Ode to CalTrans by Hector Tobar
In this story the authors remembers a dream he had about the Hollywood freeway that reminds him of the freeways when he was a child. He tells how he appreciates the freeways now and how they are similar to the Middle Eastern tribute to CalTrans. Also how the One-Ten is frightening to be on in the winter and that is why when his first two kids were born he did not take them. Then he tells about how he wonders if his mother passed the sense of owe to him when he was in his mothers belly because when she was in labor with him they were practically flying her to the hospital driving at fifty-five and slowing down to thirty-five and accelerating again.
The paragraph that I liked was the one on page 59, about when his mother was in labor with him.
This made me think about how dangerous the freeways can be due to crazy drivers and also reminded me of when I was in labor with my last child and how I drove myself to the hospital and if I passed any sense of emotion to her that I was feeling in those minutes it took me to get there.
I learned that Cal Tran placed signs with pictures of Cal Tran helmets on them to commemorate the workers who died and that they had to take them down because it was making the freeway look like a cemetery.
Montalvo, Myths and Dreams of Home by Thomas Steinbeck
Steinbeck is telling about his myths of California. He starts of with how the Spanish Romance took off and the bestsellers that that Garcia Montalvo wrote. Then he tells about The Big Sur and his memories of it. He ends in telling about The Dark Watchers that his grandmother believed in and she would leave a gift basket of fruit or candy for them when she would pass by and when she would return the same basket would have gift for her in exchange for their gratitude.
I like the sentence, just when you think you’ve got a handle on the newest fashion (exit stage right); the whole marvel instantly changes costume and reenters stage left. Page 66. This is so true and funny at the same time.
When reading this chapter it made me think of my history class and also about how life is about myths and some or more real than others and they affect how we look and take on life.
I learned that the Big Sur was the place that held the myth of the Sasquatch.
The Last Little Beach Town by Edward Humes
Humes tells a story about a town close to Seal Beach and how he remembers it being a place of paradise, not in need of money, and how once people find it they never want to leave. Also how it’s a shame that small towns get turned into money hungry, tourist place like Long Beach, Newport Beach, and Huntington Beach. He seen in a magazine that that’s what they are trying to do to this little town and that they are event trying to put parking meters on Main Street there.
I like the paragraph that says you can plaster your garage with a rainbow-hue seascape mural or paint your stucco walls flaming purple or erect a strangely long scale model of lighthouse on your front lawn and the taste police will not knock at your door here. Seal Beach is militantly untrendy. Page 71.
Reading this made me realize that our town is all about appearances like he describes in the book. Also how easy it is to miss something that is not right out looking at you in the face. It even made think about the beaches here and that maybe I should pay attention to the details and not just the appearance of it.
I never heard of Seal Beach and did not know it even existed. I also never knew that Laguna Beach is the most striking beautiful beach compared to the Pacific Coast, Huntington, and Newport.
Surfacing by Matt Warshaw
This chapter is a story about a sixteen year old boy named Moriarity, who liked to surf. He went to Maverick, a location never heard of until it came out in a magazine, to surf the biggest waves there is and winds up having an experience of his life. He describes how he and some others are storm trackers, so Moriarity finds out about these waves a day before and gets ready for it not realizing what he is in for. Warshaw goes into great detail about Moriarity's surf experience that you could practically see how it happens if you imagine it. Also how Half Moon Bay became a popular place for surfing.
I liked the sentence, then the whole ledged out and I had time to think, ‘Oh, shit. This is not good.’ Page 88.
This reminded me of the experience I had when I was first learning how to swim. How you go under water and it makes you wonder if you are going to reach the surface in time to catch your breath or are you going to drown. I can still feel it in my gut just thinking about it.
I did not know that Half Moon Bay is one of the most popular surfing places. Also that Edward, David, and Cupid Kawananakoa, were the first surfers in Santa Cruz and the first surfers in America.
The similarities are that Humes and Warshaw talk about Beaches and Tobar and Steinbeck talked about past experiences they mention a beach but do not go into detail about it or talk about an experience they had with it.
Reviews of Classmates’:
1) Antonio- learned that there is a Japanese ceremony in the American River that commemorates those that died in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
2) Catherine- Her mothers use to go fly-fishing in North Carolina.
3) Danielle- did not know it could snow in California in the dead summer.
4) Jared- When reading The Big Valley it made him think of when his family visited his cousins’, the Errotaberes, because they are farmers in the Central Valley.
5) Judy-learned that about seventy-five thousands Russians live in Sacramento.
6) Laurel- has a sister in Southern California.
7) Megan- had childhood vacations at Disneyland.
8) Sophia- Beverly Hills did not have any hospitals.
9) Valerie- learned that you can catch lizards when practicing fly-fishing.
10) Mario- also didn't know that fig orchards where in northwest Fresno.
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