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>> [Inaudible] Chicano poets and
writers that we've had this semester.

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We had a very auspicious beginning with
Sandra Cisneros back in January.

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And we'll have a very auspicious end
with our guest tonight, Denise Chavez.

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I think you'll very much enjoy her
presentation which is very, very stimulating.

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Denise was born in New Mexico, in
southern New Mexico in Las Cruces.

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She did her BA in drama in Las Cruces
at New Mexico State University.

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And then, subsequently, and MA in creative
writing from the University of New Mexico.

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And an MFA in drama from Trinity
University in San Antonio.

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She's taught creative writing,
playwriting, short story,

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and has served on numerous
humanities and arts panels.

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She's read at many universities around the
country and directed plays in several cities.

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She's received several awards and fellowships
including a Rockefeller Playwriting Grant

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and an NEA grant.

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Her works have appeared in many
anthologies, journals, and magazines.

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Her collection of short stories, "The Last

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of the Menu Girls" was published
in 1986 by Arte Publico Press.

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And I want to mention that this, there
are copies for sale after the reading.

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She's currently a writer in
residence at the University of Houston

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where she's teaching a course on Chicano drama,
working on the musical called "Play Time",

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You can talk-- ask her about the subject
of the play and why she chose to put it

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with a musical genre after she reads
a novel called, "Face of an Angel".

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So, I take it that this is a very productive
period for Denise, she--after many years,

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I know has finally had time to devote
to, large chunk of her time to writing.

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Please help me in welcoming
Denise to our campus.

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And I think you will very much
enjoy her presentation tonight.

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>> Thank you.

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[ Applause ]

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Let me just say that this is being cosponsored
by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese,

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the Poetry Center, and the Southwest Center.

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>> Thank you, Chuck.

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I would like to thank the [? Poetry ?]
center for inviting me here.

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I do know that there is a bit of noise going
on because of the movie, "Stand and Deliver".

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So, I will stand here and deliver.

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And then, I hope we can all go over and
catch Eddie Olmos over there [laughter].

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So, I will deliver and then, we'll move on.

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It's very wonderful to be here with you.

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I have so many papers spread
out here, it's amazing.

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I'm going to be reading a
little bit of poetry for you.

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I will be doing some things bilingually but, I
will also explain to you, if I do read something

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in Spanish, for those that do not
speak, I'll translate it in a fashion.

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I'll be reading some from short stories
and I also do what I call performance.

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I'm a performance writer.

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I have a theater background so, I will be
doing some of the characters that I have

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in my short stories in my thing, in
my book, "The Last of the Menu Girls".

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I'd like to start with some poetry.

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And I've been working on a book with a
photographer from New Mexico, Estevan Arellano.

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Do you know those, they're called descansos.

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They're crosses by the side of
the road where people have died.

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Have you seen those crucifixes?

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Sometimes bumper stickers, I mean,
not bumper stickers, hoods of cars.

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I've seen plastic flowers, all types of
mementos from people, family members, usually,

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that are honoring the people
that have died by the road.

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Now, I have been working on this book
with a photographer from New Mexico.

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We hope to have the book out soon.

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It's called, "Descansos"
which means a resting place.

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It's called, "Descansos:
An Interrupted Journey".

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I have taken and looked at the photographer's
photographs and gotten some images of my own.

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So, it's a book mostly of photographs
with text on the stories of the people

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that have died by the side of the road.

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And I think it is a metaphor for so many things.

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So, I'd like to read a little
bit from that book.

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Do I have to stand back there?

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Yes, why don't you because
I like to dance around.

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>> Sure.

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>> [Laughter] I hop all over better.

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And besides, if I'm back there, how
can I get close to you [laughter]?

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So, I need to be up here, better do that.

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Too far. This is much better.

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I'll just do that [inaudible].

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Is that all right?

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Am I plugged in?

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Okay. I don't know.

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Can you all hear?

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Well, I will project, it's a matter of whether
it's being taped or not, that's the thing.

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Sure. Okay.

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Put that over my shoulder.

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Now, in Spanish, there is a
word that is very interesting.

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And that word is Y-A, ya.

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For those of you that Spanish, or that don't
speak Spanish, I'll describe to you this word.

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Ya. There is always a powerful
intensity underlying the pronouncement

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of the word ya in Spanish.

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Ya is a word that has many shades of being,
settling time into already, presently,

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immediately, and now, while not
precluding another time, another occasion.

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Ya, ya, yes, yes.

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As people would say, yes, period.

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All discussions are ended
with a ya, all doubts settled.

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The business is done, finished,
closes with an emphatic finality.

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Anyone can use this word, reprimanding parents,
overtaxed listeners, prophetic analyzers

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of the world's situation, choosing
to end their words with a period, ya.

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That's it, basta, se acabó, ya.

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That's done, did, finished, ended, ya.

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A word like death.

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In my long years, and there have been a few,
it's never been the same, the road, that is.

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As familiar as it all seemed,
passing through towns late at night,

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lights still on, it's all business.

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The seasons, the faces of the side of the road.

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Inside a house, a body lives by candlelight,
bends over to kiss a sleeping child.

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Someone crosses a room, lovers embrace
each other in the solid darkness.

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Who are those people, and what
sort of dreams do they have?

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In the old days, a cross
meant an untimely death.

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Death at someone else's hand, the death
of a traveler, it meant an adventure

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of setting out into new land with dreams.

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You could see the crosses,
so many of them, for miles.

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And now, death means carelessness
and drugs and alcohol, it's emptiness

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and tiredness, oh, and it is still violent.

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But now, it is we who are responsible for our
own deaths, to have been killed by the side

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of the road and to forever wander that road.

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That's what an old tía of mine said.

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It scared me.

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Oh, she has her stories.

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Almost everyone has stories.

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The young people, they have their stories.

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The old people, they have more.

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It is for the ones like me and you out
there to listen, when we get this age, yes,

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when we get this age and we have seen so
many people go down that road and have gone

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down it ourselves, it is a time
of medio-snappeando [phonetic].

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Someone told me, a friend,
snapped, snapped snappeando.

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Well, then, I think of my tío,
my tía, who [inaudible] claimed,

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first shall be last and the last shall be first.

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With that in mind, I'd like to read a little
poem about somebody that did die by the side

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of the road, Pecas, they called him, Freckles.

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He started doing drugs and drinking in
Vietnam, y nunca se compuso, he never got well.

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This poem is mostly in Spanish and it's
from this book, but it's called, "Ya".

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Ya [inaudible] como me acuerdo
de Charlie Pecas, we called him.

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He used to drink and to smoke and to do drugs.

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It started in Vietnam.

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Y nunca se compuso.

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Ya el mundo no es lo que ha sido, me
dice la comadre, tía de una vecina.

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Ya no es tan bueno vivir en los Estados Unidos.

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[Inaudible] Nuevo México,

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it's a jungle!

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Las flores encarnadas al lado del camino son
las vidas de nuestros jóvenes que han muerto.

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Ya, ya, no es tiempo de cesar.

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Isn't it time for all of this
unnecessary death to stop?

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Ay!, que se ha muerto el Charlie.

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Mi ahijado.

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Pues ya, yo ya no tengo esperanzas.

00:10:51.216 --> 00:10:53.086 align:middle
Él tenía sus problemitas.

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Eso sí comadre,

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but who doesn't have their problems?

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Pobrecito mihijito, qué ya, ya no era tiempo.

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I remember him telling me, madrina, ya
¿para qué vivir?, why do on living?

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Ya pa'qué.

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Estoy cansado.

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I'm tired.

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Ya se ve, el que estaba en eso.

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Into all of those drugs.

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It started in Vietnam.

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Y nunca se compuso.

00:11:24.736 --> 00:11:26.976 align:middle
Ah!, ya era tiempo comadre!

00:11:27.646 --> 00:11:28.096 align:middle
It was time.

00:11:28.096 --> 00:11:29.976 align:middle
It couldn't be helped.

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Ya era tiempo.

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Ande, mira la abuela está en
su descanso, mira ahí está.

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Que descanse en paz, comadre.

00:11:45.956 --> 00:11:47.786 align:middle
Ya, era tiempo.

00:11:51.516 --> 00:11:57.226 align:middle
[ Applause ]

00:11:57.726 --> 00:12:06.126 align:middle
Basically, what we have there is a young
person from, that has been to Vietnam and has,

00:12:06.276 --> 00:12:11.366 align:middle
the comadre in the culture is somebody
that usually baptizes your child.

00:12:11.846 --> 00:12:15.676 align:middle
Now, there's also the very loose comadre
or compadre which is like a friend.

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This thing is going to be draped
all over me soon [laughter].

00:12:18.206 --> 00:12:18.846 align:middle
It's all right.

00:12:20.026 --> 00:12:25.346 align:middle
But, in that particular poem, you have the
agony of this person that went to Vietnam

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and died by the side of the road.

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The whole book explores that
theme of what, what is death?

00:12:32.196 --> 00:12:33.456 align:middle
What is life?

00:12:34.076 --> 00:12:36.056 align:middle
And so, I wanted to share that with you.

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I'm going to do something very different now.

00:12:42.076 --> 00:12:48.936 align:middle
And I'd like to introduce another character.

00:12:51.746 --> 00:12:54.976 align:middle
There's so many characters
around here running around.

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This is, I'd like to introduce
you to a gay bag lady [laughter].

00:13:08.416 --> 00:13:11.826 align:middle
She's a gay, pachuca, pinta, bag lady.

00:13:11.826 --> 00:13:17.806 align:middle
Now, I'll explain that to you to
give you some character [laughter].

00:13:18.686 --> 00:13:23.156 align:middle
La Cori, Corinne Delgado [phonetic], for some
of you that saw this today, she's coming back.

00:13:23.156 --> 00:13:28.916 align:middle
I did a reading today at Tucson High School
and we have some of the students here.

00:13:28.916 --> 00:13:31.256 align:middle
Would you raise your hand, the
students from the high school?

00:13:31.346 --> 00:13:32.296 align:middle
Thank you for coming.

00:13:32.296 --> 00:13:33.456 align:middle
I'm so glad you came back.

00:13:34.116 --> 00:13:36.876 align:middle
But I'd like to introduce
you to la Cori Delgado.

00:13:37.566 --> 00:13:41.206 align:middle
She's la pinta so, she's
been in prison [laughter].

00:13:41.206 --> 00:13:46.566 align:middle
She's gay because she had two men, she was in
prison, she had to do something [laughter].

00:13:46.566 --> 00:13:50.536 align:middle
And she was gay bag lady and her
name is Corinne, la Cori Delgado.

00:13:50.536 --> 00:13:51.976 align:middle
I've got to get into character here [laughter].

00:14:01.226 --> 00:14:03.436 align:middle
Antes me importaban las cosas.

00:14:04.416 --> 00:14:04.846 align:middle
Pero ahora,

00:14:06.136 --> 00:14:08.176 align:middle
I'll take every day as it comes.

00:14:08.546 --> 00:14:11.146 align:middle
Some good, some pretty bad,
like the weather [laughter].

00:14:11.146 --> 00:14:16.386 align:middle
If it looks like it's going to rain or snow,

00:14:16.386 --> 00:14:24.336 align:middle
I go over to the Holy Bible Rescue
Mission para agarrarme [inaudible].

00:14:24.336 --> 00:14:31.876 align:middle
I'll stay there over at the Good Faith
Shelter, or one of my other spots.

00:14:32.006 --> 00:14:35.966 align:middle
You know, Venice La Paloma bar, by the bench.

00:14:35.966 --> 00:14:43.036 align:middle
I'll stand over the bench and
it keeps me up [laughter].

00:14:43.746 --> 00:14:49.936 align:middle
Then, I'll arrive over to the interstate
ese colchón viejo, that old mattress.

00:14:50.146 --> 00:14:53.546 align:middle
That's my bedroom.

00:14:54.086 --> 00:14:58.696 align:middle
No, pero no te apenes, don't
sweat it, I got it covered.

00:14:59.376 --> 00:15:03.236 align:middle
La Corinne, she's got it
covered, they say [laughter].

00:15:03.236 --> 00:15:08.366 align:middle
Hey, buddy, I don't like you laughing at me.

00:15:08.366 --> 00:15:20.106 align:middle
I don't need your stupid tea, you keep
your shag rug and your color T.V., man.

00:15:20.106 --> 00:15:22.966 align:middle
I don't want it.

00:15:22.966 --> 00:15:28.986 align:middle
I had it once all of the time, you
know, but I got into writing bad checks

00:15:29.436 --> 00:15:31.256 align:middle
because I needed money [laughter].

00:15:31.256 --> 00:15:32.666 align:middle
I needed money.

00:15:33.216 --> 00:15:39.566 align:middle
They sent me up to Santa Fe New Mexico.

00:15:39.566 --> 00:15:43.456 align:middle
Well, it happened up there.

00:15:43.956 --> 00:15:48.866 align:middle
That's when the women were
up at the pinta, you know?

00:15:49.226 --> 00:15:54.926 align:middle
Once I got sent up and then, I had it all,
the biggest bed, the satin sheets, you know,

00:15:55.246 --> 00:16:03.236 align:middle
but don't get me wrong, buddy, it's never
as good as it looks, you know what I mean?

00:16:03.436 --> 00:16:04.756 align:middle
[Laughter] It all disappeared.

00:16:04.756 --> 00:16:07.996 align:middle
[Inaudible] went to live with his woman.

00:16:07.996 --> 00:16:12.706 align:middle
He took the kids, it all disappeared.

00:16:12.776 --> 00:16:21.926 align:middle
I tried to find him but, my family
don't want him to do with me.

00:16:21.926 --> 00:16:24.856 align:middle
Well, anyway, I met this woman, Sofía.

00:16:24.856 --> 00:16:29.766 align:middle
Ah, Sofía, Sofía, corazonada,
dios mío de la vida.

00:16:29.996 --> 00:16:38.736 align:middle
Anyway, we wanted to get
married and we needed our cards.

00:16:39.036 --> 00:16:45.146 align:middle
But then, she started seeing another
woman, you know how that happens, buddy.

00:16:45.146 --> 00:16:47.986 align:middle
Anyway, yes, I couldn't believe it.

00:16:47.986 --> 00:16:54.266 align:middle
Pues, I was about to get out
anyway so, I said, okay, okay.

00:16:54.266 --> 00:16:58.636 align:middle
We know the kids in New Mexico,
la jefita [inaudible], allá.

00:16:59.726 --> 00:17:09.206 align:middle
And then, you think she's going
to welcome me back a la vecindad.

00:17:09.266 --> 00:17:18.366 align:middle
You know, I had my eyebrows shaved
and then painted high up here, black.

00:17:18.366 --> 00:17:31.216 align:middle
The hair dyed blonde, la pinta [inaudible],
Jesús y María [inaudible] [laughter].

00:17:31.846 --> 00:17:34.186 align:middle
No way [laughter].

00:17:34.236 --> 00:17:42.536 align:middle
So, anyway, nobody wanted me back the
way I was so, I took to the streets.

00:17:42.796 --> 00:17:53.396 align:middle
Got some here, got some there, just a
little to get enough beer, you know?

00:17:53.396 --> 00:17:55.656 align:middle
Hey, buddy, I'm not so bad, you know?

00:17:55.726 --> 00:17:56.726 align:middle
See what I mean [laughter]?

00:17:57.026 --> 00:18:05.506 align:middle
Anyway, but that was 20 years
ago pero no te preocupes.

00:18:05.786 --> 00:18:07.286 align:middle
I've got it covered [laughter].

00:18:07.656 --> 00:18:10.186 align:middle
Anyway, I met this woman.

00:18:10.226 --> 00:18:18.606 align:middle
She wanted me to take care of her
jefito, pobrecito, medio muerto.

00:18:18.606 --> 00:18:27.096 align:middle
He used to be a big man but,
look at him now, ¡diosito!

00:18:27.096 --> 00:18:27.226 align:middle
[laughter].

00:18:27.226 --> 00:18:40.366 align:middle
Anyway, she tried to give him her dead, her
dead mother's things, you know what I mean?

00:18:40.366 --> 00:18:50.096 align:middle
And I said, "You keep your clothes, dammit,
I don't want your damn mother's things.

00:18:50.226 --> 00:18:53.786 align:middle
You think because you're a Mexican
with money, you can treat me bad."

00:18:54.076 --> 00:18:57.616 align:middle
Chicanos are even worse to their own kin.

00:18:57.686 --> 00:18:57.996 align:middle
You know what?

00:18:58.386 --> 00:19:00.656 align:middle
You can't treat me like, I'm not your slave.

00:19:01.246 --> 00:19:05.316 align:middle
I'm going to report you to the
authorities, IRA, NBC, NBC, CBS,

00:19:05.316 --> 00:19:09.066 align:middle
[laughter] you know, INS
for cruelty to an old woman.

00:19:09.066 --> 00:19:12.196 align:middle
I don't need your stupid
pity, buddy, your shag rug

00:19:12.586 --> 00:19:14.296 align:middle
and your color T.V. Yeah,
keep on laughing [laughter].

00:19:14.296 --> 00:19:17.386 align:middle
They think that they can give you the
slops once they see you in the street.

00:19:17.416 --> 00:19:18.076 align:middle
¡Qué va!, you know what we need.

00:19:18.106 --> 00:19:20.146 align:middle
Lo que necesitamos en Arizona es una
gobernadora ¡como esa Madre Teresa!.

00:19:20.176 --> 00:19:21.616 align:middle
Anyway, I left that woman
holding her dead woman's things.

00:19:21.646 --> 00:19:23.206 align:middle
And I walked over to the senior
citizens pa' mis enchiladas.

00:19:23.236 --> 00:19:24.556 align:middle
It was Friday and they were
having a baile so, I stayed,

00:19:24.586 --> 00:19:25.306 align:middle
Johnny and the Weeklys [phonetic]
you know [laughter]?

00:19:25.336 --> 00:19:26.926 align:middle
So, anyway, siempre me ha gustado
tirar chancla, duh, duh, duh, duh,

00:19:26.956 --> 00:19:27.436 align:middle
duh, duh, den, den, nee [laughter].

00:19:27.466 --> 00:19:28.876 align:middle
Well, anyway, you know I saw
this cute viejita, and I thought,

00:19:28.906 --> 00:19:29.986 align:middle
I'm going to go over and
ask her to dance [laughter].

00:19:30.016 --> 00:19:30.706 align:middle
Se puso medio weird [laughter].

00:19:30.736 --> 00:19:32.896 align:middle
And then I went over to this little viejito
and he was kind of giving me the eye.

00:19:32.926 --> 00:19:34.456 align:middle
Pero, I said, I better watch his pero
[inaudible] iba a bailar so, we danced.

00:19:34.486 --> 00:19:35.866 align:middle
I stayed over there till 5:30
then I thought I would go

00:19:35.896 --> 00:19:37.156 align:middle
over to the Holy Bible to
see what was happening.

00:19:37.186 --> 00:19:38.026 align:middle
And then, I went to the Good Faith.

00:19:38.056 --> 00:19:39.496 align:middle
It was full, estaba lleno, [inaudible] ese
colchón viejo, it was gone [laughter].

00:19:39.526 --> 00:19:41.536 align:middle
Oh, I went over, I noticed there was a lot of
activity over here by the [inaudible] you know?

00:19:41.566 --> 00:19:43.186 align:middle
I hear that Eddie Olmos is over
there, es que tie-- que usa tupé.

00:19:43.216 --> 00:19:43.636 align:middle
Did you hear that?

00:19:43.666 --> 00:19:44.506 align:middle
I could not believe it, pobrecito.

00:19:44.536 --> 00:19:45.226 align:middle
¡Calvo!, I couldn't believe it.

00:19:45.256 --> 00:19:46.906 align:middle
Anyway so, I came over here because I
like to sleep on the portal [inaudible].

00:19:46.936 --> 00:19:48.046 align:middle
I come into this room, and I saw this woman.

00:19:48.076 --> 00:19:50.326 align:middle
She was doing a poetry reading or something so
I thought I'll get in there and I'll keep warm.

00:19:50.356 --> 00:19:51.436 align:middle
So, here I am, eh, ¡bueno, pues aquí estamos!

00:19:51.466 --> 00:19:52.366 align:middle
So, anyway, I'm getting a little tired.

00:19:52.396 --> 00:19:53.866 align:middle
I'm going to say my prayers
a la virgencita de Guadalupe.

00:19:53.896 --> 00:19:54.676 align:middle
And I'm going to go find Eddie [laughter].

00:19:54.706 --> 00:19:55.036 align:middle
Yeah, I sure am.

00:19:55.066 --> 00:19:55.846 align:middle
He's calvo no, he's good looking.

00:19:55.876 --> 00:19:56.326 align:middle
You know what I mean?

00:19:56.356 --> 00:19:56.836 align:middle
I've got those little [inaudible] [laughter].

00:19:56.866 --> 00:19:57.166 align:middle
Very [inaudible] [laughter] anyway.

00:19:57.196 --> 00:19:58.876 align:middle
Ay la madrecita de Guadalupe me
conoce, she knows when I've got it.

00:19:58.906 --> 00:19:59.956 align:middle
And when La Cori got it, it don't matter.

00:19:59.986 --> 00:20:00.976 align:middle
Jesus and Maria and [inaudible],
I got it covered [laughter].

00:20:01.516 --> 00:20:10.806 align:middle
[ Applause ]

00:20:11.306 --> 00:20:13.526 align:middle
Thank you very much.

00:20:14.716 --> 00:20:20.626 align:middle
I'd like to, gosh, I can see pretty good out
of those, read something now from a novel

00:20:20.626 --> 00:20:22.916 align:middle
that I'm working on that's
called, "Face of an Angel".

00:20:23.486 --> 00:20:27.666 align:middle
And I'll tell you a little bit about it.

00:20:27.666 --> 00:20:30.036 align:middle
The protagonist is a career waitress.

00:20:30.236 --> 00:20:36.106 align:middle
She has been working in a restaurant since
she's about 19 and she's now into her 40s.

00:20:37.246 --> 00:20:43.696 align:middle
And I used the restaurants and idea of here
being a servant to the puppets as a metaphor.

00:20:44.466 --> 00:20:49.576 align:middle
The book is about serving and being served,
especially women serving and being served.

00:20:50.386 --> 00:20:56.226 align:middle
And in this scene, I'll introduce you to the
manager of the restaurant, Larry Larragoite.

00:20:56.226 --> 00:20:59.106 align:middle
Now, this is the name that is very popular.

00:20:59.486 --> 00:21:03.666 align:middle
And Larry can barely say enchilada.

00:21:03.916 --> 00:21:08.816 align:middle
He's Hispanic but, he has trouble pronouncing
enchiladas or salsa, you know [laughter]?

00:21:09.096 --> 00:21:13.016 align:middle
So, he is, I'll introduce you to Larry.

00:21:13.016 --> 00:21:16.786 align:middle
His mother has sent him back
East to marry blonde.

00:21:17.456 --> 00:21:21.706 align:middle
But without further ado, I will
introduce you to Larry Larragoite.

00:21:21.706 --> 00:21:25.816 align:middle
And this is from my novel, "Face of an Angel".

00:21:26.526 --> 00:21:32.706 align:middle
Lawrence, Larry, Lencho, Lar, L Larragoite
was the owner and sole proprietor

00:21:32.706 --> 00:21:37.186 align:middle
of El Farol Restaurant and Bar,
specializing in Mexican food and steaks.

00:21:37.896 --> 00:21:42.876 align:middle
The restaurant has been handed over to him
lock, stock, and barrel by his mot her, Connie,

00:21:43.116 --> 00:21:49.166 align:middle
Consuelo, Larragoite La Point Bexler,
after she had run it for many years

00:21:49.166 --> 00:21:54.466 align:middle
and after Larry had almost
received is B.A. in business.

00:21:54.466 --> 00:21:55.056 align:middle
He was [inaudible] short.

00:21:55.426 --> 00:21:59.816 align:middle
He'd gone back East to Vermont because
his mother's brother, Milo Larragoite,

00:21:59.816 --> 00:22:05.686 align:middle
or as Milo was known there, Mr.
Larragoite, French [laughter].

00:22:08.016 --> 00:22:12.946 align:middle
Connie had wanted him not to marry
a Mexican but, to marry blonde.

00:22:13.216 --> 00:22:18.716 align:middle
She thought that if he got away that he
would marry someone nice, someone Anglo.

00:22:19.636 --> 00:22:23.846 align:middle
Connie's first marriage had been with a
Mexicano, Eddie [assumed spelling] Larrogoite

00:22:24.396 --> 00:22:27.886 align:middle
but he had left her for countless other women.

00:22:28.516 --> 00:22:29.976 align:middle
She could not take it anymore.

00:22:31.776 --> 00:22:35.696 align:middle
Connie thought that, if Larry got away
from the state, he'd meet someone nice.

00:22:37.086 --> 00:22:41.046 align:middle
To her, there were two main
races, Anglo and Mexican.

00:22:41.366 --> 00:22:46.666 align:middle
She was a Mexican Mexican and
Eddie had been a Mexican Mexican.

00:22:47.756 --> 00:22:49.606 align:middle
The combination would never work [laughter].

00:22:49.766 --> 00:22:55.226 align:middle
She knew from experience the hell
that she was saving her son from,

00:22:55.226 --> 00:22:57.696 align:middle
and it was a lot different with women.

00:22:58.216 --> 00:23:01.086 align:middle
The badness was in the blood, in the genes.

00:23:01.646 --> 00:23:04.206 align:middle
Connie wanted her grandchildren to be different.

00:23:04.806 --> 00:23:08.206 align:middle
Not that she hadn't loved Eddie.

00:23:08.616 --> 00:23:13.296 align:middle
Dadgummit, she loved that man even though
he had jungle rotting feet [laughter]

00:23:13.766 --> 00:23:15.406 align:middle
from the war, number two.

00:23:15.716 --> 00:23:19.166 align:middle
She knew what it was to love a man
with athlete's feet [laughter].

00:23:19.336 --> 00:23:26.176 align:middle
The man was the best lover she had ever had,
would ever have but, he just wasn't dependable.

00:23:26.526 --> 00:23:30.416 align:middle
With a small child and countless bills, it
was either Eddie had to go or [inaudible].

00:23:30.416 --> 00:23:36.336 align:middle
She really had tried to work it
out but, it just didn't work out.

00:23:36.966 --> 00:23:38.986 align:middle
It was either Eddie or her son's future.

00:23:39.236 --> 00:23:42.516 align:middle
Eddie had had his past, present,
and what future was there

00:23:42.596 --> 00:23:43.986 align:middle
for an out-and-out, in-and-out [laughter]?

00:23:44.936 --> 00:23:48.106 align:middle
Larry, on the other hand, was
her son, firstborn, only born.

00:23:48.376 --> 00:23:51.046 align:middle
To this day, she could not eat red chile.

00:23:51.766 --> 00:23:55.586 align:middle
The night before Larry was born,
she'd eaten a plate of red enchiladas,

00:23:55.686 --> 00:23:57.766 align:middle
Dora la cocinera [inaudible] El Farol.

00:23:57.766 --> 00:24:04.006 align:middle
She was still up and around the still belief
that that was what had brought on the birth.

00:24:04.006 --> 00:24:05.426 align:middle
Oh, what a labor it was [laughter].

00:24:05.536 --> 00:24:14.476 align:middle
Later the next day, the hospital crew was still
cleaning up red chile from the floor [laughter].

00:24:14.646 --> 00:24:18.796 align:middle
Connie could not look at chile now red,
especially without thinking of Larry

00:24:18.796 --> 00:24:21.276 align:middle
and her decision, then and there,
to tie her tubes [laughter].

00:24:21.466 --> 00:24:24.806 align:middle
No man was ever going to cause her that,

00:24:24.806 --> 00:24:27.966 align:middle
especially one she loved
red chile or not [laughter].

00:24:27.966 --> 00:24:32.956 align:middle
I love my baby but, I swear to you, madrecita,
queen of the angels on my mother's grave

00:24:33.026 --> 00:24:36.546 align:middle
that hurt like hell and don't you
tell me that the pain was worth it.

00:24:36.546 --> 00:24:41.966 align:middle
I love my baby but, goddammit, no way
in hell, forgive me virgencita, any man,

00:24:41.966 --> 00:24:44.096 align:middle
especially one I love, going to do
that to me ever again [laughter].

00:24:44.096 --> 00:24:48.596 align:middle
May I burn in everlasting hell full of
unfaithful, lying through their teeth men,

00:24:48.596 --> 00:24:52.956 align:middle
no man is ever going to do that to me again.

00:24:53.056 --> 00:24:56.516 align:middle
Eddie Larragoite just was not
husband material [laughter].

00:24:58.256 --> 00:25:03.896 align:middle
Oh gosh, Connie had fared better with husbands
two and three, Willie La Point and Bexler,

00:25:04.156 --> 00:25:07.716 align:middle
each of them rich Anglos
knew how to treat a woman.

00:25:07.956 --> 00:25:12.436 align:middle
And yet, there was that nagging worm in
her soul whose name was Eddie Larragoite.

00:25:12.436 --> 00:25:17.186 align:middle
If she closed her eyes, she could
still smell the acrid sweet wave

00:25:17.186 --> 00:25:22.196 align:middle
of yellow crusty putrefaction that the man who
she loved still called his feet [laughter].

00:25:22.576 --> 00:25:28.636 align:middle
They were the feet of an old miner, a gone to
sea sportsman, a prisoner of war [laughter].

00:25:28.906 --> 00:25:34.056 align:middle
They were the feet of Eddie Larragoite,
the only man that she had ever loved.

00:25:34.056 --> 00:25:37.306 align:middle
The only man she swore that she
never wanted to grow old with.

00:25:37.596 --> 00:25:42.726 align:middle
The only man that gave her his seed,
a seed that she had allowed to remain.

00:25:43.146 --> 00:25:46.776 align:middle
Anyway, Milo would help Larry
out, introduce him around.

00:25:47.566 --> 00:25:50.926 align:middle
He was part of the Eastern
establishment and successful as well,

00:25:51.476 --> 00:25:56.036 align:middle
with his swimming pool equipment
business in Vermont.

00:25:56.036 --> 00:26:02.016 align:middle
Milo, in Vermont, Connie,
Connie, you know Nuevo Mexico.

00:26:02.016 --> 00:26:03.146 align:middle
I know Vermont.

00:26:03.766 --> 00:26:06.836 align:middle
Connie, you leave yours, you
leave me mine, keep yours.

00:26:06.836 --> 00:26:09.616 align:middle
Oh, I don't know.

00:26:09.616 --> 00:26:14.316 align:middle
In her mind, there was something
unrecognizable in Milo since he moved East.

00:26:15.266 --> 00:26:16.636 align:middle
But he was her brother.

00:26:18.096 --> 00:26:20.076 align:middle
Who is he now, she thought?

00:26:20.376 --> 00:26:22.076 align:middle
How does he make his money?

00:26:23.226 --> 00:26:26.526 align:middle
Larry got the bulk of his business
training at his Uncle Milo's side.

00:26:27.426 --> 00:26:31.276 align:middle
And sure enough, Larry met
somebody female, blonde, Anglo,

00:26:31.556 --> 00:26:32.936 align:middle
her name was Bonnie McNuth [assumed spelling].

00:26:32.936 --> 00:26:35.076 align:middle
She was a classmate of Yvette's
[assumed spelling],

00:26:35.526 --> 00:26:39.646 align:middle
Milo's half-blonde daughter who
was in school at Bennington.

00:26:39.716 --> 00:26:43.036 align:middle
All of the kids, Monique, Shawnee,
Yvette Larragoite [laughter],

00:26:43.416 --> 00:26:46.916 align:middle
loved the French language
and had studied it in school.

00:26:46.986 --> 00:26:48.856 align:middle
Bonnie met Larry through Yvette.

00:26:49.056 --> 00:26:50.946 align:middle
She thought that he was Mideastern [laughter].

00:26:51.086 --> 00:26:53.736 align:middle
It was only logical.

00:26:54.296 --> 00:26:57.356 align:middle
She knew that the French had been
in Morocco [laughter] [inaudible].

00:26:57.356 --> 00:27:05.626 align:middle
Lar, as she called him, Lar was dark-haired,
dark-skinned, and he had a mustache.

00:27:06.106 --> 00:27:07.766 align:middle
Bonnie, I'm Spanish.

00:27:08.066 --> 00:27:11.326 align:middle
Funny, Yvette never said
that she had any [inaudible].

00:27:12.566 --> 00:27:14.926 align:middle
I don't think she knows, Bonnie.

00:27:14.926 --> 00:27:17.766 align:middle
Lar, your parents were born in Spain?

00:27:18.136 --> 00:27:20.866 align:middle
Well, no, they originally
came up from, yeah but,

00:27:20.866 --> 00:27:25.566 align:middle
I was born in New Mexico and
Larragoite is a name common.

00:27:25.846 --> 00:27:26.476 align:middle
You're Mexican.

00:27:26.806 --> 00:27:27.486 align:middle
No, no, Bonnie.

00:27:27.576 --> 00:27:28.716 align:middle
Bonnie, I am Spanish.

00:27:29.376 --> 00:27:31.586 align:middle
But you said, - I am Spanish, Bonnie [laughter].

00:27:32.306 --> 00:27:39.296 align:middle
You are the first Spanish Mexican that I
have ever met [laughter] and known, Lar.

00:27:39.496 --> 00:27:40.586 align:middle
She called him Lar.

00:27:40.586 --> 00:27:41.886 align:middle
It rhymed with bear.

00:27:43.116 --> 00:27:44.486 align:middle
No kidding, Bonnie.

00:27:44.486 --> 00:27:46.086 align:middle
Yeah, golly, Larry.

00:27:46.406 --> 00:27:47.926 align:middle
Yeah, golly, Bonnie.

00:27:48.646 --> 00:27:51.166 align:middle
Well, there were not too
many Mexicans in Vermont.

00:27:51.166 --> 00:27:52.476 align:middle
Well, Bonnie was intrigued.

00:27:52.476 --> 00:27:56.366 align:middle
She had never met an honest
to goodness Spanish Mexican.

00:27:57.866 --> 00:27:59.166 align:middle
Lar was so different.

00:27:59.166 --> 00:28:02.856 align:middle
She wasn't sure what a Spanish
Mexican was like but, Lar was so cute.

00:28:03.416 --> 00:28:05.176 align:middle
She was definitely interested.

00:28:05.436 --> 00:28:10.646 align:middle
He had so many adorable little ways,
ways others might find annoying.

00:28:11.016 --> 00:28:14.036 align:middle
Well, they were just parcel
of the man that she loved.

00:28:14.186 --> 00:28:21.006 align:middle
For example, his chronic gum chewing and bubble
popping, toothpick sucking, ear cleaning,

00:28:21.006 --> 00:28:24.196 align:middle
gum wiping, nail chewing, eye
cleaning, the list went on.

00:28:25.016 --> 00:28:28.696 align:middle
Oh, he was an adorable little monkey [laughter].

00:28:29.526 --> 00:28:30.536 align:middle
Her monkey.

00:28:30.786 --> 00:28:36.966 align:middle
Now, Bonnie was tall, muscular with strong,
broad hairs on her legs [inaudible].

00:28:37.286 --> 00:28:43.236 align:middle
Very round and comfortable stomach that Lar
liked to lay on and large, swollen breasts.

00:28:44.786 --> 00:28:51.796 align:middle
She was always in a semi-excited menstrual
stage of engorged sexuality [laughter]

00:28:51.796 --> 00:28:55.786 align:middle
and she was attracted to Lar, and
there were no two ways about it.

00:28:55.786 --> 00:29:01.086 align:middle
Lar, as she called him fondly, was thin,
chicken-legged [laughter], ruby, hairy,

00:29:01.476 --> 00:29:08.166 align:middle
wore glasses and had always been attracted
to large, swollen breasted blondes.

00:29:08.606 --> 00:29:12.976 align:middle
His heart, soul, and lips were
made for swollen breasted blondes.

00:29:12.976 --> 00:29:14.606 align:middle
It was a perfect match.

00:29:14.606 --> 00:29:19.556 align:middle
Bonnie had been majoring in architecture but,
after she met Lar, she switched her major

00:29:19.556 --> 00:29:24.926 align:middle
to Spanish [laughter] with a minor in Home Ec.

00:29:24.926 --> 00:29:24.993 align:middle
[laughter].

00:29:24.993 --> 00:29:28.656 align:middle
Why not? Well, it's not necessary,
for Christ's sake, Bonnie,

00:29:28.716 --> 00:29:30.916 align:middle
New Mexico is part of the United States.

00:29:31.756 --> 00:29:35.446 align:middle
Well, I know that, Lar but, I need
to be able to talk to your family.

00:29:36.376 --> 00:29:39.266 align:middle
Herman is Anglo and mother talks English.

00:29:39.746 --> 00:29:46.986 align:middle
What about your, the others, Lar, your tías
and tíos and sobrinos and abuelitas [laughter]?

00:29:46.986 --> 00:29:49.246 align:middle
Well, Bonnie was well into Spanish now.

00:29:49.336 --> 00:29:50.946 align:middle
She got As and everything.

00:29:51.736 --> 00:29:58.086 align:middle
¡Bien hecho señores y señoritas!, Bonnie,
there are no others, I'm an only child.

00:29:58.296 --> 00:30:00.096 align:middle
My father, well, let's forget him.

00:30:00.196 --> 00:30:03.176 align:middle
Mother only has Milo, well,
let's forget him and his Spanish.

00:30:03.176 --> 00:30:05.246 align:middle
Well, his French is better than his Spanish.

00:30:05.926 --> 00:30:09.326 align:middle
Everybody speaks English, Bonnie,
this is the U.S. for Christ's sake.

00:30:09.766 --> 00:30:12.926 align:middle
Hell, I don't speak English,
Bonnie, why should you?

00:30:13.406 --> 00:30:14.536 align:middle
Well, that's not the point, Lar.

00:30:14.536 --> 00:30:17.646 align:middle
The point is, honey, you're
Mex - I mean, Spanish Mexican.

00:30:17.966 --> 00:30:21.466 align:middle
I won't be a token Spanish Mexican
and that's all there is to it.

00:30:23.816 --> 00:30:26.976 align:middle
Bonnie, hell, I cannot even speak Spanish.

00:30:26.976 --> 00:30:29.506 align:middle
Hell, I can't talk yet, just drop it, would you?

00:30:29.886 --> 00:30:31.406 align:middle
Now, Lar was not kidding.

00:30:31.876 --> 00:30:37.236 align:middle
This was the same Larry Larragoite who had
gone to Mexico City on his 17th birthday,

00:30:37.496 --> 00:30:43.486 align:middle
where he had gone with his mother, Connie,
and her then-husband, Willie La Point who,

00:30:43.486 --> 00:30:48.716 align:middle
by the way, spoke impeccable
Spanish, much to his mother's chagrin.

00:30:49.366 --> 00:30:53.566 align:middle
And this was the same Larry Larragoite that,
at Marcene [assumed spelling] had ordered

00:30:53.616 --> 00:30:58.976 align:middle
for dessert chocolate caca [laughter].

00:30:58.976 --> 00:31:06.796 align:middle
Oh my God, the waiter was [laughter],
he really had gotten a hoot out of it.

00:31:06.796 --> 00:31:08.486 align:middle
Chocolate caca [laughter], hey.

00:31:08.616 --> 00:31:15.626 align:middle
As a result of this joke, Larry
never forgave Willie his laughter,

00:31:16.466 --> 00:31:17.836 align:middle
loudmouthed, crude [inaudible].

00:31:19.636 --> 00:31:21.776 align:middle
Willie, in reality, lover of life.

00:31:21.776 --> 00:31:26.886 align:middle
And Connie was still reeling from her
contact with the Great Larragoite, Eddie so,

00:31:26.886 --> 00:31:29.116 align:middle
her laughter, for the time being, was dried up.

00:31:29.346 --> 00:31:35.136 align:middle
At the time of the chocolate caca
episode, she had sided with Larry

00:31:35.136 --> 00:31:39.686 align:middle
and what marriage could survive the
hatred of a maligned and revengeful son?

00:31:39.686 --> 00:31:45.536 align:middle
Well, after they moved back to New
Mexico, Bonnie would have it no other way.

00:31:45.536 --> 00:31:49.726 align:middle
It was really Bonnie who ran the restaurant,
who fired and hired and reprimanded the staff

00:31:49.876 --> 00:31:54.666 align:middle
in Spanish and could be heard squawking jokes
with Juan, Jesús, J.J. [assumed spelling],

00:31:54.666 --> 00:31:57.866 align:middle
the custodian in Spanish and who
praised the staff in Spanish.

00:31:58.636 --> 00:32:00.556 align:middle
Larry still couldn't speak much.

00:32:01.226 --> 00:32:08.026 align:middle
He was, he tried but, he didn't eat the
food, you know, it gave him gas [laughter].

00:32:08.026 --> 00:32:12.646 align:middle
He was a steak man and he couldn't, he
barely could pronounce what was on the menu.

00:32:13.806 --> 00:32:19.576 align:middle
Enchilada, a rolled tortilla
with a green salsa sauce.

00:32:20.916 --> 00:32:24.126 align:middle
Empanada, it's like a greasy
Mexican [inaudible] [laughter].

00:32:24.366 --> 00:32:28.406 align:middle
Empanada, empanada, empanada.

00:32:28.756 --> 00:32:32.856 align:middle
Here, [inaudible] that little,
that little guy in the kitchen,

00:32:32.926 --> 00:32:36.116 align:middle
that little prick had him
calling it empanada [laughter].

00:32:36.486 --> 00:32:41.066 align:middle
No wonder the old ladies had laughed,
empanada, that was like squatting

00:32:41.066 --> 00:32:42.496 align:middle
down on the enchiladas [laughter].

00:32:42.496 --> 00:32:47.476 align:middle
What do you expect from a Mexican
somebody who washes dishes for a living?

00:32:47.916 --> 00:32:50.706 align:middle
The food slush was already part of his brain.

00:32:50.926 --> 00:32:52.666 align:middle
What was the guy's problem?

00:32:52.926 --> 00:32:55.176 align:middle
If it wasn't the food slush,
it was more than that.

00:32:55.176 --> 00:33:00.206 align:middle
It was the floating, never-ending
soggy, nauseating, smelly food slush.

00:33:00.746 --> 00:33:04.776 align:middle
Years of food slush, years of
watery, soapy, congested dreams.

00:33:05.976 --> 00:33:11.226 align:middle
Whatever dreams the guy must have had, still
has all of them in front of him suspended

00:33:11.226 --> 00:33:15.816 align:middle
in that filmy, greasy, reddish colored
water that clogs and traps it there.

00:33:16.136 --> 00:33:22.846 align:middle
Foot to either side in a small human hell,
the kitchen of El Farol Restaurant [laughter].

00:33:23.216 --> 00:33:27.976 align:middle
Well, that was Pacheco's problem.

00:33:28.606 --> 00:33:29.976 align:middle
What was his?

00:33:30.516 --> 00:33:40.916 align:middle
[ Applause ]

00:33:41.416 --> 00:33:44.326 align:middle
I'd like to read another
section from the same book.

00:33:44.326 --> 00:33:49.606 align:middle
Now, I'd like to introduce you
to the character, [inaudible].

00:33:50.676 --> 00:33:53.816 align:middle
Okay, this is the character
from the book called,

00:33:53.816 --> 00:33:55.886 align:middle
"Face of an Angel" and she is the grandmother.

00:33:56.386 --> 00:33:59.616 align:middle
And in this scene from a
chapter called "Saints",

00:34:00.186 --> 00:34:04.266 align:middle
she's telling her granddaughter why she
should be considered becoming a nun.

00:34:04.636 --> 00:34:07.566 align:middle
Because women, all women at one time or another,

00:34:08.206 --> 00:34:13.186 align:middle
should think about the divine
service for these reasons.

00:34:13.726 --> 00:34:18.636 align:middle
Yes, mijita [laughter].

00:34:19.716 --> 00:34:24.066 align:middle
Mija. Priests in the family,
they're a dime a dozen [laughter].

00:34:24.516 --> 00:34:28.306 align:middle
Everybody knows, they're either
[inaudible] or maricón [inaudible].

00:34:28.306 --> 00:34:34.086 align:middle
Mijita, what this family needs is a nun.

00:34:34.496 --> 00:34:38.826 align:middle
Women's prayers, everybody
knows, are more powerful.

00:34:40.026 --> 00:34:42.906 align:middle
Any man can give up sex for four years,

00:34:42.906 --> 00:34:48.896 align:middle
especially if they get them before they
know what they have between their skirts.

00:34:49.046 --> 00:34:50.646 align:middle
Catholics, that's what they call them.

00:34:51.136 --> 00:34:54.256 align:middle
After that, you know what
happens when a woman gives up sex,

00:34:55.246 --> 00:34:57.306 align:middle
you know what I mean, it's final [laughter].

00:34:57.306 --> 00:35:03.516 align:middle
Try to sneak sex on a woman, four years
later, there's everlasting hell to pay.

00:35:04.206 --> 00:35:06.946 align:middle
No, mija, you are the one [inaudible].

00:35:08.266 --> 00:35:10.836 align:middle
You are going to become a nun someday.

00:35:11.096 --> 00:35:12.926 align:middle
One day, may I live to see it.

00:35:13.376 --> 00:35:15.056 align:middle
And if I don't, you'll never
rest, mija [laughter].

00:35:15.056 --> 00:35:21.376 align:middle
You'll never rest and I'll never rest [laughter]
until it's done or you're done or I'm done.

00:35:21.946 --> 00:35:23.266 align:middle
No, I'll never rest.

00:35:23.766 --> 00:35:27.276 align:middle
Do you want me to suffer [laughter]?

00:35:27.276 --> 00:35:36.216 align:middle
Mija, no. One time or another, one place where
every woman wishes that she could become a nun,

00:35:36.536 --> 00:35:38.136 align:middle
you don't know what I mean, yet, mija.

00:35:38.386 --> 00:35:39.936 align:middle
No, may the Lord spare you.

00:35:39.936 --> 00:35:44.396 align:middle
La virgencita de Guadalupe, may
she spare you a drunken man late

00:35:44.396 --> 00:35:48.936 align:middle
at night smelling of chicharrones
and tequila, no.

00:35:48.936 --> 00:35:52.096 align:middle
Worse yet, of frijoles and beer, no [laughter].

00:35:52.096 --> 00:35:58.576 align:middle
Or worse yet, a man in late afternoon in
Agosto, in August, when you're roasting chiles

00:35:58.576 --> 00:36:02.166 align:middle
and coming in from the farm smelling
of sweat and dirt and carrying on.

00:36:02.896 --> 00:36:09.376 align:middle
As if it wasn't hot enough already [laughter].

00:36:09.376 --> 00:36:11.396 align:middle
Mija, I want to spare you this [laughter].

00:36:12.626 --> 00:36:18.056 align:middle
Listen to me, listen to me, think about it.

00:36:18.056 --> 00:36:18.966 align:middle
You like to read.

00:36:18.966 --> 00:36:21.886 align:middle
Nuns, they read all the time and
nobody interrupts them [laughter].

00:36:22.096 --> 00:36:23.706 align:middle
No, they can be quiet.

00:36:23.796 --> 00:36:27.676 align:middle
No one is belching, scratching,
making pedos, farts.

00:36:27.886 --> 00:36:31.296 align:middle
No, on the way to the excusado,
you know, the bathroom.

00:36:31.426 --> 00:36:35.686 align:middle
It sounds, that word, it sounds
like an excuse, excusado.

00:36:35.946 --> 00:36:42.086 align:middle
That's what sex is, but in a different way,
we won't talk about it, you know [laughter].

00:36:42.196 --> 00:36:46.486 align:middle
Once en el excusado, dios mío de la
vida, the noises and, later, the smells.

00:36:46.626 --> 00:36:51.506 align:middle
I keep matches in there but, your
grandfather pobrecito, he won't use them.

00:36:51.506 --> 00:36:55.336 align:middle
Men. Men cannot be trained [laughter].

00:36:55.576 --> 00:36:56.646 align:middle
They are wild foals.

00:36:57.186 --> 00:37:02.286 align:middle
They're changos, monkeys, I don't know what.

00:37:02.926 --> 00:37:03.596 align:middle
That's not it.

00:37:03.946 --> 00:37:05.096 align:middle
That's not all, mija.

00:37:06.366 --> 00:37:07.016 align:middle
They shed [laughter].

00:37:07.016 --> 00:37:10.786 align:middle
I could never clean enough to keep a clean cub.

00:37:10.956 --> 00:37:16.026 align:middle
Ay, diosito, I want to spare you the details.

00:37:16.216 --> 00:37:18.016 align:middle
Think about the divine service, mija.

00:37:18.736 --> 00:37:20.976 align:middle
I know what father Escondido says.

00:37:22.286 --> 00:37:24.106 align:middle
I know what he thinks marriage is, mija.

00:37:24.106 --> 00:37:26.126 align:middle
I let him take free rounds
of my viejo [laughter].

00:37:26.286 --> 00:37:29.876 align:middle
He says those things about it,
think about becoming a nun.

00:37:29.876 --> 00:37:31.766 align:middle
I want to spare you.

00:37:32.066 --> 00:37:33.196 align:middle
I want to spare you.

00:37:33.196 --> 00:37:38.726 align:middle
I mean, think about it, your mother's
childhood friends, Estella Fuentes she's a nun.

00:37:38.826 --> 00:37:41.706 align:middle
And now, she's Sister Mary Margaret
Maria of the Holy Magdalen [laughter].

00:37:41.956 --> 00:37:44.326 align:middle
She don't have no wrinkles.

00:37:44.786 --> 00:37:47.386 align:middle
Her face is smooth as a baby's
nalgas [laughter].

00:37:47.386 --> 00:37:50.826 align:middle
Oh, look at your mama, Delores's, eyes.

00:37:50.826 --> 00:37:52.076 align:middle
It's a roadmap [inaudible].

00:37:52.076 --> 00:37:57.106 align:middle
Eduardo, my son, he did it
to her, ¡ay, diosito!

00:37:57.346 --> 00:38:02.586 align:middle
with him, priesthood was out of
the question from the beginning.

00:38:02.586 --> 00:38:09.596 align:middle
He was always pulling on his cositas [laughter].

00:38:10.256 --> 00:38:13.666 align:middle
There was no way he could have
been constipated [inaudible].

00:38:13.966 --> 00:38:18.416 align:middle
It's as if some children are born with
invisible sign on their foreheads.

00:38:18.626 --> 00:38:26.246 align:middle
Let me tell you, married men, priests,
pendejos [laughter] [applause].

00:38:26.296 --> 00:38:33.266 align:middle
The man was oversexed from the day he was born.

00:38:33.376 --> 00:38:35.176 align:middle
No way he could have been ordained.

00:38:35.316 --> 00:38:39.026 align:middle
The thing, it would have
stuck out from the [laughter].

00:38:39.026 --> 00:38:42.046 align:middle
Damn, he should have but, you know,
he was [inaudible] in everything.

00:38:42.046 --> 00:38:45.296 align:middle
All the shame and, I know, the
trouble it caused your mama,

00:38:45.696 --> 00:38:47.396 align:middle
not to mention, the others ¡ay, puta!

00:38:48.186 --> 00:38:53.906 align:middle
En el nombre del Padre, del Hijo y del
Espíritu Santo, he may be your daddy but,

00:38:53.906 --> 00:38:55.796 align:middle
he's a half man and a half [inaudible].

00:38:56.176 --> 00:38:56.846 align:middle
[Inaudible] in here.

00:38:57.216 --> 00:39:02.666 align:middle
[Inaudible] como un chingo, that's what I say.

00:39:02.746 --> 00:39:05.786 align:middle
He thought with his cositas, you know?

00:39:05.786 --> 00:39:08.286 align:middle
Ah, no, look at your mama, that roadmap.

00:39:09.326 --> 00:39:12.476 align:middle
California, dios mío [laughter],
all on account,

00:39:12.476 --> 00:39:19.356 align:middle
if you can imagine, she didn't have no chance.

00:39:19.356 --> 00:39:23.206 align:middle
It had a will of its own, como chile colorado.

00:39:23.206 --> 00:39:27.416 align:middle
Think about it, mija, think
about the divine service.

00:39:28.686 --> 00:39:30.756 align:middle
You like to read [laughter].

00:39:31.516 --> 00:39:38.846 align:middle
[ Applause ]

00:39:39.346 --> 00:39:41.676 align:middle
I'll have time for one more, maybe.

00:39:42.286 --> 00:39:44.696 align:middle
I did this Wednesday, shall I do them again?

00:39:44.696 --> 00:39:45.406 align:middle
What do you think?

00:39:45.406 --> 00:39:49.806 align:middle
Okay. You may recognize this character.

00:39:49.806 --> 00:39:54.226 align:middle
She's from a play that I wrote called,
"The Novena Narratives" and that means,

00:39:56.566 --> 00:40:04.986 align:middle
Pauline is 14 years old and
she's been in the, okay,

00:40:04.986 --> 00:40:07.876 align:middle
she's been in the fifth grade for two years.

00:40:08.526 --> 00:40:10.976 align:middle
And you may recognize her.

00:40:18.276 --> 00:40:21.716 align:middle
Now, the title of this play
is called, Novena Narrativa.

00:40:21.846 --> 00:40:25.776 align:middle
In the Catholic church, there's
a prayer cycle of nine days

00:40:25.776 --> 00:40:27.496 align:middle
which is called a novena, or novena.

00:40:28.136 --> 00:40:32.486 align:middle
And this play is about the
lives of nine women and each

00:40:32.486 --> 00:40:34.926 align:middle
of the lives of the women is like a prayer.

00:40:35.376 --> 00:40:38.696 align:middle
I gave you Corinne, La Cori
Delgado, she's one of the women.

00:40:39.096 --> 00:40:44.196 align:middle
This is a 14-year-old who the teacher
has stuck in the corner facing the wall

00:40:44.196 --> 00:40:46.246 align:middle
because it's too much trouble to deal with her.

00:40:46.586 --> 00:40:49.666 align:middle
And so, she's behind the screen
working on her tattoos [laughter].

00:40:50.486 --> 00:40:56.876 align:middle
Some of the other characters are a young
girl who has been abused and she has

00:40:56.916 --> 00:40:58.836 align:middle
to make her way through the broken beer bottles.

00:41:00.286 --> 00:41:05.256 align:middle
One of them is a spinster who is the
foster mother of that particular child.

00:41:05.906 --> 00:41:11.846 align:middle
There's an old woman in a nursing home
and then, there's one, this character,

00:41:12.996 --> 00:41:20.926 align:middle
there's various other characters,
Pauline Mendoza [assumed spelling].

00:41:22.976 --> 00:41:24.486 align:middle
Pauline Mendoza.

00:41:25.246 --> 00:41:34.186 align:middle
Pauline Mendoza, Tucson, Menlo Park
Elementary, 14 years old, fifth grade.

00:41:34.186 --> 00:41:34.866 align:middle
I'm a freak [laughter].

00:41:36.296 --> 00:41:45.276 align:middle
Boys, cars, makeup, my leather jacket, my
red headband, black t-shirts, my jean jacket,

00:41:46.086 --> 00:41:49.936 align:middle
my hair cut long in the back and
short on the sides and front, tattoos.

00:41:51.056 --> 00:41:55.566 align:middle
Can I sit down now, teacher?

00:41:55.736 --> 00:41:57.626 align:middle
She wants me to stand up and talk here.

00:41:58.266 --> 00:41:59.936 align:middle
I made all the tattoos myself.

00:42:01.306 --> 00:42:03.986 align:middle
I'm working on one now, hey, do you want?

00:42:03.986 --> 00:42:07.206 align:middle
Nah, you can't see it.

00:42:07.206 --> 00:42:09.296 align:middle
Can I go back to my desk now, teacher?

00:42:09.296 --> 00:42:13.736 align:middle
Okay, what do you want me to talk for anyway?

00:42:13.886 --> 00:42:15.216 align:middle
I already told you what I like.

00:42:15.676 --> 00:42:17.386 align:middle
I don't want to be nothing.

00:42:17.696 --> 00:42:19.276 align:middle
My teacher, Mrs. Espinosa [assumed spelling],

00:42:19.446 --> 00:42:22.836 align:middle
she makes me sit behind the screen
in the corner facing the wall.

00:42:22.836 --> 00:42:27.176 align:middle
I'm jittery, she says [laughter].

00:42:27.176 --> 00:42:30.376 align:middle
Say, also, I work on my tattoos,
nothing better to do.

00:42:30.866 --> 00:42:32.286 align:middle
I can barely read nor write.

00:42:33.316 --> 00:42:35.146 align:middle
I'm dumb. I'm a freak.

00:42:36.576 --> 00:42:39.646 align:middle
Hey, don't yell at me.

00:42:39.806 --> 00:42:44.226 align:middle
Mrs. Espinosa, she yells at me all the time.

00:42:44.466 --> 00:42:45.026 align:middle
It's embarrassing.

00:42:45.026 --> 00:42:47.236 align:middle
I've got work to do; can I go sit down?

00:42:48.316 --> 00:42:51.326 align:middle
Nine times eight, nine times eight.

00:42:52.666 --> 00:42:56.416 align:middle
[Inaudible] know neither, how the
hell should I know [laughter]?

00:42:56.516 --> 00:42:57.456 align:middle
Yeah, I'll talk some more.

00:42:58.256 --> 00:43:02.156 align:middle
Yeah, I like my mom, she's
pretty young for a mom.

00:43:02.756 --> 00:43:04.616 align:middle
I hate school, I hate homework.

00:43:05.456 --> 00:43:07.356 align:middle
Thinking, I hate thinking.

00:43:08.206 --> 00:43:09.526 align:middle
Well, maybe I could like it.

00:43:09.526 --> 00:43:13.156 align:middle
You want me to read that paper?

00:43:13.676 --> 00:43:15.896 align:middle
Give me the paper, all right, already.

00:43:17.126 --> 00:43:18.606 align:middle
Can't read the whole thing.

00:43:20.486 --> 00:43:21.966 align:middle
I'm dumb. I'm a freak.

00:43:23.676 --> 00:43:32.516 align:middle
The piece, piecery of a peace e oh.

00:43:32.516 --> 00:43:36.816 align:middle
I know how to spell people.

00:43:38.146 --> 00:43:42.326 align:middle
Peop. "The History of a People", this is boring.

00:43:42.326 --> 00:43:43.516 align:middle
I don't like this class.

00:43:43.696 --> 00:43:44.836 align:middle
People are boring.

00:43:45.036 --> 00:43:47.876 align:middle
I can't read, I told you, I can't.

00:43:47.876 --> 00:43:49.966 align:middle
Can I sit down now, teacher,
[inaudible] [laughter]?

00:43:50.146 --> 00:43:55.456 align:middle
You still want me to talk about myself?

00:43:55.906 --> 00:43:58.246 align:middle
Mrs. Hitachi [phonetic], she
never makes me talk about myself.

00:43:58.246 --> 00:44:00.886 align:middle
She lets me sit in the corner
all day long and be quiet.

00:44:00.976 --> 00:44:02.576 align:middle
That's all she wants from me.

00:44:03.036 --> 00:44:09.886 align:middle
Hmm, I tried to read in church, you know,
One Holy, Catholic, that's as far as I got.

00:44:10.276 --> 00:44:11.936 align:middle
I'm a freak even in church.

00:44:13.256 --> 00:44:16.336 align:middle
So, I look at the statues and
the pictures and I feel better.

00:44:16.866 --> 00:44:18.196 align:middle
A freak. What's a freak?

00:44:18.826 --> 00:44:22.556 align:middle
A freak is somebody who wears a
you-know-what in the fifth grade

00:44:22.556 --> 00:44:26.526 align:middle
and has already started their
you-know-what in the fifth grade.

00:44:27.426 --> 00:44:28.196 align:middle
That's a freak.

00:44:28.686 --> 00:44:31.306 align:middle
That's my tattoo.

00:44:31.356 --> 00:44:34.476 align:middle
Nah, you can't look at it.

00:44:34.876 --> 00:44:36.136 align:middle
Nah, you neither.

00:44:36.896 --> 00:44:39.956 align:middle
All right since you asked,
that's Our Lady of Guadalupe.

00:44:39.956 --> 00:44:42.876 align:middle
That's not a lady on fire, stupid.

00:44:43.166 --> 00:44:45.966 align:middle
Don't you know anything or nothing [laughter]?

00:44:45.966 --> 00:44:47.146 align:middle
I just started working it.

00:44:47.146 --> 00:44:48.826 align:middle
Yeah, I told you I like to go to church.

00:44:48.826 --> 00:44:51.516 align:middle
I get you, you look to me like
you don't go to church, okay.

00:44:51.516 --> 00:44:54.996 align:middle
I don't talk good and I don't think good.

00:44:55.766 --> 00:44:59.416 align:middle
Something cool, a picture
like a church, you know,

00:45:00.026 --> 00:45:04.126 align:middle
the history of a people, One, Holy, you know?

00:45:04.386 --> 00:45:08.416 align:middle
I'm working on my tattoos
where nobody bothers me.

00:45:08.976 --> 00:45:10.146 align:middle
It's my artwork.

00:45:10.856 --> 00:45:13.126 align:middle
I'm working on my tattoos and my drawings.

00:45:14.186 --> 00:45:15.486 align:middle
I'm going to be an artist.

00:45:16.776 --> 00:45:19.486 align:middle
My girlfriend, Gloria [assumed
spelling], she says that I'm changing,

00:45:19.886 --> 00:45:23.806 align:middle
that I don't want to get rowdy and
drunk all the time like I used to.

00:45:25.086 --> 00:45:26.946 align:middle
She made me, you know what?

00:45:27.226 --> 00:45:32.796 align:middle
This teacher, she came to school, and
she made me stand up and talk and she was

00:45:32.796 --> 00:45:36.036 align:middle
like a Chicana and a lady and an artist.

00:45:37.266 --> 00:45:38.986 align:middle
I never knew anybody like her.

00:45:39.646 --> 00:45:47.366 align:middle
Really surprised me, a Chicana
and a lady and an artist.

00:45:47.566 --> 00:45:50.166 align:middle
Well, I'm changing maybe, huh?

00:45:53.496 --> 00:45:57.686 align:middle
Pauline Mendoza, I do tattoos.

00:45:59.706 --> 00:46:02.806 align:middle
Someday, I'm good at art.

00:46:03.516 --> 00:46:22.626 align:middle
[ Applause ]

00:46:23.126 --> 00:46:28.846 align:middle
For those of you that are studying
drama, you'll appreciate this.

00:46:28.846 --> 00:46:32.556 align:middle
Carrie Lee [assumed spelling] they're learning
a vocabulary that she learned in drama,

00:46:32.916 --> 00:46:37.086 align:middle
appreciation classes like
texture and line, space, rhythm.

00:46:37.086 --> 00:46:43.666 align:middle
And the title of the story is called, "Space
is a Solid" and this has to do with the idea

00:46:43.666 --> 00:46:48.276 align:middle
that when you study body and movement,

00:46:48.836 --> 00:46:51.886 align:middle
one of the systems is called
the Laban Theory of Movement.

00:46:52.046 --> 00:46:56.386 align:middle
And you move your space as if it were a solid.

00:46:56.646 --> 00:46:57.826 align:middle
You cut through space.

00:46:57.826 --> 00:47:00.406 align:middle
Your body is an instrument
that cuts through space,

00:47:00.626 --> 00:47:03.736 align:middle
and so that is where the title
comes from, "Space is a Solid".

00:47:04.166 --> 00:47:08.976 align:middle
This little girl is learning
that space has a solidity.

00:47:09.476 --> 00:47:13.626 align:middle
It's a story that deals with the
dissolution of a relationship

00:47:13.626 --> 00:47:15.426 align:middle
between this young girl and her teacher.

00:47:15.786 --> 00:47:19.616 align:middle
Now, the mother has had a double
mastectomy, I must tell you that.

00:47:19.716 --> 00:47:24.536 align:middle
And the protagonist is renting an
apartment from Nada [assumed spelling]

00:47:25.286 --> 00:47:29.086 align:middle
and Floyd [assumed spelling] and I won't
get into the scenes where the mother is,

00:47:29.936 --> 00:47:34.156 align:middle
she often reveals her double
mastectomy to her tenants.

00:47:34.156 --> 00:47:37.986 align:middle
She is a nightmare of any landlady
that we have all had [laughter].

00:47:37.986 --> 00:47:41.546 align:middle
But I won't get into that scene right now.

00:47:41.636 --> 00:47:45.776 align:middle
You're going to have to read the short story,
but I'd like to introduce you to Carrie Lee.

00:47:45.776 --> 00:47:48.336 align:middle
And she talks about her mama just a little bit.

00:47:48.886 --> 00:47:52.156 align:middle
Now, in this drama class, there's a
little boy that doesn't have any arms.

00:47:52.756 --> 00:47:56.016 align:middle
He's a Thalidomide victim and
she has trouble dealing with that

00:47:56.016 --> 00:48:00.386 align:middle
because her mama says that
he's a crippled boy, okay?

00:48:00.536 --> 00:48:01.846 align:middle
So, that's basically the story.

00:48:02.186 --> 00:48:05.526 align:middle
"Space is a Solid", Carrie
Lee Wembly [phonetic].

00:48:06.906 --> 00:48:08.526 align:middle
Space is a solid.

00:48:09.476 --> 00:48:14.216 align:middle
Ms. Estebal [phonetic] explained this to us at
the beginning of Drama Appreciation Three Class

00:48:14.456 --> 00:48:15.996 align:middle
that I'm not sure what she meant.

00:48:16.816 --> 00:48:21.436 align:middle
Ms. Estebal told all of us kids
to stand in the middle of the room

00:48:21.436 --> 00:48:23.096 align:middle
like we was a molecule [laughter].

00:48:23.556 --> 00:48:31.296 align:middle
Well, I'm not sure what she meant by that but,
Ms. E said, just cut it out, just cut it out.

00:48:31.476 --> 00:48:33.926 align:middle
If you want to squirm, wait till you're a worm.

00:48:34.876 --> 00:48:42.156 align:middle
Well, everybody laughed, including me, even
though I'm not sure what she meant by that.

00:48:42.156 --> 00:48:43.786 align:middle
Anyway, Arlen [assumed spelling] was cutting up.

00:48:44.026 --> 00:48:48.256 align:middle
Now, that's pretty crazy
because he doesn't have any arms.

00:48:49.386 --> 00:48:54.716 align:middle
All he has is little stumps which stick out
like the gills of a fish, and they go up

00:48:55.026 --> 00:48:57.116 align:middle
and down, up and down like wings.

00:48:57.466 --> 00:49:00.246 align:middle
Well, maybe Anna Werner [assumed spelling]
has wings but, they're on her back.

00:49:00.536 --> 00:49:04.606 align:middle
She's so skinny that, when she wears a
bathing suit, her wings go up and down,

00:49:04.606 --> 00:49:07.646 align:middle
up and down [laughter] quack,
quack, quack, quack, quack.

00:49:08.556 --> 00:49:14.886 align:middle
Well, Arlen doesn't care about anything but
mean boy things like saying hell and damn.

00:49:14.886 --> 00:49:20.556 align:middle
He'll start squawking and a-flapping
around the room, bumping into people,

00:49:20.556 --> 00:49:25.346 align:middle
and Ms. E. will say, oh good,
Arlen, that is so good.

00:49:25.746 --> 00:49:29.366 align:middle
Molecules are like that, they pop
and they hop and they bop [laughter].

00:49:29.866 --> 00:49:35.676 align:middle
Everybody laughs but, I think he's showing
off because he doesn't have any arms.

00:49:36.706 --> 00:49:42.946 align:middle
Well, mama told me, you mean Arlen [inaudible]
gills in your Drama Appreciation Class, well,

00:49:42.946 --> 00:49:46.166 align:middle
for land's sake, Carrie Lee
Wembly, he's a crippled boy.

00:49:46.476 --> 00:49:50.206 align:middle
His mama was one of those that took that
drug, Thalidomide, I think they call it,

00:49:50.256 --> 00:49:54.986 align:middle
causing that poor boy that horrible
disfigurement for the rest of his born life.

00:49:55.186 --> 00:49:56.646 align:middle
God Almighty.

00:49:57.646 --> 00:50:02.356 align:middle
But I am so glad we ain't got no
stock that, Carrie Lee Wembly.

00:50:02.716 --> 00:50:07.696 align:middle
Now, no Wembly, as far as I can recollect,
had no disfigurement like that but,

00:50:07.696 --> 00:50:08.786 align:middle
your Aunt Mae Ethel [assumed spelling].

00:50:10.826 --> 00:50:15.966 align:middle
And it was because she started on some
fancy prescribed drug for her sciatica.

00:50:16.296 --> 00:50:19.876 align:middle
Wouldn't you know it, she started growing
hair on her face like a man [laughter].

00:50:20.756 --> 00:50:27.996 align:middle
No sir, Carrie Lee, no Wembly, as far as I know,
can trace their disfigurements to drugs but,

00:50:27.996 --> 00:50:31.016 align:middle
your Aunt Mae Ethel and she was unsuspecting.

00:50:31.266 --> 00:50:33.696 align:middle
Well, she stopped those drugs
right then and there.

00:50:33.916 --> 00:50:39.566 align:middle
And she endured her pain just
like all of us Wemblys done.

00:50:41.986 --> 00:50:46.356 align:middle
Ain't right to pump your body with no
enzodytes or mites, not thank you, ma'am.

00:50:47.546 --> 00:50:52.106 align:middle
Now, you listen to me, Carrie Lee, if
God wants to send down His wrath on you,

00:50:52.106 --> 00:50:53.926 align:middle
well, that's another thing altogether.

00:50:54.396 --> 00:50:56.276 align:middle
Why, He'll just go ahead and do it.

00:50:56.476 --> 00:50:57.946 align:middle
Don't you go pushing him.

00:50:58.166 --> 00:51:07.396 align:middle
If mama stood in the middle of the room,
she would be a talking molecule [laughter].

00:51:07.656 --> 00:51:12.826 align:middle
Whoo, well, I was thinking about that
when Ms. E. turned to me and said,

00:51:12.876 --> 00:51:15.426 align:middle
"Carrie Lee, what are you thinking?"

00:51:16.846 --> 00:51:20.266 align:middle
Oh, I don't know, Ms. E. Come
on, Carrie Lee, quick, quick,

00:51:20.266 --> 00:51:21.866 align:middle
quick, you're a molecule, remember?

00:51:22.316 --> 00:51:23.136 align:middle
"Oh, I am?"

00:51:23.136 --> 00:51:26.456 align:middle
I said. Well, what does a molecule think?

00:51:26.456 --> 00:51:27.306 align:middle
Oh, I don't know.

00:51:27.956 --> 00:51:30.816 align:middle
Well, I don't know, about
other molecules, I guess.

00:51:30.846 --> 00:51:35.666 align:middle
Arlen, Arlen, don't you be quacking
me with those chicken wings of yours.

00:51:35.666 --> 00:51:38.086 align:middle
I almost said but, then, I
remembered he was a crippled boy.

00:51:38.616 --> 00:51:45.636 align:middle
And I said to Ms. E., "Well, Ms. E.,
molecules don't think at all, they just move".

00:51:46.496 --> 00:51:49.556 align:middle
"Like responding to stimuli," Arlen says.

00:51:50.536 --> 00:51:51.606 align:middle
"Oh good, Arlen.

00:51:51.606 --> 00:51:55.346 align:middle
Arlen, that is so good," Ms. E. said.

00:51:56.826 --> 00:52:00.466 align:middle
She was wearing this real nice
pretty velour top and she's so nice

00:52:00.546 --> 00:52:02.586 align:middle
and so pretty, and all the kids like her.

00:52:02.586 --> 00:52:05.276 align:middle
They do, except Arlen, and he's a pill.

00:52:06.206 --> 00:52:10.576 align:middle
Mama says that sometimes people are
pills and it's because they ain't normal.

00:52:10.886 --> 00:52:12.726 align:middle
They ain't got normal feelings.

00:52:12.966 --> 00:52:14.536 align:middle
They're disfigured and all.

00:52:14.766 --> 00:52:17.596 align:middle
They call attention to themselves like Arlen.

00:52:17.806 --> 00:52:20.026 align:middle
They prance and they dance around just

00:52:20.026 --> 00:52:24.776 align:middle
like little circus horses,
showing how much they can do.

00:52:25.926 --> 00:52:32.196 align:middle
Mama says, "I don't know what you all must
make [inaudible] deal, showing off Arlen all

00:52:32.196 --> 00:52:34.446 align:middle
over town like he's a normal boy.

00:52:34.926 --> 00:52:36.626 align:middle
No, Carrie Lee, it ain't decent.

00:52:37.236 --> 00:52:41.126 align:middle
And it's all account of that Thalidomide."

00:52:41.976 --> 00:52:46.306 align:middle
Well, me, I won't have nothing to do
with Arlen Threadgill [assumed spelling].

00:52:47.346 --> 00:52:54.296 align:middle
And it's not because he's a crippled boy.

00:52:55.386 --> 00:52:56.446 align:middle
Arlen smells [laughter].

00:52:57.516 --> 00:53:03.566 align:middle
[ Applause ]

00:53:04.066 --> 00:53:07.476 align:middle
Well, I do thank you very much.

00:53:07.536 --> 00:53:09.416 align:middle
I'll be here if anybody's
interested in the book.

00:53:09.466 --> 00:53:11.256 align:middle
If there's any questions, please come around.

00:53:11.336 --> 00:53:11.976 align:middle
Thank you very, very much.

00:53:12.516 --> 00:53:17.500 align:middle
[ Applause ]