Ding dong

I am delighted to tell you that last night, around 8:30pm, the entrepreneur next door (aka my drug dealer) was BUSTED. That’s right: police swarming, door battering, ass hauled to jail, BUSTED. I heard the door-battering but did not witness the ass-hauling. I was almost giddy when it happened. I was on the phone with my brother, who was wishing me a belated happy birthday, and I heard something. I turned off the lights and peeked out the window and saw a police running across the yard. I said, “they’re raiding my drug dealer! I can’t believe it! I’m so happy! This is great!” Brother said, “What?” Then he reported the play-by-play to his wife, “Jamy’s drug dealer is getting busted RIGHT NOW.” It was so exciting. The police dropped by, wondered who owned our building. We told them a few times that we did, it being condos and all. Our buildings share a wall so the police thought maybe the same guy owned our building. They said they found drugs and firearms in the drug dealer’s place. They said he was a convicted felon. They said they would be in touch with the notoriously-difficult-to-contact landlord the next day and tell him what happened. They seemed confident that our drug dealer would not return. Woo-hoo! Never thought I would be this happy at someone else’s misfortune, but I am. I am damn happy. I was happily IMing the rest of the night with two Real Life friends and one new Jdate© friend who lives in NY. Around 11pm I heard the unmistakable sound of shoveling. Real Life friends assured me that they were out there right then, shoveling the walk. After thanking them heartily and congratulating them on their multi-tasking prowess, I took a little peek and it was some poor souls shoveling the walk of the recently departed drug dealer. “Why?” Real Life IM friends asked. “For drugs, perhaps.” I responded. Poor souls will learn soon enough that there is no reward forthcoming. When I left the house this morning, the drug dealer’s walk was very nicely cleared. My walk was mysteriously half-cleared. Perhaps this was merely due to natural melting processes. I also wanted share with you this little story about going to the movies. As you know, I am a big film buff (generic enough?). I like good movies of almost any stripe. Good, plot-filled, action movies, comedies, art films, old movies (my specialty, 30’s-50’s), westerns, French new-wave, American film noir. Anything. On Sunday, determined to get out of the house, I decided to go to the movies. I didn’t want to take public transportation and the only easy-to-walk-to theater is at Union Station. It had the most pathetic choices. It was down to “Cursed” and “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.” DMBW got wildly mixed reviews, but it seemed like it might have some redeeming qualities, so that’s what I chose. “Cursed” was not screened before release, which is a bad, bad sign. And, as much as I love werewolf movies…no, wait, I don’t love werewolf movies. I love ZOMBIE movies. So, there you go. DMBW is an adaptation, by the original author, of a very popular play on the “chitlin’ circuit.” These are broad morality plays aimed at an African-American audience. Indeed, that is the audience that was drawn to the movie theater. Union Station has the only theater in NE DC, and usually has a high percentage of African-Americans in attendance, but for this film, I was the only white person in the audience. I’ve been the only white person on the bus in DC many times, but in the movie theater? This was a unique experience. I also did not seem to be the only solo viewer of the film. The audience had the full age range, and there were quite a few men, but there was also a large number of African-American women “of a certain age” on their own or in groups. So, how was the film? It was maudlin and funny and sweet. The subplots were more compelling than the main story, whose characters and actions were cut out of cardboard. I can’t really recommend this picture, but it was entertaining. Some of it was very, very funny. The Christianity was very, very heavy—but also realistic. The best outcome for heroine could only be achieved if she got divorced and forgave her ex-husband. (Guess what happened?) The audience was into it, yelling advice at the heroine, deriding some of her decisions and hollering approval at others. They laughed, they commented, they were part of the show. It is my understanding that the same thing happens at live performances on the chitlin’ circuit. Actually, the hootin’ and hollerin’ phenomenon is common at Union Station, and I have friends who refuse to go there for just that reason. As long as you are prepared for it, it’s fine. For DMBW, it was completely appropriate—perhaps it was the whole point. I wrote about this experience to a Jdater yesterday who had emailed me. His response was:

“i have never heard of the movie that you saw... also never saw a movie at your theatre....but sounded like an experience.....the few movies i have seen since moving up here were all at g'town on k street... not sure if that theatre has a name....”

What, huh? Never heard of that movie? The thing is, this movie was number one at the box office this weekend! Amazing. I didn’t respond to his email even though it was my turn. I feel very annoyed. And bored. He is boring!! I am just too tired to deal with letting him down easy. Maybe I’ll save that for people I actually meet. Grateful for? Easy! The demise (hopefully permanent) of the drug dealer next door. Big smile.