Can't spell 'Democrat' without the D

12:40am
B-Trip: Home

Another pre-bed D. That's two-in-a-row for all you folks keeping track at home on your scorecards.

My grammar is coming correct thanks to this column by Ben Yagoda. (You know if a dude's got 'Yoda' in his name, you're about to learn something).

Turns out the genderless pronoun is back. Linguists call that sh*t 'epicene'. Straight up.

For example, this sentence is now grammatically correct:

After Taking D, everyone feels good about themselves.

The p.c. police (or some distinguished body that would actually care about matters such as this) has been teaching us it had to be:

After Taking D. everyone feels good about himself and/or herself.

Who has time for that?

It would take you forever to determine the gender of all the people Taking D. Especially since you'd keep getting arrested.

From now on it's 'they', 'them', or 'their'. Alternatively, if you'd like to sample 'dem', go right ahead.


10:18am
B-Trip: Home

The problem with Taking D before bed is that there's no telling when the first D of the day will be prepared to make itself scarce. I'm only happy when I can set my watch to my Morning D. To that end, maybe the reason I'm sad all the time has something to do with the fact that I don't own a watch. Hmmm...something to ponder.

While I'm doing that, you can read this Michael May column. He's a professor emeritus so don't mention D around him. Fascinating piece called "Why We're Clueless" helped me appreciate that every foreign policy decision the U.S. makes is basically a shot in the dark. We try to throw our weight around, but the vast majority of things that benefit us (Berlin Wall coming down, Libya abandoning nukes, fall of Shah in Iran) are beyond our control. In fact, much of the time we don't even see them coming.


4:40pm
B-Trip: Home

Elle and I just returned from a little field trip to Crenshaw, where we joined the Great White Pilgrimage toward MLK Blvd. to attend a Barack Obama rally.

Upon entering the park, we were handed Obama '08 posters, including a handmade sign that said "Tell Yo Momma to Vote Obama" on one side and "Te Queremos Obama!!!!" on the other. Apparently the campaign worker felt our street cred needed a slight bolstering before entering the premises.

The atmosphere was festive. The crowd a melting pot of all ages and races, but predominantly black. I'm guessing about 3,000 people in all.

We stood through two opening musical acts. The Scattertones went first. A thirteen-member a capella group straight out of Disney Channel casting, they were just a few voices shy of a complete clusterf*ck. Since at least one of the members was consistently flat, I sincerely hope Obama was still on his way to the venue while they performed.

Next up was Tribaljazz, a predominantly percussive jam band lead by Doors drummer John Densmore. Fat, worldly beats with a meandering flute on top. Two master African drummers, Marcel and Aziz, were from Senegal and the latter performed a wild African dance during the final number.

Dorsey High's drum section marched across the stage before a guy who once lived on LA's Skid Row before picking himself up by the bootstraps grabbed the mic and introduced Obama...at which point we all went bananas.

Obama spoke for about 45 minutes, detailing the misguided priorities of Washington without mentioning any names. With an emphasis on cooperation, he explained how easy it would be to create a universal health care system, affordable college education, a saner foreign policy, and take greater steps toward energy independence if we all just worked together.

He comes across as a guy who has his priorities straight and is determined to see them through. Quite frankly, it's hard not to be impressed.

But he can't do it alone. After all, he is an "imperfect vessel" of our dreams. From most politicians, this line would seem little more than a hedge against future misbehavior ("What's the problem, Kenneth? I told you I was imperfect.") But coming from Obama, it seems genuine.

Answering questions as to his experience, he said he's been in Washington long enough to know it has to change. And let's be honest...as far as experience goes, wouldn't we all feel much better with a self-made former president of Harvard Law Review with a knack for bringing people together in the Oval Office than a guy who drank away decades of his life?

And while he stopped short of tackling the controversial topic of Taking D head on, he did mention 'bathroom breaks' so I have to believe that, like nuclear disarmament, it's an issue close to his heart.

After almost every sentence Barack spoke, a guy next to us shouted out either "Uh huh!", "Yep!", "Speak on that!", or "Got that right!". His antics fluctuated back and forth throughout the speech -- from slightly annoying to completely hilarious.

Quoting Dr. King, Barack mentioned that over time the moral arc of the universe bends in the direction of justice. It happens even faster if we all grab hold of that arc and bend it, particularly if you're the type of person who has a Curves membership.

If there's a candidate more deserving of my vote, I hope someone let's me know. For now, Obama's my standard-bearer.

In the meantime, I'll just be over here trying to bend this rigid f*cking arc.

By the way, anyone know which direction justice is?