Chinese, Mexican Tunnels, Brothels, and Prostitutes. Blog #3

            They Came Out Like Ants!

               I was not impressed with this story, however it uses great literary journalism. It gives a detailed history explaining a little about the tunnels. Also it creates emotion in the story as well. As people kept telling him that there were no tunnels, it’s frustrating and I can feel that in the text. It’s interesting how he quotes people, because he doesn’t use quotation marks, but I have no problem telling who is talking.

I couldn't find any pictures of the tunnels of Mexicali. Here is
a downtown shot of Mexicali. Picture found in an article
that mentioned the story. (Surprised there wasn't more info!)

Another strategy he uses is making titles for different sections, almost like chapters. It helps me remember where I read certain parts and also gives a hint of what it’s going to be about. Stuff that frustrated me during the story was just how it seemed to jump around too much. First he’s talking to one person, then another, and then he’s talking about the history, but then is in one place, then another, etc.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I really feel I need to take my time reading these stories, because I lose myself in the story, but not it a good way. One sentence that stuck out to me that I thought was odd was on page 189 when the author says, “Up in Brawley, Stella Mendoza, wife, mother, ex-director and continuing representative of her Imperial Irrigation District, passionate defender and lifelong resident of Mexican America, who spoke Spanish, traced back her ancestry to Sonora, and went to Mexicali “all the time,” said that the tunnels were likewise news to her.” Really? I know that a talented writer could get away with this, but as a reader, I have to step back, slow down, and reread the sentence. It happened a lot during the story.

I really didn’t get a clear answer of why there were Chinese tunnels in Mexicali. I tried to find out online and still couldn’t get the answer. There is not a lot of information on it, if any, about the Chinese tunnels. There is a lot of complaining about the story in this blog entry, so I will give the writer credit for doing so much research and being so persistent on finding more information out on the tunnels even though so many people said no to him. For a difficult topic to find research on, it is pretty amazing.



                My Undertaker, My Pimp

     This story starts off really interesting and I like how the writer talks about what he used to do and how he came about writing the story. He does a good job with introducing one of the people in the story, Mack Moore, and then pause the story to go back and talk about who this guy was and how he started his brothel. It’s an interesting story, but very different since it IS about a brothel (safe to say it’s my first).



A sign near Vegas pointing to the
direction of Angel's Ladies brothel.
Pic from Internet.



Here is a picture of Jay
Kirk, writer of the story.
Pic from Internet.



The writer is very good with detail, from scenes, to signs, even down to Moore’s “thick-soled” Adidas tennis shoes.” I don’t know how the writer is able to talk about a brothel and a funeral service in the same story without it sounding weird. He gives background information so the reader knows what’s going on. This style of writing is like a diary or journal he would write in and he made it into a story. He talks about what he sees, what he thinks, facts, etc.

The only thing that has left me hanging from the story was what the meaning of the story would be. There wasn’t a clear message to me, if there is one. If someone asked, “What did you learn from the story?” the only thing I would be able to say would be, “The women working at Angel’s Ladies brothel seem nice.”

                     My Future Story



A picture of Joel Maturi
from the Internet. 

I have finally figured out my story for October! I’m doing a story on a scrapbook from the 1920’s and how it had material in it of Joel Maturi’s father. Maturi, the athletics director at University of Minnesota, didn’t have much memorabilia of his father after his death, so he was so excited to hear that we had things with his father’s name on it, such as school programs, dance cards, and his commencement card dated more than half a century ago.

The way I explained it doesn’t really give a whole lot of emotion, but it’s such a heartwarming story and it feels good to have helped someone out. To do this story, I will interview my mom, take pictures of the rest of the scrapbook she has, research Alfred Maturi (the father), and maybe get back in touch with Joel Maturi through email, as I did to get in contact with him originally. I know I can do a great job with the story, but picture ideas will have to have more thought.

“Nothing stops him. He forges ahead.”

Professor Allan Chapman visits BSU and lectures students

I wait patiently in the crowded room in Sattgast 208. The stadium seats quickly fill. Even the empty seats between strangers become occupied by eager students, waiting for Professor Chapman’s arrival. The roar of chatter among students gets louder as each minute passes. An image of Galileo is projected on the screen, probably being used as a conversation starter between students.

I look down to the front and there he is. Allan Chapman stands with his shoulders back, and gives his audience a quick scan. He is introduced and with the applause that follows, I wonder why I have not heard of him before today. Dr. Chapman starts his lecture and I have to concentrate on each word he says, trying to get used to his thick, British accent. He unhooks a small pocket watch from a gold chain that threads through the buttonhole of his hunter green vest. He flips it open, and sets it on a desk in front of him.

I can’t help but think if he was a character out of my history book. His white hair lies neatly and curls a bit at the ends. Even the bare spot on his head seems to have been neatly combed over with delicate strands of hair. His slightly crooked bowtie doesn’t disrupt the neatness of his attire. A tiny British flag pin is fastened to the collar of his clean, unwrinkled, double vented dress coat. A hanky he pulls out of his pant pocket to help his runny nose completes his outfit.

Professor Allan Chapman lectures about facts
and fallacies of aliens to students and faculty.

As he lectures the Sattgast hall, he keeps his head held high, so his voice fills every ear in the room. I could almost mistake him for a conductor in front of his orchestra with the way he uses his hands as he speaks. 

Who was this guy? Why was I so mesmerized by his lecture? Was it the flawlessness of his speech? Or was it simply his accent that I was so intrigued by? He could have been talking about how to clean a vacuum out and I still would have been interested in him speaking.  The accomplished lecturer and public speaker teaches at Oxford University. He also teaches for the study abroad programs for our school and Moorhead University. 

My journalism professor Louise Mengelkoch and her husband, Kent Nerburn, speak very highly of him. They say that students who study abroad will not only have their core classes with Chapman at Oxford University, but they will purposely enroll in other classes that he teaches. “I don’t know one student who doesn’t come back fundamentally changed from him,” Nerburn said. 

Professor Chapman was born in 1946, but he still gives lectures in front of many audiences. He is an author of many books, including England’s Leonardo, member of the Royal Astronomical Society, founder and president of the Society for the History of Astronomy, (should I keep going?) Honorary President and a member of Salford Astronomical Society, Honorary President of Reading Astronomical Society, Honorary President of the Mexborough & Swinton Astronomical Society, Honorary President of Orwell Astronomical Society, and Vice-President of the Newbury Astronomical Society. He also received an honorary doctorate from the University of Central Lancashire at the age of 58.

Even though he had cancer surgery recently, he continued to speak to large audiences and classrooms without missing a beat. I agree when Professor Mengelkoch says that nothing stops him. Even listening to him speak for less than a couple hours, it’s easy to believe that Allan Chapman will continue on his journey to inspire students and lecture many people. Why stop at age 65?

week two blog

                     Vanished by Evan Ratcliff

I flipped through my book and never intended on reading any of the stories quite yet. I had a big art history test I wanted to focus on and just wanted to get an idea of what I was going to read later. I looked at lengths of stories and even though Vanish looked appealing to me, the thirty pages in length did not. I flipped to the page and scanned the column next to the story. I peaked at the introduction sentence and lo and behold; thirty pages and 45 minutes later, I’m amazed at the reading. I didn’t know I could enjoy a piece like that.

Evan Ratcliff shows four of his many costume changes used
throughout the 25 days he was missing.

Even though it seemed more like journal type writing, he used literary devices to make it a story. There are sections numbered which are each a few paragraphs, and every other he switches from first person to third person. I caught on to the pattern quickly and it made it more intriguing for me to want to keep reading. It was him against everybody else and he creates great emotion through his writing. As I read close to the end, the character felt anxiety, loneliness, and was paranoid of his surroundings. Even I felt these emotions, because he was able to depict each one so well. He uses dialogue and internet posts as well. Also, in the story, when he talks about specific people, he continually talks about them throughout the story as if they were characters.

Spoiler Alert! After he gets caught, he talks about what it’s like to live now as his old self. Every time he says his name or uses his credit card, he feels uneasy. Maybe he’s so used to hiding, that he still feels like he doesn’t want to get caught? The ending is fascinating, as he says that for the first time in weeks, someone had not believed his story. Meaning, after weeks of lying to different people about who he was, once he finally talked about his experience and what he did, the bartender didn’t believe him. I find it interesting and the story was extremely well written!
 To see all of his costumes through the 25 days CLICK HERE!

This video is an interview with Evan Ratcliff and

a general overview of the experience.


       Top Ten State Fair Joys by Garrison Keillor

Three simple reasons why a person should go to the MN state fair.
Sweet Martha cookies, state fair fries, and a pickle on a stick.
(Three out of the many foods I'll be eating this weekend.)



 The writer then takes a normal dad and steps into his shoes. The dad and daughter  walk through the fair and as the writer describes it, I’m picturing my own state fair. I’m going there this weekend and this was a perfect story to read right before. Since the writer is talking about Midwesterners and why we love our fairs so much, makes the essay seem more personal. He talks about his readers as if he is part of the crowd. It’s really nice (and true!) how he talks about people gathering at the fair, and for once, no one is ranked higher or lower to you. Everyone is equal and there is no upper or lower class when in a crowd that big and diverse. They’re all there for the same reason.

I really like the ending to the essay, because, just like any other fun event or vacation, they must come to an end. He makes it sound like anyone who goes to the fair is free to indulge, eat, spend, etc. and not worry about it. But once you come home, no one thinks they’re that person anymore and life goes on. He describes it in a way that we understand. I enjoyed this reading more than I thought.

               New York Times -- Click Here for the article online

From August 30, 2011, I chose the article called Brave, Foolhardy and Just Unlucky: The Lives Lost in a Storm’s Watery Fury. Right away, the intro was a literary device. The writer names several people who died and what they were doing right before hand. It made these people seem more real to me, than to say 40-some people died. As the article continues, the writer uses fragments to describe where people were during the disaster, “Some victims were in cars. In boats. On surfboards. On foot.” Even my computer is underlining these fragments as I type them. The writer makes visuals by describing how people died. It seems gruesome, but it’s for the reader to understand that they didn’t see it coming. He describes people as dying “while sending text messages to friends as the scampered through the storm…while sitting in their sunroom when a chimney plummeted through the glass ceiling…were crushed by a tree while chopping down another tree.”

The article continues and talks about the first rescuer, even when he woke up that morning. The article gets specific of how they rescued victims with great detail, like how the water was shin-deep and the current overpowering. The piece continues with specifics on who the victims were, and how people tried to help. It was an interesting article and the first article I picked was drenched in literary devices.

           My Future Story
       I haven't thought anymore about my story and what I'm going to do. I'm not too worried but I should do some more planning. I'm thinking about looking up an event and narrating a story on one person and how they set up and work throughout the day? I have no idea. This is a short description of my future story part of my blog. I should do more planning.