Angelica's A-POP Blog

1. Dark Blue Suit
   1. P. 3
      1. As young men-little more than boys, really…and the promise of a new start.
         1. Similar to what happened with my father.
   2. P. 4
      1. From places as different as San…to go north and make Union scale.
         1. When my family found out that I wanted to go to Evergreen, they dropped everything and moved as soon as possible so that they could finally get away from, “this shitty town.”
   3. P. 10
      1. “No money,” my father said. There was…mind,” he said softly. “Never mind.”
         1. I remember a Cuban family long ago that my father used to take us to. They had also just come from Havana, but we had to leave because the grandfather of the family kept trying to grab my sister and I and then give us candy to keep quiet. Luckily nothing ever happened, but my father only needed to see him try once to get us to leave forever.
2. Rico
   1. P. 28
      1. I knew he didn’t have a car, but it made no difference to the girls he left with, even if they had to pay their own fare.
         1. I remember watching and hearing stories about these kinds of girls. The ones that just follow men because they believe that the sex they’ll get will be better than anything they have to go through to get to that point.
   2. P. 31
      1. It wasn’t the first time Tommy had yelled at Rico for losing control, for fighting instead of sparring.
         1. It may not seem like that big of a deal until you hear of wrestlers accidentally killing their opponents dead in the ring with one blow.
   3. P. 33
      1. “White girls,” I finally said. “Specially blondes, tall…don’t mess with ’em now, ‘ceptin Sammy Davis.”
         1. I get that in this situation they’re just joking around, but so many of those blondes only sleep with them just as a checkmark, rather than a relationship.
3. The Second Room
   1. P. 39
      1. Taky carried out his mentor’s wishes, like the decision…commercial, just the way Bruce wanted.
         1. I like this format. Having a school exist to be there, rather than to be for money or showing off just how amazing they are.
   2. P. 40
      1. His opponent became a cop who later found…and killed again, Jesus’s presence notwithstanding.
         1. I hate this excuse that some prisoners use in order to get out of prison early on good behavior.
   3. P. 40
      1. Rookies were prey-numerous, nervous…figured, was a small price to pay just to be there.
         1. As a dancer, I know a lot of the time the low ranked or beginner dancers would be harassed or given more pressure from their senior dancers abusing them. Sometimes it’s out of love. “Let me show me what the dance world is like.” Others, it’s just pain.
4. August 1968
   1. P. 56
      1.  “Worms and stink bait, boy,” the old man… no one can say it don’ work.”
         1. I remember my dad having a debate like this over catching trout. They like rainbow bait, but not if it’s shiny.
   2. P.  59
      1. “Fine bitch, too,” he said. “Right here in her…Buddy, ever get an older woman?”
         1. I don’t know if I will ever understand these men that brag about every experience they have ever had. Like they’re proud of having a tally sheet. Not to mention wanting to be with every woman, regardless of relationship.
   3. P. 63
      1. “Listen to yo’sef talk, man,” he said evenly. “Can’ even say it right. You soun’ like a damn white man.”
         1. It’s strange how some friends can use the n-word so casually in conversation and how fast the meaning can change between them.
5. Home
   1. P. 69
      1. “But they got no right to judge me,” he continued…least not yet, least not to my face…”
         1. I hate what we as citizens did to the soldiers that returned. To this day, people are still disrespectful to people who had no choice but to fight.
   2. P. 71
      1. “Damn,” he sighed. “A fuckin’ virgin, man,” he whispered. “Died a teenage, fuckin’ virgin.”
         1. I always found it stupid for some countries to use virginity as a way to determine if someone has become an adult or not. So many other actions account for more than sex.
   3. P. 72
      1. His GI Bill covered tuition plus provided a stipend, not much, but enough to buy more time away from hell.
         1. My brother-in-law plans on doing this soon. Not because he has served, but because he would rather have the government pay for him than save up money or get student loans.
6. A Life Well Lived
   1. P. 82
      1. But the pomade was gone, not needed-his hair curved backward without it, a victim of persistent training.
         1. I had a hair stylist that waxed her eyebrows off so much that they stopped growing back on at all.
   2. P. 82
      1. Many feared that the rise in surrounding property values would close Chinatown’s low-income residential hotels.
         1. My parents almost lived in the Uwajimaya Village in Seattle, except that they raised the rent to nearly $2,500 FOR A ONE BEDROOM.
   3. P. 84
      1. It’s Filipino custom to take pictures of the dead. And in my own experience, I’ve seen more pictures of doorknobs than living relatives.
         1. There’s a village in South Sulawesi, Indonesia that digs up and reburies their dead every few years as a way of respect. To each their own.
7. The Wedding
   1. P. 91
      1. Sleep light, he said, they were leaving early tomorrow-asparagus crew, destination Walla Walla.
         1. Walla Walla is part of the Tri-cities and one of the worse cities to travel through. I’m not sure if that’s because of gangs or the rumors of an extreme immigrant population.
   2. P. 93 – 94
      1. So one day Leo took his case to my…romance would have to run its course.
         1. My uncle got married in his 30s to a woman that he believed loved him and wanted to make a family together. It was only after they were married that he learned that she had had her tubes tied before the wedding.
   3. P. 99
      1. In our yard, in the middle of the city, it lived quietly until it (now clearly a male) flaunted its emerging sense of gender with a sunrise solo.
         1. I raised chickens growing up and they loved to squawk in the morning. At one point, someone had called Animal Control to try and find them, so we had to keep them caged up and covered for a week or so and then let them lose again.
8. A Manong’s Heart
   1. P. 106
      1. “Too much heart,” he said. “A Boeing 707.” “But no skill,” he sighed. “Not enough, anyway.”
         1. I remember hearing some of this in my dance community. People who want more than anything to dance, but lack the timing or coordination to perform them correctly.
   2. P. 109
      1. From Dad and Kikoy and my other uncles, I learned their Depression stories, where doughnuts and coffee or fish-head soup were the best, sometimes only, meal of the day.
         1. I’ve heard of new restaurants popping up now that offer fish head soup as a niche dish “seasonal special,” and yet in this story, that might have just been enough to get them going for the day, instead of a dare or fancy night out.
   3. P. 110
      1. For them, America’s promise-made in village schools-was broken. America the untrue.
         1. I remember the day that I was walking past a classroom that had Marshallese only students in it. They were learning about the US and its history and how shocked they were to hear that this land once belonged to someone else. That the US was not as peaceful and as pleasant as they believed.
9. Stephie
   1. P. 116 – 117
      1. “Bored.” She shrugged. “He was a tax attorney, a good one, at a…his townhouse and that nice chunk of settlement cash.”
         1. I hate women like this so much. you marry a guy, have a good life, and then leave him because you got bored? Don’t you mean comfortable? To have money and be bored is a good thing, that way you can afford to go find adventure, not to scrape it off and see the next bridge you can jump off of.
   2. P. 121
      1. “Mom said to give you up and marry this guy,” she said. “She liked you well enough, but she said you had no future.”
         1. You can’t blame your parents for your choices. Even when your parents give you positive or negative advice, it is YOUR actions that count the most.
   3. P. 122
      1. Truth or dare. I chose to abstain.
         1. Even though he’s happy to be with Stephie now, he was still wearing the ring for some reason. If his wife still is in the picture or not matters.
10. A Matter of Faith
    1. P. 123
       1. Uncle Kikoy, I knew, was just the first…that’s all we do. All the oldtimers, our friends.”
          1. I remember having this same feeling for a few years growing up. All of my mother’s friends were so much older and they all started to die suddenly or get very sick.
    2. P. 127
       1. “Forget it,” he said. “From one Flip to another…Go on. If you’re like me, you owe ‘im.”
          1. Gratitude from a man who probably has lost some more of his own.
    3. P. 128
       1. As I hurried toward the twin elevator…know,” I added, “like the folks who work here.”
          1. I find it to be so strange every time I meet someone in the hospital that isn’t kind or compassionate working there. It’s like they’re not human or detach themselves so much from their job that they don’t feel anymore.
    4. 129
       1. “Can’t,” she said. “Body’s gone; moved it an hour ago.” She paused. “There’s nothing more to do.”
          1. My father found out that his grandmother was sick and in the hospital. He stayed in Washington rather than flying down to Florida to see her. A few days later when my mother returned, who went in his place, she was back in the hospital again. This time, especially since no one could make the trip down so fast, he ended up finding out over the phone that she had passed a few minutes before my mother found the hospital she was in.
11. Dancer
    1. P. 133
       1. They’d seemed so full of strange, forbidden things…by one of Hitler’s senior advisers.
          1. Even as a historical item, why would someone want to buy something that belonged to a Nazi?
    2. P. 137
       1. After that, she figured her current job, as an exotic…hookin’; plus, Baby Brother, I’m good, real good.”
          1. While still a hard profession, dancing is just short of hooking and a lot of the time, the dancers fall into hooking for more money.
    3. P. 140
       1. “Buddy, she said softly. “One more thing. You ain’t seen me. This…”Okay.” ” Cross your heart, Buddy.”
          1. Being cast out from your family is one matter, but that doesn’t mean that she has to cast herself from his mind.
12. A Family Gathering
    1. P. 145
       1. I could be here ten minutes or two hours; it doesn’t matter. Dad and Uncle Kikoy are nearby; I can feel them.
          1. I never got the chance to meet my brother, but when I visited the area where he was buried, I swear that I could feel something.
    2. P. 146
       1. But with Dad I had the impression, dashed by age ten, that…different language? I never knew; he never told me.
          1. I’ve found that many fathers in today’s world that try to talk to their children more. War brings so much silence to families that sometimes, that don’t know how to talk to others once the war is said and done.
    3. P. 147
       1. Over the years I grew closer to him in an odd, indirect…first one. We’re even; I cried at his funeral.
          1. A father who showed he cared in some many ways, except in front of him.

~ by Angelica Perez on May 6, 2019 . Tagged: Assignment, Talking Points