Culture: Let It Burn [#whatsimportant]

May 21, 2011 by Hannibal Tabu Leave a Comment

Note: This is an editorial.

It’s no secret that I’m addicted to Tumblr. I have two accounts and I can’t stop posting and reflagging. I love art, photos, and sandwiches. Anyway, it *is* somewhat of a secret that my house burned down in the sixth grade. I wasn’t home. Hell, I wasn’t even in town, so I didn’t have the chance to grab the things I loved. It’s funny how when you lose all of your material possessions, you realize how little you actually cared about much of it at all.

What does all this have to do with Tumblr? I found this page called The Burning House. It basically asks the question, “If your house was burning, what would you take with you?” I think it’s both sad and fascinating some of the crap people think is important and/or irreplaceable.

Let’s take this one for example:

Why does she need the skillet and the forks? You can buy that stuff at Target.

This one scares me, because it looks like it belongs to Dexter — the serial killer.

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Huh? I don’t even understand this one.

Seriously, what’s with the pots?

This one is closer to mine, so of course, I find it cool (minus the jewelry, but whatever).

And … Here’s mine.

Inside my kit:

My Husband & Childen – Can’t have Team Tabu without them
Watch – So I can tell what time it is even without my phone
My Phone & Charger – I need to have my contacts handy, I can find someone to stay with, because I’m too broke for a hotel
Laptop & Tap Shoes – I’ll need to generate some income to return to a normal lifestyle and these two things are very expensive to replace.
A full set of clothes – I’d probably be naked if my house burned down.
Hard drive containing all of my photos and client projects
My “Go-Bag”: It contains survival equipment, hard copies of proof of address, renter’s insurance, etc., MREs (Meals Ready to Eat), blanket, tent, and more.

What would you put in yours?

About Hannibal Tabu

Born in Rockford, Illinois; raised in Memphis, Tennessee; matriculated in
Tacoma, Washington and broadcasting live from Los Angeles, Hannibal Tabu is
a writer, a brother, a husband, a misanthrope, a son, an emcee, an uncle, a
poet, a father, a designer, a nephew, a romantic, a storyteller, and by
god, a fan. He spent more than ten years doing the journalist thing for
Vibe, Slave Trade, MTV Online, Rap Pages, America Online, the Los Angeles
Sentinel, Spinnerrack.com, Speak and The Source. Hannibal has worked as a
web designer/producer and graphic artist for American Honda, eHobbies.com,
Quicken.com, Express.com, the California Association of REALTORS, Disney
Channel, NextPlanetOver.com, Toyota Motor Sales, Kaiser Permanente,
California Bank & Trust and many more. As a poet, Hannibal has been
published in The Drumming Between Us, (sic) Vice Verse, Drumvoices Review,
Voices From Leimert Park and other anthologies, as well as being author of
the collection BORN BENEATH AN ANGRY STAR and co-author of FLIGHT MANUAL.
As a novelist, he's written THE CROWN: ASCENSION and FARAWAY (both
available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble & Smashwords) and the upcoming sci fi
political thriller ROGUE NATION. He's the winner of the 2012 Top Cow Talent Hunt, writer of Waso: Will To Power for Stranger Comics, Project: Wildfire for Legends Press, and co-writer of an issue of Watson & Holmes (alongside 2 Guns writer Steven Grant) for New Paradigm Studios. For six years he was the editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Herald-Dispatch group of newspapers, is currently the co-owner and editor-in-chief of Black geek website Komplicated at the Good
Men Project, and uses his Operative Network website (www.operative.net) to
publish his poetry, market what he's doing, rant at the world and emit
strangled cries for help. In addition to all that, Hannibal collects comic
books, has scores of action figures, DJs private parties, is a Mac OS
zealot, sings and sometimes even hosts karaoke, practices a form of
spirituality based on ancient Egyptian belief, and goes to bed every day,
secretly hoping that half the world will commit suicide in his honor.