Dawson on the Run

Here's something cool about Mexicans. They don't pay a lot of attention to their children. Like yeah, they have lots of rules that prohibit friends of the opposite sex from going into bedrooms and even when you're 24 and live with mom you have to get permission to go out, but during actual interactions, i see a lot of ignoring going on. like yesterday, my 3-year-old mexican "niece" was screaming at my mexican "sister"- FANI. FANI. FANI. FANI. FAAAAANNNNIIIII. FANI.... across the 10 person table at a restaurant. No one even told her to shut up because that is how little attention anyone was paying to her. Today I saw a kid of about 4 ride his tricycle into some really deep, chunky mud ruts. He's like "Mama! Mama!" while he tries like mad to pedal out of the ruts and she's like "Quedate alli" all calm while she reads through a list of events posted on a park sign. Quedate alli means Stay there. HA! This is so refreshing because these kids won't grow up all spoiled and mamuco like our brats. Instead of expecting and demanding attention, they will be happily surprised and grateful when they receive it. There is a downside though. Well, I see it as one. With the asking of permission to go out at night, the no boys/girls in the bedrooms, and the lack of attention during the day, there are lot of young Mexicans in the park having sex with their clothes on. And that is really hard to not pay attention to!

i seriously don't remember if my grandfather is still alive or not. and he is the one that had (has?) alzheimers. every family is different. hmm... i don't really remember what happened to my great aunt either. guess i'll wait and see if i get $20 at christmas.

i hear white people tell stories about black friends, and for whatever reason, irrelevant or not, they need to let me know that this friend is black. but they can't say the word black or something, and instead say my friend dontrell, or my friend shamika, or my co-worker lakeisha... it's annoying. i wonder if i do it.

another funny little thing that i saw today in my school were lots of student-created banners in support of world aids day. they say "i support world AIDS." oops.

prologue
let me share how creepy intuitive my computer is.

part 1
i made this quiz for my class as word doc. i spelled the protagonist's name wrong throughout- "domatila." stellar. i saved the document "domatila."

part 2
i actually re-read part of the story to see that not only had i been spelling the name wrong, but therefore also pronouncing "domitila" incorrectly all day long in class as well. i guess that's what happens when you teach your class a story you haven't read because you were too lazy to open a book all weekend and instead caught up on season 8 of antp. (america's next top model) they have the marathons on the weekends. yeah, so anyway i changed the spelling of the name WITHIN the document but didn't bother to change the title cuz who cares. that would not be an acceptable answer on the quiz "cuz who cares."

part 3
i attached the doc to an email to myself (then i don't have to save it to a "flashdrive" which i don't have because i refuse to believe that the world is done with disks even though not one computer in my whole school has a disk drive).

part 4
i checked my email. the document attached is now titled "Domitila." FREAKY.

epilogue
no, there is no scientific explanation for this. "Domitila" was not the first word in the document. there is something bigger going on here in that my computer is thinking. i am going to feel bad when i shut it down. like it's the electric chair.

lights out.

ehren says some men are dogs.
duh.

but he means that they are loyal, happy to serve, enthusiastic companions, eager for love. cute, simple, content. and if life were easy, i'd love a dog. but i'm interested in the other animals my friend says men can be- raccoons. crafty scavengers- their intellect and daring enable them to survive in the cities or the wild. not easily tamed nor phased by human contact, they center their focus and drive into more creative endeavors such as writing, acting, cooking, telling jokes... oh, right, uh...

i could fall madly in love with a dog; a docile, loving, domesticated pet. but could i truly respect a dog? it seems difficult to respect those i view as lacking passion and independence. BUT a raccoon, the exciting and adventurous creature of the night, will never give me the love, affection, and consideration that i hate to admit that i need. and probably won't let me win arguments to my liking. oh, yeah, i mean...

so what i need is a raccoon-dog. which actually exist, as an animal anyway. they are commonly found in woodlands or rural villages (perfect!) of japan, italy, france, siberia, and scandinavia (says wikipedia). or maybe i should just stop being such a freaking emotional overanalyzing chimp and be more of chilled out lazy grazin' cow.

on that note, i shall now eat a pizza and drink several ciders. mooooo. burp.

we live in a sick society that values money and appearances over love and integrity, that sensationalizes government politics and catastrophic events, that has an actual audience for "i love new york." i find myself a victim of this flu sometimes. NOT the i love new york part, but i do watch E!News. and once in awhile i am too lazy to change the channel after general hospital, so i end up watching oprah.

why do i want to watch a 4-part series of oprah taking a road trip across the county with her best friend? that is a little presumptuous. i might have had to watch 5 minutes of her complaining about the stench of manure. i know i definitely watched 30 minutes of her cornering people at roadstops saying "i'm oprah winfrey" and waiting for them to gush over her. really- there was no other plan. she even went so far as to crash 2 weddings with gail, just showing up with her "i'm oprah, now freak out cuz i'm so much better than you" m.o., and thank goodness they were southerners so the brides were all sweet about it. if i ever get a wedding that is MY DAY and ain't no damn Oprah gonna come in make it all about HER. i will leave specific instructions at the door.

gotta go. time to watch the new scoop on lindsay lohan stealing away with stavros in the backseat. (paris hilton's bf, of course.) priorities, people.

i had to "research" marion barry to see if what i wrote about him in the GRE essay was factual or not. i never found the answer because these quotes left me so incredulous that i never made it to another site. enjoy.

These are actual quotes taken from Mayor Marion Barry, of Washington, D.C.




"The contagious people of Washington have stood firm against diversity during this long period of increment weather." -- M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC

"I promise you a police car on every sidewalk." -- M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC

"If you take out the killings, Washington actually has a very very low crime rate." -- M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC

"First, it was not a strip bar, it was an erotic club. And second, what can I say? I'm a night owl." -- M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC

"Bitch set me up." -- M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC

"I am clearly more popular than Reagan. I am in my third term. Where's Reagan? Gone after two! Defeated by George Bush and Michael Dukakis no less." -- M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC

"The laws in this city are clearly racist. All laws are racist. The law of gravity is racist." -- M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC

"I am making this trip to Africa because Washington is an international city, just like Tokyo, Nigeria or Israel. As mayor, I am an international symbol. Can you deny that to Africa?" -- M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC

"People have criticized me because my security detail is larger than the president's. But you must ask yourself: are there more people who want to kill me than who want to kill the president? I can assure you there are." -- M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC

"The brave men who died in Vietnam, more than 100% of which were black, were the ultimate sacrifice." -- M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC

"I read a funny story about how the Republicans freed the slaves. The Republicans are the ones who created slavery by law in the 1600's. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and he was not a Republican." -- M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC

"What right does Congress have to go around making laws just because they deem it necessary?" -- M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC

"People blame me because these water mains break, but I ask you, if the water mains didn't break, would it be my responsibility to fix them then? WOULD IT!?!" -- M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC

"I am a great mayor; I am an upstanding Christian man; I am an intelligent man; I am a deeply educated man; I am a humble man." -- M. Barry, Mayor of Washington, DC