Angelica's A-POP Blog

I enjoyed learning about Vietnamese Americans and Vietnamese culture. I didn’t know that much about Vietnam before this class. I feel like it gets looked over as an “other,” a lot when people study Asian Studies, rather than it being accepted as its own identity. Even as a small presentation, it’s more than anyone in the room might have heard on a normal basis.

I will say that besides learning some of the actor’s names and sports players, I had no clue that sriracha sauce was Vietnamese. Mostly because I’ve seen it in many restaurants. I just thought that it was a mixture of whatever someone could make to look spicy.

• Nothing from Wing Luke
• My Name is Khan – Week 9 decided
• Friday blog workshop
• No workshop next week
• Credit loss for past due papers now
• Reminder: No presentations
• Portmanteau – a word blending the sounds and combining the meanings of two others

1. Miss Lien
   1. P. 6
      1. The adult’s reaction had been different…and feet to enrich and strengthen the family.
         1. My grandmother experienced this when my uncle was born, fathered from an affair instead of my grandfather.
   2. P. 8
      1. The midwife spread her lips, revealing black-lacquered teeth.
         1. I wasn’t aware that Vietnamese woman also lacquered their teeth. I only knew about Japanese women performing this practice.
   3. P. 15
      1. I wasn’t either. And I won’t be for much longer. But it’s nice to eat.
         1. I feel so bad for these women that sell their bodies as incubators so that they can eat and have a life for themselves. I understand that sometimes that’s the best they can do, but I wish it wasn’t.
   4. P. 19 – 20
      1. You better stop flirting with those white…lost too many of our girls to them.
         1. I hate this behavior and act so much. In many cultures, including my grandmother’s, all of the men get so fucking jealous when someone outside of your race flirts with you, you with them, or even having them look at you. Like, it’s not someone’s fault if they get stared that, but this insecurity is so dangerous.
            
2. We Should Never Meet
   1. P. 30
      1. When she was sure the woman was fully occupied…the beeper behind her, tucking it into her underwear.
         1. Of all the things to steal, even if she broke her boyfriend’s, a beeper has to be one of the most annoying clunky things to steal. Besides its small size, the only places I’ve seen handle beepers are just hospitals for a quick message, rather than standard texting.
   2. P. 32
      1. It gave a clue to how the next few months or years…those were the homes that took forever to get out of.
         1. I’ve seen this same example used by YouTubers or public speakers in today’s world. If your parents were hard on you, it’s because they actually cared about you. If they didn’t let you do whatever you want, be your friend rather than a parent, you tend to end up worse in life.
   3. P. 40
      1. Kimmy! a deep voice yelled. So many of them spread…where several hands playfully grabbed for her ankles.
         1. I’m happy to say that I skipped OVER this time of my life. No friends over to make this kind of mess and now in my own house, it’s the kind of clean up that I’m avoiding until I have kids.
   4. P. 53
      1. He’d turn her into every foster mother, every teacher, every boss who once sneered at them, who told them they’d turn out to be nothing. And now look: they weren’t nothing. They were 354. They’d show her.
         1. I feel for Kim in her pain at this moment, but not the logic that she comes to. Showing someone that you’ll become someone in life by stealing from them, breaking the law, not becoming a stable member of society, that is being nothing. The greatest revenge is living better than the life they set for you. That’s not what she’s doing in these moments.
3. The Delta
   1. P. 59
      1. There were four or five infants tangled in every crib. Smells…arms and legs Truc fought the impulse to recoil.
         1. In so many cases like these, the babies, unfortunately, end up dying together and spread diseases at a much higher rate. Save one baby from a crib full of dead ones and it could infect a healthy crib. “A rotten apple spoils the batch,” situation. 
   2. P. 67
      1. It’s just a stupid bird. It was born to die. Now put your hands…wondered what thoughts cowered behind them.
         1. This rather disturbing scene reminds me of the first time I saw a chicken being killed. What makes it worse is that I raised my chickens from birth and then saw my father take their lives by swinging them around their necks till they snapped, watched them flop around the yard, and then cut their heads off.
   3. P. 70
      1. As the youngest children of prosperous families, it would…the poverty that most of their countrymen suffered.
         1. I completely agree with Truc’s and Phuong’s parents. I don’t plan on having my children attend any kind of private school growing up. They need to see the world from all sides.
   4. P. 72-73
      1. We couldn’t afford to bring formula in case it spoiled, so we…the main road. Where are we going? We’re getting milk.
         1. God, I don’t even know how to react to this section other than to show disgust and resentment towards Phuong. She cares about having children in her care, but not the overall health of those children.
4. Visitors
   1. P. 89
      1. Food markets in the States used disposable plastic sacks for groceries, instead of the sturdy cardboard boxes provided in Vietnam.
         1. I think in Japan I was given plastic bags as well, or solid reusable bags at some stores. 
   2. P. 97-98
      1. We spend so much energy and time on the larger issues…not to spend with her because I will never have it back.
         1. I remember after Trump’s election that friends started to turn on each other, couples breaking up, and singles asking what someone’s political party is before a first date. The world turned on its head for that whole first year, all because of one man. 
   3. P. 99-101
      1. Holding the necklace up to eye level, Bac Nguyen took the boy’s…got a thrill out of home invasions, Vinh realized, still found them fun.
         1. I hate Vinh for the rest of the book after this moment. To be shown so much kindness after a life of misery and being treated poorly by adults, you would think that he would cherish this. Instead, he plans to spit in Bac’s face.
   4. P. 107
      1. Enough so they won’t think about calling the police afterward, though…understand their accents anyway, would be any better.
         1. Taking advantage of a community’s vulnerability IS NOT an asset.
5. Gates of Saigon
   1. P. 116
      1. After securing the babies in their carriers, they stood aside while…the disease and death crept around the children.
         1. How can someone be numb to the death of a child? Especially when it’s their mission to save and protect these young souls. 
   2. P. 122
      1. Hoa walked up to the nursery, where Bridget and Steven stood hunched over…responsibility. They knew how it felt. He would not leave her.
         1. I know that the baby’s past orphanage gave her away in hopes of a better life, but to have her taken away for this chance when she’s so close to death’s door, seems more like a reflief on the orphanage’s sanity, than the baby’s wellbeing.
   3. P. 127
      1. When Hoa climbed upstairs to say good-bye to Steven, she…need to get them out of here. This place will kill them.
         1. All volunteers who come to a crisis center, natural disaster, or refugee camp, come with the hope to save and heal. Not all of them, including Steven, in this case, can handle what happens if they are too late or if no comes to assist and they find the remains.
   4. P. 132
      1. The center has lists of American families willing to adopt. They want…who isn’t their own, especially if it’s not even their own race.
         1. Reminds me of the early 2000s when celebrities started to adopt black children in mass. 
6. Emancipation
   1. P. 146
      1. Mai didn’t like people looking at her. She excelled in academics not…reinvested her time and effort for more realistic ambitions.
         1. Same. I’ve never been one for makeup and usually just walk out of my house with it on. No point in putting in any of the effort if it’s not for my sake.
   2. P. 147
      1. Ultimately good, but not when you’re trying to get into an Ivy League school…realizing her life had to be worse to count for something.
         1. I find it to be tragic that your life has to be tragic to get noticed enough to receive funds. Why can’t an enjoyable life be enough?
   3. P. 152
      1. Well, they’re getting another foster kid after I leave. Really? Yeah. Mai tugged at a handful of grass. It’s not a big deal. They had another kid living there before me, too.
         1. My sisters in Japan felt the same way when we continued to host other exchange students instead of stopping with just them.
   4. P. 159
      1. Huna got so nervous around other Vietnamese-convinced since he was only half and raised by white parents, he wouldn’t know how to talk to them.
         1. I used to get the same way around other Latin children for years because they could speak Spanish and I couldn’t. My mother’s friends and their children could speak it, why couldn’t I?
7. Bound
   1. P. 176
      1. The baby lay twisted on the center’s side of the gate. The crowd started shouting…searching their stunned faces. The mother had already disappeared.
         1. At this point, I don’t know if the mother left the baby because she wanted it to have a better life or just to get rid of her.
   2. P. 188
      1. I had to, Bridget said. These children’s lives are more important to me than hamburgers.
         1. Considering Bridget’s age and the recent birth of her own child, I understand her need to be a motherly figure, but she needs to be a figure to her own child first, rather than others.
   3. P. 190
      1. It seemed unfair that he saw the splendor of Vietnam when he was there to fight, while his wife only saw the suffering, and she was there to help.
         1. Similar to tourists visiting any country. They only come to witness the best and not the reality or local perspective.
   4. P. 194
      1. What about the orphans in America? Bridget started at the reporter, who was…their own culture? Their culture has rejected them. They’re outcasts here.
         1. “Reminders,” of war is such a harsh title to give these poor children. You don’t blame the children.
8. Motherland
   1. P. 215 – 216
      1. Huan feels a tug on pant leg. He peers over his sunglasses to the…shakes his head. C’mon. You rich American. Lots of dollahs.
         1. My Indian history teacher told me that she receives the same treatment every time she flies to India. The areas she flys to tend to be so rattled with poverty that everyone is trying to make money somehow.
   2. P. 218
      1. There are three U.S. war veteran buddies who never seemed…left behind their own bastard child in Vietnam. 
         1. I find it to be very rare for veterans to visit the land they fought in. In this case, I’m guessing that the veterans were never exposed to Agent Orange or have seen the effects of it.  
   3. P. 218-219
      1. Gwen claims she wants him to date regardless of color, but…to know why her race is being unilaterally rejected.
         1. My father-in-law has and may still wonder the same thing.
   4. P. 222
      1. It’s not just you, Mai says. The authorities hate overseas…around, and expect to be treated like royalty.
         1. I’ve heard of this same behavior happening to American tourists visiting places like Ireland and Scotland. “You abandoned your people! Why bother coming back?” 

Starting out as a small RPG Marker (RPG Tsukūru Dante98) game by Makoto Kedouin while he was in college, the game Corpse Party has started to pick up traction within the macabre gaming world.

Corpse Party tells the story of a group of Japanese high school students that meet after their school’s spring cultural festival. One of the students in the group, Mayu, is transferring to another high school the following day, so she and her friends gather in their classroom to say goodbye. One of her friends, Ayumi, brings out a charm that she found online and asks everyone to follow the ritual. If performed correctly, then all of them will be friends forever. Mayu, Ayumi, their friends Satoshi, Naomi, Seiko, Morishige, and Yoshiki; Satoshi’s little sister Yuka; and their homeroom teacher Ms. Yui all complete the ritual. The ritual itself is a paper doll that they all pull apart at the same time, having a piece of the doll for themselves.

Unfortunately for the group, the ritual wasn’t performed correctly, and the group descends into a crumbling floor below. What follows is the students being split apart from each other and are forced to witness disturbing amounts of gore, death, and finding the remains of other students, as well as their friends.

The amount of horrific situations that the group gets thrusts into only becomes more horrific through the franchise’s history. For example, the plotline told above only exists as the remake version of Corpse Party. The first game, built in 1996, shortens the list of characters to only five; Satoshi, Naomi, Ayumi, Yoshiki, and Yuka. As if to stay true to the original story, all of the characters added to the game’s story all, one way or another, end up being killed, making their existence in the game at all seem pointless other than to add to the bloodshed. So the question becomes, why create a game only for misery?

…

During its early years, Corpse Party remained underground for the most part, only existing online for users that had a PC-9801 system. Over time, the game started to pick up traction among international players as RPG Marker started to become accessible to Chinese, Korean, and English speakers. For overseas players that happened to stable upon Corpse Party, they would use game emulators in order to play the game to its fullest. The use of game emulators and recording devices helped bring Corpse Party into the modern spotlight, leading to a massive launch of the game in 2014 and 2015, when YouTubers started to record and post their emulated gameplay for all to see.

Due to this rise in popularity, more and more viewers, many the same age or younger than the teenagers portrayed in the game itself, were able to gain access to the games. Without age restrictions to access the videos, children, and adults of all ages were able to witness what happened to these poor souls.

…

The group of students within school all face different scenarios of horror during their time in Heavenly Host Elementary School and all return with different levels of psyche still intact or missing. A perfect example of a student that is affected heavily is Naomi, the game’s main female protagonist in the remake. Originally built in the first game to be displayed as a headstrong, strong-willed character, in the remake Naomi becomes more self-conscious. Her moxy is gone and her dependency on the other characters within the game becomes more pronounced throughout the series.

Naomi suffers from PTSD from Heavenly Host. In the original Corpse Party, Naomi is lucky enough to not experience any hardships, remaining headstrong until the end of the game and not letting fear get the best of her. In the remake, Naomi quickly is forced to suffer one of the worst deaths in the game’s history, the death of her best friend Seiko. It’s later revealed that Naomi is the sole cause of Seiko’s death. First believed to be a suicide, through found footage Naomi is seen to be killing Seiko by forcing her to hang herself. Upon learning this, not only does Naomi suffer immense guilt for killing her best friend, she continues to suffer the reality of losing her best friend when she goes home.

Due to Heavenly Host’s curse, no one remembers that Seiko ever existed, causing Naomi having to be medicated by her mother and seeing multiple therapists, all telling her that it’s just in her head.

…

Despite the horrific nature of the games, anime, manga, and movies have been created to add to the game’s lore and to provide fan service to hardcore fanatics. Luckily enough, some of the manga titles were created by Makoto Kedouin himself so his titles can be seen as canon material that never made it into the game. On the other hand, are the anime and movies, which show alternative final endings of the game. In many cases, the episodes include fan service, false relationships, more horrific endings, and killing off of main characters that normally would be protected. Horror porn, essentially.

In the movie’s case, horror is replaced with a need to make everything jump scare and focusing on the main villains without pointing out just how scary there are. For whatever reason they are made, the movies waste no time bringing more attention to the franchise.

…

Due to the graphic nature and the need to protect its citizens from such amounts of violence and horrific themes within the game, China’s Ministry of Culture has decided to ban the game completely from the country, as well as 37 other anime and manga. The Ministry of Culture was dissolved in March 2018 and replaced the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, so records of the exact list and whether the anime and manga are still banned have become harder to find.

• Adopted from Seoul
• Found Anais through Twitter and Facebook
• Anais was also adopted, same birthday, birth city
• Anais and Sam Skype together for the first time
• Sam and Anais start to look up their records
• A doctor offers to do a DNA test
• Sam has a dream that Anais isn’t her sister
• Sam buys the tickets to fly to London
• Sam finds out that her biological mother denies their births, the doctor that delivered them has died, and the hospital has closed
• Sam finally travels to London
• Sam meets Luca and Marie first
• Sam and Anais finally meet
• Anais grew up an only child
• Sam and Anais find out that they are identical twin sisters
• Both sides of their families accept them fully
• Anais went through very different struggles growing up as an adopted child
• Sam returns to the US
• Anais flyes to the US
• Sam hears about an Adoption conference in Korea
• Sam and Anais meet together in Korea
• Anais and Sam meet their foster mothers
• Sam and Anis write a letter together to their biological mother
• Sama and Anis put a lock on Love Lock Bridge

Ode to my Father

Hyphen or not?

• Implies half of one identity or one identity more or less than

• “Teenage brain”
• “impulsivity”
• Multiple identities
• Fluidity

• Eli gets beat up by Spanish thugs
• Kamila steals money from her sister
• Kamila goes to Eli’s and Daniel’s store to work
• Kamila gets caught stealing a Twinkie from Mr. Kim
• Eli’s car get tagged
• Daniel gives $200 worth of shoes away
• Eli reminds Daniel that they would lose their home
• Eli explains to Kamila what gook means
• Daniel leaves the store after his fight with Eli
• Daniel gets beat up
• Mr. Kim pulls a gun on Kamila
• Eli stands food from the store after Kamila tells him about the gun
• Daniel gets forced to come for a ride-along to South Central
• Daniel gets pulled and assaulted from the car
• Regina picks up Kamila from the store
• Kamila gives Eli the flower from her hair
• Daniel gets picked up by Mr. Kim
• Mr. Kim tells Daniel that he and his father served in the Marine Corps together
• Mr. Kim almost hits Regina and Kamila
• Keith finds the shoes that Eli gave her
• Keith threatens to kick Kamila out if she doesn’t tell her if there’s more shoes
• Keith plans to rob the whole show store overnight
• Eli stays in the shoe store overnight to protect it
• Mr. Kim blames himself for Eli’ father and Kamila’s mother deaths
• Kamila makes it in time to warm Eli and Daniel
• Jesus drops off gas at the store and hide the shoes on the roof
• Eli and Daniel throw all of the shoes off the roof
• Eli wants to sell the store
• Keith comes back to the store to burn it down
• Kamila accidentally shoots and kills herself
• Eli burns the store down after Kamila is confirmed dead

I work at Evergreen’s radio station and part of my job there is to put events on this massive calendar that I make every day that I come in. The first copy of it that is published is over 70 pages long and I build on it every day with new events that are added.

This afternoon before going to the Academic Fair, a member of the Vegan club came and gave me a poster about a film that they were going to be showing this week and wanted it announced on-air. I was glad to help and as she filled out the events forum for me, she started to ask me about my diet and if I was vegan or not.

The conversation slowly turned as she talked about the film. How if only people knew what happened to animals then they wouldn’t eat them. They wouldn’t agree with taking a life. How terrible slaughterhouses are to the animals…so I told her about my dad working there.

My dad came FOB from Cuba as a political refugee at the age of 18. His job in the slaughterhouse was to kill all the cows that came in, gut them, do all of the messy business before they were even cut apart to look like anything less than a cow. He was also one of the lucky ones.

My father told me that all of them were given these blades that they would use to cut the meat apart with. They wore a chest guard, apron, and would be lined up back-to-back to save room. Given that so many refugees and immigrants from around the world come and work in the slaughterhouse, its hard to communicate when someone needs to stop or how to even let someone know that you need to turn around. So, on one of these occasions, my father watched a man farther down the line from him turn around, WITH HIS KNIFE POINTED STRAIGHT OUT, and stab a coworker in the back.

Thankfully my father didn’t have to work there for very long. Fast food may seem like a shitty upgrade for most people, but it probably was what saved my father his arms, legs, and anything else that could accidentally be cut off.

As I told this story to the vegan girl before me, she gave me this look as if she was seeing the slaughterhouse again for the first time. That sure, cows were being killed for food, but the people that killed them didn’t really have that much of a choice when it came to getting a job either.

Trying to save her argument, she told me that my father could always turn around and be vegan, “especially after killing so many cows.” So I told her another story. Of my father growing up in the 80s and 90s in Havana with food being so limited that he would have to go steal and kill a pig from a neighbor in order to have food for that day. And again, it was like her eyes were opened to understanding a person’s need to live, than calling others killers for eating animals. That for some people, animals might just be their only source of food.

When I first came here to Evergreen and moved into the dorms, my father gave me the same knife he had used to kill all of those cows.

“Alright, mi hita. When I first came to this country, I used this knife to kill over 2,000 cows. Here.”

EDIT:

I talked to my dad about this post and he told me that to this day he would still eat meat, even if he had to steal it. 

1. A Temporary Marriage
   1. P. 1
      1. But now that she had arrived, she saw that the…and the living room, Mr. Rhee’s bedroom.
         1. Always make sure you see before you buy or rent. It’s too late once you’re already there.
   2. P. 2
      1. Even after the shame of her husband’s departure…had not allowed herself public displays of grief.
         1. I can relate to Mrs. Shin in these moments. I tend to keep a tight guard up in times of grief or depression.
   3. P. 9
      1. Still, she assumed he called his wife jip-saram, literally houseperson.
         1. A degrading term from an overbearing man.
   4. P. 15
      1. She remained on her knees. “You should slap me…slowly. “I only asked for what I deserved.”
         1. I’m really proud of Mr. Rhee for not hitting Mrs. Shin. Violence should never be promoted in a relationship, even one as complicated as theirs. 
2. At the Edge of the World
   1. P. 28
      1. His new purple cape flared behind him as he ran…especially requested with the frosted letters to SAY NO TO PLASTIC.
         1. A very progress cake choice for a child to make.
   2. P. 29
      1. They found a place to sit despite his mother’s habit…”Even animals don’t waste!” she’d said.
         1. My mother has this same behavior with garage sales. Finding as much as she can whenever she spotss a sign.
   3. P. 32
      1. At night he couldn’t sleep. He considered stabbing…note would have to be read at his funeral.
         1. I mean…I get insomnia, too, but not to the point where I imagine killing myself in order to sleep.
   4. P. 39
      1. She brought icy cans of Coke from the kitchen…union leaders, Mark pretended it was delicious.
         1. I never really enjoyed drinking Coke that much growing up, but now I feel a bit gently for loving Fanta.
3. The Pastor’s Son
   1. P. 51 – 52
      1. Our recently widowed father was forced…meant that she would have nine children.
         1. I think my uncle went there this same ceremony based on the pictures I’ve seen from the wedding.
   2. P. 54
      1. Instead I spent all my time running…not to think about my mother.
         1. Just the causal thoughts of a future school shooter.
   3. P. 57
      1. God, my father liked to say, had punished New Mother with her face.
         1. Is he really calling his stepmom a butterface?
   4. P. 66
      1. I was straining to see when I spotted…over as he released her into the water.
         1. It saddens me to say that I had a grandfather just like him. He’s dead and gone now and so is she, but luckily, time killed her, not him.
4. The Goose Father
   1. P. 75
      1. He had relinquished so many possible selves to…deserved better than this mockery!
         1. I hope one day his children will appreciate how much stress was lifted off of them and courage it takes to go to another country for your family.  
   2. P. 79
      1. The boy became radiant. “She’s not a goose, she’s my…is finally a goose, no matter what you want it to be.”
         1. Usually telling someone that their delusions or false information is wrong, it tends to lead them to believe that they are more right. Gilho is more or less wasting his time during this whole conservation. It would be better for him to just walk away.
   3. P. 82-83
      1. He found himself staring at the rosy flesh of the boy’s…and out of the noraebaang, as graceful as a bird taking flight.
         1. I feel bad for Gilho in this situation. He’s lonely and only around Wuseong. Perhaps he reminds him of an old crush or unspoken desires. Regardless, there’s something hidden there. 
   4. P. 85
      1. They ate small chunks of roasted pork straight off the charcoal grill with garlic and wrapped in lettuce leaves.
         1.  When my aunt would make Korean barbeque, she would place a whole garlic clove in between her meat and lettuce. Very overpowering and more garlic than anything that she would serve us.
5. The Salaryman
   1. P. 94-95
      1. Children are expensive. Rent is expensive. She said…that she had unreasonable shopping habits.
         1. I’ve found that people who have never lived in poverty or have been out of it so long forget what it means to be hungry and the value of money itself. “Handouts,” shouldn’t be a disgusting word.
   2. P. 96
      1. “You know I’m like an older brother to you, but…for a man whose future he has just erased.
         1. When professors started to get laid off for budget cuts, the scariest thing to me was thinking that my favorite professors might be next. Unfortunately, the professor that was asked, had one of the longest histories at Evergreen. 
   3. P. 99
      1. At sunrise you queue behind hundreds of other men…though you are told not to be too hopeful.
         1. I’ve found staffing agencies to be rather useless in my experience. The best jobs I was ever offered lasted two to three weeks at best. No solid jobs, just more to keep you behind and have a little pocket money.
   4. P. 109
      1. Sometimes you prowl large discounted stores and…even like Daehoon when you’re drunk.
         1. My city did a news story a few years back stating that some of the homeless population would steal more cars or possessions so they could be locked up for the holidays. If they weren’t homeless than it was released felonies that felt at home in jail and it’s their way of, “spending the holidays at home.”
6. Drifting House
   1. P. 114
      1. For the school textbooks stated that a swallow had…order to everything. Or there used to be.
         1. So much influence from the Bible.
   2. P. 115
      1. Reminded himself again how impossible it would…did not let go until she stopped moving.
         1. Even though its a misery killing and a better death than letting her die in the cold, it’ll haunt Woncheol for the rest of his life.
   3. P. 123
      1. “Do Chinese people really eat children’s brains?”
         1. One of the most degrading comments I’ve ever heard!
   4. P. 127
      1. She did not want him to leave her to become one…her, so he extended his hands toward her ruined body.
         1. Never forget where you came from and what you left behind to escape.
7. A Small Sorrow
   1. P. 130
      1. She would not descend to the pathetic tirades…won would say, and Eunkang agreed in theory.
         1. If monogamy is unnatural and you’re fine with adultery, then why get married in the first place?
   2. P. 131
      1. Seongwon was excited by her openness to a sensual…had only trusted in a vision of happiness.
         1. Marrying with experience or an understanding of a life without a legacy is very careless and usually tends to fail after a few years. Monogamy may seem unnatural to her, but without a future planned, then who knows what could happen if a mistress shows up with his child.
   3. P. 136
      1. “Mina paints, too. My very gifted apprentice.” He…imagining Mina the way Seongwon might.
         1. Again, why bother getting married with no experience. One man can’t be your whole world and your whole world clearly does not matter to this one man.
   4. P. 145
      1. “I want to be the universe for you.” She tapped the thin fuzz on his scalp with the fat end of the chopstick. “That’s impossible.”
         1. Finally standing up for herself towards the end. My only hope is that she doesn’t make the mistake of marrying another man for a while, while she still discovers herself.
8. The Believer
   1. P. 147-149
      1. That was when Jenny saw an arm in the sink…in the pooling blood and, for the last time, prayed.
         1. Literally, how can someone walk calmly into a setting like that and not scream their head off at the sight of a dismembered child?!
   2. P. 150
      1. As for Jenny, she felt like an intruder in the home she…him, so she did not correct his assumptions.
         1. In times like these, turning away or blaming God is the most damaging. Community and love are the best ways to heal and she’s leaving that instead.
   3. P. 155
      1. “We can make her better,” her father said and hit…her. “But I never hear anyone but me, singing.”
         1. As painful as it may be for some family members, these wards really are the best place for them. In some cases family who take their loved ones out too early or without treatment end up being the next victims or feeling all the more guilty if they escape and kill again.
   4. P. 160-162
      1. She sat up. His pants were pushed past his thighs…as they were purified, washed in the blood of the lamb.
         1. Seeing a dead child, her mother in the psych ward, leaving school, and now having sex with her father. I’m not sure if I’m more disgusted or curious to see if she gets pregnant now.
9. Beautiful Women
   1. P. 170
      1. How can her mother trust a man who irons his collar crisp but overlooks what must be dirt and moss under his fingernails?
         1. Appearance over personal hygiene. I’ve met people who keep their clothes clean, always smell good, but then have rotted food in their fridge and leave trash all over the place.
   2. P. 172
      1. They had smirked hello after Mina’s father, Sergeant…smiling and say, “That’s none of your business.”
         1. Hiding from his past or only keeping to his second family. Why so many secrets?
   3. P. 174
      1. Disappointed by the two sons the vendor has raised into…snatch the girl up in her arms, but is too late.
         1. Kidnapping is horrible and the vendor should be more grateful that she even got to have sons.
   4. P. 181-182
      1. Don’t cry! Mina says, her face deep in the folds…fool. You think your daddy’s coming back for you?
         1. Being lonely and handling abuse in place of loneliness are two negatives. It’s better to be lonely and date occasionally than to bring abuse into your house and risk your life or the lives of your children.