BABY BOOTIE JEWELRY

Ecclesiastes 12:12....And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

Don Quijote de la Mancha, capítulo 1: En resolución, él se enfrascó tanto en su lectura, que se le pasaban las noches leyendo de claro en claro, y los días de turbio en turbio, y así, del poco dormir y del mucho leer, se le secó el cerebro, de manera que vino a perder el juicio.

Erasmus of Rotterdam, In Praise of Folly…”But to come to the purpose: I have given you my name, but what epithet shall I add? What but that of the most foolish? For by what more proper name can so great a goddess as Folly be known to her disciples? And because it is not alike known to all from what stock I am sprung, with
the Muses' good leave I'll do my endeavor to satisfy you."

Ecclesisastes 10:1: “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor: so doth a little folly in him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor.”

Sometimes I catch myself observing my daughter and wondering how I’ve managed to parent her beyond belief in this American Bible Belt, this Southern Baptist Screwyouland, where my views on religion are not only in the minority but where the price I pay for refusing to suspend disbelief is incessant proselytism, mistrust and hatred fueled by Christian supremacy. You’ve got to understand that this is a place where preachers thrust ragged Bibles at the rafters and promise desperate people that while sickness and poverty and Lucifer might take their families, the soul of man never dies.

I’m convinced that no one in their right mind would choose to live here. Hell, I never meant to birth my daughter in a place where the fields are a sickly gray color and the persimmon trees are so scraggly and produce a fruit that is so sour that you only have to look at it to feel ill. I’m tired of explaining that no, my daughter was not an anchor baby just because her atheist momma happens to be one of “them” (three?) atheist Mexicans crossing the border legally, as foreign students; the only running she did was hightailing it out of the Mexican Opus Dei cult way, way, way back in 1994 all because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut what with enough tongue for ten rows of teeth nor could she heal herself with a snake oil elixir of sour mash and self-loathing.

My choices were limited when I left the cult and I forfeited my princess status. A famous author from Bath, England began her novel, “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” This is horribly off and should be re-written: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that all peeved princesses end up teaching yard-fighting, teeth-gnashing, ugly-dog-raising, towel-stealing, television-praying, never-forgiving, hard-headed people…crazy religionists that you end up loving with all the strength in your body once you figure out that they are who you are, and in many ways, all there is.”

I grew up in a fanatical, Catholic, Mexican family, in Mexico City, where the teachings of the left-leaning, gun-toting, revolutionary Jesuits and “liberation theology” enthusiasts scared my grandparents. The fear rippled through my Big Fat Mexican Family to the point that they stripped the mattress, boxed up the cat and ensconced themselves along with their assets in a cult known as the Opus Dei and it was all because my grandmother read a silly book. My family decided to be “guided” by a disgruntled Spanish priest, a maladjusted virgin, Monseńor Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, who penned a horrid screed titled El Camino (The Way) and it’s the very reason why I find myself in the United States and why I can never listen to Frampton Live. Ever. This book, The Way, should be negotiated into the biblical canon between Maccabees I and II or scribbled on the margins of Revelation since it terrifies people into following suit.

Following suit is a curious expression because it has nothing to do with following a matching set of clothes. If you follow suit, you do exactly what someone else has done and this can be very dangerous. If all your friends decided to jump off a bridge into icy water, and you followed suit, you could end up drowning simply because someone thought of it first or because they read El Camino.

BiG DrEaMs

its not its not me exactly
who touches people
its what i represent
the possibility that
dreams from long ago
may still come true
even if they look lost
forever


I had a homie named Tony
16, 6"2'
headed to the NBA
straight from high school
my nigga had his ball game on lock
but at the same time
he was in love with the block
all the stuff that came wit it
the drugs and the guns
the gangs, the slang
and all the funds
he just got a letter of intent
from the Cavaliers
sayin how they love him
and they wish he was there
he had it made like special ed
about to get the bread
but chose to do
something dumb instead
go to war with the
crew on the other side
of town
and was more ready
then Tony got laid down
he aint even have a chane
died before the ambulance
even got to him
so many went through him
I hate to tell the story
but thats how it is
growin up in tha hood
as a kid


When you got big dreams
dont listen to what nobody say
and dont let nobody turn you away
When you got big dreams
keep your eyes on the prize
dont fall to the waste side
When you got big dreams
dont listen to what nobody say
and dont let nobody turn you away
When you got big dreams
keep your eyes on the prize
dont fall to the waste side
reach for the sky


I knew this girl named Gina
that was a hell of a singer
and everybody fell in love
with her when they seen her
babygirl was on the verge
of signing a big deal
eighteen, and life
looked so surreal
She was stuck wit a dude
that was all bad news
and all he ever did was give
baby the blues
but she was true to a nigga
[Más Letras en es.mp3lyrics.org/4gDF]
do for a nigga
pop you and ya whole crew
for a nigga
One night he came
picked her up
told her lets ride
thats the same night
that he watched her die
they was tryna hit a lick
but the lick hit back
put a end to the deal
and all of that
she aint even have to be there
he knew it wasn't right
now he gotta deal with it
for the rest of his life
and the part i dont like
he aint even get graze
but homegirl Gina
is layin in the grave


When you got big dreams
dont listen to what nobody say
and dont let nobody turn you away
When you got big dreams
keep your eyes on the prize
dont fall to the waste side
When you got big dreams
dont listen to what nobody say
and dont let nobody turn you away
When you got big dreams
keep your eyes on the prize
dont fall to the waste side
reach for the sky


I got a few relatives
given family drama
always got they hands out
when they see me and my momma
One coulda been a doctor
the other a chef
but when he got his own kitchen
he was cookin somethin else
Now his life in the drain
a triflin shame
He all washed up
wife took everything
No car no mo' no house
and everywhere he go
he stole
so they throwed him out
I was growin up
lookin up to be like them
Now Im throwin up cash
rollin up in the Benz
I was stuck wit a dream
I had since a shorty
I be damned if i let
another man support me
now uncle Junebucks sick
skinny as hell
he got AIDS in his body
from the needles he shared
everytime he get his
welfare checks
he dont care
You wanna see him go to
the crack house
he there


When you got big dreams
dont listen to what nobody say
and dont let nobody turn you away
When you got big dreams
keep your eyes on the prize
dont fall to the waste side
When you got big dreams
dont listen to what nobody say
and dont let nobody turn you away
When you got big dreams
keep your eyes on the prize
dont fall to the waste side
reach for the sky