Forever strong, forever caring, forever love

Chico, California, best known for its crazed pioneer days, still upholds its party reputation. The best known holidays for student partying currently assent to Labor Day, Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, and Caesar Chavez day, all which take place when school is in session.

This year I decided to take a break from the crazed “Chiconian” lifestyle and head south to San Francisco.

While crossing the Golden Gate Bridge I saw the glistening blue bay water with the sea birds that were colliding over it, looking for an afternoon snack. I saw a plateau of   houseboats, where families resided with there kids with barely any connection to land; and in this urban area, it was considered normality.

Through the main area of the city, the traffic was unbearable. All cars were bumper to bumper, with mainly one way streets, and not one driver whom was abiding by the laws. There were taxi drivers that swore at everyone, and steep hills that proceeded to constantly scare me of my car possibly rolling and crashing into the driver behind me. However, the city energy was amazing, every looked like they had an important place to be, and there were so many different cultures, races, and genders that inhabited this area.

As my boyfriend and I checked into the San Francisco Suites, the hotel we were staying at, all the furniture was extremely classy and antique-like, modeling the early 1900’s, with a gazebo on top of the roof that overlooked our part of the city. 

For lunch, we ate at the St. Francis Yacht Club, a country club that you must be a member to attend. While munching on our delicious crab cakes and hosing down our champagne, I could almost feel the sharp cold air as I watch the windsurfers in front of me compete with one another for the best wave.

While walking down Pier 39, the smell of fresh sea water took over all my senses. I love the smell of seafood, from the times my father used to take me fishing as a child, and I began to reminisce in past memories.

Coming back to reality, and completing the 3 hour drive back north to Chico, I was shocked to see that we were behind a 60 car line for a DUI checkpoint from the Sacramento River. After waiting approximately 2 hours longer in line, and frustrated from the Chico antics in which we didn’t take part in, we finally returned to our apartment and were ready to set an end to a completely perfect day.

The next day I learned that although there were no fatalities this year, there were twice as many DUI arrests in Chico this year compared to last. (Chico Enterprise Records) I guess for those people, their labor day turned out exactly how this small town’s representation upholds to.  I think next year, I’ll return to San Francisco yet again.

On a  Thursday afternoon at the BMU marketplace at Chico State, there were two women sitting at seperate tables directly next to each other, not knowing the other existed.

The first woman was 5’5 ft and about 135 pounds. She was not fat, but muscular, and looked to be in pretty good shape. She was wearing lime green Nike shorts, a white t-shirt, and blue and grey running shoes which made me think she had just gotten back from the gym, or was planning on working out later that day.

This woman was white, but her skin was a darker tone, and I thought perhaps she had a little Puerto Rican heritage in her. She had thicker eyebrows, and dirt brown colored eyes, with a popped blood vessel in her right one. Probably about 19 or 20, this girl had medium brown hair, slightly past her shoulder, which had a blue streak in it directly behind her left ear.

While listening to her ipod and constantly texting on her cell phone, the outside world was oblivious to this woman. She was slouching over and seemed rather irritated or annoyed, because her forehead was scrunched up and her eyebrows were directing inward. Her eyes kept glancing up shortly after reading a text message, as if she was looking for someone to meet her.

My impression: A Female Athlete

Stereotypes that might follow:

• Butch
• Tomboy
• Single
• Questionable sexuality
• Masculine
• Muscular

When looking back to see if any of my stereotypes match up, the only one that did was that she was muscular.

-She indeed had long hair, so was not a butch,.

-She wore make-up, so was not a tomboy.

 -She did not have masculine features, but in fact was quite cute.

Second  Victim: “The Sorority Girl”

Decked out in Greek letters, and quietly concentrating on a notebook laid out in front of her in the BMU marketplace of Chico State, was the Sorority girl.

With the thinly plucked eyebrows and white zebra sunglasses enclosed with circle frames thattook up the majority of her face, this studious woman seemed to be going through somewhat of a panic while searching through her overly large backpack. In her early 20′s, with a height of 5’4 and a weight around 200 lbs., this woman had frizzy short brown hair with bangs parted to her left side in hopes of covering her five head.

She was eating a bag of chips, loudly, and had a pink princess clip on the right side of her hair, opposite to her part. She was nodding her head to the sounds of her ipod while reading and chomping on her Ruffles; quite the multi tasker.

My First Impression: Sorority Girl

Stereotypes that follow:

• Blonde
• Ditzy
• Thin
• Party girl
• Bitch
• Straight
• Tall
• Tan
• Pretty
• Rich

When looking through my notes at which of these stereotypes match this woman, that I would know through observation, none did. I would not be able to know if she was rich, straight, or bitchy unless I held a conversation with her, but her physical attributes did not meet any of the typical stereotypes sorority girls are labeled with.

The 1500 range of Mulberry Street.

Mulberry Street seemed like it would be a street filled with content and ease, given its suburbun appearance, but looks can be deceiving. Sitting outside the pale green house with white framing and a white picket fence surrounded by greenery of all different shades, it seemed so peaceful. That is until the constant racing of cars from the stop sign on the previous cross street eliminated any chance of silence.

I look at the blue Toyota Corolla in front of me, followed shortly by a Speed Limit: 30 sign. I look across the street at a guy in a blue Sierra Nevada sweatshirt in his late 20′s, coming out of his yellow house, with red window panels, and a more run-down brown picket fence. He had a large green duffle bag, and appeared to be going to the gym. Apparently working out was a theme on this block, because several joggers passed by as the man got into his car.

Although this neighborhood seemed noiser than I expected, it seemed kid friendly, with the large visible basketball hoop facing diagnoly in a backyard of a house I was parked in front of. I would judge that this is a family-oriented street, and not college-friendly, considering it is located away from downtown and had a park around the corner.

As I watch all the leaves fall from the 10-15 different types of trees, and whisp away on the concrete ground, I look toward 16th steet, and decide to head home.

“What? You weren’t invited?”

“It’s probably because of Amber.”

“Well, if you want to come you can be my date.”

“We’ll see.”

****Loud motorcycle passes by for about 7 seconds.****

“My mom’s always like, ‘Are you doing you homework?’ every time that she calls me.”

“I’m like, ‘Yes Mom!”

“And she talks for hours. It’s so annoying”

“Yeah, same with my mom.”

“And she got a face book now. She calls me and says, ‘What does this mean? What’s a friend request??”

“I’m like mom, are you serious? It means they want to be your friend and contact you on face book.”

“And then she goes, ‘What if I don’t want them to contact me?’”

“That’s funny.”

”She’s so clueless.”

Description: Two girls walked up together to the Second and Normal bus stop and stood directly to the left of me. They had dorm keys out so I assume they were freshman who lived off campus.

One was very sassy, and was wearing very tight black pants that accentuated certain areas of her body. She was about 5’5 and had a cheetah purse, a grey jacket on, black and pink tennis shoes and lots of makeup. She was continually glossing her lips throughout the conversation, in which she completely dominated.

The other girl was wearing a more casual outfit that consisted of tight jeans, a tight black shirt, and black flip-flops. She had long straight brown hair, a youthful face, and was very slender. She stood mainly with her back toward me so that was all that I could observe. 

Story Ideas:

How face book has dominated the networking world. It is now become appealing for all ages. It was originally created for college students only, but now parents and kids of all ages are using it. Why? Are parents using it to try and keep in contact with their kids away at school or is it just a fad?

What the current fashion trends for college students are. The first girl seemed pretty stylish. A tip article called “Freshman Flare” could possibly be inspired by observing what the current fashions are for girls who are 18/19.

Are party scenes the most popular thing to do in Chico? It seems to be a current topic expressed throughout most conversations I have eavesdropped on. Perhaps take a poll of Chico State students’ favorite activities to do when not in school for a human interest story.

Location: This conversation took place on the B Line route 8, at about 12:48 p.m. Thursday October 1, 2009.

“Hey what’s up man?”

“I’m so tired.”

“Me too dude.”

“What time did you start class today?”

“Fuckin 8:00”

“That sucks!”

“Yeah, I’m gonna go home and take a nap until my next class at 4:00”

“Nice. Yeah, I’m done for the day… gonna go home and take a shower, then start boozing.”

“Nice. What are you doing tonight?”

“I dunno man, gonna cruise downtown for a bit later, figure there’s gotta be something crackin. Also, my buddy said we could drink at his house at 3^rd and Normal.”

“Sweet.”

“You should roll by.”

“Yeah, I’ll probably hit you up later.”

***Silence***

“Dude, did you hear about the girl who got raped at Craig?”

“No what happened?”

“Some guy in (_______) like raped her. She lived in the same hall as my friend.”

“Fuck that sucks.”

“Yeah man.”

Description: Two guys sitting across from each other on the bus (I’ve noticed guys often sit across from each other perhaps for space boundaries). They were about 3 seats down from me but were talking very loudly. They didn’t come on the bus together, but one had come on a stop later. He greeted the other boy once arriving on the bus and joined him in conversation.

The first boy was wearing sweats and a white t-shirt with brown combed down hair, and an overly large backpack. He was about 5’8 and had brown eyes and looked very tired.

The second boy who entered onto the bus was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt with spiked brown hair and a wristband and what looked to be an expensive watch. He had much darker brown skin than the first boy who looked very pale.

Story Ideas:

Security in dorms that are off campus. How secure are they really? Because of the fact that they are not affiliated with Chico State, does that make them potentially more dangerous?

Teenage slang. Several of the words teenagers and young adults use have been reduced to slang terminology and swear words. What has caused this to happen? Has it become so natural that people don’t even realize they are using them anymore? Has it become socially acceptable?

A controversial story about rape. Find out if this rumor is indeed true, and maybe see if an interview could be set up with the girl (if she was willing to attest). Write an informative piece for the Orion on it so that freshman can be aware of what is going on and what to watch out for. This is not the first time this has happened.

Location: This conversation took place in Butte Hall on the third floor in room 329. It was about 1:45 p.m on Thursday October 1, 2009.

“I can’t dude, I gotta go to the hospital to pick up my brother later.”

“He’s fine now, he’s been in there for like 2 weeks.”

“He gets these like brain bleeds.”

“It causes him to have like mini strokes, it’s fucking scary.”

“I think he like has some sort of condition.”

“It sucks too because he’s only 29.”

“Yeah man, thanks.”

“Totally. I’ll catch you later.”

( I know this is only 8 sentences, and not 10, but I wanted to use this conversation over my other choices because it was the one that caught my attention most).

Description: A boy entering my classical social theory class, on his cell phone. He had red hair with a buzz cut, and a scruffy beard. He was large and tall, and was very loud. I was one of the only people in the room since I was 15 minutes early to class, so he must have felt comfortable expressing his conversation on his cell phone in front of me; although I did think it was odd that he wouldn’t continue his conversation in the hall. He looked to be about in his 20’s and when he finished his conversation his was comfortably seated down ready to start class.

Story ideas:

Medical conditions. Research what are the possibilities that can cause someone of such a young age to have a stroke. What exactly is a brain bleed?

Expenses in the hospital. How expensive is it to keep someone in the hospital for 2 weeks on end? Insurance covered people compared with non-covered people. What happens when someone is seriously sick and can not afford to pay for it? Will the state cover or will that person be out of luck?

I was curious to explore hereditary diseases. What diseases are the ones only at risk if a previous family member has them?

Gene Smith

Liz Dunne

Sara Tompkins

Danielle Ghiglieri

Theme Presentation- October 5th

 “I was getting ready for school, and news was on, and all I could do was just experience what exactly was happening, and how different the world was going to be from this day forward.” said Chico State student Allison Herman.

 Herman was 12 at the time that the September 11^th terrorist attack occurred, but never would have thought that the war would still be going on to the present day, where she is now 20 years-old and a junior in college.

Although Herman didn’t fully understand the detrimental factors involved in the attack eight years ago, she still can recall every student sitting together on the stage of her performing arts middle school holding hands and praying.

Herman continued to pray every night, because despite the horrible outcome of the incident, she was extremely thankful that her grandmother was still alive, for she lived 10 minutes away from the twin towers and watched everything happen from her living room window.

Every year, September 11^th strikes a mixture of emotions, but the most positive ones we can take back from it are remembrance, unity, and thankfulness.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

“What if it could have been me?” 

At least, that is the one major thought that ran through Erin Buschiazzo’s mind on September 11^th, 2001.

 Every news channel had the story on it, and everyone was talking about it. It was a moment of crisis in the world that no one could escape or let slide by.

 Buschiazzo is a graduate student now, but her reaction every year since she was 16 years-old still remains the same; undeniably disturbed. On the day of the attack, Buschiazzo woke up to her parents with their mouths gaping open and in a frenzy, and kids at her high school acting hysterical because they all thought the world was going to end.

 “I was utterly taken aback that such violence could endure in nearly a blink of an eye,” said Buschiazzo. “And I think the rest of the world pretty much agreed, don’t you think?”

 Although that was a dark period of our U.S. history, Buschiazzo is a believer in looking forward to the positive and helping out in any way she can.

 To this day Buschiazzo and her family have now donated more than $200 toward the survivors of 9/11 and have participated in several community service projects promoting our brave firefighters as well. 

 ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

She had never had a more shocking day of school in her life.

 Because 13 year-old Marissa McReynolds never woke up early enough before school to have time to watch the news, she walked into a jungle of untamed and rabid middle school students filled with confusion and terror.

 Most people found out from their parents or at home, but McReynolds had no preparation of the event that changed U.S. history before her first class began.

 After finding out about terrorist attacks that shook up our nation on September 11, 2001, McReynolds had no desire to continue her day at school, and wanted to flee from the U.S. for good.

 That not being possible, she and her 500 fellow schoolmates all spent the remainder of the school day talking about what was happening, and comforting and supporting one another.  

Now, a 21 year-old senior at Chico State, McReynolds still can’t believe today is the eighth anniversary of the September 11^th attack.

“I never thought I’d experience a war in my lifetime, I thought it was just something you read about in history books,” said McReynolds.

 Never again, will McReynolds leave the house without watching the news.

1

We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like “I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive. …” And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was going about a hundred miles an hour with the top down to Las Vegas. And a voice was screaming: “Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?”

• The narrator appears in first person, and automatically sets a vulnerable tone of loosing control. The narrator describes negative observations they are currently witnessing not only with themselves, but with a second party (or more).

•  The envisioned audience is more of a younger crowd; one whom might relate to the topic in a better sense. i.e (college crowd to late 20’s).

•  The time place is set in more recent times, yet that could range anywhere between the 60’s to the present time.

• The tone set provides me with four particular adjectives that immediately came to mind.
• -Frightened
• -Flustered
• -Flabbergasted
• -Anxiety

•  Yet, the author’s voice is immediately eye-catching with their description of what is going on. I can hear the author emerging from a sane state of mind to a lost state of mind. With the portrayal of the possible danger these characters are about to endure through this situation they have placed themselves in is extremely intriguing!

•  I can distinguish the difference between the voice of the narrator and the voice of the author because the voice of the narrator seems extremely fictional and not like a real-life experience. If it was a real-life experience, determining the voice between the author and narrator might become more confusing because it would seem much more similar.

3

In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five.

Nineteen minutes is how long it took the Tennessee Titans to sell out of tickets to the play-offs. It’s the length of a sitcom, minus the commercials. It’s the driving distance from the Vermont  border to the town of Sterling, New Hampshire.

In nineteen minutes, you can order a pizza and get it delivered. You can read a story to a child or have your oil changed. You can walk a mile. You can sew a hem.

In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it.
In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.

• The Narrator is speaking strictly in second person, “you.”  I believe they chose  to speak that way so that the reader can picture themselves completing all of the tasks listed in “just ninteen minutes.”
• The envisioned audience is just me,  just the reader. The narrator is sharing their thoughts and comparisons for an event that has obviously emotionally sparked a bit of hastyness or remorse, and wants the reader to gain that same feeling with the last two lines, because they hit so hard.
• I think that the book begins in a current time. The way the speech is prepared and language, it seems like a story that would be set in the present-tense.
• At first, a carefree tone is set, as the narrator describes things such as baking scones and coloring your hair. However, then the narrators tone unexpectedly switches to a more dramatic scene of,  “In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it.”
  “In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.”
• I can quickly hear the authors voice emerging from light to dark in a rapid amount of time. However, because of the quick scene and tone change, it makes the reader want to continue reading instantly and find out what is really going on in this story/through the narrator’s mind.
• Yes I think it is obvious that the voice of the narrator does not correlate with the voice of the author. The voice of the narrator is all for suspensful reading, and the author does not necessarily speak or feel the same way.

7

On a very hot day in August of 1994, my wife told me she was going down to the Derry Rite Aid to pick up a refill on her sinus medicine prescription – this is stuff you can buy over the counter these days, I believe. I’d finished my writing for the day and offered to pick it up for her. She said thanks, but she wanted to get a piece of fish at the supermarket next door anyway; two birds with one stone and all that. She blew a kiss at me off the palm of her hand and went out. The next time I saw her, she was on TV. That’s how you identify the dead here in Derry – no walking down a subterranean corridor with green tiles on the walls and long fluorescent bars overhead, no naked body rolling out of a chilly drawer on casters; you just go into an office marked “private” and look at a TV screen and say yep or nope.

• The narrator appears in both first person, and third person, omiscient. He is describing both observations and conversations between himself (first person) and his wife (third person).
• The envisioned audience is difficult to obtain through this short introduction of a story. I would imagine it would be those of small town folk, or those of the middle aged readers of 40-60. Or perhaps a literay book assigned in a class by a teacher toward their students.
• In the very first sentence, the narrator states that it is a very hot day in August 1994, so the time place and period is in the early 90′s in Derry (New Hampshire?)
• A very mournful tone is expressed throughout the narrator’s lead. I could automatically tell that something awful was going to happen when the narrator hinted, “my wife told me that she was going…” It was obivous to me that whatever was “told to him” was either misleading information, or resolved in a negative consequence.
• With the narrator’s last line, “That’s how you identify the dead here in Derry – no walking down a subterranean corridor with green tiles on the walls and long fluorescent bars overhead, no naked body rolling out of a chilly drawer on casters; you just go into an office marked “private” and look at a TV screen and say yep or nope,” I can hear the narrator’s voice  mourning for his wife. It even seems like the narrator is placing blame upon themselves for what happened because they didn’t go get the presciption themselves when they were clearly able to (despite his wife’s rejection of the offer).
• In this specific introduction I can not distinguish the difference between the voice of the author and the voice of the narrator, because this story very-well could be based of a true event.

4

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.

Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

This planet has – or rather had – a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn’t the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

And so the problem remained; lost of the people were mean, and most of them were miserable, even the ones with the digital watches.

The narrator is speaking through observations and facts, in third person omiscient.

The envisioned audience is open to anyone who understands the kind of context that narrator is using. Basically, anyone who is human and intelligent.

The historical time anchor seems somewhat futuristic, yet, it is relating to the current time and present.

The tone set is somewhat sarcastic and snooty, it is in fact a bit entertaining because it is mocking our lifestyle, yet is relatively correct on their accusations.

I can hear the author emerging with irritation for mankind’s acceptance with simpleness throughout the story with his/her voice.

I can easily distinguish a difference between the narrator and authors voice, because the narrator is speaking in a very deliberent and self-centered tone, acting like they are all-knowing and smarter than any human-being, where as the author would not necessarily speak like that to any person.