Category: April Issue
Do You Hear What I Hear?
Stop, children what’s that sound? Everyone look what’s going down? Over the past several cazuelas, we have taken time to attend to each one of our senses. The last of to explore is hearing. Hearing may be one of the more complicated senses. Why? Because you can easily hear a sound, but that can often be worlds apart from actually listening to it. At other times, the distinction crosses over into the metaphysical — hearing the Call of the Wild, the Sounds of Silence, or listening to the silent wisdom of others. Without resolving these complications, the gift of sound can also be the most rewarding sensory perceptions. Think of a child’s spontaneous laughter, the crash of waves against the shore, a somber chime memorializing a passing time, or a bird’s chirp.
But these sounds come and go. At their most magnificent, they seem always a fleeting gift. Disembodied recordings of our favorite sounds testify to those sonic qualities that still manage to escape capture on our advanced devices. Play it back…There’s still something missing, you can feel it in your deep inside of you. Will it ever return? Our cover is a visual representation of sound. Part of the new Tipping Point exhibition at the Catalina Island Museum, Elizabeth Turk’s “Sound Column” is an interactive sculpture designed after the recorded sound waves of now extinct birds species. Might we be offered an alternative attempt at recovering and experiencing sound? In the simplicity of the white platelets that makes up this awesome sonic swell, might we — like Nietzsche — learn to hear with our eyes? On the precipice of our own extinction, atop on-going extermination of many other species, what do we hope might be heard from the other side? A siren’s call of beautiful devastation? A tragic cry of warning?
Whatever we make of those sounds, it calls into question any of our own misconceptions about our capacity for opting to be simple observers to the plight of others. Throughout this month’s issue, contributors share their own melodies, cries, calls, refrains, lullabies, chants, whispers, giggles, stutters, and speeches. In so doing they each contribute to a lively chorus of living sound. As readers, those versed in the skill of hearing/listening with one’s eyes, you will continually make an important decision in how you receive and remember the sounds given to you. Because there is no such thing as mere spectators or observers in the dramas of this world. We, living beings, are both victims and perpetrators.
Again, we ask that as you are enjoying the pages of Cazuela that you hear our message, you listen to our words and take in all the sounds that are surrounding you. We have enjoyed sharing our thoughts on the senses through these first issues and feel blessed by all the amazing comments. We are hearing and listening to all your feedback. This publication is a true labor of love and we appreciate all your support and encouragement.
Creatively Yours,
Colin Eubank & Mr. Sean
All submissions can be sent to catalina.cazuela@gmail.com
Recipe for the Issue:
Start with a helping of
Articles and Observations:
• LIFE IN ANOTHER LAND
by Jose Barragan
• WHAT ARE YOU WORKING FOR?
by Jess Herzog
• HOW ARE YOU?
by Sean Brannock
• JUSSIE SMOLLETT: THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF
by Rich Zanelli
• THE SINGULARITY…IT IS COMING
by Rich Zanelli
• CHANGES IN LIFE
by Salvador Macias
• FEAR!
by Diego Rios
Mix in a handful of Creative Writing:
• L.A.TINA
a poem by Tom Quinn
• CIELITO LINDO
a song by Quirino Mendoza y Cortes
• WHY
a poem by Ron Long
• EMILIE
a tribute by Wendy Hernandez
• THE SHELTER
a poem by Tom Cushing
• BLOSSOMING
by Sophia Hall
• THE MONKEY & THE CAMEL
an Aesop Fable
• JULIA’S WAR
fiction by Tom Quinn
• WRITER’S BLOCK
a poem by Guillermo Torres
• SLEEPING ON A FLOWER
a poem by Lars Brown
Season with a dash of Essay:
• WOMEN OF HERSTORY: ROSIE THE RIVETER(S)
by Constance Rux
• IF FLOWERS COULD HEAR…OH, WAIT! THEY CAN?
by Carlos de la Rosa
• AWAKEN YOUR WORTH
by Sky O’Connor
Add a pinch of Community Shares:
• ELIZABETH TURK: TIPPING POINT
by The Catalina Island Museum
• WATERCOLOR PROCESSES: A CONVERSATION WITH JOAN MOSES
by The Cazuela Team
Steep all the above in
Visual Art:
• SOUND COLUMNS (APRIL COVER)
sculpture by Elizabeth Turk
• CATALINA MARIACHI
Sandtrap mural by Will Richards
• GRETA THUNBERG
a portrait by Ron Pyke
• FONE FAUNA
stylus sketches by Caprice Roth
• SPRING FLOWER COLLAGE
photos by Carlos de la Rosa
And before you know it, you’ve got a cazuela to share! Enough to satisfy our palates until next month…
Life in Another Land
by Jose Barragan
* * *
Moving to the United States and having to learn a new culture and language were definitely not the easiest things for a thirteen-year-old to accomplish. It was a challenge. Throughout the process of learning the new culture and language, I first had to overcome the many insults people would spit at me. Dislike would come my way almost daily, for example when I would mispronounce or misuse words in English.
But after being made fun of multiple times, I came to the conclusion that people were not just hurting me; they were unwittingly doing me a favor at the same time. Comments like “dumb Mexican” made me a stronger person by making me want to learn English even faster. Pointing to each of my mistakes, these people lent me their native speaker ears and helped me focus in on the areas I could improve. Those comments made me a bilingual adult who, today, is one of the top students in his class.
In order to accomplish my goal to learn English and not submit to the hatred of others, I always kept something that my parents had said to me when moving to this country: “The more you know, the more you are worth.” This helped me realize that learning a new language would open up more doors for me and would allow me to fill my soul with worthwhile experiences. I forgot the mistakes but learned the lessons.
“Cielito Lindo”
composed by Quirino Mendoza y Cortés (1882)
De la Sierra Morena,
cielito lindo, vienen bajando,
Un par de ojitos negros,
cielito lindo, de contrabando.
Estribillo:
Ay, ay, ay, ay,
Canta y no llores,
Porque cantando se alegran,
cielito lindo, los corazones.
Pájaro que abandona,
cielito lindo, su primer nido,
Si lo encuentra ocupado,
cielito lindo, bien merecido.
(Estribillo)
Ese lunar que tienes,
cielito lindo, junto a la boca,
No se lo des a nadie,
cielito lindo, que a mí me toca.
(Estribillo)
Una flecha en el aire,
cielito lindo, lanzó Cupido,
Si la tiró jugando,
cielito lindo, a mí me ha herido.
(Estribillo)
From Sierra Morena,
a pair of deep brown eyes,
lower as they approach,
a stolen glance.
Refrain:
Ay, ay, ay, ay,
sing and don’t cry,
heavenly one, for singing
gladdens hearts.
A bird that abandons
his first nest, heavenly one,
then finds it occupied by another,
deserves to lose it.
(Refrain)
That beauty mark you have
next to your mouth, heavenly one,
don’t share with anyone but me
who appreciates it.
(Refrain)
Cupid shot off an arrow, heavenly one,
And though he was playing,
I was wounded.
(Refrain)
L.A.tina
by Tom Quinn
* * *
Christina watches out her window to the city
Wonders where her boys have flown
Samuel stepped on a mine in Iraq, a piece of her heart gone
Under unfinished beams and eves we gather
In winter’s dark Atwater, morning
Missing mother’s warmth and table
Love songs come from corridor corners
Bird calls; whistles from yesterday’s jungle
Intermittent long sigh ay-ay-ay’s
There’s a new bird park in Avalon
Don’t stop the bus
Walk quietly by
And you’ll hear the songs of the Amazon
And all along the pacific flyway they wait for the end of the week
The builders of the pyramids will go home to momma
And, consuerte, a little chaka chaka
Women of HERstory: Rosie the Riveter(s)
by Constance Rux
* * *
When you think symbols for the “feminist movement” I am sure, depending on the decade you hail from, several images come to mind. Maybe various versions of the Greek symbol for Venus, the gurl power fist, most recently the pussy hat, or more unconventionally – the #’s (#timesup #metoo). Somewhere along the way (and, surprisingly, probably not when you think) a poster of a young woman dubbed “Rosie the Riveter” was added as a symbol of feminism. So I wanted to know – who was this woman? How did this WWll poster come to be? What was it trying to accomplish? It is now widely accepted as a symbol for women to look to, and a rally cry of sorts: “We can do it!” Yay…Do what though?
In the 1940s women still had very limited control over their financial lives and what jobs they could have. Title VII wasn’t until the 60s, and it wasn’t until the mid-70s that women could even take out a loan at a bank without bringing a husband or other male relative with them. So what is this poster talking about? Was it really what it seemed to be?
During WWII the workforce in the US was suddenly and drastically changed forever: Women and minorities were suddenly allowed to go and join the workforce. This was viewed as a necessary, but temporary, decision by business and national interests alike. You see, supplies and munitions were required to continue the Allied war effort. As France was under foreign occupation and the factories of the United Kingdom were often targets for Luftwaffe bombs, America was primarily responsible for Allied production. As businesses secured hefty government contracts to supply the military, they encountered a personnel problem: most of the young men were drafted and deployed. Women and people of color, previously shunned from the workplace and intentional kept from certain industries, were now needed and relied upon to fill the factory floor. But this does not mean that they were accepted into the workplace with open arms. In many cases, in fact, they were given the most basic jobs, with sub-standard pay, while the men who were still employed at these factories were swiftly promoted to open up these lower positions. Needing to hire a woman during a time of war was different than accepting women into the workplace: soon, soon enough, the men would come home and they (the women) too would go home.
The original Norman Rockwell painting of “Rosie” in 1943 was of a woman in factory clothing, on her lunch break, with her feet propped up on a copy of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.” It was a wide spread image at the time, as Rockwell was a well known artist. It served as a reminder to women that it was patriotic and desirable for them to find jobs outside the home (for now). Women were “doing their part” for their country. Norman Rockwell had a young girl in his hometown pose as the model for this painting. Her name is Mary Doyle Keefe. She was very proud to be the model for this endeavor and there are multiple interviews with her as an elderly woman, recounting this experience, on youtube. (I encourage you to watch one of her interviews, she is a very sweet lady.) The painting itself is full of symbolism. By working, a woman could help trample Hitler. He chose a very specific pose for Rosie. It was to reflect the pose of Isaiah from the Sistine Chapel. By doing so he was not only referencing that women in the workplace were doing God’s work, but showing the figure of a woman literally in a man’s position.
The popular version we think of today as the “Rosie the Riveter” image is actually just know as the “We Can Do It” poster. It was not, in fact, a battle cry for women in the 1940s. It was akin to the cute kitten poster we have today where the kitten is hanging with all her might onto a branch under the words, “hang in there.” It was created for the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company in 1943 and wasn’t used nationally. Most people outside of the factory never even knew the poster existed. However, because of the popularity of the Norman Rockwell painting, any and all women who were being portrayed as a working female as propaganda were being blanketed as a “Rosie.”
By the 1980s, when this poster came back into the public eye, it had been adopted into a new meaning. That women could do everything a man could do. That “we can do it” too. What many women who dress up as Rosie for Halloween, or carry the image so proudly may not know is that the image was not a campaign in the 40s to fight for the equality of women. It was an inspirational campaign created by a company that needed to keep women in the workplace happy, and working hard. Without actually giving them equal pay, positions, or a job they could keep once their male counterpart returned from war.
I, for one, am glad to see it adopted, and adapted as the times change. It is a powerful image. Reclaiming it as a feminist image rather than what it was intended to be does have power. However, if you do not know the HERstory of the image, that the image has been claimed over to the side of feminism rather than created as such, then you have missed some of the key battles for the fight of equality along the way.
What Are You Working For?
by Jess Herzog
* * *
What are you working for? That is the question you will hear a behavior technician, or likely many other therapy service providers, repeat to a child to better understand how to promote and reward appropriate or desirable behavior. Developmental benchmarks, parent preference, cultural and social norms combine to define a target behavior that once modified will benefit the child by increasing their ability to lead a safe and independent lifestyle. The flip side of this – most adults are working for their paycheck. But what can employers do when that’s not enough to motivate appropriate work performance? Behavioral science has developed a process to find the answers, which can be as unique as the individuals it helps. Applied in the business world, the theory of behavioral science is called Organizational Behavior Management, OBM, and it is a sound investment for owners or management looking to improve many aspects of performance, project management and increase return on investment.
What does this have to do with Avalon? Our town is unique, as the majority of its economic base is centered on tourism. Without our visitors, there would be no jobs for most of the population who live in Avalon, no need for the services provided to exist as they do. Every visitor experience is truly a community experience. Their overall impression of our town will determine if they become a repeat guest or a one star review warning other travelers to avoid our shores. Most business owners I know are looking to secure positive reviews, happy guests and steady flow of return business.
Turning these desires in to well defined goals is part of the process behavioral science uses to achieve measurable change. If you want to see results, you must first clearly define what success looks like to you, and then get focused on how to achieve it. There are volumes of research detailing countless methods by which you can achieve behavioral change, but in Avalon what we really need to work for is a wide-spread culture shift. We need every resident to value and promote positive interactions with our visitors, we need to be Disneyland on the ocean! To speed up this process you can hire a behavioral expert to sort through the many proven methods to encourage such a shift in thoughts and actions and offer the best match for your needs. That is what Avalon-AC4P is offering to the Avalon community!
Where do we start? The power of connection, communication, and collaboration is not to be underestimated. For better or for worse when people gather together and unite under shared principles things start to happen. News and social media have a way of manipulating the truth, and even more dangerous is the lack of facts in media posts that go viral. But these same tools also hold the awesome power to connect folks who are worlds apart physically and philosophically. Critical thinking is needed in these highly controversial times that are promoting the polarization of families, communities and even nations. Be it war or world peace, we are in control of our focus and what we promote in our daily lives. Finding common ground within our greater community is the best way to promote positive growth and a sustainable future for the generations who will inherit what we leave in our wake. Will you chose to focus on and promote principles that encourage us to reach Avalon’s greatest potential? Take our community goal setting survey and share your voice at http://www.AvalonAC4P.org no internet? Call or text YES.612.AC4P to be included.
Why
by Ron Long
* * *
Why do you ask for love
When what you really want is pleasure
Why do you call for pleasure
When what you really want is acceptance
Why do you plead for acceptance
When what you really want is comfort
Why do you arrange for comfort
When what you really want is safety
Why do you strive for safety
When what you really want is escape from the heat
Why do you run from the heat
When what you really want is rain
Why do you pray for rain
When what you really want is water
Why do you thirst for water
When what you really want is life
Why do you struggle through life
When all you really need is love
Why do we ask for more
When what we really need is right outside our door
How Are You?
by Sean Brannock
* * *
How are you? Fine, thank you. And you? It’s almost like a single sentence. A pleasantry we all use. When we ask the question – How are you? Do we really expect a real response? No, we hope for the simple answer of fine/good/alright. Nor do we want to share how we really are doing. It’s just a call and response that we all know the rules to. Because in reality we may not be ready to hear how someone is doing and we’re certain no one wants to actually hear our own woes. So, we greet each other and hold up our end of the bargain, smile and carry on.
How do we connect with each other? How do we learn, grow and help? Do we need to? Each of us have our own struggles, so why carry burdens of others? Because maybe we all have similar fears, hopes, worries and desires. If we share them, we can lift each other up. It’s easy to listen (not always pleasant) but easy. Through basic skills of communication we break barriers of fear, loneliness and depression. Human kindness and connection is what we all yearn for, whether we realize it or not.
With friends, I’m using the phrase – “I’m checking in on you” in hopes of further opening the door of sharing. I want to be connected and invested in people, especially those who are closest to me. I, in turn, want to feel safe in sharing my feelings that lay beyond the word fine. We are in this life together. Why not conquer it together as a connected and unified front?
As I was writing this piece, the song Say Something by A Great Big World came on my Pandora channel. Some of the lyrics are:
Say something, I’m giving up on you
I’ll be the one, if you want me to
Anywhere, I would’ve followed you
Say something, I’m giving up on you
And I… am feeling so small
It was over my head
I know nothing at all
And I will stumble and fall
I’m still learning to love
Just starting to crawl
Let’s continue to check in on each other. So, we will never have to give up on one another. Let’s learn to say something besides – Howareyoufinethankyouandyou?
Cazuela 