Subject: Re: yo yo
From: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com>
Date: 3/15/10, 13:01
To: Amber Joseph <amber.r.joseph@gmail.com>

I wouldn't call East Texas "scary," really, so much as "boring" and "illiterate," although I suppose most of the creative male types one comes across in Williamsburg would get hassled at the very least. It's the cities that are universally dangerous. Certain parts of the Mexican border, where my mom's from, are among the most dangerous places in the world now - as in, more dangerous than Baghdad in terms of one's likelihood of being killed. I spent a day or two in Juarez about five years ago. It was fucking nuts then and it's about three times as bad now. Even the respectable folks are donning masks at night and engaging in revenge/warning beheadings of narotrafficos and corrupt police officers. An increasing number of residents worship this fucking neo-Azteca death goddess called Santa Muerte. I wouldn't go anywhere near there today, and I'm not usually adverse to going anywhere. Like, even large interior Mexican cities like Guadalajara and D.F. are okay to wonder around in. It's just that the border is currently a war zone while the cartels sort things out, and the resulting environment has made everyone nuts.

I've heard that Russian is not a particularly well-constructed language and very difficult to learn. I don't speak anything fluently myself; used to speak fairly good Swahili and a smattering of Arabic.

I just moved from Bushwick to Williamsburg, over off Union at 3rd street. Are you in Brooklyn, too? What part of NYC are you from originally?


On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 8:02 PM, Amber Joseph <amber.r.joseph@gmail.com> wrote:
That's quite a smattering of places. I vaguely recall East Texas being referred to as a scary place...is this true?

I took Russian for my whole freshman year. Apparently it comes out when I (try to) speak to Russian people when I'm drunk. But I don't think I really speak it. You need quite a few years of serious study before you are even proficient, because it's that ridiculous of a language to master. I hated it; I hated the classes. Things get weird when your professors point out that you're the only person of color in the entirety of First-Year Russian.

Where in Brooklyn do you live?

Amber



On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 7:48 PM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> wrote:
Anywho, I also like Jefferson's writing and personality; just was sort of let down at some point after having considered him my greatest hero for a long time when I was younger.

I'm from the downtown portion of Dallas, have also spent about seven years in Austin, a short amount of time exiled to East Texas with my dad (I was a bad kid), and have lived in a couple places in Mexico as well as in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Why do you speak Russian?

Friday should be good for me.

Barrett Brown
Brooklyn, NY
512-560-2302