January 22, 1993

Anyways, more on the Bruessel death¹ -- She died either Wed or Tue nite, I don't know which. I seem to think it was Tuesday cuz that's what Chris T0desco sed - & he would know cuz his paretns run the choir at St. Dominic's and she was in it. Damn. I only wish I hadn't made fun of her, especially when Steve + I were gonna prank her and say it was her long-lost cousin Olga -- or when we were imitating her when she said to Maria, "Maria, you can't carry that water in the hallway." - She was nice, though. A good decent woman. I was reading the obituaries, U know, and I found out that she was like President of the Filipino Friendship Society² or something for the entire western suburbs -- U know cuz I don't realize that she was actually someone. Well, another death. It seems like there have been more & more lately. People I know. -- I don't mean to rush out of the subject or anything, but I was thinking about doing another music survey. Like I did in May '92³. I've got about 100 copies of a survey form, asking the questions: GENDER (M/F), RACE or ETHNIC GROUP (Black/White/Asian/Hispanic), FAVORITE MUSIC RADIO STATION, 2nd FAVORITE, FAVORITE MUSICAL ARTIST, and Top 5 Songs. I was going 2 have Steve or Ryan or Chris or Jay pass them out 2 their homerooms, which is the best class 2 do it in becuz it wouldn't distract from the class and it has the best RANDOM students -- good racial mixes, etc. Hmmm... so that will be on Monday, hopefully. I'll get U results as soon as possible. MY TOP Five stands as follows: 1. OPTIMISTIC - Sounds of Blackness 2. U - Arrested Development 3. I GOT A MAN - Positive K 4. IT'S GONNA BE A LOVELY DAY - The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M. 5. GET AWAY - Bobby Brown. If I were to venture into the realms of below the top five, U would see such songs as "Sweet Thing" by Mary J. Blige and "I Got a Thang 4 Ya!" by Lo-Key? or "Two Can Play at That Game," a cut off the Bobby Brown Bobby CD. But I'm not venturing, so U won't see that. Well, actually, U did since U just saw it when I wrote it there -- HEY, Bill Clinton's been President for 48 hours and 53 minutes!
-- JMC 11:53 am

1 Pacita Bru3ssels was a secretary at Humphrey Middle School, ripe for mockery because she was sort of old and out of it and spoke in a soft but thick accent.

2 At 1,315 people (2.3% of the total population), Filipinos represent the largest Asian ethnic group in Bolingbrook, Illinois, closely followed by Indians at 2.0%.

3 In the 1992 survey, I asked various classmates only what their five favorite songs of the moment were. I was hoping that the results would look something like the Billboard Hot 100 and was surprised when some responses fell outside the world of current, popular hits -- e.g., Sex Pistols and Charlatans UK -- which were nowhere near my radar at the time.