Diamonds, Boxite, & Rutile

"You Mean the World to Me" by Toni Braxton

...you mean the world to me / you are my everything / i swear the only thing that matters / matters to me...

To my 6 followers that occasionally read my blog, you should check on this entry periodically because I plan on continuously updating it.

Sunday night, I stayed with my Daddy following the Capital City Kwanzaa Festival.  I got home quite late, but stayed up to talk to my Dad for a while before he fell asleep.  We talked about how much I don't like my brother, homosexuality, whether of my friends is actually my boyfriend, culture, Africa, and the natural occurring minerals of Sierra Leone (hence the title).  It was a good conversation.  My favorite part of the conversation was about homosexuality.

It started when he asked me if one the friends I was hanging out with this weekend was actually my boyfriend.  We have been friends for a long time and he is definitely my best friend, so my parents hear his name often.

So my Dad asked "So, is he your boyfriend Zain?"

"Dad, he's gay."

"He is gay?!  How do you know that?"

**Blank stare.

"Now Zain, I want you to be serious here.  No joking.  Is he really a homosexual?"

**Loud, disruptive laughter.

"Do his parents know?"

"Yes Daddy.  They know."

"And he is still alive?"

**Loud, disruptive laughter.  "Yes Dad. I saw him today."

"Hmph.  America.  But you know what I think?  I think homosexuality is natural.  I don't think it is a choice."

We continued a long conversation about why homosexuality is such a big social issue, how common homosexuality is in the animal kingdom, how organized religion introduced the idea of homosexuality as a sin, how cultures take a long time to change ideology, etc.  He is such an intelligent man.  He was explaining all kinds of complicated anthropological changes that are evidence in linguistic tendencies.  He is sooo smart.  If I explained it to you, it would sound like gibberish, but he describes it in the most elegant and colorful way.

Then he started to discuss his "lesbians of convenience" theory.  In Krio, he said "I suppot dehn gay dem.  Bot dem titi dehn wey say den don ton tu gay?  Dehn titi dem, nah wen dem man dehn don balanse dehn, nah da tem dey dehn dey ton gay.  Noto gay natin! Hmph!"

That translates to:  I support the gays.  But those chicks that say that have turned gay?  Those chicks, it's when men have dealt with them [broke their heart too many times, frustrated them to no end], that's when they say they have turned gay.  They are not gay at all! African interjection!

I was dying.  I was laughing so hard.

So, I have decided to record conversations as the aforementioned described one from now on.  He is hilarious.  Wonderful father.