Vignettes from the Ever-Lasting Now

BNormal, Illinois March 28, 2020 I was out on the street, movin', groovin', doing my thing in the white world, know what I mean? Well then, my steps led me to the vicinity of Kroger's, whereupon I remembered the essentials: a six-pack of Guinness and some stuff for me all-white neighbour, Ron the Actor, so I stopped in and grabbed a hand-sanitized shopping cart. I picked up me pack of Guinness after waiting for an all-white wife and husband to get away from the beer section. The wife appeared to be yakkin' on her cell whilst the hubby was doing the actual shopping. I also noticed a full-scale nuclear black family of wife, hubby, and small child. They were a compact lot and apparently all out for a spin out of their lockdown. I dared to dart past another white gal busy yakking with a store employee and having a gay time of it, so as to grab a package of olive loaf for Ron the Actor. Then I headed down to the cheese aisle. That aisle was backed up by three ...

March 21, 2020 BNormal, Illinois Yesterday in the 33° temperature I was wearing a hoodie and my winter coat and gloves as I came walking back from Kroger’s. It was windy too. Well, along comes a young gal who is a little on the large side but as cute as can be walking her teeny little dog and she’s got short shorts on. Peach colored, they are. I says to her, “Put some pants on!” and she smiles and indicates that it is all good. I am reminded of FDR's response to the reporter who asked him why he used a cigarette holder: "My doctor told me to stay as far away from cigarettes as possible." Just so my grandma told me to stay as far away from crazy people as possible.

March 23, 2020 BNormal, Illinois I have noticed there has been a real upsurge in the use of the word "asshole." "Dick," of course is quite common now, and I guess anyone can be called a dick. Humans are being reduced to dicks and assholes. Can't we just meet in the middle and peacefully have intercourse with each other? dick[ dik ]   noun Slang. Older Use. a detective.   Vulgar. penis.   Vulgar. a stupid, mean, or contemptible person, especially a man. But here's the one we're talking about, as well as the relation to "asshole": Being a Dick   Someone who is constantly acting like an asshole when unnecessary. Me: you look nice today. Them: you don't, have you ever heard of a hair brush? Me: ugh you are being a dick!

BNormal, Illinois March 21, 2020 I was walking to Walgreen's to get a pneumonia shot when I stopped at Reverberations just to look at the 33-1/3 albums they have lining the windows - stuff like B.B. King Sings Christmas Carols and the 13th Floor Elevators Greatest Hits - and a guy stopped to chat within a safe distance (heck, I think it was about 3 or 4 feet). He says, "Man, it's like walkin into the seventies when you go in there!" I says, "Yes, I know!" jabber jabber. It turns out the guy is the same age as me, and his uncle is Yusef Lateef, and I have one of his uncle's albums! Or I think I do - maybe he played with Idris Muhammed, whose Power of Soul album I know I have. But we chatted for a nice while - him on his way to buy balloons for his 7-year-old granddaughter and me to get my geezer shot. Another kool adventure on the street! https://youtu.be/Fr1bzAljIn8?list=PL_WDpf_Xeu3I-R_B-tlXTt70aCEpFyRyY Add the story of the fat girl with t...

BNormal, Illinois March 20, 2020 Now then, the only way we’re going to make any progress is to talk to each other and try to understand each other. I was just watching a movie tonight called The Best of Enemies, a true story based on some KKK types versus a group of black people who are trying to get the same basic rights as the white people. This is back in 1971 in Durham, N.C. Basically it’s one particular Klansman versus one particular black woman, with each one representing his or her group. Each person is very focused and has no intentions of caving in or compromising to the other. In all this mess and mutual hatred, a black arbitrator calls the committed racist his brother because the racist makes one correct point in a heated discussion. It doesn’t matter what the racist says, it’s just important that he’s correct about one thing. The black guy points out that the white guy is objectively correct and that as far as that one thing goes, they are in agreement and thus they...

March 20, 2020 BNormal, Illinois I've walked down to Kroger's on two consecutive days now, since the library isn't open, and I only got a couple small things today, but the walk was great to get my blood moving and there's always the chance I'll run into somebody and talk to them. Well, I ran into a fellow tenant today - Walt, who also goes by Santa Claus and who, though looking like an old hippie, is a Trump supporter. Walt has a big Santa beard and a real good head of hair and a ponytail going down his back. He was wearing a nice MOTOWN cap, and at first he pretended not to know me, but then he livened up when I said I would like his hat and would he take my Joe's Pizza hat in trade. He said No. I also talked with a largish and sloppyish woman who said that when her husband died she cut off and kept his ponytail. She showed me a little thing she had around her neck that contained a little of her hair and her husband's intertwined and braided. I said s...

I walked into the polling place, which was staffed by several middle-to-older-age women, both black and white. I have never voted in a primary before – have you? I also wondered whether you are an American citizen or whether you might wish to be adopted by an American like a certain Vladimir Tim? Well, so I asked these women kind of timidly, “Can I vote Democratic?” and one black woman said, “You can do anything you want!” I said, “Anything?” “Yes,” she said. “Well,” I said, “I’d like to dance around in my underwear.” MUCH laughter from all the women, and a man at another table smiled too. They said they had been there all day and that was the biggest laugh they had all day. I said, “I can sing too,” and I started singing “Expressway to Your Heart” to the oldest black woman and she started laughing again. That was real fun – LOL. 😊 It really was. Then I went and voted for Joe Biden as my friend Scott had recommended. Oh, another thing: I had on one of my Hawaiian shirts that I’...