Really Good Or Really Shitty, Excerpt #5: The Results!!!

At long last, here are the results of the fifth installment of…

…dared to explore the tricky world of writing in dialect:

Sand…I ‘memba I used to hate when niggahs called me dat. My moma name me Vincent. Dat’s probably why scary shit always happen to me, name me after that ol’ crazy assed Vincent Van Gogh, dat artis’ dude who cut off his ear fo’ a dame. Mu’fuckahs say I do some wil’ shit, but dat niggah was off da chain to do some shit like dat. Come to think of it, Ma named all us after some wil’ cats whose names started with Vs. Big bro’ Vee was named after some writer dude, Voltaire. Dat niggah got teased all through school – which is probably one reason he quit after da sixth grade. Anybody call him Voltaire now, better be ready to defend hisse’f. So, you know a niggah like me uses his name sometime to rile him. Vasco, come after me. Dat pretty mu’fuckah always tellin’ chicks he was named after a explorer so he can take dem ‘roun’ da worl’. I think Baby boy got da smoovest name, fo’ real. He da only one named after somebody black, too; dat photographer dude Van der Zee. I seen some o’ his pictures and black folks was smoove back den.

I ‘on’t think Daddy liked all dem big time names Ma gave us. He used to always grab my curls, tease me ‘bout my light brown hair and light brown eyes, said I look like da grainy color of sand. Started callin’ me Sand and now it feel funny when anybody call me Vincent. I tried to be cool once and make people call me Vinny, but dat didn’t last too long. Sand just stuck to me like dat gritty shit do from da beach.

Here’s what you thought after a robust 302 votes:

[click image to enlarge]

Excellent!!! and Meh, it was okay were nearly neck-and-neck, with 120 votes and 117 votes, respectively. This was followed by 29 Really Goods, 19 Really Shittys, and 13 bleeding eyes.

Here’s your Visine.

I have to personally say that I thought this piece was OUTSTANDING, and was executed with great skill. Not everyone can write well in dialect, and readers either love it or hate it. I LOVED IT.

CONGRATULATIONS are therefore in order for Bronx-based Lo Zone frequenter, author/artist/educator/explorer…CapCity…

…who also runs a wonderful blog called The Intimate Side of CapCity.

Kudos, lady. You ROCKED!!!

7 thoughts on “Really Good Or Really Shitty, Excerpt #5: The Results!!!”

>oooooohhhh Im impressed.

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>wow cappy…you knock'd me off my feet with that….congrats!

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>I loved it, too! Simply Maaaarvelous, Sistah Cap! Do you thang gurl!

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>Wow! Go CAP!

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>thanx again for everyone's encouragement! I thought i'd throw in a curve ball – not my usual "love" focus;-)…it's fun to test how well i listen to the many dialects around me. i appreciate the critics, too & would love to hear why it made eyes bleed – I can stand the heat:-)

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>I loved it, but I think the people who don't like it find it hard to read, at least that is how one of my co-workers responded. I don't think it was anything with the content. Some people just don't get that style of literature.

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