So – this is half a day late.  But I’ve got a good reason.  Sick baby.  Rather, I should say “sick babies”.  And, just to provide a little background here…

Jeremy and I were in the car listening to a podcast (“Blacking It Up”) in which one of the hosts, the wonderful L. Joy Williams, (a Black woman) was not pleased about being called “sassy” in a review of the show.  The stereotype of the Sassy Black Woman can be problematic – I even give Jeremy this critique about the character of LaVerne (He says she’s not named after me, but my middle name happens to be “LaVern”.  Hmph.)  in The Order of Dagonet and warn him not to over do it with the familiar trope.  Walking out of her job and telling off her boss and her “no-good” boyfriend was a bit borderline…though I do admit that I did enjoy these scenes.

So anyway, we’re taking a walk and talking about the podcast and he asked me how I felt about the subject and found himself caught in an irreversible loop.  He called me sassy, and of course, I got “sassy” in attempting to deny my own “sassiness”.  I might have held up my pointer finger and put on hand on my hip while replying.  I might have even given him some side-eye.  I explained that what I dish out is not “sass” but that perhaps there was another term for my “bold” and “spunky” personality.  Then he called me “zesty”.  Shortly after this, he got punched in the arm.