how do you know that?

 i wrote the bit of this before the question yesterday, and the rest just now. i changed the tense.

yesterday i was hanging around after my black feminist anthropology class to tell the professor i like it when she starts class with songs, and specifically talk about music ethnography. yesterday's songs were uncle bud and wake up jacob. both recordings are sung by zora neale hurston who, if you didn't know, was an anthropologist in addition to being an author.

while the music is cool, it's not the point. the point is, while i was waiting another student was talking about how they were confused about the mentions of zombies in the reading. i said something about how zombies have been bastardized by pop culture and are really interesting because of their roots in Haitian plantations. the professor agreed with me, and then the other student asked me a question.

"how do you know that?"

i didn't know how i knew it, and i told them that. everyone laughed. i'm not sure why. it doesn't matter much. i didn't feel like they were laughing at me.

a lot of things i know have no source. i picked them up at some point and they've been floating for that long and the serial numbers have been rubbed off with handling or have been covered in residue from lack of use. then i need them, and i find them, and i can't say where i got them.

other facts are memories. they're tied. i couldn't tear them apart if i wanted to. 

both are fine, and both are useful.