."—Malcolm X
What I fear the most from these absurd laws is this: The law states it's what was in George Zimmerman's mind at the time he chose to shoot. Maybe he did fear for his life ... if we have to swallow that as "proof" of his being not guilty (the shooter's explanation), what a Pandora's box of future justifiable homicides that defense opens.
Apparently that’s already happening ... especially against minorities.
SUFA spark of the week (regarding the Zimmerman
verdict) … if this doesn’t sound like the guy stating it is missing a few
teeth, I don’t know what does. "This is
how low the lefties and the media will stoop to try and prove their constant
lies. I had CNN on by accident for 5 minutes last night and couldn’t stomach
their BS. Totally sickening to see that they are the real racists, yet nothing
is done to them when their claims are proven a lie."
Oy, friggin, vey ...
Oy, friggin, vey ...
And for some good news ...
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From HuffPo ... Minutes after Temar Boggs heard that 5-year-old Jocelyn Rojas had gone missing, he noticed a suspicious car careening in and out of the side streets of his neighborhood.
The 15-year-old was hanging out with his friends at an apartment in Lancaster, Penn. on Thursday afternoon when he heard the news. So he and another friend, Chris Garcia, took to their bikes to join the search for Rojas, according to Lancaster Online.
He told reporters that one car in particular caught his eye. It turned around at the top of a hill near Garcia's apartment, where several police officers were gathered. It began turning in and out of side streets in the neighborhood, which is known for its cul-de-sacs and dead ends.
Boggs gave chase on his bicycle. He got close enough to the vehicle to see a little girl inside. He made eye contact with the driver, an older white male, who apparently got spooked enough to let Rojas get out of the car.
"She runs to my arms and said, 'I need to see my mommy,'" Boggs said. Read about it here:
Let’s face it, my beloved New York State Buffalo Bills will probably under-under achieve yet again ... we’re hopeful for 6 wins this year ... we’ll be more than happy with 7 ... disappointed with anything less than 6 and absolutely ecstatic with 8. Still, we know the Jills won’t disappoint, no way. So how ‘bout those Buffalo Jills!
Let’s hope these guys can perform half as well as those gals above ...
—Knucks
Yeah, baby ... another blues tune we’re playing of late (you have to ignore the promo) ...
Missing opera? Me too ... how about an overture? From Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman) ...
