Welcome to We Do This. We Do That. For the uninitiated, this is a tumblog, which basically is a blog, based in short-form, mixed-media posts. The themes here tends to be: smart ideas, beautiful things and social justice - leaning towards coverage of politics, new media and the gays. Brownie points for those who recognize the url as a nod to Patti Smith and the title as a nod to Frank O'Hara's poetic style
I promised some of you that I would post some pics from the recent island trip; but, as I didn’t have a camera while there, I’ve lacked any picture documentation. Luckily there is Facebook, where other people can post pictures they took of you while you weren’t paying attention. I think this photo well documents a bit of the balance in life right now: relaxing on a beach while simultaneously scrolling a blackberry for news regarding the DOJ/DOMA brief that was filed that day, and looking totally disgusted at what I’m reading. C’est la!
(This is apparently one of the only surviving pics from that trip. Also, I had no idea that someone was slying taking pictures of me in that moment. That is the actual position I apparently choose to rest in while reading bad news on a beautiful beach. Who knew?!)
“In a deserted place in Iran there is a not very tall stone tower that has neither door nor window. In the only room (with a dirt floor and shaped like a circle) there is a wooden table and a bench. In that circular cell, a man who looks like me is writing in letters I cannot understand a long poem about a man who in another circular cell is writing a poem about a man who in another circular cell … The process never ends and no one will be able to read what the prisoners write.”
So I’ve been on a blogging hiatus lately, as lots of stuff is going on! But last night, despite exhaust, the death of Michael Jackson felt like it was preordained that I keep my dancefloor plans. So totally beat exhausted, I blasted some of his music, while my friend Sway spoke of him on the TV in the background, and I put together whatever outfit of fierceness I could most muster and then hopped in a cab.
The cabbie was a 49-year-old Middle Eastern man and we talked about this or that thing, before he paused and said, “today is a very sad day.” His wife, who was not fond of Michael Jackson, woke the cabbie up with news of the death, as she found it amusing. This 49-year-old man tells me he then started crying at the news. We talked about the role Michael’s music played in so many different areas of society, and what the scene was like outside of the Apollo at the moment. I mentioned that I was tired and decided to cancel my plans for the night, until I heard the news, which made me realize I needed to be out somewhere, rocking to MJ on the dancefloor with others.
At some point after that, I didn’t really notice when, the cabbie turned off the meter. Being exhausted, I didn’t really trip on it. We continued driving, talking about the histories of cities and their relations to the culture of music. We pulled up to the club my friend was hosting an event at, queers piling out the door, smoking cigs outside. When I last saw the meter, it was at 16 or so dollars. The cabbie pulls over and says: just give me ten dollars. I pull out fifteen, as I had no ones to give a tip, and hand them to the driver. He laughs at me and says, “no, really, don’t dare give me more than ten dollars, I enjoyed having someone to talk to about MJ. You are headed to dance the night away to his music, so I want to help drive you there! Go dance!”
So two of the (potentially) 4 (?) bday celebrations have been had, and they’ve both been lovely. Then this morning I woke up to some Hendrix and some coffee, and now am getting ready to head off to an island, where it will just be sun, music, ocean, good food and some of my favorite peoples. 28 is totally keeping the stellar up so far. Sadly the present and continual lack of an iPhone means that I’ve documented absolutely none of this in pictures, but perhaps I will have some island ones when I return to land and to these internets.
Happy early weekend all, and thanks to all of you for your kind thoughts, etc, as Project (Wo)Manifesting Awesomeness continues!
I just got a pretty exciting phone call, on this day of my 28th bday, and then I got off the phone and was screaming and jumping around a bit and ran outside because I decided a cigarette was required to calm my excitement down, and then, swear to Lordisa, the skies rumbled and cracked, the wind began to blow, trees starting shaking, and rain began pounding out of the sky in a dazzle of thunder and lightening that is even louder and more powerful than it was this morning. And, well, I couldn’t have planned a better response to how I’m feeling in this moment! (Bday 2009, way to go!)
UPDATE: Having a cigarette in such a moment may seem like a good idea, but when you’re that wired it really just makes you dizzy, although in all this thunder and lightening, maybe that’s a bit of a fun thing!
