Snoop Dogg
a misinformed investigation
My sister is friends with Snoop Dogg! I never owned any of his music but escaping his presence back in the late 90s was impossible. I admit I know nothing about his life and character. Back then, Snoop Doggy Dogg embodied COOL.
It was a real shock to find out my sister knows Snoop and they even talk on the phone.
I first saw them together on an Instagram post of hers. Snoop or his PR agent must have given her permission to use a part of their conversation (My sister would never take such liberty without his express agreement. She, after all, is the one to always let me know when she is on speaker phone and my words are not just ours to share and to hear.)
Seeing them chatting away raised many questions: How did she know Snoop? Where did she meet Snoop? She lived in LA for a decade, so it must have been there. How often do they talk? She was very comfortable on the phone with him, showing no signs of nervousness, being star-struck or shy.
As you can imagine, I immediately called my sister wanting to know more about their friendship. Are they working on a project together? Did he commission her to create some drawings for his grandkids? (She did remark it would be fun to have Snoop for a grandfather). Are they writing a song together? Or maybe they just hang and talk about Bulgaria, my sister was fifteen when she immigrated and considers herself American. You should send Snoop my doc THERE, I say casually. If he digs the movie and my style, he will get in touch through my sister and then, who knows, we may get in a groove and collaborate on his next music video.
This past Tuesday I talked to my father in Bulgaria. In his early 70s, he practically lives on social media, following wars, pandemics and us kids around. How is your sister, he asks. I see she is friends with that rapper, what was his name... Snoop Doggy Dog, I help him. Yes. That’s him. My father had also seen the video of them talking. He was proud and perhaps shocked, though he didn’t show it.
The catch is, I know right away the video of my sister and Snoop is a jovial con-job, quickly spliced together in the name of fun, but my father doesn’t. He has now been misinformed. It could have been me. The rest is left to the imagination.
P.S. After the first Midweek Pick-Me-Up “The Pen” was published, Mathew commented, I loved following the pen… His comment inspired my imagination and it said, Isn’t this exactly what you’re doing, Bogdan? Following the pen…
Indeed. If asked to name the current name for this newsletter would you be able to? Even my own wife said she came across the name the other day and wondered what it was. (FYI, it was called “The One and Many Lives”). Was, because now it carries forth its new name, “Follow The Pen”, and it feels right, it feels bigger than me and it feels home. Imagine my joy when www.followthepen.com was available to buy. (Thanks, Matthew)
I am not the least surprised how this change came down to be, for when we love what we do, and do what we love (take action), Life grows rich with meaning.
Thank you for following the pen with me! Till Wednesday’s pick-me-up.
Bogdan