It's about that time again...

CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
edited September 2006 in Strut Central
- you know what time it is.Autumn is by far my favorite season. It fills me with a sense that is a combination of wonder/rebirth/melancholy, I dunno, a whole thing. It basically just kind of gets me in a way where my senses seem more atune and alive than at other times. And I feel more creative and in touch with myself and my surroundings. To put it blunt, shit is mad real.So yeah, here's to another autumn of our discontent, as short as it may be.Also, I just want to bear witness to my man. Whenever this season somes around I usually mark it with an appropriate avatar. In doing so, I'm retiring the avatar that I had up for the summer, in memory of my good friend. Mpozi Tolbert was was of my oldest friends. From the wildly impressionable teenage years of growing up in the Philly scene to the days when, as men, we felt that what we did through the arts could make a political and social difference, we walked a similar path. I was lucky enough to have the SIAM tour go though Indianapolis where, after 15+ years of friendship, we got a chance to spend some time together. It was a great evening, with me and Ayres and A-Trak deading the music so that Pozi could do a rendition of "Califonia Uber Allies" for the masses. It was hilarious and truly a mark of the type of dude he was. It made me think of where I had come from. The one night in his company made me feel what it was like growing up again, after years of doing what I do. You see, my soul is cover with callous. I've built up resistance, both through experience and necessity, to being to tap into some of the more important sensations that we as humans need to be able to feel. It's these sensations and feelings that are what helped us, helped me, become the man I am. But they get lost somewhere, I guess in the course of living one's life. However, for one night in Indianpolis this summer I felt what it was like to be a kid again. Pozi died suddenly about 3 weeks later, collapsed at his desk at work. He was 34. Soon after me and my family attended his memorial in Philly. It was bittersweet. My man was gone, but when I saw the impact that he had on so many people, I knew that he would never be forgotten.Rest in eternal peace and eternal power my friend. I will see you when I get there.

  Comments


  • What's up Cosmo. I was down in Philly yesterday. I got lost in the South and had some pizza where they slice the shit twice. I remarked that many streets in Philly are very narrow. I love the fall also. On the east coast seasons are so much more pronounced and the passage of time is more noticeable, which I like. It gets greater later.
    RIP to your man.

  • I wish I could contribute something more worthwhile, but all I can say that was a great post.

  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    I didn't know your man, Cosmo, but I knew some of his work. Truly a loss--Rest in Peace.

  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    We go through life making lots of aquaintances and very few true friends.

    Your post comes straight from the heart of a true friend.

    R.I.P.

  • C*smo, Rest in Peace to your friend.


    Fall is my favorite season. Yesterday, I was raking leaves in my yard in that fact that it was fall really hit me. School always used to remind me summer was over but now its all about the leaves. That and turning off the AC and opening the windows is a great feeling. I usually celebrate the fall by drinking darker beers and listening to slower songs.


  • ...In which the death of the foliage and the retreat of the sun
    accompanies the reawakening of the mind.

    Gone are the brick-oven dog days and tropical hot-dog nights
    whose humidity cloaks and bogs our minds as we puzzle over
    feelgood hits and airport novels.

    Our spirits are delivered mild electric jolts, conducted on
    the crisp and dry air. Suddenly we remember who we are. Projects
    and proposals leap to consciousness, sharply angled sunlight reminds
    us of our precarious position on the globe, and time is running out!

    Suddenly anything seems possible - we could wear a tweed jacket for
    the first time in our lives ; we could take a Chinese language class ;
    we could listen to the Chilliwack 12"es we've always set aside.

    But first a bunch of things must die.

    The words die, floating down from your mouth after their utterance.
    Once the record is pressed, the mood is enshrined, but is no longer
    alive, a mere record of groupthought gone.

    Yet the needle is dropped and gently dragged, and new ears hear a
    new song, and jolts are again delivered, self-promises made, premises
    to stories hatched, storms of brain breaking.

    For the first time, it seems possible to compose an opera.

    Gone is the general torpor and the conspiracy of the threads
    in the case of the brick-oven fitted bedsheet. A chilly corner
    of bedsheet begs for a leg to warm it.

    The leg begs for lotion.

  • slushslush 691 Posts
    - you know what time it is.


    Autumn is by far my favorite season. It fills me with a sense that is a combination of wonder/rebirth/melancholy, I dunno, a whole thing. It basically just kind of gets me in a way where my senses seem more atune and alive than at other times. And I feel more creative and in touch with myself and my surroundings. To put it blunt, shit is mad real.

    these words, word for word, could have been from me. but you said it so all i can say is word.

  • Never forget that first clump of leaves
    your father threw you in while mother
    forgave his husky harms because she sees
    his smile at the bottom of the flora.

    The time of year where under orange moons
    men took up axes, rakes, and tractor wheels
    while boys courageously pawed a nearby thigh.
    Grandpa would scoot over on the seat.

    Now boys claw at their mothers' sides
    pouting for freshly baked sugar cookies;
    their fathers take up TVs, Barcaloungers,
    and the cooler-temped share of sweets.

    But your nose will bring you to that same
    open door -- November after November --
    whether it be kitchen or bedroom, spicy or sweet
    mom's hair fell down slowly from a braid

    as she anticipated our last earthy meal
    with the same fixins: Ada's wobbly cane,
    uncles fighting for the dregs of the turkey,
    and locking her son outside with the cousins.

    You see, the leaves I remember are not the huddle of Autumn's
    but the warmth inside the memories left behind me.

  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,473 Posts
    We go through life making lots of aquaintances and very few true friends.


    Ain't that the truth.

    Fall is by far my favorite season, and the fact that we don't really have Fall here in the Bay--not like back east--is one of the few downsides to living out here.

    RIP to your homie, AI. I'd say the fact that he was able to affect you as a true friend and spur you to write this post is indicative of the kind of person he was/is.

  • That was beautiful CB and TC... I get the same sense of awe round this time of year, and a particular kind of nostalgia overtakes me. Although the seasons on the east coast are far more distinct, the subtle changes that take place in SF this time of year bring me to a certain state of mind and being. And there's a certain smell in the air. This is when its actually summer for us here, ironically, 'cause the "summer" months here, particularly July, are renound for day after day of thick fog. So this time of year by far takes the cake as my favorite. Yesterday I spent the day in the sun at my childhood spot Dolores Park, brings me back. But yeah right about now its time to build...

  • echo much of what is said... fall is my favorite season, a beautiful and fleeting time of the year. you blink, and the last leaves are off the trees, and sweaters have given way winter coats.

    it is when i most want to be outside, to walk in the woods, to hold my sweetie's hand and blow on it when its cold, and to sit in on Sunday writing and doing crossword puzzles.

    enjoy it y'all, and try to make your world and life a little better in the next two months...

  • Yeah for some reason the fall makes me all nostalgic and emo (in both good and bad ways) especially since my brother passed in October.

  • mylatencymylatency 10,475 Posts
    a touching tribute, thanks for sharing this with us Cosmo

    Autumn is also my favorite time of year

    time to break out the Barbara and Ernie

    cheers,
    M

  • youre a great man, cos.

  • GnatGnat 1,183 Posts
    The fact that C*z found that common ground with us by stating that Autumn is a reflective time is testimony to his great DJ skills: he sees and feels the vibe.

    Been feeling the same things as of late. A chilled mellowing of the spirit but an enlightening of the mind.

    Thanks for sharing C*zm*. Shit IS mad real.

  • mylatencymylatency 10,475 Posts
    The fact that C*z found that common ground with us by stating that Autumn is a reflective time is testimony to his great DJ skills: he sees and feels the vibe.

    Been feeling the same things as of late. A chilled mellowing of the spirit but an enlightening of the mind.

    Thanks for sharing C*zm*. Shit IS mad real.

    amen

  • Autumn is my favorite time too, Csm. When the season starts to come in, the nostalgia of seasons passed kicks in as well as the strong desire to focus. Music sounds better, and a sense of comfort seems at its highest.

    Sorry to hear about your man. Sounds like he was the truth. I'm really glad you were able to make the most out of your moments, and the last moment was positive. Life is fragile, and it just goes to show that we need cherish and appreciate our friends and family at every moment. Remember the important things.
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