That is the beauty of literature, the escapism and exploration. You can experience crime with out committing it, just like riding a rollercoaster feels like you are experience a near death fall. It also shows us that we aren't alone in our feelings. When we read that some else is having the same experiences and emotions we don't feel so isolated.

Art doesn't have to have any purpose. I always tell my students that there is no wrong way to art because it is just a creation of expression. So there is no responsibility attached to it and no greater purpose. What the artist and that audience takes away from it is subjective.

I don't know if I love this analogy. If only for the fact that even Cezanne had to start with scribbles and concepts, but I'm probably ripping it apart too much. I get what the meaning is.

micturition, very big SAT word there: noun: FORMAL the action of urinating. "the condition is characterized by frequent micturition and urinary incontinence"

This is so beautifully poignant. As a social work student this is a passage I would point to when people talk about working hard and pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. Being born into poverty does start people at a disadvantage and hurts them in intangible ways. But some people still triumph and find love and beauty. That is something that should be honored.

This is my favorite kind of anxiety and I miss it compared to the dread kind that prevails so much in adulthood.

According to Lawnstarter Austin ranked #112 for LGBTQ+ singles in 2021. I had to know! So, he's right. https://www.lawnstarter.com/blog/studies/best-cities-lgbtq-singles/

Had to look this one up, context clues led me wrong. Repudiation: noun 1. rejection of a proposal or idea. "the repudiation of reformist policies" 2. denial of the truth or validity of something.

a Beefeater is the name for the guards at the tower of London. But they're not the guards in the tall black hats that are famous for not moving, the Beefeaters are tasked with guarding the Crown jewels. https://greatbritishmag.co.uk/uk-culture/what-is-a-british-beefeater/

Living in Austin has been very fortunate for me that I have not had to deal with many racists remarks, but just like Rodriguez, because they are so few are far between they are very memorable and I can still describe most oif them in detail. I'm not sure which is worse, becoming so accustomed to racism that you begin to forget occurrences, or remembering all of them.

I am already very invested in this story. As a dual race adoptee (my parents are midwestern white and I am most likely 1st or 2nd-gen Mexican-American) this sentence is one that I would put in my own memoir.

Well, I have never heard of Pemex but when I searched the name an New York Times article from 2021 came up about an "Eye of Mordor" style inferno that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico because of an underwater pipe leak. Which is terrifying, but thankfully was extinguished quickly. It was harder pinning down the exact spill Perez was referencing in his poem, but since Pemex is an oil monopoly in Mexico is was never going to be a good news story.

"The Revisionaries" is a 2012 documentary about the Texas School Board and how influential their decisions on textbooks affects the entire country, and how absolutely ridiculous some of the edits are, i.e. evolution being taught side by side with creationism. Villanueva says "dark corridors", but these decisions were made in broad daylight.<br /> https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2091398/

annunciation: the announcement of the Incarnation by the angel Gabriel to Mary (Luke 1:26–38). This was a new one for me, and I love the blend of the Aztec lore with biblical lore. It is beautiful.

Thank Cisneros for calling Manifest Destiny arrogant because it was and America is probably not better for it.

Despite that, I do love this painting from John Gast (1872) It's just pretty. https://billofrightsinstitute.org/activities/art-analysis-american-progress-by-john-gast-1872ast

This was the sweetest poem so far, and the cheekiest play with the two languages. The two tongues of bilingual love is a great love story.

This inner dialogue sounds like he's very conflicted by his own anger. He doesn't like it and doesn't want to feed into it, but is so acutely aware of it that it's another person sitting on that step with him. Not necessarily egging him on, but not leaving him be.

In order to weld you need that fire/heat to meld the steel together, but they've been stifled by society. It is a relatable feeling for many women and Moraga gives some beautiful imagery.

This poem was published in 1979. How bad must the situation be in their own country that immigrants would still choose to attempt to come to America despite knowing that the promises in America are just as false as they were at home even after 43 years.

I love this imagery. I picture Michael Clarke Duncan playing a scary convict character threatening anyone who gets in the way of his fudgesicle an then smiling like a little kid to himself. Most of these mean guys in prison still have a scared little kid inside.

This strikes me as very powerful given all of Salinas' experiences. Looking back at the lives that shouldn't have ended so soon, and over things so trivial. It must be heartbreaking.

This sounds like bravery, but seems more like cowardice disguised as bravado. Overcompensation.

I enjoy the description of looking back at the beginnings of sensual awakenings and connecting them to loving partners of the present and identifying the stark differences.

I have this habit with short stories to place them all in the 50's/60's unless there are some other context clues other than cars to tell me otherwise. So cellphone just changed my whole perspective, and now my images are all morphing. I'm not sure when this started or why, but it's just the era that I start with and then move forward and backwards from as more information is given.

This passage reminds me of one of my all time favorite songs from John Denver and the Muppets Christmas. It's not really a Christmas song, but was included on the album. the first stanza is: 'When the mountain touches the valley, all the clouds are taught to fly As our souls will leave this land most peacefully. Though our minds be filled with questions, in our hearts we'll understand When the river meets the sea.' https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/johndenver/whentherivermeetsthesea.html

Limned- having limbs especially of a certain kind or number. The haunting imagery of grief within Antonio becoming a personified creature, and using that creature as a way to introduce that his daughter is dead is gripping.

As a nineties kid, I know the American artist but really want to look up the other artists. I have a love hate with Tejano. The artists themselves are extremally talented but the music is so cloying and reminds me more of a beer hall in Germany than Mexico. It never made sense to me. But now I want to revisit and listen differently.

I'm always frustrated by the idea of culture, because i'm adopted and my parents are a different race. So people always assume I know about another culture or language. So it kind of feels like the opposite of what Corky is writing on. It's funny to think about. Is culture then defined by race?

I learned a little about the Zapotec during my Mexican-American History class, but they are a native tribe from Southern Mexico known as the "Cloud People", which I think is lovely. This site was a great read for more on their history. https://www.worldhistory.org/Zapotec_Civilization/

I was he... I've see throughout the poem the use of I, and I am he, I was he. The possessiveness of all the connection to all of the history. That is extremely powerful.

This sounds similar to sentiments during the American Civil War. They were all losers and winners. In the end everyone should prosper.