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CHAPTER 2: THE DIVORCE (MY CHILDHOOD)
Photos/Images:
Chapter 2 (Page 91): “The family in Whittier with dad literally not in the picture (circa 1984). My facial expression and collar wingspan say it all: heavy turbulence ahead!”
Videos/Clips (Memories and Messages in Memes)
Ch2 (Page 95): “If that’s true, [my sister] was bound to be given a lot given the incredible goods and potential she was born with. But should so much of that have been spent on picking up her parents’ slack? I say no, yet she always did, nonetheless. That’s why she’ll always be my real-life Luisa from Encanto (the video for 'Surface Pressure,' 2021, is a must-watch!).
Alone, Lost, Abducted, and a Serial Killer on the Loose
Chapter 2 (Page 99): "I was also getting lost in my neighborhood...It didn’t help my insecurities that Richard Ramirez, aka 'the Nightstalker,' was on the loose and had recently committed several kidnappings and murders in my neighborhood and surrounding areas. Victims included multiple elementary school-aged kids who were either caught slipping at the bus stop or snatched right out of their beds at night..."
A Real Boss Bear (Women in the Workplace)
Ch 2 (104): "Had [my mom] have followed her own chosen path...I’m certain she’d have quickly gone very far in business, in spite of how much worse barriers for women in the workplace were back then. You’ve got to give 9 to 5 (1980) a watch or rewatch to fully appreciate the journey we’re
still on (at least the trailer). Like its three lead actors, the movie has
aged exquisitely!"
Into a Hot LZ We Were Going!
Ch 2 (Page 139): It was just like when SpongeBob and Patrick, on their dangerous voyage to Shell City, were told by hecklers that “They ain’t gonna last ten seconds over the county line,” my black friend, John, being
SpongeBob and me, the Mexican, being Patrick, of course.
Vultures of Divorce ("Stranger Danger," aka "Chester")
Chapter 2 (Page 145) "Oh sh*t, I thought. I’m in a real-life afterschool special right now! Like the 'very special episode' of Different Strokes...People mock those old public service announcement (PSA) hijacks today, but they actually came in handy for latchkey kids like me who were never formerly taught about “stranger danger,” aka “Chester the molester.”
The Wannabe Capital of the World (Santa Clarita)
Ch 2 (Page 151): "It’s as if they were auditioning for a Broadway production of Stand and Deliver (1988), starring Mr. Cartmanez. I mean, Edward James Olmos..."
Songs
Ch 2 (Page 94): "Shout out to Noa Noa’s, Baby Does, and Blondies, where according to legend, there was always 'No Parking on the Dance Floor' (Midnight Star, 1983)...
and always a 'Meeting in the Ladies Room' (Klymaxx, 1984)."
Chapter 2 (Page 95): "Although it is a proven scientific fact that less than only .01 percent of the human population is born with this special breakdancing gene, there’s just something about the human condition that tells us all that we somehow exist within that fraction of a percentile. Don’t believe me? Let’s test it with an experiment. Play the song 'Don’t Stop the Rock' (1985) by Freestyle..."
Ch 2 (Page 96): I used to conduct stakeouts near the closed door of her bedroom while they blasted New Wave songs on the turntable, spinning the vinyl at hyper-speed (the right way): songs like “My Forbidden Lover” (1983) by Tapps and...
and “Living on Video” (1982) by Trans-X.
Ch 2 (Page 108): "Now I’m sure that at their wedding, the pipe organist played Wagner’s 'Bridal Chorus' ('Here Comes the Bride'), but in my head, all I heard was Bach’s 'Toccata and Fugue in D Minor'..."
Ch 2 (Page 112): "[My stepbrother] used to stare at the wall for hours, listening to NWA’s and Eazy-E’s albums over and over on his headphones. What was strange is that I don’t remember him singing, dancing, or enjoying the music. It’s more like he was encoding it all, uploading it to his mainframe (of reference)."
Ch 2 (Page 115): "At these jubilant events, my personal theme song, 'Lookout Weekend' (1984) by Debbie Deb, and other old-school freestyle jams blasted on the inside-turned-outside speakers; an array of edible meats from Smart and Final blackened on the grill; and all my
sister’s friends’ mascara ran like Alice Cooper’s while they swam in
the most risqué ’90s one pieces i.e., wholesome onesies by today’s
standards."
Ch 2 (Page 129): "The soundtrack to my life would have included ’90s staples like 'Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang'...
'It Was a Good Day'...
'Smells Like Teen Spirit'...
and "I’m Too Sexy.'"
Ch 2 (Page 147): "During sleepovers (always and only before that first official report card arrived the mail, after which point I was grounded for the rest of the year), we’d shoot dice and play poker and “get like me” all nightlong, listening to the Geto Boys...
Domino...
Jodeci, and, of course, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre."
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