Oh snap, OMG, ROTFLMAO, LOL, COTFLGOHAHA, LAGNAF, WYSIWYG, GFY!!!!! Did Sikh Post some shit?…
I am back after a long, hungry, broke, hiatus….I swear, higher education was not designed for the low budget, I don’t care what anyone says. As some of you know, I’m pursuing my masters in Speech-Language Pathology. Although the course load is heavy, I would say my 3 number 1 (?) obstacles have to be time and money (which are pretty much the same thing in my view), and culture. If I wasn’t burnt out after the marathon of getting to school on time, I was itching for a nap…..maybe I should check my thyroid. But, after this year, I can see how low money can be a perpetual cycle of bumboclot problems.
The thing with being poor is that it’s not a choice. And furthermore, not being poor isn’t just a matter of not spending money. Think about it. EVERYTHING costs duckets. Even when you cut corners to save a little now (like making a late payment, or contesting a parking ticket so it takes a few months to pay that shit) and pay later, shit often piles up and you end up stuck again. The only thing you hope for is that you get paid by the time a rebound comes….you marginal’s know EXACTLY what im talkin about.
Anyway, as miss (mrs.? I never know this one’s status) Badu said, the work keeps turnin’.
The adverse affect of bills and such is stress. Stress fucks with one’s health on multiple levels and I don’t think we appreciate that fully. I for one get sick with certainty when im placed under dire conditions.
Now, I am not poor, Im a student. But, it’s not a far stretch of the imagination to empathize just a little with the poor people of our city, and see how money and health are mutually reinforcing entities that our wack western system not only acknowledges, but fails to recognize….for example; The end of my first year of my master’s is supposed to conclude with a 1-month practicum. We were able to choose locations, pretty much anywhere in the world. Naturally, being a penny-pocket motherfucker, I only had choices afforded to me based on my limitations. So, I had Boston (my sister kitty lives there), Toronto (my two other sisters live there), Bay area (my boy Sethi lives there)….Toronto was out of the question, because U of T has dibs on placements for SLP students. Bay Area was an after thought, so I couldn’t go with it because it was “too late”. So, months ago, I gave my sister Kitty’s zip code, asking for a placement in her vicinity.
Now, I did everything I could to minimize costs for this stupid placement, obviously, staying with my sister, trying to get a placement close by. I only suggested Boston because I was informed that leaving montreal for the 1 month practicum was a good idea, since I probably would be working in Montreal in the end, anyway. Here’s what goes down…I get a bumbclot placement 1h15min to 2hrs form my sisters place….it would COST me 217 dollars for bumbocleet train pass to get to the site for the month….not to mention it’s at 720am. Now, I had to push for at least a later start time, which I got. But let’s analyze this situation. McGill, is a school with a privileged student body. Obviously, if someone around you can foot the bill for your apartment and pay your tuition, you’re in a higher tax bracket. Some of us suffer through the experience being stressed beyond limits, and not working to our full potential. In the end, even having a pleasurable practicum would cost me money…the one thing that I though I earned…..I can’t afford driving in to the raatid site, that’s 64 MILES each day, where would gas money come from.
I was told to take a wack ass emergency student loan. Why should I have to do that, when I planned for this months in advance, and the clinical coordinators slept on my case, and got me a bullshit placement so far, costing me MORE money?
What I just said might not sit well with some. People work hard, I don’t deny that. But, I think people attribute 100% of their success to themselves, and I take Elizabeth Gilbert’s point of view and say, it’s not you, it’s your daemon. Furthermore, I think that a fortunate few have won a genetic lottery to be afforded certain luxuries they will never see.
Suivant Next…My point of this rant, is that I can see how that low money is perpetual monster affecting everything from health, to performance….Are those my excuses? maybe. I think rising above a situation is often a myth, and you’re more often than not going to perform within the contraints you can handle….
BUT, school was a good experience, tough as a motherfucker for several reasons.
Culture was another reason. Things were always kind of tough for me through my entire education. For one, I never really felt like I belonged. Now, this can my intellectual, cultural….I think, in my case a combination of the two. Let’s talk culture: My low point during my master’s came when I discovered that I was the child that we study…Im the low budget, marginal, troubled home, socially and politcally disgruntled little rug rat that entertained various deficits along the way. I was saved though. I had three older sisters, much older than I was, bombarding me with adult like input, giving me thoughts beyond my age level, and a vocabulary that was exceedingly large (but I can always find a use for ‘bumboclot’). Anyway, somehow, someway, I’ve proved myself, and made it to where im at, all at my own pace. On the social side of things, Im a little left of “urban”…i talk with my hands when making a point, I get over confident, I prefer large ideas as opposed to minor details (they’ll work themselves out), I recognize solidarity among people, I value emotions to levels beyond those conducive to traditional anglo-saxon success….I would more sooner yell fuck the police, than, mind my own business. I rarely bump into heads like this in higher education. Im the son of immigrants who did their best. I work like a donkey, and I forego the outcome for some shit, to guarantee a purse, cause like I said above, money is time AND health….Anyway, for these reasons, I find it hard to coelesce with my “peers”.
I respect each and everyone of them. But, this has been my burden from the moment my mom uncrossed her legs. Inshallah, I use my other talents (making you move) to make a million this summer, so my next year can be experienced to the lovely middle class capacities that I might have been ordained with….
I can talk at nauseum (what up Gonnerman) about this sort of stuff, but ill move on with my post.
I HAVE A SHOW!!!! COME AND LOVE ME! yes, im back on my grind, with humble et al. If you’re in the T Dot, come show support, in protest of the G8/G20 summit.
the deets….
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109334969084177
Start Time:
Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 7:30pm
End Time:
Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 2:00am
Location:
The Garrison
Street:
1197 Dundas Street West
City/Town:
Toronto, ON
NEW MUSIC –>
http://www.divshare.com/direct/11224139-f52.mp3
This summer, Im fueling a project who’s idea saved my intellect during this last exam period, and help me forge my new philosophy called “dancing in the rain”. First off “dancing in the rain” came from a facebook post I saw from my friend Tracy Mohammad. The post said something to the effect of “Life’s not about blah blah blah, it’s about learning to dance in the rain”. It was mad a propos, since the rain was coming down hard on me at the time….I just decided that shit is always going to be busy for me. There’s no sense in strategically waiting for one opportunity, to pursue another…..It’s all about a HORIZONTAL ATTACK STRATEGY…all things whenever possible. That’s me dancing in the rain. Ill mix a track on the train, come up with a meldoy during my cranio-facial seminar…all in pursuit of an end mission.
The new project as a result of all the dancin, is called LIGHTERS INTERNATIONAL. Musically, it’s Massive Attack meets Major Lazer meets Dead Prez, with oodles and oodles of Sikh Knowledge production stylings. The group members are myself, Humble the Poet, Shogun (pending he’s not angry with me because I was soooo slow with cruel summer), Ill Mestizo, and Chuckles….
That’s all im going to say on that for now, and Ill post a few teasers up soon. This project is very very very very serious. It’s gonna make people spontaneously combust…….im serious.
Next project we got is the GRAVEDIGGAZ II project. Now, those who know me, know that I was a gravediggaz fiend from the start. The first two albums changed my life and influenced all my compositions, and lyrics in a very deep way. Now, im sick and tired of waiting for Rza (who isnt). So, out of love, im saying FUCK RZA. Yeah, out of love. …….I decided to organize a group of gravey ass motherfuckers to make a hommage group. My ultimate goal is to stay true to the gravediggaz vibe, but make so much noise with the album that it grabs Rza’s attention, and he’ll be like “Hey sikh, do you wanna produce for me” and I’ll be like “mmmm, maybe motherfucker, where have you been?” all the while inside, im as giddy as a school girl. The new GD II team is Sikh Knowledge, my mans Amrit Tung, Mandeep Sethi ( I dont know if he knows yet), Povan (I dont know if he knows yet), and this cat that just inspired the hell out of me, namely, Xitanos Matematicos (i dont think he knows yet) lol.
Anyway, that’s all Ill say for now…
Im in T Dot in like 3 hours….Boston in 3 days………..gone in three seconds.
big sikh aka aloo gobi.