Submission #4

Gigi asks "What does `Boo Fuckin Hoo' mean?"


Gigi my neighbor, a college student who gets me to write her papers for her, knocks and enters my apartment, opens my fridge, and calls: "Want one?"

She enters the room with two beers. I was mid sentence, writing in my Blog about Iraq 2 and the real meaning of the phrase Bush Doctrine. She drops a note: "What does Boo Fuckin Hoo mean?"

Three years ago, Gigi knocked on my door an introduced herself. She invited herself in, lit a joint, and casually went through my belongings. I had been unpacking and listening repeatedly to Cat Stevens Tea for the Tiller-man , speculating on meanings. She offered me her joint just as Stevens sang the lyric "Wine for the women who made the rain come"- and I asked if she would like some wine. Laughing, we ended on my sofa. At some point she told me she had herpes. Later she told me that she just said that so I wouldn't come on to her. Instead, somehow, she became my little sister in need of saving, and I became her big brother willing to do anything for her.

Now she explained finding the essay ad in the artist section of Craigslist.
"Well, " I said, "depending on context, `boo Fucking hoo', is just a more explicit 'boo hoo', a phrase used sarcastically when a person shows too much self pity."

"Yeah, " Gigi responded, "how's is my paper coming along?"'We' were finishing a paper that argues that the ending of Don Quixote should be changed. 'We' worked out an argument beginning with reference to a fictional essay11 about a 20th century writer who re-authors Don Quixote. "The text of ..are verbally identical, but the second is almost infinitely richer because Menard's work must be considered in light of world events since 1602."

There was also the historic precedent of Shakespeare's play King Lear, that had an adjustment to it's final scene. It was altered from a scene of absolute despair to a scene of possible redemption and rebirth. Hope is reintroduced into the ending of that play.

'We' conclude: In light of world events, terrorism, wars, economic uncertainty, disillusioned youth, Don Quixote's ending should be changed. Quixote should be presented as having no regrets for going after his impossible dreams.

"I need to spell check." I answered.

Then I mused: "It could also be a phrase of endearment."

Gigi lights up as I explain. "The word 'boo', as slang, can mean your lover, as in 'my boo'. So "Boo Fucking who'? ", could be a rhetorical question- Who are you making love to?' Much the same as male asking the woman he is with- 'Whose your daddy?' the goal is to have the other recognize your presence." "How do you come up with all this shit?" Gigi asked giggling in her pot fog. "Can you turn it into a 500 word essay?"

by Paul Grant (follower of Basho) 17
The short piece stands on it's own for what it is. If one wanted to find additional meaning, a hypertexed version of this essay can be found at http://extra-information4u.blogspot.com/2008/09/boo-fuckin-hoo.html