Why aren't I sleeping? oh yeah, urge to post rising, RISING...!

[fredericks]

If anyone on my FL happens to wander through Bed-Stuy and is hungering for a slice of pizza expertly prepared by a skinny black dude from Trinidad who just happens to be my uncle, pop on by A Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Shop at 685 Franklin Avenue. He's had the place open for almost a year now and I checked it out for the first time on Saturday. He gave me the full tour, from the freezers to the Fry-O-Later (used later that evening to make fried bake, which I found HI-larious) to the mixer, where I gave him and his two sons a hand whipping up the pizza dough for the next day. It's such a NY joint: the owner's from the Caribbean, the current chef's from Ecuador. And the pizza really *is* damn good. So, you know, spread the word or whatnot.

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"Nation's Blacks Creeped Out By All The People Smiling At Them". My favorite line (because, my GOD, so true!): "Although poll respondents said that the regularity of jovial white strangers greeting them in elevators has risen approximately 450 percent since mid-January, the incidents are reportedly nowhere near as frequent as they were on Nov. 4, 2008. On that day, the country was temporarily seized by an epidemic of unsolicited white-on-black hugging.". Moreso on the 5th than the 4th, but, yeah. Jebus, that was awkward.

Somewhat related, captainschlumpy and I are working on making the Friday after Thanksgiving "White Guilt Amnesty Day". It would make it that much easier to separate the naive but well-meaning (and willing to listen/learn) wheat from the bigoted close-minded chaff.

***
Thursday afternoon was amazingly cold in the city. I was making my way down 5th Avenue when I saw a woman walking with two toddlers; the kids were bundled but one of them had his face exposed, and I could see he was *not happy* about that. Then the wind picked up, and I gave a loud "FUCK!" in my head, because homygodCOLD. The little boy, at the same moment I made my mental exclamation, started bawling. I could not blame him at all. Felt quite bad for him, in fact. Sort of wished I could do the same thing. But I figured the tears would freeze in a track down my face and make things that much worse.

****
I don't necessarily have a problem with doing tasks incorrectly, but rather having other people know that I've done a task incorrectly. My Shame Meter is messed up.

***
Saturday, March 28th @ Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn: A Symposium at the Bi-Annual Meeting of the National Black Writers Conference on The Works and Life of Octavia Butler. Be there or be completely square (+1!).

Comments

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

(Best Sokka moment *ever* encapsulated by that icon, btw)

That Onion article was definitely full of win. I'm happy the almost obligatory congrats from white folks have fallen off, at least. It was like I'd won something personally.

[emily-goddess.livejournal.com]

(I've been looking for an icon of that scene for ages)

So white people actually were congratulating you? That's really icky.

[fredericks.livejournal.com]

Not making that up at all. You'd think I'd personally won something. Instead of, you know, the NATION actually winning something. Or whatever.