OCTOBER EPISODE X: FALL 2014

Hello People of the World;

So, of late, it has been, you know, there is like, this thing where, did you know that there is water in the air, but we cannot see it because it is like really small, called vapor, and it is in the air we breathe and sometimes the coldness and the warmth of the air makes the vapor turn into water, like when it is really cold, it turns to ice crystals, snow, and when it is warm the water does what is called condensation and forms into these droplets that because of gravity and such, it falls to the ground in what scientists call rain.

I guess what I am saying is that it’s been rainy, lately. Like most things, it probably took you by surprise because weather, you know? Weak-ass segue: Well, what do you know? Here we are with a quasi-on-time post. What’s all that about? I think I am just trying to get back on a writing schedule when after looking at all the writing I have done in the past few months and seeing the output has been minimal. So, I will use this weblog for its original intended purpose: To get me writing again.

Let’s get this edition started, shall we?

1:[ I helped Bonnie load her new iPod: So, in a sweet gesture Sam got Bonnie an iPod Shuffle for her birthday so she can listen to al her music. But since she is so busy with school and work, Sam had no time to teach Bonnie how to load the music. It became my task and it took awhile as a fellow Old Person, we had to update iTunes on my Macbook. It was the only computer that had an updated OS that would run the new iTunes. Next, building her music library, and finally, synching the music files to Bonnie’s iPod. Her girls are ecstatic that their mom is finally joining, in their words “the 21 century.” Still, it was both frustrating because of the tedium of all the additions steps to get new music, when you can just put on a CD, or LP, or cassette and press play, and it was fun to relearn how to do all this computer mumbo-jumbo and showing Bonnie how to do it too. You are never too old to learn how to use frivolous technology….

2:[ My Truthfulness Stuffs:

My Useless Self: Ego & My Humblebragging

Today, someone remarked on my handwriting. How they admired it and this caused someone else to state that they admire my handwriting too. I have told the reason why many times before here that I do not have to restate it. But I find I have this handwriting to mask my non-intelligence. So, I told them the reason why I have tiny, block handwriting. I did not catch the whole follow-up remark as I was putting stuff away in my man purse but I caught the term “humble bragging”. I have no clue if that was directed at me or not. Why would it be humble bragging to tell a reason why you write the way you do? I don’t know. But even if the comment was not directed at me, I am fine with it.

It just made me realize that do I tend to do that a lot. I try to strike this balanced tone of being humble about what I do and say but being self-deprecating as well. I guess that is a legal textbook definition of “humble bragging.” There are extreme cases of this, just look at any status on Facebook or Twitter. But I think I do this more in the real world as opposed to anonymously on the Internets. I am not hypocritical enough to say I do not brag. I actually brag a lot. Which is why I suspect many women never approach me. I just end up talking about myself too damn much. Even this item, even this ‘blog is such a massive example of humble bragging. But I AM hypocritical enough to admit to it.

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.”

Look for some new drawings very soon. I think I will post a list of what I am planning to draw. I am saving up to buy a bunch of actual ledger books, not the “authentic” stuff from the 1800’s or something, but just everyday, ordinary ledger books and drawing in those. I actually have some bigger plans for when I move from columnar paper to ledger paper. I think it will be pretty cool.

I am still going to by a high-end printer too as part of the proposed exhibit. So I can give away prints at every showing. I think that that will be cool.

Stay tuned.

To 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):

+ We always talk on about Cultural Appropriation. Yet, we never seem to think it hypocritical when we do those silly Internet personality games that randomly assign us other cultural identities: YEAH! IMMA Samurai!!

+ “Natives have to take the lead if they want sovereignty! We have to learn to do things for ourselves, take control of our governments and resources, fight the stereotypes that we will always need the white man to do our- wait, what? Leo DiCapiro marched with us Indians? At a climate change march that, looking back at now, did absolutely nothing? AWESOME! White Savior! White Savior! White Savior! White Savior! White Savior!”

NEXT MONTH’S TRUTHFULNESS:
Ego and _____?

Let me know what I should cover next in my series on Truthfulness.

3:[ More MOVIE TIME ADVENTURES: I have not been to the movies in such a long time but I have rented and bought some new stuff that maybe I can do a review of those. But I think I will revive WOS Reviews. Not only with the “Defense of Snyder’s ‘Man of Steel’” but maybe a new column called “Masterpiece or Not a Masterpiece”. For the first one I am thinking of a short review of “Night of the Hunter” which I just saw on DVD for the first time and had always heard it was this great masterpiece. I really was not impressed. Maybe I will write out why. Would you read that?

4:[ So, I went with Bonnie to get her cell phone replaced as she had been having troubles with the new touch screen phone she got at her daughters’ behest and we got stuck there standing in line at the T-Mobile Shop. We got there on the day after the new iPhone 6 went on sell so there was this line of everybody upgrading their current iPhones or Galaxy’s. Which did not make sense to me because they we all turning in perfectly functional phones. Perfectly. Functional. Phones. Simply to buy a more expensive one.

But as each customer gave up address, SSN, banking info, credit card numbers and such, I was struck at what we give up for a fucking cell phone. It has been done very subtly and it came from not the government like we thought, but from our desperate need to be a part of the herd. Which makes it sadder. We gave up our right to privacy just so we can play Candy Crush on a bigger phone screen. I remember when we thought that bodily implanted RFID chips were going to turn ‘Merica into Communist Russia. Nope, they did not need to indoctrinate us to some political ideology. They just had to sell us the latest useless technology because of our fantastic egos. Wake up people….

5:[ Ah yes, settle in Dear Readers for more of:

Adventures in the Coffee Shop and/or on the CTA!

+ One thing I will always enjoy while riding the el trains are babies crying on the train. Mainly because they annoy the fuck out of Bob Executive and the Hipster Bunch. Whenever a baby wails, you can see this visible ripple of annoyed faces surge through the car. The more the baby wails, more ripples of annoyance. It is like they are acting as the sound waves for the baby’s crying. Look, babies have no other form of communication when they are distressed except to cry. Let them cry, else they will never learn that it is okay to speak out….

+ Just so you know, I Can Be Corrected: I was waiting for the el train at one of the loop stations on my way to a HAMLET shoot. I happened to be carrying my old Dominick’s reusable shopping bag and this lady noticed it. I did not hear what she initially said but she said that she was just noticing the bag because they closed down all the stores. I mentioned that other states still had them, but she told me no, they did not. See, she worked for Dominick’s for over 30 years and that Safeway Inc. closed them to break any unions. So, Dominick’s no longer exists. Which is sad because I see them getting a lot of bad press lately – poor food quality, service, etc. But whenever I shopped there, everything was fine. The media also put out this story that the stores were not making enough money and that is why Safeway decided to close them. But this lady assured me that the reason they closed was to break the unions there. And the media does its job of salting the earth against unions.

See? I can be corrected. So I told her, “I didn’t know that. Thank you.” Then, we went our separate ways….

6:[ I had this long screed on Kindness and how we are not kind to each other anymore. But I thought that was just more silliness on my part. I cannot tell you how to behave. (You: Since when has that stopped you?) This line of thought carried to paying taxes for some reason. But I think it was because it stemmed from something I heard my dad say when I was a kid. He said something about it being his duty to do something about taking care of those less fortunate. Before you jump on your political high horse look at that again. My dad, a Northern Arapaho, who was born into a system that would never let him get ahead, was raising a family well below poverty, and still felt that there were people out there that were less fortunate than him. Thinking on this humbles me. It really does and which is why I always try to let people know that there is someone out there that will always have it worse than you, not matter how bad off you think you are. That kindness of simple consideration….

7:[ And now Wisdom of the Sages presents:

“An Ever-growing List of Things That MUST Stop!”

+ So, all it takes to great super great customer service, where not only the wait staff is climbing over each other to show you how it works at Flat Top Grill, that even the Manager on Shift is showing you how it works AGAIN, is to wear a pair of really small Khaki Short Shorts? I am not sure I am ready for that….

+ Walking passed this conversation I actually heard some one say this: “This is my analyzation of this situation.” Pronounced “anna-lie-zation”. No, she did not stumble over the word like she had forgotten how to say “analysis”. She said it like she was comfortable saying it because she did not stop or pause to rethink the word. That leads me to think that she uses that term all the time. Meaning, she has been saying it this way for a long time and people feel no need to correct her. People, stop making up words to sound smarter!

8:[ So, the vaunted “The Daily Show” FINALLY did a piece on the Redskins name issue, so that liberals and Indians know what to think about the topic. They even included in their video piece the vaunted Native comedy troupe “The 1491’s”. I am a proponent of changing the name. But it took me a while to see the piece online. When, I finally saw the video the other day, I was struck at how remarkably unfunny it was. I mean, it was typically funny and it raised some good points, but the humor never came from this comedy troupe the “1491’s”. It all came from the writers of “The Daily Show” and Jason Jones, as well as the Redskins Fans’ reactions to things. And, wait, what? That’s the controversy? It hurt someone’s feelings and that is what the media decided to cover? That is stupid. So, on two fronts, Corporate and political, Natives have once again, lost their authority and voice.

I mean, corporately, because the news media did not focus on the issue at hand and instead how it affected a white woman, as well as, politically, because the vaunted “The Daily” was the primary voice and authority over the piece, therefore the topic. The humor came from them, they made the points on the topic, and the Natives were reactionary to the issue rather than being proactive. Liberal American has once again usurped, not only the authority the Natives SHOULD HAVE HAD but also their voice by being the entity that spoke FOR the Natives in the piece.

This is something that I have seen happen time and again in the last decade or so. It is something much more insidious and subtle than being an outright asshole that won’t change a team name. It is the very taking of voice and authority over our own cultures and pretending to “Give us a voice” in the media. The more it is taken, the weaker our positions and ideals. I have had this discussion with many well-meaning white people in positions of authority just saying “I want to let Native people to speak for themselves” and my reply, which always goes over their heads, is “Then, let us speak”.

You see? They want this magical thing to happen where they are conferred this power that they can then pass to the Natives, this authority to speak. But it comes with this line attached that it must be known that THEY WERE THE ONE to give us OUR OWN AUTHORITY BACK! Many will tell me, “I try. If I can hire more Native teachers, artists, what-have-you, then I would. But the school, the corporation, the institute will not let me/or does not have the funds/open positions to do so” that they cannot see it as a breakdown of the system. To which I reply, “but that still has not stopped you from speaking FOR Natives, has it?”

I am also aware that expecting the Native to add humor to a humor show is unfair, I mean, being funny is the new Native stereotype, but fuck, they are the “The 1491’s”. Give it a shot. I guess all I am saying is that I was pretty disappointed with the “The Daily Show’ segment….

9:[ From the “This Just In” Department: Bringing it back to Humblebragging, there are some out there that do more bragging than being humble and I came across this exchange on Facebook where someone posted this status update about how they did something that seemed quite obvious, they fight against what they perceive as a bad thing, but unless this situation was given context, it was kind of demeaning to some people. Another person’s response challenged some of the concepts of the statement but the poster’s ego stood his ground saying that bad is bad. Again, this is obvious. The responder had to actually post “It goes without saying… bad is bad.”

But some have to say it anyway. You know? When they have to say they do something that does go without saying, then, it really is not about fighting the situation but about your ego and being seen fighting the situation.

Ego is the destroyer of Good Intentions…

10:[ Last Item of the Month: Since I have a brain that won’t shut up, I usually tend to put on something at night to help me go to sleep. Most people I have noticed who are the same tend to put on trashy TV shows or the like. I do not have a TV system, not even a digital TV antenna to catch over the air stuff. So, I have been putting on Mystery Science Theater 3000, the greatest show ever, to go to sleep to. The other night I put on “Seven Samurai” and ended up not going to bed until 5am. I recently bought the new “Cosmos” series on DVD and have been putting that on but it proves to be just as challenging. I have to watch them. I eventually end up falling asleep around 3am. I guess what I’m really saying is that I am not sleeping well lately….

That will do it for this month.

Yeah, I tried to get this one out on time. Missed it by a day, it seems. Oh well. It does make a difference when you actually take the time to sit down and do the writing instead of finding those tiny openings to write. Still, this month’s edition feels rather light but that is okay. I mainly drowned it personal essays.

All right, as you have read, you can comment, correct, even contradict anything I write here. It is my way of leaving the conversation in your hands to pick up and keep going. Try it. It’s fun…. You’ll see….

Until Next Time, “I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control everything really are.”

2014 Ernest M. Whiteman III