"A Dinner Party for Seven Inflatable People."

human history is not the history of flesh and blood and bone. it is a chronicle of costumes.

The state of education between the Black Man and Woman

I work at a newsmagazine targeting the African diaspora community in Chicago. It is ridiculous. Everyone in editorial has been fired except for me and no one told me for over a week. This is a very real example of a freelance story we got from someone the publisher recruited himself. This should give you a good idea of how fucking ludicrous and amateurish this place is. I present to you in totally unedited form, the godawful writings of Heather B. Duke. All spelling, grammar and logic mistakes left intact for you, the reader. The horror starts with the title.

---

The state of education between the Black Man and Woman

The education of Black men and women are in a Sad State so many black men have many environmental factors that are key as to why they do not pursue and succeed in receiving higher education it starts at a young age. A black boy feels the school system isn’t for him, it can’t provide for his current living conditions dysfunctional home life, dangerous neighborhood plagued by gangs, crime, and drugs. In most cases the dysfunctional home life involves a single black mother, who is tired of trying to put food on the table and pay bills.

The young black boys feel they have to survive and provide for their family. At a tender age he has to be “Daddy and the man of the household”. Lost between two identities he struggles to find his place with the alarming statistics surrounding him such as school dropout, unemployment, and prison. “Black male achievement begins to decline as early as the fourth grade and by high school studies show black males are more likely to drop out of school. In 2001 only 42.8% graduated from high school. The Homicide rate among black young males and men are higher than any other race.”(According to Ervin Dyer title Series will explore the perils successes of young black men April 19, 2007).

Black women are highly educated (Bachelor’s etc). One might ask why: well after we complete high school we have no other options but to attend college because the lack of jobs available, working in retail or McDonalds), aren’t very appealing, black women feel it’s easier to go to college than work. What happens to Black Men? They don’t realize or recognize that education can increase economic stability and accepting a minimum wage job just so they can survive will not motivate them to want to make changes. Another factor that plagues men from going to college is the tuition black males cannot get financial assistance if a person has any drug or federal convictions.

How can we change the state of education among young black males? We first must understand that the psychological, environmental, and emotional factors must be resolved. Young black boys need to understand school is a place for them; it’s not their sole responsibility to provide for their family. Teachers, guidance counselors, grammar schools through high schools need to encourage and support them regardless of their academic status. If young black males are made to feel school is not for them but the streets are drugs, gangs, dropout rates will continue to rise: educators, politicians, and parents lets Rise and Roll up our sleeves and take a stand.

Thank you Heather B. Duke

---

No Heather, thank you.

New look.

Lemme know if you like. Lemme know if you vehemently hate. Don't tell me if you're indifferent, you goddamn fence-sitter.

Free the dark data from all your failed experiments.

write a story that runs in two parallel columns from two different perspectives. two people meet for the first time and their individual running thoughts are each contained in one of the columns. The only words that cross between columns are dialogue unless there are mispronunciations or misunderstandings.

does this make sense?

Write a one-line story that includes 7 pages of foot notes.

Meltwater

The summer had been good. That much had been clear. The summer been almost idyllic, almost like when they first met, when they were first learning each other’s charms, each other’s surfaces, when everything was still new and exiting, when flaws were accepted as ornaments, as tiny gems that revealed deeper character, before they grew, before they overtook everything, spreading like cracks in a dying wall. That was what the summer was like.

They were in love again, maybe. Maybe. So Don proposed. He hadn’t thought much about it, in fact he had been dreaded her mother's repeated questions on the subject as recently as that spring. He hadn't thought much about it, he just did it. He didn’t even have a ring, just a pen which he used to draw a crude but beautiful little ballpoint ring on Shell's finger until the next day when they chose a real one that gleamed like snow and meltwater, that gleamed like her flaws.

Don proposed and Shell said what the hell? She actually said it, What the hell? Not Yes or Yeah or Okay or even Sure but What the hell? As in What else am I doing with my life? What do I have to lose? She said what the hell and in the spirit of the spontaneous proposal, the nonchalant acceptance, and the silly ring of ink they had planned a quick wedding, a whirlwind engagement of only a few months before the passion ran thin, before the summer became the winter again. They had planned a quick wedding but they had not planned the postponement. Or the next one. Or the next. Or the extra weight, the bruised expectations and the bruising sky.

And now the snow was lying in thick ropes outside, covering everything like cracked makeup, like dry cake and grease, like whispered words that turned to steam.

And now the snow was painting the world into unfamiliar shades and unfamiliar shapes.

And now it was cold.

And now it was winter again.

And now Shell--her voice catching in her throat, her eyes cracking like breathing glass, her body swelling like ripened telegrams dangling from the clouds at night--now Shell was an unfamiliar shape too.

Set the trees on fire
we'll seek our answers in the air.

Jessica, Pt. Forever

So I finally (finally!) finished a complete draft of the Jessica story. Its way too long to post here, and still rough towards the end but if anyone wants to read it for me and give me their opinion (especially the ending, on which I am very ambivalent) I would be much appreciative. It's about 19 pages long in Word. I'm also thinking of changing their names.

Possible titles?
"The Second Jessica"
"The Animals have Human Names"
"River Horse"
"Death Rides a Hippopotamus"
"Uncaged: The Shocking True Story of one Family's Nightmare Pet!"
"Pets with People Names"
"Meanwhile, in South Africa"
"A Detailed Library of the Bestiality of Others"
"2 Fast 2 Furious: Tokyo Drift"

None of these are blowing my mind except the last one.

leave a comment with an email address if you're interested. i'm not sure if anyone reads this.