Uppity-Negro.com

OK, I'd say that Uppity-Negro is 95% restored to its new host; there are still some pre-Movable Type entries--which were separate HTML files--that haven't yet been uploaded. This is its second new host in as many months--and I will share that sad, frustrating tale another time.

Meanwhile, Aaron lives! The parent of a friend donated money in Aaron's name to the Homewood Library. The librarian overseeing the donation read the entire Uppity-Negro blog--bless her heart!--and decided upon two books for the collection in Aaron's memory. So if you ever go to the Homewood Library, you'll see the bookplate, "In Memory of Aaron Hawkins," in these two books:

The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah
Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel by Aaron McGruder, Reginald Hudlin, and Kyle Baker

There was actually a brief ceremony at the Homewood Library when these books were added to the collection--but we missed it (!) because we never got the letter from the Homewood Library telling us about it, agh! The only reason we found out anything is because I happened to spot the article in the newsletter (see below). We gasped first, of course, and then called the library and found out the whole story. And then we went to the library and saw the bookplate in Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel--which is really an absolutely perfect addition, as some people confused Aaron with McGruder anyway, thanks to the same name and similar... sensibilities, shall we say--? Thank you, Homewood Library and librarians--and thank you, Mrs. S., for the donation!

See page four of the four-page Fall 2005 issue of the Homewood Library Novel News newsletter (as an Adobe Reader PDF file) at:
http://www.homewoodlibrary.org/nn2005fa.pdf
(excerpt)

HONARARIUMS AND MEMORIALS
THE PERFECT GIFT

Have you ever worried about finding that special gift to fit an important occasion such as an anniversary, birth or
bereavement? A donation made to the Library not only honors those you wish to remember, but also can be shared by the entire community. Books or other materials selected for commemorative gifts receive a book plate with suitable inscription. The honoree or family is invited to come in and view the item. If you would like to give a gift that will be used as well as appreciated, please consider a donation to the Library. Donations of any size are welcome. The librarians will be happy to discuss your ideas with you.

Recent Honorariums and Memorials:

In Memory of Aaron Hawkins
The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah
Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel by Aaron McGruder, Reginald Hudlin, and Kyle Baker

Posted by Val at 6:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Uppity-Negro.com would be remiss in not noting the passing of one of its spiritual forefathers, Nipsey Russell. Nipsey was so square he was cool, and he was so cool he was square. I last saw Nipsey in Chris Rock's music video for his song, "Champagne," which actually ends with the lines, "I drink champagne with Nipsey Russell!"

Still, Nipsey was probably best-known, by kids of the 1970s and 1980s anyway, for playing the Tin Man in the film version of "The Wiz" -- which, in keeping with the character, was probably one of the most heartfelt performances put on film. His dialogue included the subject line above.

Keep laughing and keep living!

Posted by Val at 11:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Yes, the credo of Bebe's Kids, but also the subtitle for the Topper Carew documentary, The Robin Harris Story: We Don't Die, We Multiply. So if you have the good fortune to live in New York and you know how to get to the Museum of the Moving Image which is located at 35 Avenue at 36 Street in Astoria, get down there on Friday, August 19, at 7:30 pm -- and come back and give up a review or two!

I just found out about Aaron having been among the first month's posters to Blogcritics.org -- well, via Eric Olsen anyway! -- which is celebrating three years and 10,000,000 unique visitors. When will I stop being surprised at learning these things??

A story my grandfather, an aspiring author, liked to tell was that if only he'd gone to DuSable High School, he would likely have met recently deceased Black publishing pioneer John H. Johnson and eventually become a great and famous writer for the Johnson Publishing Company here in Chicago. But no, instead he went to that other area high school, where he met the love of his life, Merteree, whom he married years later and with whom he had three sons, and from whom only death parted, in a marriage that lasted over four decades.

Darn the luck!

Continue reading "We don't die, we multiply!" »

Posted by Val at 9:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The above subject line was a joke -- a joke! -- from Aaron McGruder (pictured above), creator of the daily comic strip, Boondocks, which premieres as an animated TV show for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim on October 2. Check out Riley below!

McGruder presented a clip of the show, along with the main cast of voice actors--including veteran actress Regina King, who voices both Huey and Riley, as well as John Witherspoon, who's perfect for voicing Granddad--at the San Diego Comic-Con, before going on to the Television Critics Association (TCA) summer press tour the following week.

By far the biggest stir at the TCA summer tour was caused by Chris Rock for his upcoming UPN series, Everybody Hates Chris, so much so that the question became that the show is too good for UPN and shouldn't it be moved to CBS--?! An African American show too good for the U People's Network? Now that's ironic!

Speaking of African Americans on TV, cool lil' sis Karen made a memorable appearance on the local ABC News affiliate last week, talking about blogs -- although she didn't get to mention Uppity-Negro.com. In the story, she's specifically speaking about some crazy comments that she got on the blog she kept while she was overseas earlier this year for an international newspaper internship. Read the (kinda sketchy) transcript below, which is from the ABC News web site:

Entering the Blogosphere
By Alan Krashesky

[NOTE FROM VAL: This transcript contains errors which I went through and corrected.]

July 19, 2005 - Most parents may not have a clue, but millions of teenagers are now posting their personal lives for anyone to see. They are using a new online form of publishing called "blogging," which gives virtually anyone a voice to the world.

Blog is short for the word "weblog." An estimated 8 million people across the country blog online everyday. Still, most people don't know who bloggers are. Many are ordinary people who post their opinions on political issues and news events, but now that the blogosphere is especially popular with teens, the craze comes with some concerns.

Welcome to the blogosphere. Just do a Web search and you can spot the bloggers. Many are teens who post their personal details, stories, favorite songs online. Think of it as an interactive teen diary, although not a secret one. It's for all to see.

"I can write things, and people can comment back to you. It's kind of like e-mail only more personal," said Karina Anglada, teen blogger.

Sixteen-year-old Chicagoan Karina Anglada lists her daily life events on her blog, complete with pictures.

Danny Gutman takes his love for sports from the tennis court to the blogs.

"I get to tell people about how I am thinking creatively and tell them about my interests and what I like to do, while I also get to read about their blogs and see their interests," said Danny Gutman, teen blogger.

About 21 million teens use the Internet. One recent study found that about one out of every five of them has a blog.

"Blogging is a phenomenon and is one that is particularly attractive to young people because it gives them several benefits," said Peter Zollo, Teenage Research Unlimited.

Those benefits include creativity and self expression, says Zollo. He runs a research firm that studies teenagers.

But Zollo and other experts also warn teens not to fill blogs with wild stories and provocative pictures.

"Because I realize that 10 to 15 years from now, if I am applying for a job, my future possible boss could put my name into Google and see I put something I shouldn't have on the Internet," said Gutman, teen blogger.

Experts also warn of online predators. Blogging teens should not use last names or exact locations, and they should never meet strangers in person.

Karen Hawkins wants to warn teens about her recent bad blogging experience.

"I was very vulnerable, very exposed. Anyone who knew anything about the place where I worked knew who I was," said Hawkins.

With her personal details made public, Hawkins says threatening people posted insults and racial slurs about her because they did not like the content on her blog. Nothing happened but she sure was frightened.

"Be careful about how many personal details you reveal about yourself. Don't say 'I'm a junior with blonde hair who goes to New Trier,' " Hawkins said.
[NOTE FROM VAL: Corrected spelling from "New Treir."]

Teens are not the only blogging trendsetters. Many bloggers are adults using sites to talk about the latest news or even to cover news and political events. It's a new way to get information, but you need to now that when you read someone's blog, they may not be objective.

"We definitely have an opinion, and you can care to agree or disagree with that. We'll say what we think, and a lot of times, the news, they have to filter that out," said Chicagoist editor and founder Rachelle Bowden.

Chicagoist's staff of young professionals all work in the Loop. During the day they work in jobs like public relations and web design, and in their off-time they run Chicagoist, a news blog.

"We can let everyone know what we are thinking at the same time. If our readers don't agree with us, they are happy to let us know about it," said Andrew Peerless, Chicagoist.

Nationwide, news bloggers have gained the attention of politicians who now watch bloggers carefully.

One example came just last month when bloggers, along with Jewish and Republican groups, became outraged over comments made by Senator Dick Durbin. Durbin compared the alleged treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay to Nazi Atrocities and genocide. A week later he apologized.

"My guess is, if you are a savvy politician or perspective politician, you are keeping an eye on the bloggers," said Steve Jones, UIC communications professor.

Such is the blogosphere, serious business for some, while others are flying along, just enjoying the ride.

"If you want to go visit your friend's site you just type in their name and there it pops up," said Katrina Hawkins.
[NOTE FROM VAL: Actually, the news story ends with Karina Anglada again. There's no one named Katrina Hawkins in the story--! Told you it was sketchy...!]

Whether juicy details on blogs will come back to haunt teens remains to be seen. Experts say that while teens should be cautious, many people may just consider blog entries as teenagers having fun.
[NOTE FROM VAL: Eliminated the repeated "that" in the sentence.]

And now I go on into the Las Vegas heat... right here in Chicago! Everybody take care and keep blogging!

Posted by Val at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (1)

And it only took... a while.

Anyway, I didn't know the story had been printed and posted online, but over a month ago, I spoke with John Boudreau of the San Jose Mercury News, via e-mail and telephone, and our lengthy, detailed conversations resulted in--two small paragraphs toward the end of the story?!? What-ever!

Seriously, though, the story spoke to this new digital information age, where so much of your life is "lived" online, and what happens to all that information after you die--? Should you name a kind of "virtual executor" to be caretaker of your blogs and web sites? And then what about any of your other accounts, including financial records and e-mail mailboxes; if the worst happens, is there a way your survivors could access these accounts, if desired or necessary? Naturally, this is an issue that was brought up in the case of the November 13, 2004 death of Lance Cpl. Justin Ellsworth in Iraq, and his surviving family's rebuffed initial attempts to access Ellsworth's Yahoo! e-mail account, later resolved in the family's favor in court:

John Ellsworth's attorney, Brian Dailey, said Yahoo acted appropriately in handling Ellsworth's request for his son's e-mail. "Their policy tracked the law completely," he said. "If they had released the e-mails before the court order, they could have gotten into trouble."

While the process may be cumbersome for families, it's the best way to safeguard against abuses, said Brian Smith, chief technology officer of Hushmail.com, a British Columbia-based Internet service provider that offers encrypted e-mail.

"If you start allowing exceptions, security could be compromised," he said. "The easiest way to hack a system is through social engineering -- you get on the phone and you lie until someone believes you."

Smith's company will not release information to third parties unless they have a legal order issued by a British Columbia court.

Still, sometimes family members can circumvent such procedures if they know the deceased's passwords or can guess them.

That's what Valerie Hawkins of Chicago did. Her brother, Aaron Hawkins, died in September. She was able to access his e-mail accounts by figuring out the answers to his "forgot password" hints. She and her family also decided to keep his blog up and running.

She reviewed his financial dealings, but deliberately avoided personal e-mail. "It was important to just get a handle on his accounts to see what it was he had so we knew whom we had to contact," she said.

Obtaining the digital property can be more than an act of financial housekeeping. In some cases, a Web address might even have trademark or some other financial value, said estate lawyer Litherland.

But, he added, "for most of us, passing away will mean our digital existence passes away, too."

The story was picked up and has appeared in various newspapers all over the country... but doesn't look to have appeared in any newspaper here in Chicago! That wacky Chi-town media!

Take care of yourselves and each other.

Posted by Val at 6:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Vicente, Vicente, Vicente. You disappoint me. I know various and sundry groups of Americans drink the U.S. government kool-aid, but you too -- or should I say tu tambien?? You should know better! You have to know better! What is this "not even blacks" stuff?? You, of all people, should know that Mexicans are hired over here in the U.S. of A because they're willing to work for any wage you can draw out of a hat. Benefits? Hah! Insurance? You're killing me! Advancement? No, really, stop already, my sides are splitting. There is little to be proud of here, Vicente; most Mexican workers are heinously, egregiously exploited here on American soil. It's a complete travesty, and your speech did nothing to help their situation over here. If anything, you gave your blessing.

But it's not all thorns I'm offering you, bud. You only need to have your eyes opened. Please, don't say anything else to anyone until you read Eric Schlosser's Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market, which does an excellent job of laying out the situation of your people over here. And here's a clue, you may want to ask somebody in the USA what the term "sharecropping" means, and listen to a little ditty that mentions St. Peter. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Actually, though, I think Spike Lee said it best.

WAKE UP!

Posted by Val at 9:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

My sister, my sister
Tell me what the trouble is
I'll try to listen good
And give the best advice that I can give
-- Monie Love, "It's a Shame (My Sister)" from CD, Down to Earth

One of the things you learned watching the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show (and yes, you did learn something!) was this:

ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES

Good consequences, bad consequences, indifferent consequences, it don't make no never mind; there are always CONSEQUENCES. The problem with Alicia Hardin was that she was so focused on getting her planned results that she forgot about the consequences. Even now, in claiming her confession to police was false, she is still indulging in some mean self-denial that she can still escape the consequences of her plan and still get the results she'd wanted.

Get better, Alicia. Fast.

It's actions like hers that have me considering completely off the wall things... like bestowing a FOOL Award. Inspired by Chicago Sun-Times Richard Roeper's GOOF (Greatly Overexposed Overhyped Fool), a FOOL would be for a Foolish Obnoxious Outrageous Lunkhead!

Ehhh, I'm still working out the kinks...

But now, on to the catching up!

FEBRUARY -- from the ridiculous to the sublime

For God knows what reason, Josh Levin wrote the story, Rappers and Bloggers: Separated at Birth! for Slate. Actually, it was Selfish Hedonist (and not Latentalent, I correct myself 05/17/05) who called my attention to it, because Uppity-Negro.com was honored with a mention within the story:

And don't forget those silly, silly names. Even if he didn't flaunt his devotion to pimping and pit bulls, you'd probably guess Snoop Dogg is a rapper. And Fedlawyerguy—yeah, probably a blogger. But the "blogger or rapper?" parlor game can stump even the nerdiest gangsta. Does uggabugga hate on wack emcees or wack Charles Krauthammer? What about Mad Kane? Big Noyd, Justus League, Uppity Negro, Little Brother, Cold Fury, and South Knox Bubba? (Answers: blogger, blogger, rapper, rap group, blogger, rap group, blogger, blogger.)

I know it wasn't a slam, and I'm not necessarily slamming him, but the story is... You know those nights when you're sitting around, alone or with friends, and you've been up way too late, and you've probably been drinking way too much, and (pop!) allofasudden you're struck by this thought, this idea, this concept, and youhavetowriteitdownrightnow, because it's so bloody brilliant, it EXPLAINS IT ALL! And you scribble it down in a fever and, when finished, collapse in a fit of intellectual exhaustion!

And then you wake up the next morning, all in excited glee to view it sober, and you do read it and you find it's the most ridiculous shite you've ever concocted and you really need to lay off all that damn peppermint schnapps at 3 am?!

Kinda like that.

But he'd already turned it in. And it'd been accepted. And it wasn't bad. It did make a reasonably valid comparison. But... it does have a faint yet discernible scent of peppermint schnapps.

But what do I know? Why, I'll bet Adam Curry loved the story's last line, where Levin joked that "maybe that podcasting thing won't be totally useless after all."

Anyway, Uppity-Negro.com and Aaron received a far more serious honor and rare distinction from the Perranoski Prizes:

One of the chief reasons I was motivated to do the Perranoski Prizes at all arose from the death of a fellow blogger who I wanted to find a proper way to honor, Aaron Hawkins of uppity negro. Not only was he one of the earliest blogs to rise in popularity to a celebrity status, but Aaron was genuinely - online and off - a nice and good-hearted man. In this world, too often, ‘nice’ and ‘good’ carry a sense of quaintness, of old-fashioned virtues quickly acknowledged and then dismissed as kind of square. There was nothing dismissable or quaint about Aaron. There is nothing easily accepted in losing his presence or his pleasance.

If I’d launched this endeavor and he hadn’t been nominated, I’d never consider taking this past this year. As it turned out, he was nominated and was one of the three Hall of Fame entrants for 2004.

I hope the folks at Wampum will consider taking on this category in the future. And here or there, I think we should broaden the name of the award to the Aaron Hawkins Hall of Fame Award.

Read more about the Perranoski Prizes, which "are named after Ron Perranowski, who was the best relief pitcher for the Dodgers during the Koufax era," which you'll see represented in the graphic of the award itself:

As I mentioned on the new Uppity-Negro.com Founders Page, Aaron touched the lives of so many people--and even with this, I think I still underestimate the breadth of his influence.

MARCH -- where everybody knows your name

I was honored to be asked by Giles but ultimately had to decline representing Uppity-Negro.com in the Blogging While Black panel at this year's South By Southwest Interactive Festival. I can imagine that Aaron would have been most colorful (yes, I really said that!) at the panel, contributing any number of experiences encountered in maintaining this blog. He told me about a lot of it, but certainly not all of it. And even if I'd known more, I'd have only been able to relate second-hand stories--which every American court defines as hearsay. I haven't seen any front line action (unless deleting at least 300 trackback & comment spam messages every time I log in to this blog counts!), and I think it would have been unfair to pretend that I had. Giles did pass on an audio file of the panel, so I felt like I was there in a way. And Aaron was mentioned, which was very cool! As I told Giles, I especially enjoyed his explaining that after reading Uppity-Negro.com and Gunn that he "wanted to be a Negro, too!"

2nd gratuitous Adam Curry mention: SXSW Interactive had a panel on podcasting but did not, I repeat, did NOT ask Mr. Curry to participate. Huh??

APRIL -- present day

These CEOs, man, to be that ruthless, you're a scary dude. I tell ya, now I walk past a little gangbanger, I don't even flinch. But if I see a white dude with a Wall Street Journal, I haul ass. Before I walk past the Arthur Anderson building, I'm cuttin' through the projects. Cutting through the projects, you might just lose what you have on you that day. I ain't never been mugged of my future.
-- Wanda Sykes, Tongue Untied DVD, Yeah, I Said It book

I got the opportunity to see the documentary, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, a kind of movie adaptation of the book, Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron, by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind. Actor Peter Coyote narrates.

I would highly recommend this documenrary if you want to truly understand just how brutally greedy this company and its employees were and how it was able to bleed California dry (to the delight and for the entertainment of some of its traders), resulting in the election of the "governator." You get to see staff meeting and staff training videotapes, hear phone calls, watch snippets of the federal hearings. It's a fairly complete as well as maddening story. Along with the TV movie adaptation of Brian Cuver's book, "The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron," that starred Angel veteran Christian Kane, and the two columns, Joe Bob Explains Enron and Joe Bob Sings Enron, I've gotten a pretty full picture not only of the scandal itself and how it happened, but also why it happened--it really was uniquely American success run amuck!

My only quibble, if you can call it that, with the film were the choices made in the dramatizing of some parts of the Enron story. Vice Chairman J. Clifford Baxter's suicide is shown with what actually looks like a gun shot going off in a parked car. Enron Energy Services head Liu Pai's strip clubs visits put the viewer right in the middle of a topless lap dance by an anonymous blond performer (in case you thought it might be a good idea to take the kids as a kind of moral/educational admonishment of having bad business ethics). These choices do make the story more cinematic... if also nearly as graphic as a governator movie!

You can see Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room at the Landmark Theatres in Chicago.

OK, this is me, Val, signing off... y'know, so I can delete more of the spam!

Posted by Val at 4:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Remembering Aaron was a memorial for January 12th, what would have been Aaron's 35th birthday.

It was an intimate gathering of relatives and friends--including Faith, who helped us set up and blow up balloons!--at Women and Children First Bookstore (W&CF) on January 16th, 2005, organized by both kid sister extraordinaire Karen and Mom. Yet another thank you to W&CF for being so gracious as to let us use their space to remember Aaron. I think he would have especially approved of the standup photo of Buffy that oversaw the gathering :>! We gave her a balloon to hold while we all drank coffee and ate Chicago's own Matt's chocolate chip cookies. Plus, we were pleasantly surprised by a lovely bouquet of flowers from another Chicago's own, the Thousand Waves Martial Arts and Self-Defense Center.

We shared some letters from friends who couldn't be there and I read one of Aaron's first "blog" entries ever, the library anecdote of his Saturday, April 24, 1999 entry at his Stone Cold Jane Austen site--which I duly prefaced with an apologetic disclaimer to any Minnesotans in the audience!

In the background was a CD I made of some of Aaron's favorite songs and artists, including the song from Aaron's December 05, 2003 Choose your destiny entry. Naturally there was also Mindy Smith's Come to Jesus and Shakira's Ojos Asi.

Karen talked about she and Aaron meeting Neil Gaiman completely by chance a few years ago (which Aaron mentions offhandedly in the comments for this entry), and she also brought along an old McDade school newsletter she found in a box in her latest move, which both announced Aaron joining WBEZ and doing skits with other Chicago schoolkids on Saturday mornings (I most remember a skit Aaron did where he played a kid addicted to television, and he had this line, "Go on, Don Pardo, tell him what he won!"), and which also had part one of a story he'd written. We don't have part two--but then, I'm not sure McDade put out another newsletter that year and had part two--!

It was fun, and we missed those who couldn't make it, but perhaps we'll do it all again next year. Thanks to everyone who attended, who were there in person or only in spirit.

Posted by Val at 7:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

OK, I had a bad character in my IP banning list, which means comments couldn't be posted. So sorry about that. One day I'm gonna get the hang of this blog thing--!

And by the way, a HUGE THANK YOU to everybody who attended the memorial, whether in person or in spirit. It was lovely -- plus there was a standup photo of Buffy! I'm sure Aaron would've approved!

Posted by Val at 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Remembering Aaron: A Memorial

Location: Women and Children First Bookstore
http://www.womenandchildrenfirst.com
5233 N. Clark Street, Chicago,IL
When: Sunday, January 16, 6:30pm
View Map

In honor of Aaron's 35th birthday, January 12, we're coming together to remember him with stories, anecdotes, pictures, and of course, coffee.

Women and Children First Bookstore was one of Aaron's favorite places in Chicago. The store has a stage and a microphone, and we'd love to hear from those of you who would like to pay tribute to that Uppitiest of Negroes.

Hope to see you there.

Please let us know you are attending, by sending an e-mail to Val.

Posted by Val at 9:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

I cringe to think what the place would have looked like if I'd been away for longer than three days.
-- Giles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Triangle"

Yes, unfortunately the site/blog is experiencing technical difficulties. Don't worry, everybody's comments are actually still within Movable Type's virtual innards, they just don't display... at all. And no one can post any comments, either, ironically making my last post a dismal, complete and utter lie! Anyway, I've left a post on the Movable Type Forums about the problem. And Cleopatra Jones 2525 truly kicked a** in trying to help me. Pretty much it's all up to Movable Type to help me get this solved. I thank you all for your patience.

Plus, you know that somewhere Aaron is smirking and going, "Geez, I've only been gone one month and do ya see what Val has done to my site?!?"

Anyone with any suggestions, comments, or even words of soothing encouragement and their own blogging tales of woe can write me at valsadie at aol.com.

Posted by Val at 11:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

From Val --

Aaron wasn't a particularly religious person, but he did like the song, "Come to Jesus," by Mindy Smith. I knew about her from her remake of "Jolene" on the Dolly Parton tribute album that came out earlier this year, and saw her perform it with Dolly Parton on the Tonight Show. I'd seen the music video for "Come to Jesus" on the VH1 County cable channel, and found the song haunting -- but in a good way. Aaron did not listen to country music, so I was surprised to hear Smith's "Jesus" warbling out of his room one day. He told me the song was being played on Chicago's WXRT, which I found interesting -- again, in a good way.

It's impossible for me now to hear the song and not think of Aaron. It's haunting yet comforting yet still haunting, all at the same time. Definitely take a listen...

Mindy Smith, "Come to Jesus"

Oh, my baby, when you're older
Maybe then you'll understand
You have angels that stands around your shoulders
'Cause at times in life you need a helping hand

Oh, my baby, when you're prayin'
Leave your burden by my door
You have Jesus standing at your bedside
To keep you calm, keep you safe
Away from harm

Worry not my daughters
Worry not my sons
Child, when life don't seem worth livin'
Come to Jesus and let Him hold you in His arms

Oh, my baby, when you're cryin'
Never hide your face from me
I have conquered hell and driven out the demons
I have come with a life to set you free

Worry not my daughters
Worry not my sons
Child, when life don't seem worth livin'
Come to Jesus and let Him hold you in His arms

Oh, oh
Oh, oh
Yeah, yeah, yeah

Oh, my baby, when you're dying
Believe the healing of His hand
Here in Heaven we will wait for your arrival
Here in Heaven you will finally understand
Here in Heaven we will wait for your arrival
Here in Heaven you will finally understand

Worry not my daughters
Worry not my sons
Child, when life don't seem worth livin'
Come to Jesus and let Him hold you in His arms


From Mindy Smith's One Moment More

Posted by Val at 1:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

This is Val, Aaron's sister. My family and I are still working out what we wanted to say and do on the site. But at this time, however briefly, I thought it was best to confirm that yes, Aaron did pass away. We found out for certain yesterday. Please write me at val at valsadie.com or valsadie at aol.com for information on the funeral arrangements.

Posted by Val at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (147) | TrackBacks (40)

Sorry, all, Aaron's not back yet.

He did leave the following entry...

First, at Women and Children First:

Time: Monday, September 13, 2004 7:30 PM
Location: 5233 N. Clark
Title of Event: Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis II

Marjane Satrapi: Persepolis II
The follow-up to her dazzling 2003 debut Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi's new installment of graphic-memoir follows her journey to high school in Vienna in 1984 and her return to her native Tehran four years later.

Who knows? Perhaps we won't have invaded Iran before the 13th. . .

Back to Val:
Aaron left more to the entry as to another upcoming event (as of September 3) but we're all still working on confirming that part of message. Aaron didn't leave a lot of details, but we're hoping to sort it all out in time.

Meanwhile, as I posted in a previous comments section, there was interesting news over the weekend:

Black history unearthed
Archeologists in Pike County, Ill., are exposing traces of the first town founded in the United States by an African-American
By James Janega
Chicago Tribune staff reporter
Published September 5, 2004

BARRY, Ill. -- The farm field grew corn and native grass for years, the sun-baked land hiding what remained of the first town a black man had founded in the United States.

More than a century after the 1836 town of New Philadelphia disappeared into the prairie, scholars digging here hope its broken pots, hand-forged nails and buried garbage will fill in details of life on the nation's old northwest frontier.

But historians also say the summer dig in western Illinois has unearthed significant gaps in what is known about black Americans from that time, as differing interpretations have been presented for why blacks and whites lived side-by-side here on the frontier.
Read on...

Also, check out the new Margaret Cho poster from the American Library Association (ALA) on her blog (see 9/2/2004), at http://margaretcho.net/blog. What people don't know is that they themselves can go ahead and buy the READ posters that you see in libraries directly from ALA. Margaret Cho's poster should be available in a matter of weeks at the ALA Online Store, at http://alastore.ala.org. Margaret is holding the forthcoming book, Almost Home, by Damien Echols of the West Memphis Three.

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