Day 26: The Epilog
The first things I discovered when I went to work for the United States Postal Service were that nothing makes sense, and no one knows what is going on. I applied and was hired as a temporary holiday employee. When I showed up for orientation, I was informed that I had actually been hired through to the end of February. When I showed for my first day in action, I was informed that I had been hired through December 2008. (more…)
Nobody has asked, and maybe nobody really cares, but I decided to do a recap of this past year. For those that care, 2007 was an “interesting” time, full of a lot of transition and uncertainty. I won’t go so far as to say 2007 sucked, but I’m in no hurry to go through most of what I went through again. (more…)
Day 25: Going…Going…Gone Postal
My paycheck was not waiting for me when I arrived at work, on time, and ready for my tour of duty. Needless to say, David Walker was not a happy motherfucker. There are all sorts of reasons why my check may have been delayed in getting to me, but I didn’t give a rusty, flaming or holy shit what any of them were. It didn’t even matter that I couldn’t go to the bank and cash the thing—I wanted my check when I was supposed to get it, not 19 hours late (which is what it was). My eyes were bugging out of my head and my nostrils were flaring, and I was channeling Priest from Super Fly—“I want my mon-nay tooo-NIGHT!!!” (more…)
Day 24: Where’s My Money? I Want My Money!
Last night was significant for two distinctly different reasons. First of all, this last shift marked my one-month anniversary as a member of the United States Postal Service—although it seems more like a year. The other significant thing was that last night was payday, and our checks weren’t there. Apparently, all that sanctimonious bullshit about neither rain nor sleet nor gloom of night applies to the mail, but not the paychecks of the poor saps who see to it the mail gets delivered. Needless to say, I am pissed off. To quote Big Worm in Friday, “You see, it’s the principal. There’s principalities in the whole thing.” I’ve been busting my ass, and even though I complain like a whiny little bitch on my website, I keep this shit to myself while I’m on the battlefield. (more…)
Day 23: Just Another Brick in the Wall
After getting the day off for Christmas—in which I slept most of the day—it was back into action yesterday. Now it is tomorrow, which may seem a bit confusing to some people. It’s like this, when I left for work it was yesterday (Wednesday), but by the time I got off it was tomorrow (Thursday). Some people say you get used to it—starting work on one day, finishing the next day, and then going back to work the same day you finished—but after five weeks I can say that I have not gotten used to it, nor do I think I will any time soon. Some people also said that this week would be much easier than the past weeks, because the holiday rush was over. Those people were dirty fucking liars. The only thing that is easier is the days are now shorter—I’ve been sent home after only working eight hours on two occasions. That, my friends, is what we call a Christmas miracle. And miracles, are the way things ought to be. (more…)
To be 100% honest, I had given up on Wendell B. Harris, Jr.’s Chameleon Street ever showing up on DVD. This was one of those films that topped my list of must-have titles when I began replacing my VHS collection with discs nearly ten years ago, but there was no sign it was ever going to come out, especially considering how few people actually know about it. But now that Chameleon Street has finally been released on DVD the opportunity exists for the film to be re-discovered in a way that will see it finally getting the credit it so richly deserves. And if there ever was a film that richly deserved being “discovered,” it would have to be Chameleon Street, a hilarious, poignant and near-brilliant character study that offers insight into race relations and human nature in a way that has not been done in quite the same manner either before or since. (more…)
Day 22: Merry Christmas
As I sit down to write this, it is officially Christmas. So, Merry Christmas…if that’s your thing. For my present, the United States Postal Service was kind enough to let me go home after only working eight hours. But have no doubts, they still worked my ass like my name was Kunta Kinte. It may have only been eight hours, but it still felt like twelve. (more…)
Well, I’m headed out the door in a few minutes for my tour of duty, but I wanted to share a holiday treat with everyone. Here is one of my favorite bands performing the unofficial theme to one of my favorite movies.
Day 21: The Reluctant Hero Has Sex with Midgets
It has been many years since I read Walter Tevis’ science fiction novel Mockingbird, but parts of the book have stuck with me, and lately I’ve been thinking a lot about it. Set in a dystopian future, where the human race has become overly dependent upon technology, and as a result has been slowly moving toward extinction, the book chronicles Bentley, a man who learns to read after the rest of humanity has become illiterate. Bentley is cut from a similar cloth as Guy Montag, the reluctant hero of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (another favorite book), and in one of the book’s most profound moments, he stumbles into factory that manufactures toasters. The factory is staffed by simple-minded androids with no power to think for themselves, and as Bentley watches them go about their routine of manufacturing toasters, he notices that every toaster the androids assemble does not work, so it is thrown in a pile of defective units, taken apart and reassembled in a never-ending process. Bentley discovers that the reason the toasters do not work is because the conveyor belt that delivers a simple piece is jammed, and since the androids aren’t programmed to think, they can’t fix the problem. As Bentley corrects the problem, he realizes that he has not had toast since he was a child, because there were no toasters. (more…)
Day 20: The Anniversary
I don’t know if anyone noticed that I didn’t show up for my Thursday night shift and frankly, I don’t give a rusty fuck. My mother took me to see Jesus Christ Superstar, starring Corey Glover as Judas. For those of you that don’t know, Jesus Christ Superstar is my favorite movie of all time. And when I say that, I mean it is my favorite movie of all time. I also love the play (as does my mother), so we try to see it when it rolls through town. It was a special treat, because Corey is a friend of mine, and gave a powerful performance. He had two performances on Friday, and we were going to try and meet up in between them, but it never happened. If we had gotten together, it would have been a perfect opportunity to implement my new plan—which was showing up late for work with no excuse. (more…)
BadAzz MoFo 