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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

2003 In Review

This will have to last through Monday... 1. What did you do in 2003 that you'd never done before? Contributed $$$ to a political campaign. 2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Don't generally make specific resolutions other than to be true to myself. I am resolving to quit (or more likely, drastically cut down on) drinking. It's been 17 days... 3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Not that I recall, though Frandie announced they're expecting early next year! :-) 4. Did anyone close to you die? No. Knock…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Rev. Pedro Pietri is seriously ill

One of the cornerstones of the original Nuyorican movement is in need of help. Please pass this on.

*******************************************

“Woke up this morning / feeling excellent! / Picked up the
telephone / dialed the number / Of my equal opportunity /
employer to inform him / I will not be in / to work today! /
Are you feeling sick? / the Boss asked me, / “No Sir I
replied, / I am feeling too good / to report to work today! /
If I feel sick tomorrow / I will come in early.”

-from Telephone Booth Number 905 1/2, El Reverendo Pedro Pietri

PEDRO PIETRI HEALTH BENEFIT FUND
c/o Nuyorican Poets Café
P.O. Box 20794
New York, NY 10009

December 14, 2003

[name]
[street address] [or email address]
[city, state, zip]

Dear Friend:

If you have ever laughed, reveled in, or enjoyed one of Pedro’s poems–or if you can recall a line from any one of his countless poems–then this letter is of utmost urgency to you. It is with great pain that we report publicly that renowned Puerto Rican / Nuyorican poet, Rev. Pedro Pietri, is seriously ill. Recently he has had surgery at Bronx Lebanon Hospital to treat his ailments. However, the medical prognosis is dismal. El Rev Pedro Pietri, the author of Puerto Rican Obituary, in its tenth printing is a classic in the Puerto Rican literature…his entire life is poetry. He is an outspoken advocate for the Puerto Rican Diaspora.

The life of this eminent poet is a reflection of the circumstances of our age–from the Puerto Rican migrations, through the disintegration of the New York neighborhoods, to the Vietnam War era and the aftermath of environmental pollution, El Rev. Pedro Pietri has been the creative voice to the madness that surrounds us. The life of a poet has never been easy. Pedro was victimized by the war as a result of Agent Orange exposure and ignored by the parties responsible for his condition. Now he is succumbing to an ever-increasing number of illnesses related to this and the attendant stress that has slowly ravaged his body. These include glaucoma, a compromised circulatory system from high blood pressure; his skin tissue affected by advanced vitiligo; stomach ulcers; and now, a cancerous tumor.

This is a Mission Critical Appeal. Especially since there is hope.

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

[A PS: to the whole Hussein thing, from a comment I posted elsewhere, re: admitting his capture (and overall downfall) was a good thing.] Saddam=bad. No question. I doubt there are many that would argue that point. I don't believe in the ends justifying the means, though, especially when those means equal 456 dead Americans and counting. Having served in the Army (active and National Guard) for 8 1/2 years, I don't take lightly the realities of military life nor the gutless whims of those who've never served but would casually send others to their deaths. Every one of those…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

So they captured Hussein. Congratulations to the soldiers for a job well done but, in the big picture, all I can say is big whoop. The reality is that his capture will have little effect on the ongoing guerilla war in Iraq that has seen 317 American soldiers die since Bush declared an end to major combat back on May 1st. MAY 1st! That's 7 1/2 months of...minor (?) combat following the "war" that apparently lasted only 5 weeks! Fun with semantics, brought to you by the most illiterate President in our history. And all the analysts and pundits that…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Just like that, Andy Pettitte is now one of my favorite baseball players! Takes a lot to turn down the money and prestige that comes with being a Yankee, taking significantly less money to play closer to home and family. Surely he saw the writing on the wall that says the Yankees' better days are in the past but that doesn't lessen the integrity of his decision. You taking notes, A-Rod? Some Yankee fans are complaining that he never intended to stay in NY, that he had one foot out the door at the end of the season, as if…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Gore Endorses Dean

Say it ain't so, Al! Gore Endorses Dean This is just politics at its pettiest as Al Gore desperately tries to remain relevant in the Democratic Party. He's a sore loser looking for revenge. MoveOn.org gave him a couple of nice handjobs over the last year, providing partisan forums where he could safely bash Bush (where was that passion when it could have helped?) and now he's addicted to the rush. How can he possibly justify circumventing the primary process (knowing exactly how influential his endorsement is at this early stage of the game) and hop on the bandwagon of…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Where’s my nerds at?

My role-playing ones, specifically, because I’m itching for some D&D!

Haven’t played in years…since 1985 or so. Was big on it in early high school. We played more than D&D, too, branching out into Marvel Superheroes, James Bond and a few others I can’t remember. D&D was the King, though, and the one that holds the most interest for me these days.

Back then, we used to compete over who could steal the best stuff from our local hobby shop in Mt. Vernon as it was all too expensive for us. It was a small store on West 1st Street, mainly full of models of ships and cars and stuff, but there was one shelf that held all of the D&D books. Our MO was always the same: send the old guy into the back to see if our “special order” had arrived, stuff what we could into our backpacks without leaving the shelf obviously barren before he returned, and buy a 20-sided die or something like it before leaving. Later, we’d add up the “cost” of our booty and whomever’s was worth more won. Every now and then, I’d feel guilty and buy a cheap snap-together model that I’d never get around to snapping together – my idea of penance.

For the past couple of months, my cousin Juan has been teasing me that he’s putting together a campaign but I’m getting impatient so I borrowed his Dungeon Master’s Guide this weekend so I could start putting together my own. Part of my logic is that constructing a campaign is not unlike writing a story and that it might be a good way to flesh out my Mateo de Orikeno story that’s hit that wall called lack of time, especially since I read through the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting and found a couple of great areas I could set my story. (It’s similar to how writing an earlier idea for a novel out as a screenplay helped me to get that story out of my system, if not actually finished. And, ultimately, got me into the slams at the Nuyorican! But that’s another story.)

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