Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Notebooks 171-end

"Mystery Masked Man Saves Nation, Latina culprit captured by exec."
page 179

This quote comes in the la llorona section. This section is about a woman working in a large investment firm of some sort. She is respected by all her colleagues but viewed differently by them depending on their race. However, she can fit in with all the clicks in her office and is able to establish a relationship with the VP. This leads to her demanding he empty certain federal accounts to accounts she beleives will save the earth and combat poverty and genocide. However, the VP seems to think he will catch her and save the nation from loosing money despite for good causes.

"Goddess: Where are you going Bobo? Bobo: What? What do you mean where am I going"
page 183

This quote comes in the section Interview at the Total Liberation Café. In this passage an appearingly more insightful goddess is talking to bob, which means stupid in spanish. Bobo cannot see past the short term and is caught up in the grind of life. The goddess tries to enlighten him to the meaning of his life. Bobo however is not receptive and continues to be short sightened and not philosophical. The author is stressing the importance of putting life into context and thinking about a meaninguf way to live.

Monday, May 21, 2007

Notebooks 152-174

"In a few short whiffs, Tom Exclamado Central Inc. became a global phenomenon."
page 167

This quote comes in a section entitled My Chickens Say, "Por favor, si señor, si señora". It is of a family run chicken farm which is changed after the son of its operator returns with a degree from Stanford. As the quote indicates, Antoinne turns the chicken farm into a corporate giant which is the opposite of a family run business. The author may be saying this to describe that the notion that an education turns any company you touch into a corporate giant is fantasy, or he is speaking in favor of family business.

"'A martial art technique that numbs your opponents sense of color awareness.' Contestant #1 Hispa-ratee."
page 157

This quote comes in the section which is in the format of a game show. The contesants are all asked ethinically based questions in which the answers are hispa-something. This question is saying how hispanic people blur people's color awareness. Possibly because it is difficult for people to distinguish a chicano, hispanic or latinamerican person. This is hinted at in the beginning of this section when the author says remember what each ethnicity is.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Notebooks 131-151

"I read Ginsberg now/more so after his death. I can almost smell the tobaco despues de un buen taco (Orlovsky, Burroughs, Corso - the cats in sad wrinkled suits groping for a fix on eternity, a gay immortality"
page 140

This quote comes in a New York City Angelic section. In this the author says he has been reading Ginsberg more after his death. In this passage the author relates Ginsberg's writings about his wanderings in the fifties to his own in the seventies. He also ties in his spanish culture to Ginsberg and tries to get at why he writes. He says that Ginsberg has reached an immortality and will live beyond when he was in his body. The author may be bringing this up because it is what he hopes to acheive.

"I am that paper. I am those words now, the ink burns pyres in every cell."
page 144

This quote comes in a Oyeme Mama section. Previously in these sections, he has talked about how his mother discouraged his writing slightly. She said that he is caught up in himself when he writes. Now however, he appears to be saying that he is his writing. This could symbolize that he has become a published author.

2nd Half of Interview

1. Some people come in with recommendations for general health tonics, sure. How to keep them in
balance rather than bring them back to balance. Chinese medicine is an energetic system, that
means looking at aspects of the body that are out of balance rather than looking at Western
Biomedically defined diseases. Thus, often times I throw out the western condition people have been
diagnosed with and look at the ways different body systems can be brought into harmony with herbs,
diet, lifestyle, etc.

2. It would be between California Poppy, which grows locally, for anxiety and insomnia, and Reishi
mushroom which is used for a variety of cardiovascular issues, strengthening the immune system, and
calming the mind.

3. I treat newborns through seniors on their "way out". I treat bums on the street to
millionaires. The ethnic diversity that commonly comes through my door is somewhat subject to that
of where i live. Considering the relative anglo homogeneity of Santa Cruz I get to work with folks
of mixed ethnic backgrounds. This is often fun as many people have their own herbal traditions they
are coming from so I get to share information.

4. I don't know that any insurance companies cover herbal treatments. It is my opinion that I would
like to see this but don't know of anyone crusading for this. Unfortunately when insurance dollars
get involved they often tend to dictate what types of treatments people have access to. I really
don't want indurance companies influencing how I work with herbs.

5. The swing back to using herbal medicines has already happened. It is a 6 billion dollar a year
industry, a big political issue, and a form of health care that the World Health Organization
estimates that 70% of the worlds populations uses botanicals as a primary source of medicine.
People have begun to see that the liability of using western drugs (I know, they save lots of lives
too) as well as the costs may be more complicated than it is worth. Thus many are turning to simple
natural solutions that they can grow or harvest. An interesting question for you to explore is when
herbs are commodified and heavily promoted as things everyone needs everyday, you know, pumped into
oru consumer culture, is it traditional medicine?

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Notebooks 106-130

"Sometimes, from a small envelope she pulls out his broken bones, or she finds his torn fingers at the bottom of a cup of coffee"
page 124

This quote comes in the passage about murder and the death of young people. The first part is about a women who lost her brother to a traffic accident. She occasionally finds his body parts in pieces of her life. This shows that long after a loved ones death, a person remembers them in everyday situations. This is another large issue which the author takes on writing about.

"But you stayed true to form when you denied a contract for your nextg book without writing a single page"
page 115

This quote comes in a letter to Victor. It appears Victor has won some National Book Award. The author seems to be pleased with Victor and is giving him a hard time about all the media attention. However, the author expresses his real admiration when he says that Victor stayed true in denying a contract for his next book. This shows that Victor cares more about writing as a tool of society than money.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Notebooks 81-105

"la troka, that will haul them in bundles to a lawn, a backyard, a garage with a broken old Buick ro simply to a yard of freakish bushes and branches"
page 92

This quote comes in an Undelivered Letters to Victor section. The author is talking about the lives of Mexican workers. He describes them as an army who waits pickup from a truck to travel to a different job each day. Usually, the author talks to Victor about writing in this section, but this entry is about immigrant labor. He may be describing his heritage and what many people of his nationality choose to do in the U.S. and how lucky he is to be an author.

"Powers from the nation? Can we truly respect its borders?"
page 97

This quote comes in the longest most meaningful poem in the book so far. In this entry, he tackles issues such as the forming of organizations, racism, fear, conformity and nuclear war. All of these issues are the "big issues" that he said writers should be talking about. In this particular quote he is questioning what nations actually are. He says they are formed through genocide and oppression so do the leaders of these nations actually have power? This questioning is one of the aspects of most-modernism.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Notebooks 55-80

"She wanted to ask the usual worn phrase. Ginsberg, Artaud, Nervo, Lorca, Neruda, Popa, Hikmet, Rodnati, Walker. These are the shadows-I should have told her."
page 69

This quote comes when the author is giving a speech at San Jose State and is asked by a women what writers influence him. He responds by saying his mother influences him. He then picks up by her body language that this was not the answer she was looking for. She wanted traditional famous writers who the author refers to as shadows. He refers to them as shadows because if you follow in thier footsteps you may never break free of them to make a name for yourself.

"Man with briefcase - accent + big watch = Equal opportunity"
page 74

This quote comes in the collection of equations entitled Fuzzy Equations. In this specific equations he is talking about how employers are not really equal opportunity. He alludes that foreigners are not given an equal chance in the business world. Also, he is saying that the wealth of the person trying to get a job plays a role in the choosing. This relates to the author because he is a chicano writer who discusses chicano writing's struggle to emerge.