The Goodboys Nation weblog got a wonderful plug today from my good friend, AZ rapper Dollar Bill. he might disagree, but when I listen to $’s rap, think “edgy-humorous-energy”. While I think $ likes to test the boundaries of the rap medium to the point of near-caricature, his message is as playful on the surface, but underlies a genuine earnestness and – more than anything else – positive energy. I encourage you check to his site out and give him a listen – I know he’d welcome your feedback.

Thanks for the kind words, $.

Did you know Dollar Bill is a New Orleans native? Maybe that’s why we hit it off right away. While I’m not afraid to admit to occasional bouts of melancholy and cynicism, I’ve always found myself gravitating to people with a positive energy about them (BTW, it’s only been the past 15-20 years or so that I discovered I had the gift of reading auras). To me, $ has always been Mr. Positive, surrounded by yellows and purples, and I’ve learned that people like that are the kind I like to be around.

Tomorrow I’m off to New Orleans and a long-awaited reunion with the Mississippi River. I hear both its and New Orleans’ siren call, and anticipating being back in a place where so much has changed since I was last there 11 months ago makes me nervous, edgy, apprehensive.

It’s so hard to put into words the way I feel about the River, so with your permission I would like to have the late Dennis Wilson (drummer of the Beach Boys) say it for me. Dennis wrote these lyrics back in 1973, but they speak to my soul and in a far more articulate way than anything I could ever attempt. Simple, straightforward. Dennis was writing about L.A. and a river he fished in northern California; his thoughts and spirit are easily – EASILY – transferrable to me here in Phoenix and of the Mississippi.

Walkin’ down by the river
Water running through my knees
River, oh river moves so free
Oh mighty river endlessly

Oh mighty river
I would love to be like you
Oh lonely river
Has not got the time to stay

I was born into the city life
It’s all that I’ve ever known
You know it’s rough gettin’ round this place
So crowded I can hardly breathe

You can only see about a block or two
In L.A. that’s the truth
I’m lookin’ for some country life
Some kickin’ room no more city life
I want the river

I’ll be blogging from New Orleans this weekend and, thanks to Dollar Bill and his cousin Rock, hope to be able to write about my own experiences in post-Katrina New Orleans. OK, so it might not be as riveting as Dan Rather at the ’68 Democratic Convention, but hey, there’s a story to get out there and plenty of room for amateur journalists like me, right?

One final comment. What the hell good does it do to bust your cookies taking 2 of 3 from the New York Yankees when the next night you spit the bit against the Rangers while the Evil Empire beats the Athletics?