Blogging or a diary keeping is a strange one. Some days nothing happens, some days the earth shifts. In our minds we can think about five hundred things a day. Stirring your coffee in the morning might elicit a memory, or you might just be feeling happy because you had a satisfactory bowel movement! It's a pity you can't get YouTube in jail and see the people on there who document their lives, some interesting ordinary people out there. What interests you?

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Part one of two,
Hello Douglas.
I hope you are well.
Regarding blogging, or vlogging on YouTube. I got to tell you there are several ex inmate channels on YouTube that are fascinating to watch. There’s a black bloke called ‘Big Herc’, I think his name is Marcus Timmons he has a channel called Fresh Out the Penitentiary. Another white guy called Wes Watson he is more into building muscle and personal character, and some other guys too, but the two I named have the most interesting content. Big Herc even had a prison cooking segment showing how in jail inmates cook with ramen noodle, making burritos and other jail delicacies! Most clips are like 15 minutes long, but others they stream live and get donations, so there is a living to be made there.
Wes Watson told quite a troubling story about how prison yards are segregated into colour race and gangs. We don’t have that here in the U.K. yet, but maybe it’s coming. He talks a lot about building muscle in jail doing ‘burpees’ and stuff like that.
I’ve recently read the Kerry Max Cook book, Chasjng Justice. He spent 22 years on death row for a rape murder he was totally innocent of. Came within 11 days of execution. Texas cops lawyers, you name them, they all screwed him. Trouble is when they have your nuts in their hands, you can’t do much when they start squeezing them. In your country the level of justice you get depends on how much you are willing to pay to get a good lawyer. Texas especially seem very eager to execute people, the Rodney Reed case is disturbing, he is definately innocent and has sat in a jail for decades. People on the outside interpret silence and inactivity for guilt. But these cases are like quicksand, the more you move the worse it gets. I’ve tried to write to governors of Texas in a vain attempt to intervene, but nothing yet. They won’t listen to me anyway, why would they, I’m not even American? Years ago when I was 16 I met some Texans on a train, they were the first Americans outside of my dads brother, that I had ever met. They were from Austin. They told me, back then, that Texans were a different kind of American, that they were more persistent and unlikely to bend to others will. Which is great when you are building a state, but treacherous when confronted with a mistake you won’t acknowledge. I’m terrified for Rodney and his family. Hopefully someone will see some sliver of humanity and stay the order.
I’m unfamiliar with your case. UK internet servers won’t allow me to download your case, and it’s expensive too. Unfortunately I’m a poor person!!
Music wise I am rather fond of rap. Early stuff Wu tang, Busta Rhymes, Salt and Pepa Faith Evans, Beyonce Biggie Smalls. Stevie Wonder Red Hot Chili Peppers, quite eclectic really. I despise modern rap, trap music, anything that is ‘over produced’ collaborations bore me, all that Justin Beiber DJ Khalid stuff is dire boring and repetitive.

Part two of two
I think some people become lazy when they get successful. I know I’ll get flack for saying this, Jay Z got dull!! Dave Chappell said this quote, which I agree with, ‘Success can take you, where character cannot sustain you.’
Ergo: Tekashi 69 or Daniel Hernandez. Are you familiar with him? His notoriety is now as being a snitch, but he was refreshing in the rap game. Sounded anarchic, new, brought a much needed new flavour. It will be interesting to see what kind of sentence he gets, and how the music world treats him when he gets out. People tend to be more accepting of people who can stand on their wallets. Money talks and all that.
As an older person I still find music interesting. Even though I’m too grey and too old to dance anymore, (arthritic hips and back)
You should definately write down your dreams the moment you wake, Jung used to keep a notepad under his pillow for that very purpose. Dreams are bizarre, you can have the most incredible dream, wake up, and be in awe of it and then moments later it dissolves like sugar in hot water and you can forget it instantly, yet still feel it’s remnants on you. I have a lot of ‘missing trains’ and ‘late for exams’ dreams. Dreams are weird, have you ever watched a dog asleep who is dreaming? Their feet twitching as they chase dream cats! Dreams must serve a purpose or are they just nocturnal entertainment?
So happy to have received a reply from you.
T

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Hello Douglas part one of two
Hope this not reaches you in good health. Regarding cooking, I’m not that great but I have a few dishes I am really good at, I make a really good Jamaican jerk chicken stew, which I cook in a Crock Pot. My family loves it, I use 4 scotch bonnet chillis in it, serve it with rice and mashed potato. It has always been an ambition of mine to try an American Thanksgiving dinner, all the trimming. We don’t do that here. I visited the USA in 1979, California, to be honest I didn’t like it. I liked Disneyland, and Knotts Berry farm, and I also ate at Denny’s which was good also. The rest of it was three months of sitting in my relations house and not going out. There really wasn’t anything to do. There was a Mall you could walk around, but I didn’t have the money to shop, and the Mall was dangerous because gang members were playing up in it. If I were to return to the USA I would go to Louisiana and see the swamps. That sort of thing. Travel wise I traveled extensively when I was younger. Remembering how close England is to continental Europe, I lived and worked in France, Northern Italy, Malta, Spain. My best time was India and Nepal. India would blow your mind, the minute you leave the airplane the smell taste and heat of it. I spent time at Tibetan refugee camp and trekked to base camp at Mount Everest. It was springtime, so, nice weather. Travelling is over for me now, I wouldn t get insured now. I did go to Paris last year for a day, it was a crappy day and I was eager to get home. We travelled all the way to Paris and ended up eating McDonalds there!!!
How do you break your day down in the Row, if you aren’t allowed to work? Do you have a daily routine? I think they inmates of Texas row are allowed to work, or at least they were when I read the Kerry Max Cook book. He eventually was released on a prosecutorial misconduct motion, which seems to be the most effective way of changing the outcome of a case. His dna was tested after the case and the person originally suspected got away with it. Texas justice is terrifying. There just is no moving those people, maybe in the next generation things will change.
Don’t know if you have been following the Jeffrey Epstein case, but Prince Andrew, a royal here was been implicated in all that child trafficking and abuse, which he will walk away from Scott free. Law definitely works for the monied, absolute scum bag. The 1 per cent of the world have it made. I think Epstein was definitely murdered, I wonder who was scared he would talk about them?
Last night we watched The Irishman, Martin Scorsese new film, it was brilliant, over three hours long.
I am hoping to get a tablet in the Black Friday sales. It;s about time I was one. I rely on other people’s devices.I don’t really like the internet, and I don’t have a phone that connects to it either. People seem to be obsessed with phones now. Always looking at them. Are you allowed to keep your tablet in your cell?

Part two of two.
You are bang on about early rap. I wasn’t much a fan of Tupac, he wasn’t speaking to me, lyrically. Being a white girl and all that. It beggars belief that these artists can be talked into getting into beefs with each other, and then become murderous with rage. Imagine what Biggie, Tupac, Jam Master J and especially Nipsey Hustle would have produced, had they not died early, and that their killers remain unpunished? If their white equivalent artists have died, police would have been all over that, The US police force doesn’t seem troubled when black kids die. Jay Z, though, he was in the drug game, so he used those skills he used to sell drugs and recreated them into product management and delivery. Good for him, but The Black Album, was my favourite, now he is selling his headphones, but Tidal, his music platform didn’t go down so well. I am loving Kendrick Lamar, he is a true genius, All the Stars Above Us, is my favourite track. He keeps his nose clean, stays away from the media, and doesn’t get caught up in stupidness. Kanye, currently castrated by the Kardashian clan seems to be caught up in the brand building and the Sunday Service, which I like, but, clearly some mental issues there. Shame he lost his mum, she seems to be the good force in his life. There is an incredible rock group called Unlocking the Truth. Three black kids from Brooklyn they play heavy metal and they are incredible. They were discovered playing in the Times Square area and signed up, See if you can find them, I don’t know if you have seen the series ‘ATLANTA’ with Donald Glover and Lakeith Stansfield. It is brilliant. Donald Glover did the music video ‘This is America’.
So yesterday was Thanksgiving,so they serve a thanksgiving dinner in jail? What is the food in general like? When I went to the states I had a Twinkie. I had heard a lot about twinkies from American programmes, but when I tasted it it was disgusting. It tasted like a month old cake with fake cream in it. I want to try corn break, biscuits that you have for breakfasts, not the biscuits we have in the U.K., which you have with tea. I recently tried jolly ranchers, they were quite nice. I love spicy food, curries that sort of thing, Mexican food also, something I would like to try,
Regarding my ‘young energy’, I don’t think we age in our heads. I still feel like the idiotic 16 year old I was. But I am in retirement now, and official an ‘old gal’. My husband still travels about, he has family in Pakistan so he visits them annually. I have never been there, nor do I want to go there. Travel wise it’s over for me. I enjoy England climate, don’t like the heat. Is it very hot where you are, do you get a winter of sorts? A guy `I was reading about who spent time in Arizona’s jail system said that the inmates used to just wear underwear because it was so hot, and there were lots of cockroaches running about. What’s your jail like?
That’s it for now. Be good. Take care of yourself T

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Hello Douglas
Today is the 28th December, and Christmas is over. Christmas Day was great. My brother bought my dad a giant television 55 inches. It’s like sitting in front of the cinema. We watched Shawshank Redemption, it took some doing as my Dad (86) is addicted to sports and quiz shows, he is VERY territorial about the remote control!. He got in a really bad mood setting it up, took him hours! I am no good at that sort of thing. Anyway, I was in the kitchen cooking every vegetable known to man and a roast chicken. We are not turkey fans here. Regarding beaches in Florida. Not for me. I couldn’t lie out in the sun for money, it’s boring, and you can’t read properly. If I were to visit the states again it would be to see interesting stuff like the Smithsonian and Metropolitan Museum of Modern art. Also Louisiana, New Orleans, I want to see a really big redwood tree, and the Grand Canyon, that sort of stuff. Can’t do any climbing so mountains are out. I actually trekked to base camp at Everest in 1998, when I was fit. The travelling I did, I used to do any lousy job I could then save save save then travel. Doing cleaning jobs, waitressing anything really. Was never a career person. English sport is bollocks, soccer, cricket. Rugby is okay. I like watching US Basketball it has never taken off here, they tried to launch it several times but the British public weren’t buying. One thing I don’t understand about basketball is that you have these freakishly tall men, on this tiny court with a basket they can easily reach. Why don’t they make the court bigger, and the basket higher so a degree of difficulty is added to the game? I watch the odd baseball game. Modern baseball is too monetised to be interesting, old time baseball was better. I like the Seattle Seahawks because they signed Shaquem Griffin he lost his hand, but he can still catch a ball, he is incredible. We used to be Eagles fans, but we aren’t loyal!!! I’m reading The Hero with a thousand faces, by Joseph Campbell. He’s a yank like you. Really smart guy, links religion to mythology and makes some interesting observations about as as modern people. Well Tekashi did well, only has to serve another 12 months before he is free. I think he is probably safer in jail. Would he be in general population?
Part 1 of 2.

Part 2 of 2

What’s the best dish, food wise, that you can get in prison? What do you get for breakfast?
This tablet of yours, can you download music, movies etc on it? I got an iPad mini for Christmas. I think they got it for me because they are sick of lending me their devices! I am just leaning to use it. How can I email you, how does that work and how do I apply?
I’ve just reread my post. So many scrambled thoughts and questions. I hope you don’t mind me asking so much stuff!
Well that’s all for now. Hope you are well, and that 2020 is a great year for you.
T