NOTES FROM THE PEN

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ABOVE: JD in the infamous Ironing Board Studio

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Incarcerated Writer’s Bureau (IWB) link not available yet, until then please check out PEN America’s Prison link here: https://pen.org/prison-writing/

 Usual Suspects

WHITE KYLE (Kylie)

On appearance alone you'd suspect Kyle to be a Bro of the highest degree--someone you might catch chanting, "CHUG, CHUG, CHUG, at a child's birthday party. Someone who looks like their favorite movie is a two way tie between Fast and the Furious 1, Fast and the Furious 2, and Gone in Sixty Seconds, which he watches while listening to My Bloody Valentine with a protein shake in one hand and a protein bar in the other. If you dig a little deeper, however, you'll discover that beyond the Aryan genetics and the over friendly persona ''ol Kylie is one of the good ones. He has a brutal sense of humor, decent taste in music, movies, women, and drugs of choice. He has been through the type of chaos that makes him instantly likeable to other degenerates, like myself. He has a strong moral compass and is an all around solid dude. He is on the highest of prison-friend tiers, sharing space with the likes of GR Joe and Blaze(the Swarthy One). I wish him well upon release. I don't want to jinx him, but of all the guys I've seen leave this place, I think he'll make it. And other than the time he was caught in shower with....you know what? I'm gonna keep that one to myself.

S12 EP #129 (don’t use Apple? Search Notes From The Pen on your fav podcast platform)

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-the-pen-prison/id1518819034?i=1000580896553

ASIAN KYLE

A fellow member of the vanishingly small half-asian prison population. I Justin met through the initial introduction of the I-am-asian-and-you-are-also-asian head nod immediately after Kyle's departure. Justin is an accomplished poet, an intellectual force, and adept conversationalist. I am so glad he's here with me. His first book of poetry is to be released in 2023. Also, he wears glasses. Nerd....

Link to some of his writings https://pen.org/poetics-mid-summer-2016-fragments-from-a-freestyle/

CHOP (aka Marshall aka Kelly Bundy)

My first bunkie. We started in Level IV, a unit with 23hr/day lockdown. His only possessions were wearable. Good kid, but inarticulate and impressionable, which make his undeniable good looks seem somehow more fair. I ran into him at Parnall recently. It broke my heart to learn he'd gone home and come back in the six years since I last saw him. Only made it a few months. I was still glad to see him. He has been released again and is doing swell. He made his NFTP debut to tell his story about prison rape, but ended leaving out all the good parts. Per his request I finished the story on his behalf. Turned out to be a fascinating and slightly terrifying episode. It's worth the few minutes it'll take to find it on your podcast provider...come to think of it, you might have to visit Patreon for the full NFTP “lie-barry”. I'm now realizing that the incomparable Mama C will likely have found and included the episode info. She's the best. Come off the dollar(s) you cheap bastards and check it out!

Ep# 36 - Marshall’s Story

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-the-pen-prison/id1518819034?i=1000494954657

If you don’t use Apple Podcasts…simply search for Notes From The Pen on your favorite platform.

JOHN BOY

Could pass as a 2nd rate Robert De Niro impersonator, a-la Mean Streets. This is the second time we've been cubies in the last six years. 25% of my property was once John's. He has sold and repurchased his current footlocker three times in the four weeks I've been in this cube. As I write this I am wearing the Nike sandals I bought off him two facilities and 6 yrs ago. I once called his bulletin board "white trash". It must've bothered him, because he kept bringing it up. So I'd like to take this opportunity to call him our cube's WHITEST of TRASH! He is Polo's bunkie. They fight like step brothers. John is the older one. We were supposed to switch bunks. In fact we did—without permission—and had to move back. He's a frequent asshole with a severely selfish bent...but he has a pretty good sense of humor. Keeps a good joke from dying on the vine. For this he earns his keep.

ZACK

Panda's plus one, Zack's mere presence at the party means those around him live on the verge of being kicked out at any moment by simple association. An only child, who just so happens to have a few siblings. He exists as an emotional rollercoaster pitching and rolling from annoyed irritation to indignant frustration depending on the weather. Stubborn to a fault. He is his own worst enemy...other than maybe Panda. He's not ALL bad. Though I can produce no evidence to support such declarations. Makes Ladies Wear seem like Steve McQueen.

POLO

25 going on 14. As naturally lovable as he is chaotic. Fast living and quick spending. For Polo tomorrow is more of a theory than an inevitability worth planning for. He reminds me of one of my favorite people in the world: GR Joe. It blows my mind that Polo is someone's dad. Two girls he absolutely loves. I've never met them but I can all but guarantee that they love him as much as any kid can love a parent.

BLAZE

The Swarthy One himself. Mad genius and purveyor of all things absurd. Half Alexander Shulgin half RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan. If you're even a moderate listener of the show (especially the early episodes) you likely know and love all 6 ft 2 inches of lanky velvety smooth swagger. I know I do!

UNCLE NECK

One of the best human beings I know. Wonderful heart and a mischievous sense of humor (great staccato laugh). Loves grape soda...and candy...and well, anything grape flavored, other than ACTUAL grapes. Come to think of it, I've never seen him eat a real grape. Oh, he's gonna kill me. And though I love him, one of his favorite past times is to instigate fights between me and GR Joe so he can then take Joey's side ...but those of you who know GR Joe know he needs the help. I do not say this lightly, but I would trust him with my life. I'm better off for knowing him.

JC

JC has asserted himself as an entirely unsolicited sidekick. I apparently had little say in the matter. A wonderfully loyal guy, even generous to a fault, with the best of intentions who can let his plans occasionally get away from him. I have a lot of love for him, but his choices lead to situations in need of intervention. He's always been there for me, so I'm there for him. Rather than being critical maybe I should do a better job leading the way. You couldn't ask for a better sidekick. Well, you could—pretty easily actually—but you'd be hard pressed to find a more loyal one.

BIG ROB

6 ft. 6 inches of tattooed convict. There is a surprising complexity to the enigma of Big Rob. It might be my favorite thing about him. Other than being straight out of Central Casting, he is a brilliant writer, a shrewd businessman, and undercover intellectual (our initial bond). We spent several years together where we were the star pupils of the Kinross morning yoga classes, cultivated strategically neighboring garden plots, and ran our very own two-man book club where we read and discussed everything from Siddhartha by Herman Hess to the Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker.

Big Rob is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. It kills me. I love the guy, and hardly anyone I've met is so focused on growth behind bars and eventually becoming worthy of an entirely unlikely shot at freedom. Though the system's official position is that he will never go home, he has nevertheless enrolled in college—on his own dime—and completed his Associates Degree (I believe in business) and is currently working on his Bachelor's, with the ultimate goal of attaining a Masters degree, all through the mail. I've never met ANYONE who has earned their Masters degree while in the MDOC—certainly not paid out of their own pocket, and while serving a life sentence. But if I know Rob, it's just a matter of time before he does it.

Maybe one of these days we can get him on to tell us a story or two. We should be so lucky.

GR JOE

If you listen to the show you know who GR Joe is. If you don't, you should. Joe is a one-in-a-million charismatic and lovable man-child. His heart is as large as his impulse control is small. We have been bunkies several times, over several years, at several facilities during our incarcerations. And though I have only been down a year longer I've been to six joints, while he has been to TWO? If anyone has any thoughts about how he has managed this without selling his soul then please let me know. I'm just saying, it's suspect. Joe and I are opposites in nearly every aspect, except one—the most important of all: sense of humor. We make fun of each other incessantly, play never-ending mind games in search of a nerve to repeatedly hit with the ultimate goal of pissing the off the other so we can then accuse them of being too sensitive... and I LOVE every minute of it. He is hilarious, he is lovable, and he is a blast to be around. He is my best friend—no he is my BROTHER and we have forged a bond by laughing in the face of oppression; of mocking it's methods, at which point we accuse it of being too sensitive when it demands to be taken seriously.

PANDA

In the joint he is, by birthright, part of the Asian Connection, with all the stereotypical gifts attributed to those of us with slanted eyes: 4.0 college student, institutional businessman, Pastry Chef and general badass in a microwave kitchen. BEFORE prison PANDA was somewhat of a legend in the international EDM festival scene where he served as "Artist Relations" for an undisclosed amount of time for strategically unnamed promotions.

MR. MAYHEM

Is a general disrupter of the highest degree. If NFTP is a pebble in the shoe of the prison industrial complex then Mr Mayhem is boulder on the head of whatever particular facility he finds himself in. He is one of God's experimental prototypes too ridiculous for mass production. Last I knew he was on his way out. Thrown out of restaurant of life by that stuffy bastard cancer. On his way he is determined to monkey wrench everything possible. When he finally decides that the funniest, most random and ridiculous, thing to do is to die, God is gonna have a problem on his hands. Heaven will never be the same.

The general hijinks of Mr. Mayhem can be found towards the end of this Notes From The Pen Episode: S10 Bonus - Project Mayhem

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/notes-from-the-pen-prison/id1518819034?i=1000540364715

Art And Misc Photos

** Disclaimer ** Images of prison were taken off internet using Cell Block 7 Jackson Michigan as the search. These photos were provided by the Jackson Prison Museum.

The NFTP (Notes From The Pen) artwork above was created with the few items Bobby was able to find: highlighters, pencil, and black marker. It’s hard to get any type of art supplies behind bars. Nov 2021

Beyond the written word, Bobby also has talents in art and drawing. From real-world tattoo jobs to prison art with pencils sharpened with nail clippers, Bobby has a knack for putting pencil to paper. Below, you’ll find pictures of the birthday cards he’s made for Cassius, as well as a piece done by his former cellmate, Kyle Sikkelee. .

There’s also a great program that the University Of Michigan, Ann Arbor, has which promotes creativity behind bars. Check out their work here: https://lsa.umich.edu/pcap/exhibits.html