BLOGS

       Imogene Hampton looked at her date and wished she had her sister Doris stretched out over a sacrificial altar.  Dennis was a supervisor at a regional bank. Divorced, with two kids approaching young adulthood, just as sane as one would want your offspring to be.  Still attended the same church on Latvia and Upton he'd been baptized at as a young boy.    Spoke well and with no false notes of 'hood informality that been long suppressed since graduating from college. Ran a mile each morning. Was as fun to be with as a hemorrhoid!

Contrary to rumors and expectations, Imogene wasn't, nor felt, in the thrall of loneliness nor desperate, or was going lesbian. That thought had entered her older sister Doris's murky mind, because of Gina, Imogene's friend from work, a gay woman who had told Doris so at the graduation party for Doris's daughter and Imogene's niece, Stephanie.   Doris exchanged a look of panic between the two of them and rushed from the dining room!     "I found the writings of Shelby Steele, Armstrong Williams, and Bishop Jakes to be inspirational, in particular in my dealings with a much wider world. The Demoncrats have compartmentalized our people..."  Ooh! She was going to cuss Doris out! What did Dusty call them of that persuasion? Constipated ReNegroes. Dusty had been a cynic about politicians and politics in general. But he held those Blacks who added the adjective conservative and the pejorative republican together on the same level as pedophiles.

    It was two years tomorrow since his death in that car wreck. They had been a couple only four.   She took a sip of the wine in her glass and closed her eyes. A dinner out for Dusty had been to Creighton's Fish Hut or The Blue World's diner over on Petty.   He would have sent back this dinner and demanded a refund for serving him such petite portions at such a high price.   "Shit! I coulda fed five hungry motherfuckas at the Blue World a healthy ass meal." She spewed the wine on Dennis's shirt.    Across from her, at another table with a white couple totally oblivious to him, sat Dusty, smiling and with a plate of chicken wings, Cole slaw,Sweet Potato Pie and a bottle of beer!   "Now I know I'm one of a kind baby, but you don't have to settle for 2,000th best.  Ditch this bougie and I'll tell you all about this fellow Harper I've scoped out.  I think you two will click. He'll even sit and watch Bette Davis movies with ya. And not just 'Hush,Hush, Sweet Charlotte either."

As promised, Pt. I of the second phase of the Priestess Saga begins with "All Things Sown Before Harvest." The Chief of the Aesir with the aid of Little Fish and the Valley Knight returns to his ancestral Northlands. But in his absence an old enemy has returned to lay claim and the Chief won't stand for it! The action and intrigue begins in this latest segment of The Priestess Saga!

All Hail The Priestess!

I signed up for this community years and years ago, but because of studies, work, etc. I haven’t really kept up with it. However, I made a promise to myself that I would be more active in writing communities this year – this forum being the top priority!

So, maybe I should tell you three random things about myself? A lot of my (future) posts and current speculative fiction stories are really influenced by who I am, my viewpoints and my beliefs.  So, here goes nothing!

1. I’m 23 and I’ve been writing for years but never had the nerve to actually submit my stories. For some reason, this year I’ve made it my goal to publish something. Perhaps being old enough to drink has made me bolder?
2. I’m the first American-born of my family. Both of my parents hail from Jamaica. So… whaa gwaan? XD
3. Politically, I’m a conservative. (Yes, you read that right. I’m a black economic and social female conservative.)

So, hello everyone! I look forward to interacting with you all for many years to come! 

"Master/slave is a model of communication where one device or process has unidirectional control over one or more other devices. In some systems a master is elected from a group of eligible devices, with the other devices acting in the role of slaves."

                                                           - Microsoft Knowledgebase

"Computers are useless.  They only give answers."

- Pablo Picasso

Jeena kicked me out and now I’ve got to spend my night roaming and searching for a human being in this pixilated jungle.  Told me she couldn’t make love without her laptop.  Fucking thing freaks me out, I told her. 
           The first time she came she told me she had recorded it on some microscopic camera that looked like a skin popper’s rejected spoon – it was silver and sloped and bent like a weary cobra.  It was mounted on her computer.  And she never took the damn thing down.  In bed, I tried my best but I always felt I had to perform.  And she would chide me for not showing more skin to the camera and for wanting her all to myself.  She had made it clear – I could have the privilege of spreading her legs as long as the laptop had the privilege of recording them.  Jeena was to be shared.  I told her it was my first time with a computer, that I’d never been in a ménage-a-troiswith an electronic device.  She called me a prude. 
           I really don’t know why I got involved with Jeena.  Or why I tried to get involved with her.  Jeena was clearly involved in some other region of the mind.  I disliked holding her hands – her fingers were always hot and calloused from working on the computer – but her heart had some softness in it every now and then…and well, it was still better than being alone.  But I was getting anxious in bed.  She always seem pre-occupied, obsessed with the eye of the laptop.  I could kiss her only on the sides of her face and could never mount her for fear of blocking her view of the computer and its camera.  “Baptiste” she named it.  And wherever she went, Baptiste focused. I hadn’t known Jeena that long, but I suppose that’s what you get for hooking up with strange women online.  But Jeena would certainly not consider herself strange.  No, I was the strange one –  I did not own a computer,  didn’t have a blackberry, didn’t have a credit card, and did not have a Facebook account. When we met, I owned a black neon car – but she would never ride in it with me.  “Who would see me with my blackberry?” she asked.  She said everything had to be on foot and if we were in a cab – at least the driver could look in his rear-view mirror and see her with her blackberry.  I was afraid to ask what her blackberry’s name was. 
            Most nights, I never knew what Jeena saw in me.  Tonight was different, however. Tonight, I saw Jeena as she really is. They say technology brings out your true personality.  The same way alcohol speaks sober thoughts.  Seeing her earlier it was as if I had looked at the portrait of Dorian Gray.  
           She had been anxious all evening to show me her new purchase. I didn’t know what to expect but I knew I wouldn’t like it – for every time she pressed her blackberry to check the time I felt we were entering a lower defcon number.  It was incredible how that tiny device controlled the boundaries of our existence together. She worshipped clocks, always had to be precise and have everything planned out. It was her birthday, so I was to meet her in the lobby of her building at 8:00PM, we’d walk two blocks to the train station, depending on where we went – we would spend an hour at the bar and fifteen minutes exactly “loitering”  (she considered talking to be loitering) and we’d have to be back at her place by 10:00 -- earlier if she planned for us to have sex, and by midnight every day on the dot she’d spend time with Baptiste. For Valentine’s Day, I gave her a pocket watch.  It was a 1930’s art nouveau-type of pocket watch.  Very classy, a lost glamour shimmered from its edges and I thought it might be the perfect gift for someone who deserved to be considered sophisticated. She hated it.  She said if it didn’t have a warranty what was the point. What was even more disturbing is that she asked me what it was when she first saw it.  She had never seen an analog watch, but even more shocking – she could not read it!  No, numbers were her specialty and she was a true devotee of the decimal point. Riding in the taxi back to her apartment, I began to think about what we were losing as a couple, as souls consumed with time.  To Jeena, there was nothing lost – she was determined to be a winner.  And winners don’t lose.  Not when her God was a mathematician. 
           I told her my apprehension about clock-watching and monitoring our dates like a military drill.  She told me without clocks there would be no order.  I told her without clocks there would have been no capitalism.  She said “Capitalists created the watch, stupid.  So they could keep track of all the money they could make.”
We got back to her place and the beast was unleashed.  She pulled out a large golden shopping bag.  At first, I thought she might have bought me an outfit – she was always complaining I didn’t look “bummy” enough and once even made additional holes in my jeans so I would look “cooler.”  However, when I saw the rectangular object she removed from the bag, I became a lot calmer.  I thought maybe she had bought me a laptop.  She said if I didn’t carry a blackberry, I should at least have a computer so she could contact me at any time of the day.  I told her she could call me and she said “You are sooo old-school.  No one calls anybody anymore.”
           She unzipped the computer bag and revealed the most hideous object I have ever seen. 
What may have just appeared to be a Macbook to the untrained eye, was a shiny garish laptop smothered in 12,000 diamond-like studs.  It gave me a headache just looking at the damn thing. 
“Isn’t it beautiful?”
“…What is it?”
“It’s a Macbook Air.  Golden Age.”
“…What is all that stuff?”
“That stuff ain’t a what.  It’s 12,000 Swarovksi crystals!”
“It’s…disgusting.”
Gaudy, graceless, twinkling like disco ball.  I got up closer to have a better look.  I still couldn’t believe it.  “BLING MY THING” was engraved on the cover.   
“Where did you get this from?”
“Isn’t it amazing?”
“It’s putrid.  It looks like an MTV video exploded onto your computer…”
“Show’s how much you know.  It cost $40,000.00.”
“Forty-!?  Who gave it to you?”
“Gave it?  What the fuck I look like to you?  I don’t need no one to give me nothing. Them days are over, baby.  I gave it to myself.  For my birthday.”
“You spent…forty thousand…Where did you get all that money from?”
“My savings, my 401K, my --"
“Do you know what you could do with $40,000.00?  Especially in this economy? All the people you could help…”
“Oh, please – I donate online, I give enough money to the children in Mumbai --"
“Forget about India!  What about the people right here?”
“What about them?”
“You have neighbors who’ve lost their jobs, lost their homes – don’t you think that you could have helped them?”
“Help them?? Do I look like someone’s mother to you?  I ain’t giving no handout to these lazy ass people!”
“I can’t allow this.  There’s no way I can allow this.  You should be ashamed of yourself.  Return it at once!”
“Can’t return this.  It came all the way from the British.  And I got a dozen people already waiting to see this baby! This is better than having a Louis Vuitton!  I’m naming him Nathaniel.”
I said “It’s him or me.” 
It wasn’t hard for her to make a decision.  Computer addicts never have a problem telling you to back off at the stroke of midnight.  The quick burst of adrenaline they get when using a digital device makes them feel omnipotent.  Brains have been…rewired.
I went to shower, when I got out there was an SMS message on my phone:
“Leave or I will text the police.”  
“Visigoth!” I muttered and stepped out into the rain. 
            The streets were hysterical, but desolate, from the torrential rain – it seems no one will go out anymore when the showers roll down. Not until they create special umbrellas to protect their electronic gear. The entire city is one large battery afraid of short-circuiting or becoming electrocuted.  I welcomed the rain – God’s spit falling down on us in an attempt to baptize our digitally-funk-infested-minds. Lightning struck and thunder rolled like a pair of tom-toms signaling the end.   I dove under a doorway with a deep façade and parapet above my head.  I was drenched now.  I looked at my pocket watch and all I could see was Jeena’s beady eyes.  It was just a little after twelve. My own internal clock was breaking down into seconds…I felt like a deck of card shuffled out of order.  I had been made into a commodity for Jeena.  I was just another one of her computers.

Originally published in TroubL webzine

I saw this in the theater in Brooklyn, in the hood cinema (Court St!), so it was a hilarious experience of talk and response to the screen from the audience.Since then I've had numerous conversations about the flick, the role of black characters, and more--including a few on this forum. It's been fun because I get to do some X-Men history, including the always interesting role of race and comic book characters. Warning, a few spoilers below.

First up, as most know now, the early 1960s comic book X-Men was subtly talking about race--an amazing thing given the era. Stan Lee has admitted its inspiration was the Civil Rights movement of the day. And at the time, having *actual* black characters was not something mainstream comics were brave enough to do. Stan Lee himself had long been forced to use a moniker instead of his actual Jewish name (Stan Lieber) and the 1950s anti-comic paranoia (which gave us the self-regulating Comics Code Authority) was still censoring controversial topics. So the X-Men bizarrely discussed issues of race, without using any people of color. The original X-Men team (Cyclops, Beast, Marvel Girl, Iceman and Angel) didn't become diverse until 1975, when a second team was created after the original were thought to have perished at the hands of the living island--Krakoa.This team was international and racially diverse, giving us the most famous figures like Storm, Nightcrawler, Sunfire (Japanese), Thunderbird (Native American). It was part of the whole diversification of comics across the board, except that the X-men had actually been trying to deal with race (even if awkwardly) for over a decade.So this new movie, X-Men First Class, is actually a multicultural upgrade from the first. Anyone expecting to see top tier mutants of color like Storm or the like, is going to be heavily disappointed.

This new X-Men movie decided that using the original all-white team to deal with race wouldn't do, and threw in two characters to diversify the team---Darwin and Angel Salvadore.This should immediately let you know something, as in the X-Men popularity world they are darn near "special teams" (despite one of them having extreme power), at least compared to celebrity figures like Mystique, Havok, Banshee and Professor X. Darwin is actually black and latino; in the movie he's played by Kenyan actor Edi Gathegi. Angel Salvadore is played by multiracial actress Zoe Kravitz (daughter of Lenny Kravitz). One of the villains is Riptide, who is a Latino. Unfortunately no Arabs, Asians, East Indians or others appear to exist yet. Still, doing all of this they immediately rewrote X-Men origins history, stripping out key characters like Iceman, Angel and Marvel Girl and replacing them with some people of color.

Now to their roles In the comics- Darwin is actually introduced in a secret team *directly before* the diverse 1975 team, sent to save the original X-Men from Krakoa. Darwin's amazing ability is to adapt through rapid extreme evolution to any circumstance/threat. In the original comic book storyline, like in the movie, he dies in this initial appearance. Years later however, he returns--and the story is that in order to adapt, he turned himself into pure energy and its only Rachel Summers (the other Phoenix, daughter of Cyclops and Marvel girl from an alternate Earth) who helps him regain physical form. Darwin has returned to the X-world, where he may be one of the most powerful mutants to exist. In a recent X-Factor, he was pitted against the Norse goddess Hela and actually evolved into an immortal with the strength of a god to take her on. I was put off and surprised that Darwin died in this flick--but it *could* be that like his comic book incarnation, he's not gone, and will appear in another movie.

Yes, killing off Darwin was probably pretty cliche--even if there is a comic book precedent. The mostly black audience I saw it with erupted into anger at his death, with cries of "racist" and "that's bullsh*t!" and "the only brotha!?!?" It took another few minutes for the roars of the crowd to calm down. This of course came right after Sebastian Shaw says "enslaved" and the camera pans to Darwin. This was probably an attempt to inject the original issues of race into the storyline, but it was *very* poorly done with that reference--which the audience also groaned and asked WTF about. Personally I thought Darwin was a poor choice for the flick, as I was wondering how they were going to deal with his "off-the-scale" powers. It seems the decision was simply to be rid of him. Still, given his abilities, there's every possibility that he's far from done.

As for Angel Salvadore, she was never my favorite X-character. A sister with insect wings who spits venom and lays eggs (yes, eggs), was just too much IMHO. She was created during that phase when X-Men creators seemed to be trying to make characters that shocked you by their oddity, highlighting their "mutant-ness." In the original comic, she actually *does* join Magneto for a while--before returning to the X-Men fold, and being renamed Tempest. I've heard complaints of her character being a stripper. But there's a larger issue here, in that the whole movie featured women in sexual overtones. Angel Salvadore's character is probably quite toned down from Emma Frost, who walks around the entire time in white lingerie. This is something from her comic book incarnation, where she and the female members of the Hellfire Club seem incapable of finding costumes outside of Fredericks of Hollywood. I've never understood that, though admittedly my eyes don't mind it.

Not actually defending the movie, because I thought it was a C at most--but that was more because of the rewriting of characters personalities and powers. Turning Moira McTaggert into a CIA agent, rather than leaving her a genetic scientist was bizarre. And imagining that a powerful hell-dimension demon, Azazel, would work for Sebastian Shaw is like recasting Star Wars and imagining Darth Vader working for C-3PO. I was just relating to someone on here I don't mind them remaking the X-Universe every time they make these flicks (plucking a 60 year old Mystique from Eastern Europe where she should be having trysts with Sabretooth and recasting her as an identity-confused teen), but do they have to completely rewrite the characters powers and personalities too? At any rate, the creators of this recent incarnation deserve props for trying to diversify the original team. But the way they handled it, given the history of black characters in film, shows a lack of insight and perhaps poor judgment.

             If one was bored with how one's life was going, it was found that to interrupt Willy Creech from his enjoyment of listening to Miss Freda Payne, would bring a jolt of excitement to satisfy two lifetimes! At Renell's, a pool hall on Dillard, or as it had been known to several generations of Cool Folk,Hot Dill Drag. It had an atmosphere thick enough to repel a howitzer shell fired point blank. That particular summer Saturday night,  Willy, his running "podnuhs",  'Savage' Sam Magnum, James Lee, and Sidney Cortly, were engaged in playing pool and eating the best damn fried gizzards in the nation.    On the jukebox, Miss Payne sang to the lucky fool " I Get Carried Away" and Willy felt it was for him that she had cut that tune.  Measuring his shot, providing " his" Freda backup hums, he was about to take it, when a Bored One got loud.  " Naw, fool! I'm tellin' you straight up, Mickey Kent dunit!  I wuz there!"  James Lee about to put another hot sauce drenched delicacy into his mouth, shook his head at the loudmouth's self-important blabbing.  " Mo muthafukkas wind up dead or in lockdown, cuz somebody said somethin' they shouldn't have," James' Grandfather Henry said, while drinking his favorite beer, in his favorite recliner.    

James eyes went to Willy. He was slowly thawing from the shock of someone loud talking over Freda!   Sam, who had been winning, looked over at the Bored One, trying to register if he was anyone he knew. Sidney, short, heavyset, yet not yet fat, a maple syrup colored teen, the youngest of the group, mouthed "Uh Oh!"  James looked to see what style San Remos Willy was wearing.   Slip ons: meant a beat down was coming. laceups: a shooting.   Willy had on his dried mustard tan slip ons , matching his outfit that night.   The Bored One continued unaware. Louder in fact.   "Mickey,he came up on tha muthafukka,  and bust the bottle upside the nigga's head!" He pantomimed the action.   The one being shouted- told the information received his gizzards with onions, and two bottles of cold beer Renell's didn't have the license any longer to sell.

"Why he do it?" he asked the shouter, putting hot sauce on his gizzards. He spoke lower.   Bored didn't get the hint.  " Cuz him and Mickey wuz afta  Carlotta Tyson's big azz!"  He gestured with his hands as if explaining to a slow child.  Willy took off his shoes, and with poolstick in hand, gunfighter walked over to the pair. Sam smiled and placed his stick back in the rack then leaned over the table.    Sam had a .32.   Sidney rocked back on his stool to get a better view. Sidney wasn't carrying a gun.  He had a sawed off 12 gauge in the trunk of the car they rode up in.  The hall's regulars acted as if things were normal, but went through the motions slowly.   Duck and cover originated in a poolhall.

Hey there folks! I'll be honest. I need a little bit of help from all of my friends and watchers out there. My husband was quite sick most of last month (he's okay now) and while he was out of work I had to use the money for my artist's alley table for AWA to pay for bills. So with that in mind, I'm taking some sketch commissions. Simple, portraits for $5 each. Could you lend a hand?

Examples:

Here are the details:

1) The $5 is for one sketch bust portrait of one character. Any additional sketches or characters will be an additional $5.

2) The character can be either copyrighted or original. If it is original, please include: a)Character name and b) a brief description or a link to a visual reference.

3)Completed sketches will be emailed as a high resolution scan to the commissioner.

4)Please email me your requests with the following information:
Name or DeviantART name
# of portraits wanted
character descriptions/ visual aid links
your email

5) I'm only accepting PAYPAL. I'm sorry. No exceptions.

And that's it! My e-mail is sarah_a_bowman(at)yahoo.com. Just replace the (at) with the proper symbol. I'll email you back with your total and the proper payment info and then all will be go! I'll get them done ASAP!!

Thanks in advance for everyone who's kind enough to help out! I'm telling you. I appreciate each and every one of you.

Peace and love,
Sarah

Well, part III of the Priestess Saga, "All Things Present, Past and Future" is up and an epic journey begins! On Monday, the second phase of the Saga will begin and that is, "All Things Sown Before Harvest". The Valley Knight, Chief of the Aesir and the boy Little Fish must travel to a distant place by unconventional means. Will they successfully complete their journey and what will they find if they do? These and many more questions will be answered next week. So for you old and new fans of the Priestess, get ready!

The Inagural story story saga for The Priestess Fanpage, "All Things Present, Past and Future" has been launched! Part I is now up on the fan page ready for waiting eyes. Serious events loom large over some of your favorite characters living in the Valley. Events which will ultimately affect all who live there in unexpected ways, including the mighty Priestess! So take a look at this latest work written on a cellphone!

All hail The Priestess!

Whoo boy! After months of keeping this under wraps and getting everything ready, the short story inspired by the Sword and Soul Challenge: 'Stop This!' now has its own group page. The Priestess online series of adult/fantasy short stories is currently exclusive to the BSFS. Not only intended as a fan page, this is also intended to be an experiment with an interactive experience. Artwork both standard and motion graphic are coming in addition to more stories.

All the original stories from my blog posts will be available along with the new material. Biggest news is the upcoming 5 story saga, "All Things Present, Past and Future". This will be bring revelations concerning the major characters and flesh out the 'hows' and 'whys' of the Valley and those who live within it. Most important is the entire saga will have been written on my smartphone!

So for the Priestess' current and future fans, there are big things coming and I hope you'll come along for the run!

There are a host of films where something didn't totally click; the stars were too old for their parts, it's the sixth damn sequel, the villain(ness) had more zest than the erstwhile hero/heroine, Racism!   Sitting around in one happily organic smog and malt liquored den in the late 2oth Century, several of us had opinions on what would have made the flicks we had seen Right.  It was easy. Tarzan getting his ass whupped by an angry tribesman. Buckwheat pulling Dora and kicking off in Spanky's and Alfalfa's butts.   The soldoff husband of Mammy from Gone with the Wind, coming down the stairs in Union Army uniform and pimp slapping Scarlett, with Melanie behind him having had his baby.  The Mexicans have an easy time of it at the Alamo, putting the scum down hard.  Stagolee boards the "Showboat" and sings " It Ain't Necessarily So" and blows Julie's mind.    Charlton Heston and the cinematic Jews being deported from Egypt by Pharaoh James Edwards very pissed off elite regiment of Nubian infantry, who thought they had leave.  The original Imitation of Life has the daughter Fredi Washington telling her slave minded mother, " Go for a 35-65% split of profits, ya dumb cow!"  And in the second, Dianne Sand tells her "mother" " I love you Mamma, but gotdamnit you're a dumb bitch!"  Then driving off with Brock Peters.  Stuff like that.

Just messing around, Im practicing new techniques of drawing characters. Let me know what yall think.

-Rob

"What are you trying to do?" the creature asked peevishly. "Wake the dead? We're already awake and we're very, very angry with you!" She narrowed her eyes. "You've allied yourself with a terrible evil. You should be ashamed!"

So reads a bit of dialog in Valjeanne Jeffers' Immortal II: The Time of Legend.  You can't beat writing and an attitude like that!This is an incredibly complex and well thought out novel.  It's a fast and furious read, too.  Werewolves and demons, time travel and mythological creatures, drug addiction and rehab, saints and sinners, streets gangs, mucho sex and action, and oh yeah, some Immortal beings, too. This is such a unique blend of fantasy, horror, and science fiction that it's hard to nail down. So I won't try. It's a fantastic world to get lost in.  It has humor and drama, a touch of the street and the 'hood, and is wrapped  in what I think is a very cool 1960s flavor.  Think the Equal Rights Movement, the woes and sorrows of places like Alabama and Watts, student demonstrations and the Viet Nam War protests all sort of joined together and set in a future -- or futures, if you will -- that is both beautiful and terrible at the same time.  I look forward to reading Immortal III: Stealer of Souls.  Valjeanne has definitely topped book one!!