Watching the Texans-Patriots game at Jim’s Diner, Buena Vista Ave., Alameda, CA

Ajuan Mance

Vacation is over, and school is back in session! This kid did not look unhappy about the end of the winter holidays. In all honesty, he seemed more bewildered. I’m not sure which school he was heading toward, but I liked his classic schoolboy outfit and backpack. When I was in high school, the most uncool thing a student could do was to wear his backpack over both shoulders, but styles seem to have changed. Even so, they’re something about the backpack over both shoulders that still seems kind of nerdy and innocent and sweet to me. In the case of this kid, it underscored to me that he was at that great age when kids are sorta kinda grown up, but not completely cynical yet.  The teen years are right around the corner, but they’ve haven’t arrived quite yet. It’s that time when the parents can still sometimes get a hug, even in public.

Ajuan Mance

…one more guy from Ricky’s.

Ajuan Mance

…another Ricky’s patron.

Ajuan Mance

This big guy could’ve been the bouncer at Ricky’s Sports Theater, except that he wasn’t. The bouncer was an even bigger guy who was wearing a hoodie. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a bouncer who takes his job as seriously as the Ricky’s bouncer. He didn’t smile at all, and he looked at me and my buddy as if we were already guilty of something. This guy was waiting in the bathroom line with me, and he was kind enough to let me go first. There is a benefit to being prematurely gray and a woman. Folks sometimes interact with you in that respect-your-elders sort of way.

Ajuan Mance

Happy New Year! I can’t believe it’s been more than a week since I last posted…but I’m back from my holiday break and I have a backlog of drawings to upload. I’m starting with this portrait of one of my favorite people, the poet Myronn Hardy. I first met Myronn when he was an undergrad and I was a grad student at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. We were both in the English department and we shared an affinity for art and the poet Lucille Clifton. By the time we had really begun getting to know each other, I was preparting to leave Ann Arbor for my first academic job, at the University of Oregon. Despite that, our friendship continued to grow over the coming years. We would often chat into the wee hours, which is more than a notion, considering that 3am for me (in Oregon), was 6am for him (on the East Coast). We kept in touch all the way through his MFA at Columbia University, and beyond. Now he is a professor at Al-Akhawayn University, Ifrane, Morocco. He’s been then for three years, and so we don’t get to chat as much. Myronn is still very close to my heart, though, and he’s still one of the greatest poets I know. Check out his website to learn more about him and his work: Myronn Hardy :: Author

Posted by Ajuan Mance

PS: The background image is of a map of Ifrane, a resort and university town in northeastern Morocco.

For those of you who are not fans of mixed martial arts, Saturday night was one of the biggest events of the  MMA year. Defending heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos of Brazil and San Jose-based former heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez met for their long anticipated rematch. There were four other fights preceding the main event and, all in all, it made for an exciting evening of top-flight MMA action.

For me, Saturday night at the fights was all the more exciting because of where and with whom I was watching. I was there with my buddy and fellow fight fan A., who drove up from San Mateo to go with me to Ricky’s Sports Theater in San Leandro. Ricky’s has been named the #2 sports bar in the country by Sports Illustrated Magazine, and with good reason. The friendly service, top quality bar food (very tasty wings), and generously-sized soft drinks are part of its appeal. The best thing about this establishment, though, is that it features more than 90 television screens spread throughout the place. The effect is that wherever you are sitting, you can see the featured sports event on multiple screens. It was like sportsbar heaven.

The guy in this drawing is one of my folks of all ages (over 21) who were there on Saturday for UFC 155. Notice the multiple screens in the background (including one where I subbed my logo for the football games being broadcast).

Many thanks to A. for joining me in this excursion. Looking forward to watching more UFC events for you in the very near future! Perhaps UFC 156…or 157. I hear Anderson Silva just signed a ten-fight deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, so…

Ajuan Mance

I’d planned to use my holiday break to catch up on all the movies I’d missed during the end-of-semester grading rush. As it happens, I’ve only had time to see one movie, This is 40. Not to rely too heavily on cliche, but if you only see one movie during the holiday season, This Is 40 is a really good choice. I laughed for the entire 2 hours, and I left with a smile on my face. I still have a week before my fabulous partner goes back to work, and so I still have time to see Jack Reacher, Lincoln, The Hobbit and Django Unchained. I’ll definitely report back after Django. Stay tuned…

Ajuan Mance

PS: I almost forgot to say a word about the man in this photo. How much do you love that even when there is no superhero film currently in theaters, this young brother was sporting his Shazam belt buckle (I took a few liberties with the shape). Anyone remember the Shazam television show from the 1970s? It came on on Saturday mornings, either before or after Isis (“Oh zephyr winds which blow on high/lift me now so I can fly”).

–Ajuan

Folsom and 9th St., San Francisco, CA.

Ajuan Mance

Panda Express, Oakport St., Oakland, CA.

Ajuan Mance