Hello People of the World;
Ah-hah! Did the cooler weather catch you off-guard
again with the earth taking a full year to bring the fall weather? Suckers. You
fall for it every time. Hah. See what I did there? Fall for fall? No? Forget
you.
I hope this edition finds you well. It has cooled
down enough for me to start layering up. These last few days as I type this
have been cloudy and rainy and I have to slog through it to make my school
visits. On bright side, I found the only
A&W restaurant in Chicago and it is near one of my schools. Papa Burger
with a root beer float? Yesh, please.
Let’s get this edition started, shall we?
1:[ First
Item of the Month:
Have you ever carried on lengthy conversations in your head for absolutely no
reason? I do that all the time. It usually takes place when I am out walking. I
unintentionally run into someone or have an encounter with a stranger or
someone I know or knew just enters my mind. Typically, it springs from some
past conversation or something and I find myself carrying out this entire
conversation in my head while I walk or just hang around my place.
I am telling this person off or arguing the right
thing against that person. I make some great arguments or say the right things
and it is not just limited to phantom conversations with people I will barely
meet again. I am solving every problem that humanity faces and building perfect
utopian societies in my head that usually by the end of it, I have to laugh at
and then tell myself, “Yeah, that’s exactly what will happen….”
2:[ My Truthfulness Stuffs:
My Useless Self:
Stubbornness
My dad used to be stubborn about the strangest
things, to hear my family tell it. He would get stubborn about how other people
were expected to act. For instance, during my childhood and the better time of
my adulthood, there used to be a large, house structure next to our old house
that came to be used as a storage place. This house sat on four columns of
large cinder blocks. Sort of holding the house aloft at the corners – a strange
sight to the uninitiated.
As a kid, it was always there, so you become
accustomed to seeing it all the time. Time, speaking of, eventually got the
better of the house and it caved in and warped due to weather. But I remember
being told, by one of my brothers, I think, that it was originally supposed to
be an addition to our old house. I guess, the story goes, that the tribal
housing people, after putting in place to begin with, were supposed to come
over, lift it off the bricks and attach it to the back door of the old house
creating another wing with additional space for our large family.
But, after setting up the house on the “stilts”,
they never came back. Typical tribal program. So, instead of taking it down or
getting it moved him self, my dad left it. He got stubborn about it because as
I was told he said “They were supposed to do the job. So leave it, until they
come back and do finish the job.”
So there it remained, for most of my life. I never
knew the real back-story of the house. I am pretty sure I’ll get corrected. As a
kid, I just accepted it there in our yard. I guess my dad simply expected
people to do what they say they were going to do. From what I understand, he
was like that about many things. I think he even lost some friends over stuff
like that but my dad was a different type of man. From what I gather, he was
usually in the right about most of these stubborn stands he took. So, as to
leaving the house up on those brick stilts for so long? I think he also really
expected people to simply get the point.
I think I inherited this from him.
Stubbornness too.
Updates from my other Truthfulness Projects:
+ NAMELESS: The Authentic and Magical Ledger Art of EW3
A Treatise on
American Indian Art
“All you care about is money. This city deserves a
better class of artist. And I’m going to give it to them.”
I have been working on re-writing the project
statement and I have decided to 1) work on getting more drawings done and 2)
get a showing as soon as possible. With all that I see going on in the Native
Arts world, the more I think a project like mine is needed. How’s that for
egoism? I was talking to my friend Dave and I mentioned my art vs. commerce
philosophies and how I am making a real effort to live by those ideals. Even in
the way I am shooting my HAMLET movie. He gave me his support.
I hate at how much commerce is attached to art
because in the end, all artists end up making products to sell. Which is why I
continually state: “In the end, it’s all collectible coffee mugs.” Also, quote
the great man, ‘It’s not about money.
It’s about sending a message…’.
+ The Five Six SEVEN Hypocrisies of Native America:
(Because Seven is a sacred
number):
I saw a picture of a Native person flipping the
bird at an ad with a picture of a child in a Johnny Depp Tonto costume. I said
“Right on! Because Natives would never, EVER sell their beads and feathers or
our cultural motifs or pictures of our great warriors for money! Oh. Wait-.”
Great Native Hypocrisy #5: “Non-Natives cannot sell
Native cultural items, now excuse me, I have to go set up my table at my
booth….”
Yeah, I know how offensive the costume is. Still, folks would not be conditioned to accept that imagery if they didn't see Natives selling that same kind of image at the markets. It's just another thing they throw money at to solve the problem. I do see my message is creeping out there as
some Native artists are contemplating moving towards non-Native art markets, not that it makes a difference, you are still making collectible coffee mugs….
+ No One Ever Sees Indians – Native Americans in Media:
I have had this idea, a way of presenting my point
of view on Native American self-representation and it seems that I may have the
chance to do it. For the last few years I have been making a presentation on
Native Americans in Media at various schools and universities, it is the title
of the course I offer at UWP. But in the last few months I have been revamping
it, making it more of a show. In essence, I do a magic trick. Sort of.
So, typically, this November, I have lined up a
bunch of new presentations that I will be making on Native Americans in media
and will have the chance to try out this new way of getting my message across.
So, keep an eye out for that.
NEXT MONTH’S TRUTHFULNESS:
Ego and _____?
Let me know what I should
cover next in my series on Truthfulness.
3:[ More MOVIE TIME ADVENTURES:
+ “Gravity” Review: CLICK HERE for my review of Alfonso Cuarón’s
latest.
+ “The Grandmaster” review: The best movie I have seen so far this
year. CLICK HERE for my review.
4:[ So, I had the occasion to
pass through the Chicago Cultural Center while they were doing the Ken Ellis
Quilting exhibit. The first thought that hits me is “Women have been quilting
for centuries and now a man does it and it’s call ‘art’?”
5:[ Ah yes, settle in Dear
Readers for more of:
Adventures at
the Coffee Shop!
+ So, I go to the Starbucks on Howard and Western
quite often. Though I have not been to a coffee shop in some time, I used to
see this fellow in there from time to time. You know how regulars run into each
other over time. So, I was invited to be on a panel on Race and Ethnicity
concerning racism and I hoped on the Western bus to get to the event and a few
stops later, this fellow gets on. I know I know him from somewhere but it slips
my mind. He jumps off a stop before I do and I have a small adventure finding
the place I was supposed to be – crazy zoning laws. Anyways, I thought I was
running late but arrived earlier than anyone.
So, as I sat there who should walk in but the
fellow and we sort of shake our heads in that surprised recognition. You know.
Then we introduce ourselves. It turned out that we are both on the panel for
the evening’s event. It also turns out we are both regulars at the Starbucks on
Howard and Western. Pretty cool meeting new people. As an introvert, meeting
new people is not a scary thing for us. We just like to do it on our own terms.
But, being forced to meet new people is uncomfortable. So, what I am saying is,
eat your vegetables….
+ Damn, the music they are playing now, completely
sucks. Nuevo-jazz riffing…. Yuck….
6:[ Okay, here is why there
will never be a Led Zepplin reunion. The reason is so simple that I cannot
believe people haven’t figured it out yet and they still complain that they
should get back together and make new- no, wait, not make new music, but play
the old music they all love. Here’s the reason: John Bonham is dead. He cannot
come back and be reunited with the rest of Zepplin to please your stupid ass.
He’s dead. The rest of the members know this – adding anyone else, even
Bonham’s son, is not a reunion, it’s replacement.
U2 states that if one of them quits or something
terrible happens to them, they would stop being U2. It makes sense because
Zepplin was a great combination of musicians and to lose one, means you lose
the whole. So, grow up. Get over it. Led Zepplin, nor any other past rock bands
that lost a member will never get back together simply to please you….
7:[ And now Wisdom of the
Sages presents:
“An Ever-growing List of Things That MUST Stop!”
+ Recent experience has led me to wonder: why the
f*ck would you talk badly about a person behind their back to specifically ruin
their chances for advancement or employment? That seems highly irregular to me.
Of course in my own hypocrisy, I am probably guilty of expressing an honest
opinion but it is never out of a specific malice where I hope the person is
ruined in some fashion. What does that prove? I try to be truthful. I don’t get
it. Why hurt someone chances elsewhere with your petty bullsh*t? Nobody’s THAT
important that they have to tear other down. That type of vindictiveness could
be ended if the person simply decides “Maybe I should just get over it.” I
don’t know. That needs to stop…
+ Introverts cannot read minds. Just because they
keep to themselves more so than other people, does not mean other people can
assume things or speak for them. Ask them first. This inconsiderate attitude
towards the more quiet of people needs to stop… (Yes, again from recent
experience.)
+ I got on the bus late yesterday (As I type this)
and got a seat in the back by this nice-looking woman watching a movie on her
cell phone and with her dry cleaning next to her. Suddenly, a bunch of people
get on and it begins to get crowded pretty quick. But instead of moving her
shit from the seat next to her as people struggle past her, she simple
rearranges it on the seat. Okay, how does rearranging your shit make room on
the bus?
8:[ I do not consider myself
any sort of prognosticator. I don’t believe in psychics. I am not a “far seer”,
not in terms of writing, anyway. I am not an author of speculative fiction or
even science fiction that has to imagine how the world will be centuries from
now. I cannot imagine that. But I am curious. I want to live an exceedingly
long life just to know: what happens?
So, about four months ago or more, I started
writing my first science fiction story. I think it had to do with a call for
entries to a Native Sci Fi thing. I am tired of all the silly-sounding sci-fi
that comes from Natives and thought I should try to write something in the
straight form of the genre. The story is called “Blue Woman, in Space!” about
the colonization of a new world in which she has an adventure on.
I am trying to make it a straight sci-fi story with
new and speculative technologies, such as “Flatspace” apartments, nebula rises
and, mood clothing and food. One thing I added was the concept of the Palm
Phone – a thin film of plastic that one sticks to the palm of your hand.
Virtual buttons appear at your fingertips to help you dial and you hold your
palm up to your ear to hear and speak. I guess I based this on the idea that
with cloud technology, phones will get thinner to the point of being able to
stick them inside your hand to use.
In the story there is mention of the Nostalgic
Hipster Types and their trend of sticking the Palm Phones to their wrists to
talk into them like old-fashioned sci-fi movies, just to be cool. Now, I made
up this hipster nonsense part but the thinning of phones I think I got from
Louis CK, whose been stealing my ideas a lot lately anyways.
I am not any sort of speculative technology person.
At all. It is strange that we practically banished wristwatches, which banished pocket watches, for our cellphones. So, wouldn’t you know it? You would only buy this for that ironic nostalgia factor or else you'd buy a damn wristwatch....
9:[ From the “This Just In” Department: As it turns
out, Oreos are as addicting as cocaine according to this article: The “pleasure center” of the brain, the
nucleus accumbens, apparently gets just as activated in response to Oreos as it
does to cocaine and morphine, which could actually have some major public
health implications.
I guess a part of me now understands why I love the
cookie so damn much and another part of me is so happy I do not get tins of
Oreos for Christmas any more. I got one from my sister every year for many
years….
10:[ Last Item of the Month: Looking at all the Facebook posts lately, I
am once again reminded at how much people love to be reminded of how absolutely
f*cking awesome they are! We love posting things that remind us of how special
we are, from the inspirational quotes, to the human interest stories. We are
fricking awesome, bro!
People think that we are so star-spangled awesome
that we think “Why HASN’T this good thing happened to me yet? I’m important.”
We are not. We are just more creatures on this earth. Blessed with higher
functioning intellects that we have math and that we throw our garbage into
arbitrary receptacles. Hell, we barely do THAT adequately. If we are so
awesome, why is this planet so polluted and why do we show solidarity only
after the events have passed and always so far away from them? Go out there and
help those people? But, that would be doing
something! As long as I can wave my banner near the Mickey D’s in relative
safety, I’m good. Get real….
That will do it for this month.
Apologies for the lateness of this month’s edition.
I found myself busier than usual. Also, I am sorry about the thinness of this
month’s edition, I had to play a lot of catch up in my writing. I will be doing
a number of presentations next month and I have been preparing for that as well
as putting on the film festival’s first fundraiser event. That reminds me.
Recently, I debuted two scenes from my HAMLET movie
at that fundraiser and gotten some good responses. I had a discussion with one
of the fellows that performed that evening and he was stating that he did not
like the idea of our characters speaking Elizabethan English and that we should
just tell the story of Hamlet in a more Native fashion, without all the boring
words. I told him that it was a stylistic choice in all that happens in the
scene and that Shakespeare’s language is just as vital as our Native languages and
should not be ignored.
Another audience member remarked that we should
look into crowd-sourcing (which I loathe) and that we should not be hiding our
Native identity in a HAMLET movie. Now, I did not respond to this person’s
remarks. It was an elder person, sure, but I felt that this person was looking for the
argument as they spouted off their credentials in film making before they made
their comments. Besides, if you cannot see how we are showing our Native
identity in our HAMLET movie, then you missed the entire point.
Okay, that’s really it for now. Feel free to
comment, correct, and contradict anything you read here. Get mad. I’ll let you.
I just hope that we can carry on the discussions. Don’t be scared….
Until Next Time, “I try to show the schemers how
pathetic their attempts to control everything really are.”
2013 Ernest M. Whiteman III
