Drive-Bys

I want one. In fact, I'll park it right next to my motorized barstool with built in cup holder, cooler and autopilot.
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While I'm certainly not his target audience, I've become a huge fan of John W. Fountain.

I have come to understand that your speech does indeed betray you. For one’s enunciation and command of the English language can be as revealing about one’s roots as a buttered southern drawl. But in my mind, mastering the King’s English is no more a betrayal of one’s roots than choosing a mode of transportation to get you to a destination. The point in either case is access.

For me, there was no greater vehicle for changing my status from ghetto black boy to successful American black man like learning to communicate effectively — in the spoken and written word. Both were at the core of my education and extrication.

And I believe they remain important bedrocks for future generations of boys and girls — especially black and brown — who, like I once did, find themselves today drifting far from the shores of the American dream, dwelling in hyper-segregated communities, separated by that great divide: language and ideas. This is exacerbated by the perpetuation of this idea that for black folks to use proper English is to “talk white.”

That's just beautiful stuff.
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Quote of the Day:

"With blond hair and a barbarian headband, Giamatti appears something like the less handsome medieval brother of Bjorn Borg." -- Jake Coyle

Yes. I giggled.
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I didn't know that the Federal Reserve Bank here in Chicago has a Money Museum. How cool is that?
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Irish Fest starts tomorrow at the Irish American Heritage Center. Yay!



I'm looking forward to The Tossers, among other great bands. See you there?