2. Dumas told a story about moving to New Port Beach when she was a child. In this story she tells what it was like moving from Whittier to New Port and the difference in economic levels at his two homes. This story shows the difference Dumas saw in the neighborhoods and that sometimes to understand how good you have it you had to be less fortunate earlier in you life.
3. "We didn't look like anybody in our neighborhood.. We looked like the gardeners knew that too because they always looked at me kinda funny. It was like they wanted to know how I got in the house." (p. 93)
4. This story made me think about the "rich" area in Santa Rosa, Fountain Grove. One of my close friends lives there and we talk about how you only see certain races living there. The area that Dumas moved to in New Port Beach reminded me a lot of this area of Santa Rosa.
5. Before reading this story I did not know that "vista" means "view of" in spanish.
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1. Cotton Candy Mirrors by Devorah Major
2. In this story Devorah Major tells how her and her friends use to look for money so that they could go to "Playland" at the beach. Major tells us the different attractions and which she liked the best. Her favorite was the fun house, from the mirror maze to the distortion mirrors at the end where she would try to unveil what she really looked like in these crazy mirrors. She then goes on to explain how big of a part those mirrors are still in her life today.
3. "In these mirrors we became monsters, we became clowns, we were lengthened, flattened, rounded." (p. 101)
4. This story reminded me of going to the Sonoma County Fair when I was younger and going in the funhouse. It sounded like the same things were in each funhouse.
5. I did not know that there was a Playland near the beach in San Francisco.
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1. Berkeley by Michael Chabon
2. This short story that Michael Chabon wrote about Berkeley talks about the different kinds of people that live there and how Berkeley is its own unique place in California. Chabon mentions that there is a ton of intelligence in the town from the University and he explains to us how Berkeley came to be. It was built during the 1880's and rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake. Chabon mentions that Berkeley will always be its own unique, old style, town and will never be "hidden" by larger cities like San Francisco.
3. "A business that would never thrive anywhere else, patronized by people who would never thrive anywhere else, in a city that lives and dies on the passion and intelligence, the madness and rapture, of its citizens.
4. This story reminds me of going to Berkeley to visit my sister who attended Berkeley University and after reading this it made me look back and see that Berkeley is an old fashioned town that is very unique.
5. I did not know that Berkeley was the place where the refugees from San Francisco stayed after the 1906 earthquake.
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1. California Honky-Tonk by Kathi Kamen Goldmark
2. Goldmark tells a story about when she was younger and was in a band and about their first gig. Their first gig was at a biker bar and Goldmark explained how the bar was not as they expected and they had all the wrong songs for the croud. Even though the songs were not what the audience wanted the band still kept playing and Goldmark goes onto tell about her many other "gig" experiences, good ones and bad ones and one where she made a great friend.
3. "I have a feeling that if Lil DeMarco heard this one, she'd have loved it." (p. 120)
4. This story made me think of when I was a place playing pool and a song came on that was not the type of music my friends and I listened to. It was fun to listen to different kinds of music because we were in a different setting than normal.
5. I did not know that there were "honky-tonk" bars in LA.
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1. Amanda--This story made me come to think about how valuable California is to a lot of people, and what it means to them
2. Angie-- Tobar talks about how his life can be compared to that of a highway with both it's advantages and disadvantages
3. Brooke--Many citizens are fearful of the measures that may eventually be taken because then Seal Beach becomes just like every other beach town.
4. Catherine--But he soon saw that nothing is immune to change, especially not when there is money to be made
5. Diana--California,aka the Big Sur seems like the perfect place for everyone, and how it is one of the only places that myths of unexplained humanoids can be found
6. Eric--Although he spends most of the essay portraying Seal Beach in an idealistic light compared to its neighbors, he concludes with a description of the various woes the town is facing in exchange for forgoing the development others have wholeheartedly embraced.
7. Jacob--He explains how he feels that if he shares now only a few will seek out his utopia and hopefully will be respectful enough to treat it like their paradise
8. Karl--I learned just how troubled our state would be without freeways allowing people to commute to work everyday.
9. Lori-- He writes about the California being all things to all peoples and then instantly it changes from pastures to mega-shopping centers
10. Wendy--The freeways are a source of order
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