Reznjun

heres a picture of william and lou ferrigno taken in vegas. lou was into weight lifting big time. lou was at the mr olympia thing, had a booth to pose for pictures and give autographs. he was famous recently for being the neighbor to doug and carrie on the king of queens. once carrie said ‘even lou ferrigno got it’.  i watch that show when there aint nothing on. thats most of the time. before that he was the hulk.

we seen a few indians in vegas. i talked to  two girls that rode the hotel elevator with us. just chatted briefly and we were on our way.  seen one dude on the street, he was watching me pose with two showgirls. i nodded to him from across the street.  others just looked at us and went about their business .`thats the way it is sometimes. some indians know you are there but wont acknowledge it. sorta like it is when you give a title or big job to some here.

got a wedding to do this weekend. it is for my daughters friend kateri. i watched the girl grow up as she went to school with wabeno. they played on the same ball teams over the years. she said that when she was growing up she never would have imagined that i would be doing her wedding someday. i am doing more of them seems like. some people arent into the organized religion thing. others dont want a justice of the peace or judge to do their wedding. i enjoy doing these. its something different.

now we are getting ready for our fall dance. i enjoy everytime we get together. that will take us over four days to finish everything up. it is worth every minute we spend there.

i look as much like elvis as these guys. i had to take a picture with them as a souvenir that said i was in vegas. i went on a weekend getaway trip with two of my kids. i dont get to see them that often since they moved out. so we planned a trip to vegas. actually mary and i were second choices. joe and mishan couldnt go, so they asked us old folks to tag along. we did the typical things one does in that town. had to hit the strip a few times. thats where i seen these two guys. i asked to have my picture taken with them. they were happy to oblige me, for a tip of course. they even lent me a pair of shades so i could get into the king’s experience. they had lotsa street performers. some you could pose with, they had michael jackson, pirate, jedi and show girl costumes on. just like larry, daryl and daryl. anything for a buck.  others played music. lotsa panhandlers and homeless people. nobody told them the economy was improving.  others just liked to be part of the scene. everybody wants to be on stage.  it wasnt enough to be in town. you had to be seen.  lotsa ladies dressed up in their finest. heels, short skirts and lotsa cleaveage. havent seen some much skin. you could spot a tourist a mile away though.  after awhile it just all blended together.

naturally i did a bit of gambling. i didnt go to vegas to be an altar boy. i added to my players card collection.  my bankroll went up and down.  i played a slot machine that gave me a total of 318 free games. i just had to sit there and watch if it would pay me anything. i cussed alot when many of the free games didnt pay a dime.  i walked away with enough cash to stake me later. i casino hopped every day. i was even money on the last night. so i started playing a megabucks progressive dollar machine. it had some outrageous payouts if you hit. i didnt, thus i ended up losing 2 bills for the whole trip. i write it off as a cost of the trip. best little vacation i had in a while. that town is nothing but about self indulgence. i treated myself to some fun. i think i owed that to myself.

i didnt want to see any shows but got caught up in the moment. mary and wabeno wanted to see the show Love. it was a tribute to the Beatles. william and i went along for the ride. it was worth the high dollar ticket. they played beatle music as the background. then added all sorts of visual effects to put on a good show. once i thought i was gonna have a flashback because of the psychedelic lighting. they played alot of classics. but then which beatle song aint a classic. i clapped alot. i thought it was a real good show.

we caught part of a car show and car auction. we got there late so we didnt have to pay admission.  a 96 cobra with 11,000 original miles only sold for 10 thou. a pimped out motorcycle went for 20 thou when they said you couldnt customize one like that for 50. we were lucky enough to go sit down on the main floor and watch the cars drove by on the stage. at the car show we seen some real nice automobiles. cars worth some bucks. no rez cars in that bunch.

 we didnt stay on the strip so we rented a car to get around. didnt want to rely on shuttles and cabs and we couldnt afford to rent the limos that were everywhere. we wanted to go where we wanted and when we wanted. the hotel we stayed at was sponsoring the mr olympia contest. there were buffed out people everywhere you turned. even the ladies made me look bad. i wish i had biceps and sculpted abs like some of them. they were serious lifters. i went to the meet and greet thing. so i took some pictures with some buffed out babes. i picked up free samples of their health products such as power drinks and protein bars for the boys. i was worried of what  the airport people would think. but it was all over the counter merchandise. by the way for the first time i wasnt “randomly” searched before i got on the plane. they did search wabeno though.

didnt get to see where tupac got it though. wasnt enough time in the day. they say vegas is the city that never sleeps. i didnt much either. i had 4 or 5 hours of sleep a night. had to nap in the afternoons when it was hot. we hit the town when we woke up and was gone most of the time. they say there are good places to eat but we didnt go to them. we ate on the run. we went down town to the fremont area. it was a nice little tourist jaunt. had my picture taken with two showgirls. tipped one and she said thanks handsome.  wonder if she woulda said that without a tip. we even got some walking in. i like to hit the streets when i go somewhere. mary and i walked about 6 or 7 miles in 3 days. had to sit and watch the tourists a few times to rest up. that town is full of turistos.

it was a good trip. this country injun got to see the bright city lights. indian casinos in kansas may be fun but they arent the same as vegas. its show time 24 hours a day there.  i will go back there again sometime.

my sister jackie will be the head lady dancer at the veterans pow wow this week end. it will be held at prairie peoples park on saturday. grand entry is at 1 and 7. they also gonna have a parade before the po0w wow. sometime during the pow wow they will have an honor dance for jackie. i hope it is a smoke dance. then she will have a giveaway. her family will help her with that. i have gone to alot of pow wows with her. we drove to the gathering of nations a few times and gone to many of the local pow wows. we had the same campsite at our pow wow. we shared many a piece of greasy frybread over the years.

we did pretty good at our garage sale. made a few bucks selling off some of the junk we bought at garage sales. sold alot of dvds but didnt put a dent into them. still got many of them left. they gonna have another flea market  at the bingo hall  in december. right after per cap. mary already talking bout going for that. i would suggest that others part with some of their treasures and make themselves a few bucks. if you havent used it in a year, you dont need it.

got another 4 day weekend coming up. friday will be off for american indian day. i think every day was indian day til they slowly took them all away ‘cept the one day. i look at our 4 per cap days as american indian day. i am already looking forward to a long weekend. got some much to catch up on.

this past weekend i was looking for a chainsaw. the dealers of the brand name i was wanting to buy were closed. there were two places open that sold that brand. but i didnt want to spend my money there. one is a place near the rez. everytime i went there one of the workers acted put out anytime i asked something. so i thought why bother the poor sap. wont spend my money there.  i did business with another place that was open. i quit going there because a clerk would ask for an id everytime i wrote a check. the other clerks knew i was a good customer and i was in their computer system. they didnt bother id-ing me everytime. so cuz the one clerk was a jerk i didnt buy there either. i am firm believer that if someone dont treat you right, dont buy from them. so i am still in the market for a chainsaw. will visit the other dealers when they are open.

one time when i was going to one of the local universities i went to listen to a couple of 60s radicals speak. they were abbie hoffman and rennie davis. they were of the chicago seven fame. one was billed as still a radical and the other was a ‘yuppie’. that wasnt a cool thing to be at the time. they both gave their points of view, which were presented as being on opposite sides. rennie spoke. he said the trouble with minorities is that they play the victim. that it was time to stop playing a victim and to act. he was booed for that. kinda thought people missed his point. like it or not it was true in some cases. some people do play the victim. because the guy said that he ended up the bad guy. the other guy was the good guy and sold a few books. i assume both got paid. i was entertained for a while. then had to go to class. i sat in class tuning out the teacher and wishing i wouldnt end up an aging hippie….

we have been getting alot of rain lately. coulda used some of it during the hot part of the summer. not much left in the gardens. just crooked necks and injun beans. my lawn is still growing. had to mow it again. each time i am hoping it will be the last time for the year. the new mower i bought this year worked real good. just needed more horsepower. glad i pimped it out with indian decals. got eagle feather and bear claw designs on it. if you gotta be on that machine all year, might as well look good.

been seeing a few potawatomis at the casino. recycling. putting their per cap back into it. i have a short visit with them when i see them. but i dont like anyone talking to me when i am playing. i know it aint got nothing to do with anything but i think its not good mojo to have someone standing there watching you play. i feel like saying ‘move on down the f^%$)@  line’.  i finally won at ours. hit 3 bills. woulda been more if i maxed it but i dont. i am just a small time player. then mary hit the next night.

today they having a flea market/ garage sale at the bingo hall. we were going to have a garage sale here but mary bought a booth over there instead. they should pass a tribal law that indians have to have a garage sale every year. that would force them to get rid of some junk they will never use. we hauled out about 400 dvds to the sale. and all kinds of other things. when we spotted the stuff at a garage sale or flea market we had to have it. as time passed we learned we really didnt need it at all. now hopefully we can get rid of some of it. let someother indian pile the stuff up at their house. mary said we did pretty good for the first day. having the thing advertised and a central location really helped.

i plan on going to a coffeyville football game this year sometime. my nephew zach plays there. last week they were ranked 10th in the nation. they won a game since then. i dont know where they are ranked now. kansas juco football is some of the best in the nation. many players go on to D-I. they had a player on national champs alabama last year. hope my nephew gets his game on and advances to the next level. dont hear of many indians doing that. the kid got the size. he’s 6’6 and weighs 300 something or other.

i am visiting people everyday seems like. no matter where i go on the rez i know someone to talk to. i was teasing an older lady today that i have known all my life. we end up laughing every time we get together. when i prowl around i run into lotsa people. dont cost a dime to be nice to people. indians got enough problems in this life without being mean to each other.

havent really been per capping yet. i talked to a young mother i know and asked her if she was out spending. she answered no. she paid bills with her per cap. an elderly lady told me the same thing. kinda destroys the stereotype some people have of our people. hell no we all dont go out and buy booze and dope. thats ignorant ass thinking. i know many people that spend it wisely. after indians were poor all these years it is nice that they can have something good now and then. and we do pay taxes on all we buy.

looking forward to enjoying a good weekend……going start by ordering a slab of ribs and some fries maybe some gumbo and watch the k u football game tonight.

it is almost  per cap time. indian christmas. wont find some at work that day. or maybe the next day either. things will be  back to normal in a few days after everyone taps out. then some will miss work for some other reason.  its a nice windfall but it dont last long. its a welcome diversion when it comes.

it is getting near time to pick paw paws. there are a lot of them growing in the timber down by the crick where i live.  i  can get my fill in just a few. i think they are an acquired taste, kinda rich for me. i pick them occasionally. potawatomis  ate paw paws when we still lived up north. they found them growing here too.

went to the farmers market yesterday. was looking for some peaches. i found some locally grown ones there before. the old guy that sold them wasnt there. there was a kid there playing a violin trying to raise money for a trip to greece. i dropped a buck in the jar. i remember back in my hippie days when i used to prowl the streets. i would always stop and listen to street musicians. if i had any change i would drop it in the hat. even if i couldnt afford it. i thought it brought me good luck.  got my kids doing that now. we would do that on trips we took.

that big thud yesterday was everyone jumping back onto the k u bandwagon. i know i am on it. after i got home from the farmers market i tuned in the football game. i was surprised to see k u was beating either 15th or 17th ranked georgia. i texted my son and told him. he tuned in also. i almost thought the hawks were gonna blow the game but they pulled it out. now our coach looks like a genius. the local rag was bashing him before the game. today they will hail him as the greatest. we dont need that other guy we got rid of.

i finally went for a two mile walk yesterday. cant use the heat as an excuse anymore. i havent walked because of it. i have gained a few pounds. now i have to start logging  miles to take them off. my dog konugish missed walking. every evening he will get anxious and bump against the door. he is  up for a walk anytime. the only time i walked was at a sponsored walk on the  pow wow trail.

we are having a garage sale at my house this friday, marys day off.  trying to get rid of some junk to make room for new stuff. i used to go garage saling with my mother for about 15 years. i would drive her around. even when she got arthritis she could still beat me out of the car and to the sale.  mary and i go to alot of flea markets and auctions too. we usually buy more than we should. at auctions you get a whole box full for a dollar sometimes. we end up with duplicates of what we already have. we have alittle of everything. everything else is going cheap. i know from experience if you price it too high  most people wont buy it. they looking for a bargain. we have over 400 dvds. we selling them two for 5 dollars. lots of other things for a quarter. we want it to go.

will see what this week brings……

summer is winding down. soon it will be fall. time for our fall dance. the gardens are still producing but soon will be time to till them under. i finally got a load of fill dirt for the raised bed gardens. today one of my homeboys can over and fill the grow boxes up. the fill dirt will eventually settle. it is good black soil that came from bottom land. plans are to score some composted cow manure to add to the boxes and the garden spots. after that then the gardens can be tilled under. next week i have to drive to wichita to check on the garden they have down there. it is under our grant so i have to check on it.

i have a deer hide soaking. it is already scraped. i just have to string it on a coupla hand drum frames. i have a few frames put away for this winter. i talked to a few hunters. they said they would fix me up with the deer hides that they just normally throw away. i will have to see if i can get some salt for the times i wont be able to get to the hides right away.  i can salt the hide down and save it for later. that is better than losing the hide.

i bought a pick up  load of corrugated tin from a guy i know. i want to build  a smoke house to make some deer jerky this winter. i used to just set the oven on low and dry it that way. but a smoke house would greatly improve the taste. i remember back in my militant days when i hitch hiked around the country. i stayed with some indians out west. they had a smoke house. it was going all the time. we would smoke salmon, sturgeon and deer. i liked the taste of smoked meat. thats why i want to build a smoke house.

i mentioned earlier i am going to vegas with two of my kids. kinda looking forward to that. i checked into some shows. i dont want to spend that much money watching some old singers. i can see old singers cheaper at indian casinos. i would rather spend money at the black jack table. i do want to go see where tupac got it tho. and i want to find a cheap buffet. maybe have a picture taken with an elvis. i probably will just walk the strip too. gotta log some miles walking. might as well see the sights.

one more day for this work week….

was back to work today after having a good weekend. sure hate to see long weekends come to an end. but all good things must end. we did some spring cleaning though it is now fall. couldnt find a place to put the junk we bought at the flea market. then we hit on a novel idea. we decided to have a garage sale to get rid of some of the junk we bought at garage sales, flea markets and auctions. first thing to go is all the dvds we have, they take up alot of space. i texted a few of my kin and told them we was selling off our dvds. they asked how much. i said two for 5 bucks. i want to get rid of them. we have over 400 of them. so they came over before we even had a date to have a sale. they quickly bought up a few. i still want to get rid of them before i go off on a vegas junket with my kids. those and lotsa other stuff. will have that sale soon.

the lye corn we fixed last week is probably dry now. i have watched it and turned it occasionally. this week i will dry a few crooked neck squash. i call them pumpkins but they arent. semantics…..

i missed a few local pow wows here recently. well not really missed them. i think they kinda lame so i just didnt go. one of them is always a bit pretentious in how they carry on. dont need that kind of show.  i havent hit that many pow wows this year. just a handful. i can pass on some. i still want to go to a few more this year. i dont know which ones tho.

i have noticed that in alot of indian art they draw or paint eagle feathers that have pointed ends. some feathers like on the wing tips do come to a point. but not the white with black tipped tailfeathers that are being drawn. i wonder why they do that. must be artistic license.

got short week. will see what happens…

 enjoying a 3 day week end by just relaxing. i did make it to the flea market in sparks yesterday. got there late afternoon. i walked for 3 hours but didnt get to see all the stands. my feet and lower back starting aching.  i had to be satisfied with what i bought. i bought 7 old wood baseball bats for 3 bucks apiece. a dealer asked me what i was going to use them for. i said i use them to wrap head dresses with. next question- whats a head dress. had to give a brief description then head on. i dont like to be rude to people that are curious about our culture.  cant spend too much time at one stand. even at flea markets they sell old wood bats for too much. calling a broken bat an antique is a stretch.  the rip off supply houses sell what they call a roach stick for 5 bucks. thats the figure i go by. i try to buy everything under it. once at a garage sale i asked a guy that did wood working on a lathe what he would charge me. he said 15 dollars. too much for me. i try to keep my expenses down. i  bought some rug yarn at the flea market. it is also hard to find. just on ebay and they sell it way too high for me. they add on shipping charges which doubles the price.

the other day i had a lye corn making demonstration at the language house. that was fun. the whole process took all day.  the language program video taped it. i am drying the lye corn now.  there were 6 of us there. we visited all daywhile working. we talked about things that happened during our lifetimes. that covered a lot of topics-language, religion and history. everyone had  different viewpoints. i still have to do a demo on drying crooked necks. i stopped at the senior garden and the crooked necks are about  ready to be picked. i still have my own corn field to take care of. probably will make lye corn with it. too late to dry it, besides i have a few gallons left from last year.

i have some rawhide soaking. gonna use it to make a few hand drums out of the frames i bought recently. hopefully i will get some deer hides this winter. i still have an elk hide that is salted. will have to get to that sometime.  i stocked up on hand drum frames. may even buy some more per cap time. next i have to get some green hickory to make drum sticks out of. there is always something to do.

i was watching tv the other day. it showed a scene of people at the fountain of trevi in rome. i was there once. local lore says it is good luck to throw a coin into it. so i did. then i seen people doing that but they were throwing the coin over their shoulder with their back to the fountain. i thought damn…no one told me that. i wasnt gonna fish out my coin and do it again. and i was out of the funny money i was carrying around. musta got good luck tho. i made it back to the rez safe.

i bought a dvd about r crumb. he is an artist that did underground comix back in the sixties. i have about 60 of those comix. i havent read them in years. i just wanted to learn more of the artists’ life. he was a strange dude. but those were strange times. then like now the more people try to be different the more they are the same. every generation thinks they are inventing the wheel. they just doing what others already did.

gotta meet some people for dinner in topeekie….