The O'Jays - A Family Reunion

Battle was Saturday. Sunday morning I was off to Connecticut. It was a last minute decision but I didn't want my girl to weather the barrage of inquiries into her life solo. We took a bus down, which meant 4+ hours of reading this one news paper i like. We intermittently debated about Superman Returns but for the most part I was just stuck reading this article on fusion-voting. The odd thing was that I basically could not finish the article. I suddenly felt like I was in school again. No matter how I tried to just read on through it, the words just bounced off me. I was left with little grasp of the content and thus resolving to re-read. Very annoying and time consuming.

While in Connecticut, family didn't seem to understand that I-i-i didn't give a flying [edit] about how things were going to work out. Where we slept, when we ate, where we spent our days before the actual cookout: no importa. What amused me the most was the penchant family has for repeating itself. Captured best in this moment i recant for you now:

My girl, her pops, and I sit outside her brother's apartment. Yes, her sister lives in a seperate joint on the third floor but we were waiting on her brother to return. Our eyes are fixed on the flowers in front of us, not for their attempt at urban beautification but for the possible exit of yellow-jackets. We shoot the breeze, nothing important at all, in fact we actually come around to talking about the weather. The most cliché topic of all time but we progress with it rather than delving into deeper topics. (I mention this because the conversation originally kicked off with Pops observing that my girl's thighs had grown thicker...oops, haha. I am not sure he wanted to commit himself to deducing the cause - as she and I sat nearly holding hands.) Now talking about rain, I mention my fascination with it's near-precision. Especially how it can be raining across the street from you and you never feel a drop. Also the way rain seems to commence and cease within a few seconds at times. You can go from dry to downpour in almost an instant and vice-versa. It really is fascinating. Carla seconded the observations and just then her pops offered his own. "Yeah, you know, boy, you could be sitting on one side of the street watching it rain over there and you never even feel a drop. Man, I'll tell you, that is something, isn't it?!" To which I replied, "Yes, sir!" to this completely new observation on the subject. Fin.


Now multiply that by however many subjects people can fit into three days of pseudo-catching up and you have the trip. Overall it was still fun. The "Most Fun People to Chill With" awards go to Carla's 15yr-old cousin from South Carolina (whom we are trying to kidnap and put into a good school in a big city), her brothers (both are cool and funny) and her sister's girlfriend (as in romantic insterest - who probably understands how I feel though her broken record collection probably consists of "I just don't understand" and "The bible says"). At times, i just wanted to be like "dang, mayn, you must be tired" but i'm sure she gathered my views when it was mentioned that I fundraised for the HRC (Human Rights Campaign). Also she listens to 'Little Brother' so she MUST be cool on some level.

Anyway, amid attempts to escape to video games and suffering through folks watching 'they stories' (their soap operas) on the biggest screen i've seen in a minute, the cookout was cool. Especially the music (when they were playing EVERY old-school favorite of mine) before it eventually rained. Oh, and of course they tried to overfeed me cus i'm "skinty". But hey, free food, is free food. Also, my southern accent made a triumphant but laid-back return, cus they all are originally from South Carolina. Lastly, (as stereotypical as it is) GOOD KOOL-AID IS THE JAM!!!

Peace.
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The Human Rights Campaign, let it be known that I fundraised the most at PRIDE; making me not just an eco-hustler, but an all-round non-profit paper-chaser.

Maybe it's just me, but fusion-voting makes so much sense that I doubt people are ready.

Little Brother on MySpace. I also recommend visiting 9th Wonder's page, he makes the tracks.