4B Reflections on My California

1. Choose any 1 classmate that wrote about your same essays and briefly compare/contrast their choices and ideas versus what you said.
I read Kendra's blog, and found that she and I felt very similarly about the readings. She mentions how we take freeway travel for granted (Ode to Caltrans), seeing it as a necessity rather than a conveniance. I agree with this completely- I recently moved to Santa Rosa from Windsor, because I was communting to Santa Rosa almost daily. When living in Windsor, I always travelled by the freeway, despite the fact that driving on the freeway has always made me extremely nervous. I never really considered leaving earlier and travelling by backroads- I always felt like I had to go by the freeway to save time; a conveniance, but one I tended to take for granted and never think about. I also agreed with her about Montalvo, Myths, and Dreams of Home. I too feel like even though I love this state and find it beautiful, I often take it for granted. An interesting point Kendra made that I hadn't really thought of was how she said an area can be treasured by some, while unthought-of by others. This is so true! I think in many ways Californians (in general) forget exactly how desirable of an area we live in, and pay it less thought than people who may dream of living here. Like Kendra, I didn't know much about the location of Seal Beach besides it being located in Southern California (The Last Little Beach Town). She noted how it's hidden location keeps it almost scret to people who are local to the area, and I think that's an important point about Seal Beach. Because it's not well known, it's been able to maintain the small town feel much longer than it's other Orange County beach town counterparts. With Surfacing, Kendra mentioned being familiar with Maverick's and hearing about the surfing contests there. This is one thing I did not share with her- I had never heard of Maverick's or even known that surfing was popular there, until reading Surfacing. I've never known very much at all about surfing, despite it being a popular sport along the coast.

2. Choose any 1 classmate that wrote about a different set of essays and tell us one thing you learned per author presented.
I read Monica's blog (group 1). I learned from her about The Big Valley essay, and how Fresno has strong roots with agriculture, and how there is the biggest farm equipment show in the world about an hour south of Fresno. I also learned that the land outside of the city of Fresno is flat agricultural land, bu that occasionally farmers have to sell some of it off to developers if they've had financial difficulty that year. The second essay she read was called Transients in Paradise, and from her summary I learned that desire and fear are two emotions that prey upon the millionaire residents in Beverly Hills. I also learned that Beverly Hills has no hospital, and most of it's residents weren't born there, and probably won't die there either. In the summary of Showing Off The Owens, I learned that there is a river called the Owens River that is really good for fly fishing. For some reason, I didn't really realize there were any places to fly fish in California. I've always pitured it being something that is done only back east, and I have a specific image of Montana as being a place where it would be popular. In the summary of The Distant Cataract About Which We Do Not Speak, I learned some people in Sacramento actually kyack to work! I think that is so awesome, and seems like a fun healthy way to get to work, although I imagine it could have it's downsides as well.

3. Like number 2, choose any 1 classmate that wrote about a set of essays that you didn't read.
I read Jennifer's blog (group 3). I learned from her summary of Bienvenidos a Newport Beach a little more about homeowner's associations. I realized that they had certain standards, such as how the front yard must look, the color of the house, etc, but I didn't realize that some of them provide private community pools every few blocks. I also didn't know that Newport Beach was such a well-to-do community. In her summary of Cotton Candy Mirrors, I learned how some kids spent their summer at Playland in the Fun House. This was much different than any summer vacation time I ever had- as a kid I never really went anywhere or did uch during summer vacation other than read incessantly. It made me realize that some kids actually spent their summer vacations acting like kids! In her summary of Berkley, I learned that the residents of Berkley realy value the diversity of their city. In the summary of California Honky-tonk, I learned that the band El Rancho Motel named their band that because ‘third rate romance, low-rent rendezvous' fit their image. I always think it's interesting to learn how bands get their names, because in many ways, the name of a band contributes to the image they want to portray.