Author: The Fly Hobo

you tell me.

My Last Post About Women Ever, Part V: My Last Post About Women Ever (He’s Talking About Light-Skinned Women Again; You Probably Shouldn’t Read it. You Ought To, Though)

“One of the prevailing topics in your work has been the exploration of intrarace relations and- more specifically- the lampooning of “light-skinned” African American women. It is your red thread of sorts and has been a source of criticism. How do you respond to those that call your writing ‘sophomoric’, ‘undeveloped’, and ‘championing self-hatred’? “Well, White Reporter, there has always been this weird dichotomy between light and dark-skinned Black people. That divide has been there LONG before I started actually talking about it. I mean…look, all I know is America. I ain’t never been out of this country; all I know is how race relations- interracial and intraracial- have gone in this country. It interests me because the entire history of this country is checkered with questionable moments within those relations. It intrigues me. Honestly, I find humor in so much of it and in how people react to the things I say. It’s all so funny to me but I find the most humor in how light-skinned Black people- especially women- view themselves and others. That’s, I think, what I get the most enjoyment from writing, regardless of how other people feel about it. So yeah, I get why they feel that way but I’m way more self-aware than they give me credit for…” -2013 interview with the White Reporter in those Frontline Chappelle’s Show skits I always imagine that White Reporter. I even gave him a name: White Reporter. The funniest thing about everything I say is that I get everything I say. That’s kind of why I say it. It entertains me and antagonizes a group of people. Awesome. Derive from it what you will because that’s why I put it out there. I’m like those authors that write novels that high school English teachers overanalyze: “In this passage, the author makes mention of the red bed sheets in her bedroom. That signals the rage and emotion she was feeling during her struggle with her identity and efsdlkefvvjeoscowmemfpdpvpvjejfeejwqqocwfkf and some other ridiculous shit…” The bed sheets are red because that’s what Target had for the cheap, bitch. My ridiculous assumptions of light-skinned women are just that: ridiculous. Do I really believe all light-skinned women are soulless, self-serving narcissists that were born with 74 unread text messages? I’m lying…of course I do. You’re all terrible people that have been coddled by the white man and overly praised by everybody else. No light-skinned woman has ever helped me in anything I’ve ever done. Nope. Not one has ever shown any type of compassion at all. I made it through college all by myself. I don’t recall any high yellow woman assisting me in any way. There was no teacher taking interest in me and realizing potential I never felt was there. Never once did she help me with my schedule when my advisor wrongly placed me in classes I had no business being in. There were no Giant gift cards mysteriously placed in my Nike backpacks when I seemed a little sluggish. There’s no way in hell she would (rightfully) place her foot in my ass during a time of misguided ambition, blinding lust for the wrong things, and shallow intents for the wrong women. None of that even seems plausible. Not from anybody the color of the McDonald’s logo. Nah. If you’re stupid, you stopped reading a long time ago, dismissing this as more of that typical Fly Hobo nonsense. Good luck at the self-checkout, champ; your produce struggle is going to be SO REAL. Racism effectively hates an entire group of people while designating members of that same group as acceptable. The best example I’ve ever seen was on an old episode of The Jerry Springer Show when Jerry interviewed a Klu Klux Klan member that was an avid fan of Michael Jordan. Sometimes ignorance provides clarity. Sometimes somebody says absurd things in an attempt to hold up a mirror to society to show it how ugly we can be. And sometimes people are racist. Whatever. The White Reporter stopped taping a while ago. A.J. Armstrong dedicates this post to Mrs. Hope Jackson. No person achieves anything alone. He is also the creator of The Fly Hobo and His World of Oddities. Pardon the swear words

My Last Post About Women Ever, Part IV: THOT-ful: A Jump-Off Story

Now, I’m sure most of you have a general idea of what a jump-off is; for those not as educated, Urbandictionary.com defines them as ‘a woman of dubious sexual practices’. They go by many names (rollers, crankers, tip drills, shones, etc.), as do their…”talents”. I refrain from using more derogatory words because they have different meanings for me; if that’s how you choose to identify them, I can’t really do much about that, now can I?

Where was the avenue for these types of women birthed from? Nobody knows the true origin story of jump-offs, nor do we know the primary characters. We just know some dude found some woman to do what he “needed” her to do one day. While I don’t know the exact date, the creation of the modern jump most likely happened something like this:

OCTOBER 1991

Two dudes- we’ll call them Los and William- were lounging in a Washington, D.C.-area strip club in October 1991. Los, dressed in a black Champion hoodie, Karl Kani jeans, and Nike Air Max 180s, was in stark contrast to the well-groomed William who was clad in a grey three-piece suit and blue tie. These were very different men of two different generations, castes, and classes. However, what they did have in common built the foundation of what I speak on today.

“Lemme get a quarter to call my girl,” Los asks over his shoulder, eyes still fixated on the voluptuous Carmel-colored woman on his lap. Two songs and $10 later, he grabs the quarter and saunters to the pay phone. Placing the quarter in, the only thought he could muster in his hazy mind is broad better be woke. After misdialing twice, a ringtone finally becomes audible in the receiver.

“Aye…you woke?”

“…Mmm…”

“Get up, young.”

“For what, nigga?”

“I’m trynna see you.”

“…Bye.”

As he hangs up the phone, he subconsciously scans the dimly lit building for an answer to his sexual tension. Three hours in a strip club tends to do that to people. Unable to find anything of value that wasn’t on the stage or the pole, Los, in an act of desperation and excitement, pulls aside a waitress. “I got a hundred if you trynna do something.”

The indignant look on the high school senior’s face probably would have been an indicator to a more sober and rational Los to stop, but the Crown Royal only urges him on.

“One-fifty, slim…no wait…two hundred. Only cuz I ain’t seen ‘em,” he adds with a sly grin as he points to the frilly lace bra she wore.

Something about money- the prospect of receiving it in particular- really piques a true jumps interest. The waitress, who had been disgusted and offended at Los’ crude courting, was not seriously considering his offer…at first. All of a sudden, she senses an opportunity to bargain with the young man; he doesn’t even look that bad, she rationalizes.

“$300.”

She knew Los was not going to accept; she just wanted a place to begin negotiations. Los’ arched eyebrows of disbelief were a bonus.

“Hell na…$250. That’s all I got. If you would have hit me up sooner, I might’ve thought about three. Your bad, slim.”

“$250?”

“$250.”

“…Mmm…I’m with it. Lemme finish giving these drinks out and I’ll come get you.”

William, noticing the whole exchange take place, shared Los’ dilemma. Not only was his wife sleep, she was in Arkansas. His problem was further compounded by the fact that he was a high-profile public official. Hell, even being at this club at two in the morning was questionable. Being high and tipsy made this situation downright scandalous. There was too much risk for him despite his urges to do exactly what Los had so fearlessly done minutes prior.

FEBRUARY 1996

While on a conference call, William motioned to a young intern to enter his office. As this was the fourth or fifth time, the slightly overweight 22 year-old was well aware of what he desired. Taking her position under his desk and away from view, she began her spectacular and sudden ascent into pop culture infamy. The scene in the club had stuck with him all these years and he reveled in finally being able to wildly live out those whimsical fantasies. The intern’s careful positioning under the desk proved heady, because shortly afterward, the office door slowly creaked open to reveal an aged man with a stack of papers in his arms. “These are urgent and pressing documents you need to address immediately, Mr. President.”

Now you know how jump-offs became popular knowledge, by a man in a strip club and the 42nd President of the United States (sure, some of those facts are debatable but that’s how I remember it). That totally true scene also…er…okay, this is absurd. This was also probably not the best story to share with my little cousin’s third grade class. I’m going to go re-evaluate my life; I’ll see you guys next Thursday for the My Last Post…finale. In the meantime, you can read Part I, Part II, and Part III to occupy your time.

A.J. Armstrong will be finishing his five-part exploration next Thursday. He is also the creator of The Fly Hobo and His World of Oddities…? Right?

My Last Post About Women Ever, Part III: Faded Pictures and Old Playlists

Is it weird I still think about them? What about the fact they routinely pop up in my head in the form of wistful nostalgia? How about the fact I still have pictures of them in my phone, even though some of them were two or three cells ago? Would you judge me if I told you I still pull up those pictures from time to time? Or that I stare at them longingly, wishing I could somehow relive some of the moments that continue to play on in my dreams? And the damn songs. Those songs all of them ruined because they send those complex emotions rushing back to me and make me relive the memories so often. Sometimes I sift through those pictures and replay those songs in my mind silently, some more somber than others…

“As she turned through the pages, a tear rolled down her face/I could see her reminiscing…why her life had to be this way…”

I was in love with her at 12. By then, she lived 688 miles away in a city I had just left but loved just as much. I grew up with her and fell for her temper. We fought so damn fiercely, I knew that passion would eventually be channeled into something mature and timeless. I just KNEW it would. The song doesn’t really speak to what I felt and what I wanted her to feel; she just used to sing it off-key on the couch when I visited her. That picture of her smiling at me while an Ebony Magazine sits open in her lap always conjures up the love I have for the summer of ‘99…

This one loved the song “Like You” by Bow Wow and Ciara. I sit and look at my phone, amazed that somebody so pretty then could become more beautiful years after that youthfully ignorant pose that smiles back at me. I remember that song because it blared from her phone and I knew that someone she was more interested in was calling. The bridge is a run-on sentence that ended with what my heart screamed silently at her: IAin’tNeverHadNobodyShowMeAllTheThingsThatYouDoneShowedMeAndTheSpecialWayIFeelWhenYouHoldMeWeGon’AlwaysBeTogetherBabyThat’sWhatYouToldMe- and I believe it- cuz I ain’t never had nobody do me like you….

I still hate the man on the other end of those calls, even though I never formally met him. The fact my feelings were embodied in a song reserved for another dude pissed me off. Despite it (or because of it), that drove me harder to live out those lyrics during our aimless drives in my Ford Explorer…

Love can be either a continuous melody or a painful bookend, which is why Ms. “Like You” will forever be remembered by a Ghostface Killah song, too. Not even a song, actually; the instrumental to said song…I had some SHIT to say. Is love really being up late writing angry lyrics over a Ghostface track? If you’re angry enough…it makes sense to you, trust me. The “Back Like That” beat played in some shitty iPod headphones while I scribbled a message I desperately wanted to shout in her face…

Jay-Z’s “Dear Summer” made me a stalker. The copied-and-pasted Facebook pictures of her posing in her dorm room made me weird to the people that didn’t understand what love really is. If they knew, then they had to know why I wanted to stalk her. With that song playing over and over from an iPhone 3 perched in the bushes situated below her kitchen window. She would never notice my actual presence…but she would absolutely feel a certain discomfort at the amount of weird things happening around her. Simple things like me gluing the hair in her combs to her bathroom mirror in vague messages. Or weird, square-shaped patches missing from her beige pillow covers. Or her Twitter account being followed by @ImUp_IAmAlwaysUP_AndWatching_You. Thank God that’s not a long song, my Dear [Redacted]…

The next image is hard to look at; it’s harder to describe the impact such a passing moment continues to have. She stood in front of a fountain- one I walked by daily to a building that had professors that changed my life and women that made life hard and a department that dared me to be great- and held me like she was in love with it all without her really knowing so. My Little One. The single mother that was both thirsty for knowledge and unaware of her immaturity. When somebody so young is the anchor of her entire family, her saying her ringtone for you is “No Better Love” is special. I couldn’t even come up with a decent quip for it; it’s awesome, period. I hear that song and just imagine she still smiles whenever it gets played. It’s my only bridge to a past that easily could have been my forever. Maybe it’s my ego whispering to me that I will always matter within those three or four minutes. Maybe I just like the damn song and misremember how special it really was to her. Whatever. I don’t miss her. Nope. I’m not trying to convince myself at all…

Man, she stole MY song and made it OURS. That motherfucker. That humble, pretty, stacked motherfucker. I played a song I loved and she loved the song and now we love the song. “Time of Your Life” went from being something that elevated my mood and made me smile at the ridiculous nature of day-to-day life to becoming a burgeoning couples’ mood music. Her pictures are explicit so I won’t describe them (but I damn sure will keep on looking) but what the hell…?

This last picture is always hard because I never know how to feel. She deserved better from both him and I. I never knew what she was telling him when she laid in his apartment and I’m sure he never knew about our conversations. The only picture is one I snuck while she was looking at the video to our song, too drunk to even notice the flash. Did she play our song for him? Did she introduce him to the music video with her head so perfectly nestled under his chin like she did with me on my couch? She was never mine; she was either under me or him and the influence. I wonder what that kind of tugging did to her psyche, but I never asked. I just kind of waited for her to blurt it out in her weaker moments…

“8 doobies to the face…fuck dat/12 bottles in a case…nigga, fuck dat/2 pills and a half-weight…nigga, fuck dat/Got a high tolerance when your age don’t exist…”

My Beautiful Mistake makes those words seem so surreal. Who gives a shit about growing old when living in the now is so much more pleasurable? She had no concern to even know she would forever be suspended in that nonchalant pose. I wonder so many things when I stare at it. It feels ominous and dark; it’s also telling and intimate…

“Got a high tolerance when your age don’t exist…”

Timeless photos…

A.J. Armstrong listens to a lot of Drake late at night and tends to reminisce hard; this post was supposed to come out two days earlier. He is also the creator of The Fly Hobo and His World of Oddities

My Last Post About Women Ever, Part II: Questlove

I love making fun of women. I love them but I’ll be damned if I don’t get these jokes off. Y’all are so funny to me. Every duck-lipped selfie and inspirational Instagram post tickles me something fierce (that’s my new thing…saying something tickles me fierce. It sounds like something an old Black woman from Atlanta in 1968 would say. I love it) Light-skinned women make the jokes almost too easy. Self-important broads get that good HARSH sarcasm. All that’s cool but less than 24 hours away from my favorite holiday, I gotta send some love to my beautiful bitter broads.

“Quest…play the damn thing!”

Women, Valentine’s Day is YOUR holiday and when it doesn’t go exactly how you wish, emotions run high and it tickles me something fierce. The crazy thing is I have no idea if bitterness, anger, loneliness, regret, or pure, absolute, radiant craziness is the cause. It doesn’t even matter, truthfully. It’s funny as hell and tickles me something fierce. So I encourage all of you to remember that tomorrow is your day to publicly share all of those emotions with us. C’mon. Share. Shaaaaare! *Sigh*…okay, Lou. Open fire. Quest!

I laugh at your frustration. Good wholesome laughs that emanate from my gut and settle in my throat. Deep-throated laughs that make me clap my hands and collapse on the floor. Thank you, ladies. But when I finish, when I finish- if I ever finish- you can be my valentine. All of you disgruntled, fed-up women can be the objects of my affection tomorrow. I love you all and it sucks you don’t like your own holiday that one of your own people made up so that she can feel even more special than we already have to treat her because she was raised with some weird idea of a man completely pacifying her ideas of romance and she’s crazy as hell and none of you should even pay attention to this crazy broad because you deserve somebody that acts like they like you every day of the year and you should probably boycott this wack broad but I don’t blame you if you don’t because Valentine’s Day has been around so long, you have no idea how to adjust your life and that’s fine because a lot of us men just accept that this is your day and the fact that some of you don’t have that man to acknowledge that and suffer for your happiness makes me sad and I want to buy teddy bears that say ‘Bitch, You Fine’ on the stomach to make you happy and do cute stuff with you and act like nothing was the same and tickle you something fierce. *Takes breath*…Happy Valentine’s Day. Quest, please keep playing something nice for these bitter broads. And bitter broads, keep being bitter; I love you all for it.

A.J. Armstrong paid a lot of money to have ?uestlove play something nice for you bitter broads. He hopes you appreciate it. He is also the creator of The Fly Hobo and His World of Oddities

Hip-Hop and the White Critic

If you haven’t yet read Amiri Baraka’s seminal piece on jazz, please read it here.

“Most jazz critics have been white Americans, but most important jazz musicians have not been.”

-Amiri Baraka, 1960

54 years later, our critics are still primarily white, our art is still being viewed through eyes that do not quite resonate, and jazz is dead. This has become a reality in the years since, an acknowledgement that what we create is open to critique by those not able to fully comprehend the context of which it was created. In 1960, it was the conception of jazz being appreciated and yet not quite understood by those white critics. Today, hip-hop has been swiped from our collective bassinets.

“As one Howard University professor said to me…’It’s fantastic how much bad taste the blues contain!’”

It’s all noise now. A garbled collection of expletives set to deep basslines. It’s not spoken truth over hypnotic backdrops- it never was to a certain generation, regardless- it’s just hyperbolic boasts in sync with noise. Or it’s noise that has stolen elements of funk, gospel, rhythm and blues, and, yes, jazz in the name of youthful ignorance. It’s why those middle-class Black Americans locked jazz away in closets of shame, and it’s why hip-hop, of any era, remains undefended during times of attack, ridicule, and outrage. It’s fantastic yet unclaimed by those that “matter”.

“…The major flaw in this approach to Negro music is that it strips the music too ingenuously of its social and cultural intent. It seeks to define jazz as an art (or a folk art) that has come out of no intelligent body of sociocultural philosophy.”

They (read: WE) focus on what you “shouldn’t” say. They (read: WE) don’t investigate. “Fuck Tha Police” is too violent, “Fight the Power” is too militant, and “Brenda’s Got a Baby” is too divisive. It’s always too…something, and therein lies the problem. It can’t ever be a reflection; they (read: WE) have to place these songs as depictions. Depictions of what’s wrong with us and not the system or environment in which they (read: WE) escaped in a different fashion. They (read: WE) hear a message but they (read: WE) don’t quite heed it. It’s just an angry noise that- at this point- only emanates from their (read: OUR) children’s bedrooms.

“Most jazz critics began as hobbyists or boyishly brash members of the American petite bourgeoisie, whose only claim to any understanding about the music was that they knew it was different; or else they had once been brave enough to make a trip into a Negro slum to hear their favorite instrumentalist defame Western musical tradition.”

They (read: THEY) knew Doggystyle was unlike anything they’ve ever heard before. They knew Harlem World had a lot of samples from songs they grew up critiquing. Tha Carter III made them love OUR thing. But they didn’t walk into Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles on East Broadway before then. They didn’t venture to Uptown Manhattan until Clinton quelled their fears. They still haven’t walked the streets of Hollygrove; they just knew Wayne’s 16 songs both eschewed the “norm” and placed them in the midst of his chaos. They can analyze and review, but they can’t be us. However, the sad part of this is: they seem to appreciate it much more than we do.

54 years ago, “Jazz and the White Critic” seemed to hint at a defining piece of Black culture slowly being taken from us. Has that occurred with our newest creation? Not fully, but there are ominous signs. Wu-Tang Clan paraphernalia is a Hot Topic “Hot Topic”, Tupac resurrected at Coachella, and Macklemore just Macklemore’d the Grammys (even he was surprised, apparently). Is there anything wrong with any of this? Of course not; they (read: THEY) are remembering and channeling some of the best we have had to offer and that’s awesome. It’s only slipping from our grasp because we don’t cherish our creation. We can give it to whomever but can’t we still bob our collective heads to it? It’s not enough to paint a masterpiece; every once in a while we should stand back and admire what we created.

Rest in paradise, Amiri Baraka. A.J. Armstrong is the humbled creator of The Fly Hobo and His World of Oddities

My Last Post About Women Ever, Part I: These Beautiful Cars

Women are the givers of life, the wonderful and caring creatures thaaaaxcclqiwfivneowvpropeicc…you get the point; I almost put MYSELF to sleep. They’re gorgeous and deserve our respect and all that, of course. While they do turn heads, they also leave us with our faces buried palm-deep in frustration quite often. Men are simple; women are not. Men are stupid; women are crazy. It’s some Circle of Life shit or something, I don’t know. Whatever. There are just some things I don’t understand about y’all. Namely: everything.

I agree that men are dogs. That makes it easier to compare women to the cars we chase up and down our neighborhoods without some hypersensitive feminist kickback about objectifying these broads. Not that any of that would matter to me anyway. Again: whatever. Women are cars. They are wonderfully flawless cars with exquisite paint jobs and polished wheels that attract us the minute the sun reflects off those beautiful exteriors. We chase them instinctively only to be confused and slightly aggravated two minutes after we get that driver’s side door open.

The interior SEEMS just as striking but that’s well before you start to notice the controls on the console aren’t properly marked. You try to turn on the windshield wipers only to see the high beams flickering on and off. Pumping the brakes turns on the AC somehow. The left turn signal pops the trunk and lowering the passenger side window makes the entire vehicle cry and question where you’re even going in the first place. Obviously, getting anywhere is a hassle and you sometimes look out your window and shake your head before grabbing the keys and walking out the door.

Yeah, your car probably frustrates you. It probably makes you want to smack the dash and bang your head against the steering wheel. It also gets you to where you need to be. Every button you press and every lever you pull might not do what you expect but eventually you figure it out, right? The trips are unorthodox but get much smoother the more you drive. In fact, some of those drives are amusing as you watch the eyes locking onto that exquisite paint job and those polished wheels that glisten in the sun. The car- your car- is still beautiful as hell. So yeah, a lot of these vehicles are bass-ackwards, emotional, and I joke a lot about them; I’d much rather be driving my own. Preferably that sand colored, ’14 Draya Michele.

A.J. Armstrong still takes public transportation. He is also the creator of The Fly Hobo and His World of Oddities

Homecoming King

I’ve never been voted most likely to do anything. God willing, I’ll never become famous, infamous, scandalous, or a national story. The most attention-grabbing prom date wasn’t on my arm and Homecoming King went to somebody else. I’m not popular AT ALL. I’ve never trolled for followers, got naked for Likes, or asked celebs to ‘#FB’. My blogs aren’t any more popular, either. My own friends and family don’t even read these posts. They’ll share them, sure, but I can bet that if I got them away from their phones and computers and asked what they liked about what I’ve written, they would search their brains just trying to remember the title. I’m not popular and you know what? I WOULDN’T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY. I can get away with so much more shit.

Being popular means you have to appeal to a large group of people in some way. Being infamous suggests you cherish the thought of carrying around a bad reputation. Being Nobody gives you the freedom to be both, because who really cares, right? If I was out here giving away turkeys like Nino Brown or driving old people to bingo or some magnanimous shit like that, it would be hard to maintain that goodwill in three hours when I shoot a mall Santa with a pellet gun. Not that I would go all Riley Freeman on Santa, but you get the point; I like having the option.

How many popular people actually can do what they REALLY want without losing admirers or being followed by a crowd that is now laughing at them? Kanye West is now a caricature sketch that nobody really takes seriously, Justin Bieber shocked the world when he wasn’t as Canadian-ly humble as we thought, and Hitler’s infamy is his only narrative (and rightfully so). That’s kind of why I oddly admire George W. Bush. That guy was an absolute Nobody that just so happened to be related to some popular people and he never failed to remind us how much he didn’t care about our perceptions of him. But then again, he’s a Texan and they’ll be seceding from the rest of the country pretty soon anyway so that probably doesn’t count.

Being Nobody isn’t about being anonymous as much as it’s about not letting people affect your choices and having titles and labels define you.

All I’m saying is being popular is hard work. Being the enemy is pretty tough, too. But being Nobody is so unique and refreshing, I wonder why more people don’t do it. The constraints are lifted, the expectations are of your own creation, and the sheep around you become blindingly white. I’m fully aware of what others want to hear but I’m too busy setting up pig’s blood over your homecoming stage to care. Happy *expletive* New Year, yo.

A.J. Armstrong is the creator of The Fly Hobo and His World of Oddities; the blog site that is- and will forever be- proudly sponsored by Nobody.

Kesha Bear Speaks

“I’M RUNNING FROM THE PIGS SO LISTEN UP! I GOT SOME THINGS TO SAY! FIRST OFF…OW! MUTHA…ARGHHHHHH…DON’T TASE ME, BRO!”

Welp…my best friend got tasered again. Not surprised at all. Homeboy dumb as hell. I love the dude but…shit…rap music completely messed his whole life up. This the homeboy Kesha Bear; I’m just tryin’ to help the boy.

Look, I’m older than ol’ boy. I was 2 looking at him chillin’ in a baby seat on top of a big ass floor model TV. Thank God his parents ain’t put me with him at first because I ain’t need a lil’ nig slobbin’ all over me. That boy ain’t care about anything besides putting electronics in his mouth and throwing them out his presence when it shocks him. My boy was born stupid, I know. That fool sat for months on the top of that TV in Atlanta sucking on G.I. Joes he dropped in his diaper. I ain’t finna judge the guy; he was born without etiquette.

I was born August 28,1984 in a J.C. Penny factory in Plano, Texas. As soon as my eyes were sewed onto me, I was in a box headed to College Park, Georgia. Those suits can suck my stuffing; I told them I wanted to be shipped to L.A. because I heard this Reagan guy put some good dope and automatic weapons in Compton. That was right up my alley at the time; if the Fabric-Cloth Rag Doll Provision of ’85 would have passed, I would have been sent to a Black family in Watts equipped with guns in my midsection to kill these bothersome Black people. I lost the vote but I won something else, I guess.

A Negro family presented me to another Negro family on the night of January 2, 1986. By this time, I figured these Moon Crickets would be my final destination. However, when I saw that little big-headed Mocha child emerge from the legs of some lady, I knew I found my mate.

This kid was a petty Negro but he shared my racism at an early age. At little over two years and seven months, I was laying beside him when his father gave him a handful of little green G.I. Joe action figures. My homey bit the heads off every last one of those toys, threw them off that TV and mumbled ‘fuck the police’. I knew right then this was my guy for life.

Since that glorious militant moment, Anwar became the raging racist I always knew he could be. At nine, he forced a white kid to run on a treadmill, only to trip him up and break his nose. He laughed like I taught him to. At twelve, he threw a kid off a trampoline, breaking his ribs. What did my guy do? Back flips cackling after every sniffle from that little dork.

My man is 27 now. I still chill in his room. I remember when his stupid roommate, dumb friend, and naïve mother kidnapped me. They dressed me as that coon Trinidad James and placed me back on my man’s dresser. He laughed. He fuckin laughed. He let these Negroes- Negroes we have fought so hard against- embarrass me and dress me up as a remedial, snaggle-toothed fool. I was inseparable with this dude for 26 years. Anwar, A.J., or whomever this fool calls himself nowadays is dead. I called Chucky; you better make peace with this fool ASAP.

Now he’s running from persecution. Please stop him. We haven’t been cool since he ‘All Golded Everything’ my person. Fuck that guy. Please shoot, stab, or tase this man. HEEEEELLLLLP!!!! Not me! Not me!! Point those things at HIM! C’mon man! Don’t…don’t….AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH…

A.J. Armstrong is best friends with a borderline racist stuffed bear. He is also the creator of The Fly Hobo and His World of Oddities.

January 2, 2041

“Aye! Aye!! Come here, gul! Slim, you! Redtail! Redtail!! I know you hear me, gul! Why you gotta be like that gul?? Come on now, gul! Don’t be cruel, gul!”

My 55^th birthday party (which WILL be at The Park at Fourteenth in D.C. – or whatever replaces it) will play out JUST like that. I’m gonna see to that. By then, I figure the kids will be onto something else, so my pants will be alllllllll the way off my ass. Red Berry Ciroc for everybody! I’ll dance in my own world to the hits of my time: everything from “Gangsta’s Paradise” to “Right Thurr” will have the chickenheads…um…chickenheading…? Trust me, DJ Soulja Boy will have my Old School night jammin’! Yeeeaaah…ooooooohhhhhhh! Kill ‘em, Terio! Better yet, just manage your Huddle House. Sorry for the interruption, T. Feed ‘em. Girbaud jeans, Iceberg sweaters, and, of course, the final wardrobe piece of a man who’s lost touch with the times and couldn’t care less about it: the infamous Flying Durag.

Look, old people. 55 ain’t really that old. You can still do plenty of things like…I don’t know…use your Wii Fit twice a month and buy iPhones and use them to actually call people. Okay…those weird “dances” you do when “All Night Long” plays do make me chuckle a bit, I admit. Seriously, though; 55 is only old to a 27 year-old Black male that was fairly certain (and a little disappointed) that he’d be gunned down by SOMEBODY by now. I guess an awkward Rumba to ol’ Lionel is in order for me, too.

55 isn’t old at all. 55 is when you…settle down (maybe…? I don’t know how this life thing works) and read actual newspapers and suddenly forget how to use a computer. But it’s also around that glorious time you just stop caring. You fart in public (although SOME of you younger folk should be ashamed of yourselves; you ain’t earned that yet!), write checks at the grocery store, and enjoy how people’s opinions no longer matter. Let’s be clear: I do some sociopathic things but if I wear black FUBU jean shorts on U. St. on a Friday night, I’ll fall apart. 55 makes you blind to all that. Hence, the infamous Flying Durag.

“THESE FOLK WON’T HOLD ME BACK! THESE FOLK WON’T HOLD ME BACK! *Loses breath* THESE FOLK WON’T HOLD ME BACK!” Listen to that Rick Ross song again; he got tired after repeating it twice and fell off beat! Listen! Anyway…

I can see my birthday party now: all of my friends gathered around and their wives and husbands side-eyeing and judging them for still keeping in contact with me. The DJ spinning Youngbloodz records while I A-Town stomp happily. Me pulling on the elbow of some 22 year-old hardbody named Carlita telling her EXACTLY what I was doing in 2020. Flirting with the female bartender in an accent that inexplicably changed over the years to sound like the South Carolinian and Southern Georgian roots that combined to make me. And that damn infamous Flying Durag. That glorious Flying Durag. It’s almost as good as an A.A.R.P. card: you might not like me but, damnit, you will respect me for living this long! There I will stand: dressed in my leather and my Timbs like it’s 1998, throwing money at the yellow broads (do older men just get older and suddenly like light-skinned joints exclusively? Always wondered that. I’ll do some research…), and banging on the DJ table, yelling for him to play some Ma$e. With my infamous Flying Durag flowing in the breeze the entire time. Now, you tell ME: who hot, who not??

A.J. Armstrong looks forward to putting his arm around a young man wearing an ‘I’m a 2010s baby’ shirt and consoling him. He just doesn’t know, the poor soul. Saying I’m a 2010s baby is like yelling ‘vote or perish because of your lack of participation’ when the cooler kids just scream ‘vote or die’. Just saying. He’s also the creator of The Fly Hobo and His World of Oddities. My born date is also 1.2.86. Just in case you didn’t get the context clues. I want presents. Good presents. Amazing presents for entertaining you all. Hit me up for ideas on my presents. Seriously. You have less than two months. And don’t laugh, y’all; we’re all gonna get old at the same time. Have a nice day and get off my lawn.

Asshole

“Why do you suck so much at this game?”

“Because…fuck you. That’s why.”

Dictionary.com defines asshole as ‘a stupid, mean, or contemptible person’. I’m surprised somebody actually defined that word. I don’t think that really accurately defines it, though. An asshole, to me, is somebody that does things out of spite and is intelligent enough to make those spiteful things clever. An asshole won’t send a Father’s Day card to a couple that had an abortion; an asshole would buy the card, rip it in half, write ‘Almost…whew’ under the printed text, and hand deliver it to them during a quiet Sunday dinner. Well, that might be a little mean but it DAMN sure isn’t stupid.

Ignore my last post; that was me being an asshole. This is me trying to explain the inner workings of asshole-ness to you all. This is me separating the assholes from the immature audience that will just shout (or type) profanities for no other reason besides immaturity. Fuck that shit. Fuck it to hell. Fuckitty fuck-fuck, B. I’m an asshole; not an immature shit-talker that talks shit because shit is a really cool word to say over and over. I mean…SHIT.

Asshole is a term too widely used, as far as I’m concerned. That racist cop stopping young Black males in Vance County for no reason other than being Black isn’t an asshole; he’s a racist cop that loathes his life. His wife has been breaking scales for the last 12 years and his son dressed up as his favorite rapper for Halloween. Of course he’s going to be all in my shit. That’s not an asshole. That’s a guy frustrated that his shift prevents him from going to the VIP room for happy endings at Christie’s Cabaret.

Let’s talk REGULAR assholes. Regular assholes shut down the government over healthcare. Regular assholes become Business majors and explain to you how difficult being a Business major is. Regular assholes say they’re flirts but get mad when somebody takes those flirts seriously. Regular assholes are Red Sox and Yankees fans.

Now, let’s talk REAL assholes. Real assholes snatch bags from kids with crutches on Halloween. Real assholes go to war without any approval from the United Nations and forces a nation to sigh and vote for a Black man to take his position. A real asshole Rick rolls me while I’m looking up racist George Bush moments. Real assholes are evil geniuses. Real assholes killed Mufasa and blamed the dark skinned lion. Bill O’Reilly is a real asshole; that man is smart enough to evoke rage in Black men and, in turn, bolsters his ratings. You genius, you.

Am I REALLY an asshole? I’d like to think so but I don’t think I am. I’m just a guy that saw the deep end and drowned a baby gerbil in it. I’ll row by in my canoe and poke fun at your cruise ship, yes, but that’s not really an ass move. That’s just a guy that has just given up on the world and does what the MOTHERFUCK he feels like doing. This is a guy that went to Boston and counted all the Black people he saw (17) and kept a mental note just in case he wants to hold a rally in a hotel ballroom promoting the expansion of Mrs. Winner’s to The Hub. Yeah…no, I’m not quite the asshole you think I am but, Lord willing, I will be.

A.J. Armstrong is not a complete asshole; he only plays one on blogs. He is also the creator of The Fly Hobo and His World of Oddities.