Views from a BrewTown Sista (aka The Chronicles of Kayleah H. Madison)

while I was typing up a blog for last Saturday night, yours truly was asked by my pal gary to roll with him in what turned out to be a day-long escapade.  This of course, meant I wasn’t going to be in church. My apologies. Gary picked me up shortly after 11am and we headed out on the highway out of Rockford. He took the scenic  route 2 along the rock river-something we would cross over a dozen times- to go to the sterling-rock falls area, which is about 55 miles se of Rockford. Since I had traveled in this area before but my first time there in about 6 or 7 years, it was like re-visiting an old friend.   In one of my previous jobs, I was a courier driver that delivered merchandise to various homes; one of those deliveries was in sterling.  Also made a few stops in neighboring rock falls (total population: about 23,000).  Both towns have wal-marts, though the sterling location was open 24-7.  Not sure if it was gary’s first visit here, though. One decad...

Why should I be nervous?  I was thinking about that after deciding to dress as Kayleah for Sunday service. The congregation at my church has seen me dolled up twice before last year, but I haven’t dressed up for church since. Even my pastor has seen me dressed up. He almost couldn’t recognize me at this year’s Pride Fest! Many of them either didn’t know what to call me or haven’t yet learned to pronounce an easy name to remember (KAY-LEE-AHH!). You’d think after all these Sundays when I have worn some type of makeup on my face they’d understand how different I am. So what if I just happened to be the church’s (as of right now) lone member of African decent who likes to express his femininity from time to time? If I tried doing this at one of the churches I attended in the past, they would basically say a bunch of prayers and such, then eventually ex-communicate me from that church. That’s what happened to me in 1998, when Kayleah was first discovered on a Tuesday night in Milw...

I have a friend on facebook who is a regular in reading my blogs. Her name is Pamela. She has written a few books to her credit, too. We have been keeping in touch with one another for the last few months about what a lot of my articles have been about: depression and unhappiness. She couldn't have been more right. I can't say that all of these blogs will one day make me a Pulitzer Prize winner. Even though we've only exchanged messages on facebook and have never met one another face to face, she may know more about me than I do. She's seen my pictures both here and on the social network. I think she likes my pictures that I regularly post on fb.  Today, I had a really depressing moment about how my life has been going since the beginning of this millennium. Since the start of 2000, yours truly has worked as a parts washer, caretaker, customer service representative (thrice), a security guard (one of the most lonely jobs on earth), a pizza delivery driver (twice), ...

One of my facebook friends recently asked me about when will yours truly post another interesting commentary blog. Although I do notice a lot of folks that do read my blogs after they are posted, I still don't have that many loyal followers. One friend from my church got to spend a few days with one of her blog followers last month downstate. Keep in mind they are both in the retirement age, so they are entitled to do whatever they please. They've earned it. I'm getting myself in a typing mood now, playing the soundtrack of the immortal Blues Brothers' Definitive Collection from the late 1970's. God, I miss Jake & Elwood. You know, I've given my facebook friend my phone number so she can call me and shoot the breeze someday. Kinda like an instant time-killer, you know. Something that can keep my spirits afloat while this w-fi- signal continues to go in an out while I type this message on a Tuesday in late summer. When you are waiting for a potential custome...