Journal 8/11/15

Among my friends, I am the mayor of LA. I take pride in that. Among inmates. I am not. I take pride in that. The difference is the context, the meaning of mayor and who my friends are. In jail, there's a general distrust of authority figures and especially politicians. People expect authority figures and politicians to lie. So, being called mayor in jail is an honor reserved for liars. My friends are more hopeful. Despite the corruption in politics, they see me as someone they can trust. I value that. I will water those seeds with more truth.

That's another reason to fully disclose everything that's happened recently. Honesty works. I'll stick with it. Everything else is dead.

Getting a complete story out of an inmate is hell. Like pull teeth or mining something as rare as coltan but as worthless as a used rubber. The worst part is when you don't even ask for the story. The inmates come to you. It's like they're itching to gossip then they remember they are snitching on themselves...

In LA, we say "Mind your own business." Inmates will start spilling their guts then clam up midstory and tell you to mind your own business. I'm like motherfucker you started talking to me! Interrupting my damned book so you tell me some lies I'm not even interested in...