WitnessThinks…It’s Time To Move.

Way to have the definitive old man face that I want when I grow up.
Even your Ash Wednesday marking looks like its going to slide off of that well worn saddle skin.

No. I’m not proud of it.

My vegetarian friends express the disappointment of a parent who found out their kid has been stealing money from the donation basket at church when I tell them the news. A stern “You’re better than that” expression stretches across their faces and I can hear the gavels of judgment echo from their heads.

But, fuck y’all.

The reason I went back to meat again is because my consumption of carbs, white breads and other items brought my blood level to the point that I almost contracted Type II diabetes. Does that mean that I was a lazy vegetarian? Probably, but considering that I didn’t really have the time to learn more than 10 or 12 recipes, my options were as limited as my wallet. When my doctor–who was at first thrilled to find out I went vegetarian–told me that it was imperative that I stop, I decided it was time to back off.

I genuinely did prefer vegetarian dishes. I haven’t been able to look at meat the same way and while it was only a short period of time till I got used to removing the fat off of a chicken breast again; it still feels strange. If anything, I can say it made me a better cook. The dishes I make these days aren’t centered solely around meat and with some meals, I actually prefer the meatless variations I concocted. And I sure as hell don’t buy any processed shit.

I’ll probably return to it someday.
When I’m healthier, richer and not so immersed in every other facet of my life.
I’m sorry, barnyard friends.

I work part time at a law firm on Girard Avenue in Philadelphia. Girard is a bit notorious for being a strange cross section of society; hipsters, college students, heroin addicts, the homeless, business owners and those seeking their daily methadone fix are all forced to coexist. The demographic changes within a single city block and changes yet again with the next. And while that might sound like a fairly standard city scenario, I can assure you that Girard is not the proper backdrop for this mixture. As a result, I’m often treated to some pretty bizzare scenes that I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t experience in another section of the city.

For example:

* A week ago, a homeless man approached me in the parking lot and offered to sell me a fifty piece, stainless steel silverware set for 10 dollars. At 9am. Seriously. I didn’t even have my foot out of my car yet. Pretty sweet deal considering that it would have included the Radio Flyer wagon he was carrying it in, though. I respect his hustle.

* Today I watched another homeless man attempt to steal a wheelchair from the nearby hospital. While security was interrogating him (read: senselessly screaming in his face) he responded fervently and repeatedly that he needed it for transportation. I began to wonder what kind of advantage he would gain in terms of speed on the unpaved backroads of North Philadelphia until my train of thought was derailed by the sight of a man erecting a full scale tepee in his backyard. Again. Hustle. Respect.

I’m going to try to get some pictures for the next installment.

Once upon a time, there was an myriad of internets that focused on a rapidly growing independent hip hop scene. Message boards rife with “backpacker” and “herb” accusations, video documentation of that year’s Scribble Jam (back when your only other option was buying the VHS tape) and mp3 selections from small print 12″s were now available to otherwise clueless corners of the globe. While there had been pages with similar content in the past, these focused exclusively on obscure, awkward alternative hip hop artists and made heroes out of broke emcees who would later become as popular as the opinion based sites preemptively made them out to be.

Some of these websites were actually responsible for launching careers and while the late Hiphophunks.com was not one of them; it crossed my mind recently. It was designed to read like young girl’s idol magazine (ie: Tigerbeat) and featured hilariously shallow interviews with a mob of serious minded emcees. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet Archive, you can check out this interview with Sage Francis as it originally appeared and if you toy around with some of the links, you might find your way to other points of interest.

I remember a friend sent in some of my music for consideration and I received an email regarding an interview but the site went down shortly after. Another dream shattered.

(Edit: You can access the entire interview selection here. It serves not only as a source of entertainment, but as a perfect list of “What the fuck ever happened to that guy” rappers.)