Fun Weekend

So this past weekend, I gave up my tickets to the UVa - Va Tech football game (thank God, it was ugly) to spend the day with my 5 year old niece Kennedy. We originally planned to go bowling with her Daisy troop, but that got postponed until the spring, so we had a "date" instead. My sister dropped her off around noon and Kennedy looked so cute! She dressed up just for her Uncle Charlie - my sister said that she picked her clothes out herself. I took her into the city to show her the White House (Is that where the President lives? We don't like him, do we?), my office, and the monuments. Then we went to Petsmart to buy some treats for my dog, Kaleb, and look at the animals. She was fascinated by the lizards. Me, not so much. The highlight of our date was going to the movies to see "Chicken Little". She loved it, and I thought it was pretty cute. She was most excited by the popcorn and M&Ms. This was my first time going to a movie theatre filled with kids since I was a kid. It was actually pretty enjoyable - I love the sound of kids laughing. Afterwards, we went to Target (I needed some new hair clippers) and I bought her a new coloring book and a My Little Pony Christmas DVD. We got home just as the FW was getting back from class. We had Spaghettios for dinner (Yum!) and watched her new DVD while she did the FW's hair. I love my niece!! And can't wait to meet my newest niece Maya - I hope my brother and his wife can make it to the East Coast for the holidays.

The Pot and the Kettle

Today, W's people had a lot to say about democracy in Venezuela, accusing the Chavez administration of:

"subverting democratic institutions by using them to restrict the rights of those who disagree with it, slowly undermining economic freedoms and rejecting the opportunities of globalization"

Newly appointed Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon said that Chavez was centralizing power in the executive and politicizing the judiciary. Um, HELLO!! What the fuck is your boss doing, stupid-ass?

"The impact on the civic, political and economic life of the country is evident in increased self censorship by the media, lack of public confidence in the electoral system, reluctance to express disagreement with government policies for fear of retribution and capital flight," Shannon said.

In a classic example of irony, Vice President "Dick" Cheney said earlier this week that the suggestion that Americans were misled on pre-war intelligence was "one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired in this city". He added: "The president and I cannot prevent certain politicians from losing their memory or their backbone. But we're not going to sit by and let them rewrite history."

Wow!!

Tonight's "Lost" kicked all kinds of ass!

Let's get together and end this.

From the ONE Campaign:

This week, Congress will decide how much America will contribute toward an important international effort called the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.

Let’s keep up the positive pressure: Please email Congress today and ask their support for $100 million in the Labor-HHS Appropriations Bill for the Global Fund-- an effort that fights back against three killer diseases and encourages other countries to do their share.

Please make the message as personal as you like -- these officials need to know that people from their hometowns, the people they represent, want them to help.

Oh, yeah

Kaine won!!!!!

Welcome Maya!!

The newest addition to the family has arrived, a bit late, which proves she is indeed a Hundley! Say hello to Maya Florence Hundley, everyone. Her parents couldn't be more proud, nor could her proud Uncle Chaz!

I'm back

I'm back after a week's hiatus - I was in Phoenix for work and then spent a day in San Diego visiting my little brother and his wife. They're expecting their 1st child, and I was hoping the little one would make her appearance while I was in Cali. Oh well, I'll see her at Xmas!

Tomorrow is a huge day in Virginia, Election Day. Vote for Kaine, you'll be happy you did!

Me and B

Our folks dressing us as twins – matching red, white and blue plaid suits and Keds
Playing drums in Grandma and Granddaddy’s basement
Riding the red wagon down Buckingham Road
Granddaddy’s pants falling down on the 4th of July
McIntire Park and the jet plane
Going to see the Blue Angels
The Dairy Farm at the U of Maryland
Going to Disney World in the 4th grade in BT’s plum Cadillac
Camping in his backyard on a rainy night, with a leaky tent
Walkie Talkies
CB Radio
Hot Wheels cars and making the coolest track in the world in the basement in Adelphi
Teaching me how to ride a wheelie on his cool bike with the banana seat
T-ball
Summer camp and riding in the “Green Monster”
The Old Witch living in Grandma and Granddaddy’s attic
Getting some “Action” from BT for acting up
The Octopus in the pool
Making our own radio shows on the cassette player
Scrambled eggs and catsup
Ginger Snaps
Our motorized motorcycles
Laughing so hard it hurt at Grandma and Granddaddy’s snoring
Jumping on Grandma and Granddaddy’s bed.
Atari
Pong in Grandma and Granddaddy’s basement
E-mailing about Playstation
Giving me advice on motorcycles and cars
His black Civic Si
The Pinto wagon!
Kix cereal
UVa basketball camp
His corny jokes
Looking out for me whenever I visited his house in Maryland and his friends made fun of his nerdy cousin

Rest In Peace

On Monday, October 24, 2005, BOOKER T. REAVES, III, of Bowie, MD, died suddenly. Born in Charlottesville, VA on March 14, 1968, to his parents Ms. Valencia C. Calhoun and Booker T. Reaves, Jr. "Beba", as he was affectionately known, leaves his loving wife and best friend of nine years, Janice Nowden Reaves. He attended schools in Prince Georges County, MD, and Howard University in Washington, DC. Booker was employed by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry Security, in Washington, DC, where he was a Financial Analyst for more than 18 years. In addition to his parents and wife, he leaves to cherish his memory his stepmother Linda W. Reaves; sister Kristin L. Reaves; brother Reginald A. Calhoun; grandmothers Ms. Dorothy L. Conrad and Ms. Donna W. Reaves; mother-in-law Bertha L. Nowden; father-in-law Clarence W. Nowden. Visitation will be on Tuesday, November 1, 2005, beginning at 9:30 a.m., at Peoples Congregational Church of Christ, 4704 13th St. N.W., with funeral service at 11 a.m. Interment November 2, in Charlottesville, VA.

There's an octopus in the water!!

One of my favorite memories of B happened about 30 years ago. I got to spend a few weeks one summer staying with Beba and my uncle and aunt, while going to summer camp. The camp was run by the Catholic Church somewhere in Maryland, I forget where.

Uncle BT wanted us to take swimming class, but I was scared to death of the water. Beba and kept putting it off, until BT told us we would get some "Action" if we didn't (Action was his term for a spanking, and just the threat of it worked!). Anyway, the day came for us to go the pool, and I was scared out of my mind and made up some excuse to the camp counselor about why I couldn't do it. When BT picked us up that evening, he asked how swimming went. Now remember, I was about 6 or 7 years old, with a very fertile imagination. I said we tried to swim, but there was an octopus in the water and it tried pulling us under, so we had to get out!! Beba looked at me like "are you completely insane?" He tried to play along, but of course the story didn't work (kids really do believe in anything, don't they). Luckily for us, BT found my lie so damn funny, we didn't get any "Action" that day. But we did have to go to the pool the next day. I just remember being thrown into the deep end. I surrvived, obviously, but that damn octopus tried to get me again!

Every time we saw each other, we would laugh until we cried over that story.

More

Here are two poems my little brother, K10, wrote:

She burned sage in hope that the smoke would float
Higher than the rains to forever cleanse the pain.
And the smoke just drifted from my nose,
With prayer and tears of memory.
But perhaps all was too late as fate would inform them,
In the wee hours as showers and kettles and coffee pots steamed,
Ritual hours of coffee and tea.
A man with a plan, vowed to never see light again.
And he did it~ did this man.
He went through with his plan.
And my uncle found this man dead this morning.
Damn.

Ken10
10.24.05

My cousin~
Suicide took his life,
Not homicide that took his life.
Alone was left his wife.
Clutching his picture to his side.
His father left to wonder.
His mother left to wonder.
His sister left to wonder.
Our family left to wonder.
Black men aren't supposed to die by suicide,
Black men aren't supposed to die unless it's homicide,
Black men aren't supposed to die- it's genocide.
If he did it, he meant it.
If he did it, it was a statement.
He did it.
He stated it.
My cousin killed himself today.
My cousin killed a part of us today.
My cousin killed any hope of seeing the next day.
Tomorrow today will be yesterday and I pray.
Tomorrow I'll say my cousin killed himself yesterday and I'll pray.

Ken10
10.24.05

Why?

I don’t normally get too personal on this blog. I mostly write about what’s going on politically in this country, or about sports, or something trivial. Today’s post is going to be very different.

My cousin killed himself yesterday. And I’m kind of numb right now. Of course I’m sad, angry, confused, but I’m mostly numb. Beba (his name is actually Booker, named after my uncle and grandfather. The family called him Little B, but I couldn’t pronounce it as a toddler, all I could say was Beba) was 9 months older than me, and we were very close growing up, but drifted apart as we got older. We had an almost sibling like rivalry as kids, due mostly to our closeness in age and being the only grandkids until my sister was born when we were 6.

I was always jealous of B – he had a lot of “stuff” and was way cooler than me. He had Granddaddy’s name. His dad had a motorcycle and played sports with him. I was his nerdy cousin from Virginia, but whenever we visited, he didn’t seem to mind me following him around like a puppy. He played football, baseball and basketball. I played soccer. It was the 70’s and 80’s, when soccer was the sport of geeks who couldn’t play anything else. He taught me how to swing a baseball bat and how to make a lay-up.

I found out much later how much he envied me. Imagine that, he was actually jealous of me all those years – jealous of my grades, and the fact that I had a little brother and sister. Jealous that I was able to keep my room messy. One of the things I was most jealous of – his name – was a weight on him I only recently understood. My grandfather was a great man, a very important man in Charlottesville who played a huge role in the desegregation of the city’s schools. Charlottesville was one of the few places in the South that didn’t have the tremendous violence and upheaval associated with school integration thank to the work of Granddaddy. Granddaddy went to Howard. He was an Alpha. And my uncle and B had to live up to those expectations. I can’t really explain it – it’s a very Southern/Machismo thing that I can’t explain, but I can feel down the depths of my very being. And by my being the son of his daughter, I didn’t have the same weight placed upon me. B, I’m sorry. I didn’t know until I was grown what it was like for you.

As we got older, we drifted apart, as kids do. But recently, we'd been e-mailing each other and talking on the phone. He was going to teach me how to ride a motorcycle, we'd been trying to get together after work for a drink, but could never mesh our schedules.

I don’t know why he did it. Sure, there are all the tell-tale symptoms – depression, hopelessness, etc., but what makes someone take that final, ultimate step?

Several years ago, I was at the same crossroad that Beba was at yesterday. My marriage was ending, I had survived a horrific accident that nearly killed me, my finances were a mess, and I felt completely and utterly alone. I can even remember the exact day and what was going on in my head. I couldn’t afford the rent on the apartment my ex-wife and I had – 2 incomes go a lot further than. And I didn’t care. All I could think about was what a failure I was. I hated my job, my wife left me, and no one in the world could ever understand the pain I was going through. I was like I was blind and being sucked into a whirlpool. I was too proud to ask for help and decided the only way to feel better was to stop feeling. I had made up my mind that day to end it all, but luckily for me, my ex-wife called my father and told him she was worried about me. Dad called me and convinced me to drive down to his house for dinner. I never told him until last night, but he and Tara saved my life.

Of course, now I’m wondering about all the “what-ifs”. What if my uncle had been able to reach him earlier yesterday morning (he knew B was feeling bad, but of course know one knew how bad he was doing), what if I had picked up the phone and called him on Sunday to watch a football game, what if he had just taken his meds. We’ll never know.

And now we, the family, are trying to make sense of all of this. And I don’t know if we ever will.

2,000

The 2,000th American died in Iraq today. To those of you who say it's the price for freedom, screw you. Talk to me when someone you love has died and tell me it was worth it.

B, I love you

My cousin killed himself yesterday.

I'm too broken up to write about it at length right now. But I do want to say that I know the pain and utter hopelessness that you were feeling, because I've been there. And I'm sorry that you felt that this was your only escape, but I'm comforted in knowing that you're now at peace. I'm not mad at you, only deeply and profoundly sad.

I'll see you again one day, and we can continue our arguments about the 'Skins and Cowboys, Perot and Clinton. And we can play drums like we used to do in Grandma & Granddaddy's basement, and put together Hot Wheels tracks and finally be able to make the cars complete the loop, and race our bikes around the block.

Do me a favor and tell Granddaddy hi for me.

I love you B.

Pretty Damn Interesting

Who knew they had color photography during World War I? This site is damn cool.

He's Back!!

Out for six weeks, Henry returns to score 2 for the Gunners!! All in all a great few days in sports. UVa beat Florida State and Henry is back!

This crap can't be happening

It's like watching a really bad comedy. Mier's, as W's counsel, wasn't even licensed to practice in DC!!

Earlier this year, I received notice that my dues for the District of Columbia Bar were delinquent and as a result my ability to practice law in D.C. had been suspended. I immediately sent the dues in to remedy the delinquency. The nonpayment was not intentioned, and I corrected the situation upon receiving the letter.

Tell me, why'd you vote for him again?

Are we living in the USA or USSR?

It was billed as a conversation with U.S. troops, but the questions President Bush asked on a teleconference call Thursday were choreographed to match his goals for the war in Iraq and Saturday's vote on a new Iraqi constitution.

It's funny, because it's true

From Mark Shields:

Has anyone else ever watched C-SPAN cover a three-hour House debate on cloning? What a scene. Two hundred six Caucasian males in blue suits, white shirts and red ties all declaring their all-out opposition against cloning.

Timeline

Remember my post a few days ago about the timing of the New York subway terror alert? Well, Keith Olberman of MSNBC has put together a pretty interesting timeline. See it here.