California State University (CSU): Open Journal Systems

Wolfe, Jennifer

English

Accident at Madeleine\u27s House

Brown, Sandra

Two Poems: "To You Who Wait" and "Piano Lessons"

Across an enviable range of settings, Purdue University students explain how they benefit from deeply engaging learning experiences

Parker Ginter, Daniel

Doninger, Katy

Stremiecki, Kathryn

Dobbs-Oates, Jennifer

Learn by Doing: Boilermakers Succeed with Experiential Education

Alli, Julie

Dellacioppa, Kara

In Memoriam: David Chandler

Sloane

94 
SHINY NEW CAR, BMW 
driving a shinlJ new car, bmw 
she feels like a dentist's wife, 
two kids in the back seat 
on their walJ to daillJ summer camp 
both with straight, white teeth 
driving a shinlJ new car, bmw 
she feels like a mafia bog's lover 
husband is taking her to lunch 
and the pearls are real, 
'Broadwag pumps, 
dress-real linen 
driving a shinlJ new car, bmw 
she feels like a preftg girl, 
on the wag to an important date, 
freedom 
radio blasting, 
reconcile with the past 
driving a shing new car, bmw 
in this car, 
she's someone else--
anlJone else-
not herself 
at seventeen 
he gave her a bablJ, 
and-after a kick in the gut-
together theg buried it 
a bloodlJ mass in the backgard 
like an unwanted pupp1J 
still-as a favor, 
he dropped her off at a clinic 
"slut," he said, 
not bothering to slow down the car 
her purse catching in the door handle, 
-liMP I 
christmas, 1978 
instead of a cheerful toast 
he gave her a broken iaw 
and plentg of advice-
thanks, daddg 
Sloane 
good radio, 
good brakes, 
air ... conditioning, 
dadd'!l alwalJS said, "what for?" 
teeth white, like bmw 
practicalllJ stolen, 
but not 
well, sort of 
on sale 
ross, dress for less 
momentaril'!l, 
if really loud, 
drown it out 
she's pimped 
ges, 
true, 
thank god 
l 'l? too lJOUng 
bog or girl? 
wh1J7 
bloodg mass 
still not sure 
favor? 
in another citg, rzo ... miles awalJ 
blood soaking her ieans, clutching too liHle bus fare 
rustg pick ... up-do thelJ make generic pick ... ups? 
vin1Jl, 'K_..mart 
oh,well 
christmasl 
he drinks too much angwag 
she didn't ask for that 
or that either 
Tbe Northridge Review 
noiV. 1995 
he gave her a shinlJ new car 
stiJI-not an apologl] 
like a mafia bol]'s lover, 
she's still cheap in a shinl] new car 
music blasting-
can't erase the thud, then the crack 
thanks, daddl], for the shinlJ new car-
polite, 
l]OUng ladies alwalJS sal], 
sloane 
1995? 
a bmw 
none necessarl] 
no use Crl]ing over spilt milk 
mafia? 
lJes, sort of 
-crackl 
bmw 
thanks, daddl] for the shinl] new car 
thanks, daddl] 
Tbe Northridge Review 
95 


Shiny New Car, BMW

Reynolds, Amy

141 
ARCHAEOLOGY 
Amy Reynolds 
'[' adli.cll error #1: Use newsprint with four .. color photos. 
Making paper. I'm making paper when l should be doing something else. The sink is 
spoHed with ink and drying bits of newsprint. l keep corning back to it, plunging my hands 
into the ugly gray mass which resembles so liHle my original plan. l had in mind delicate col .. 
ors and some kind of intersection of music and spoken word, and yet here l am, glops of 
paper mush all over the sink, coating my hands with black ink. l had this idea to use the front 
pages of the newspaper with the new four .. color photos, all the best disaster pictures of the 
week: the picture of three Africaaner right wingers begging for their lives before a black 
South African soldier, and then the picture of them shot dead in the '8ophutswana dust they 
had wanted so badly to keep; an assassination in Mexico, a car bombing somewhere, a 
photo of a poppq field, because suddenly it is spring, even here where there are no seasons. 
A native, l know there are. l know spring when l see it. 
T ac1ical error #2: Look outside. See that April is corning. 
l keep looking for my neighbor to come walking up the path. It's an event, her corn .. 
ing horne; she is one of those people who makes an appearance of walking by the window, a 
moment, a presentation. l hear her boots on the steps, and there she is, suddenly this few feet 
of space, the arching trees, the geraniums turn their faces toward her, the long red wool coat, 
open, black motorcycle boots, her mouth tight around a cigareHe, her bright blond, tow .. 
headed boy's head down. 
l lift rnq hands from the bowl and they are paper rnache hands. 1n a flash she has 
swept up, to her door one set of steps above my apartment. The door opens, closes. l hear 
her in her kitchen. IDhich reminds me that l should be making lunch. l fill the bowl of paper 
Pulp with water and set it on the counter to soak. And then l go about preparing carrot sticks 
and peanut butler sandwiches for Erin. 
Tbe Nortbrid11e Review 
142 
Somehow l've crunched evergthing down to virtuallg nothing.1 
The Spanish bungalow type apartment building, actually two buildings, had been built 
on a sleep hillside in Silverlake, on Tularosa south of Sunset {a culturally important distinction) 
sometime in the thirties. South of Sunset was nearly the barrio, the lower streets being dominalN 
ed by seedy twenties era apartment buildings, while the streets higher up the hillsides were 
dolled with interesting older houses in which well established gay professionals lived stable, 
mildly interesting lives. Sunset al the lime was dolled with gal) clubs; al the bottom of our hill 
was the Flamingo, a women's club where I often went dancing. 
T ac1i.ca1 Error #5: Listening 
Erin's hands are stained. There are carcinogens in newspaper ink "Go wash lJOUr 
hands," 1 tell her. 
1n a cooperatiue mood, she gets down from the chair and runs to the bathroom. 
Through the walls 1 hear the euening's fight heating up, first the man screaming and then a 
murmuring uoice, the woman. l'ue onllJ seen her a few times in the six months we'ue Hued 
here, in Siluerlake, passing down the long flight of concrete steps to her car, head down, neuer 
looking around. But right now, she is murmuring upstairs, ma1Jbe a hooker calming her pimp. 
1 indulge all mlJ worst prejudices about her. 1 hate how she wakes me in the middle of the 
night with her cat .. like CI1Jing, and her murmuring uoice, and her moaning. 
Between the two buildings ran a long walkway, painted red, with five flights of con" 
crete steps leading up and up to each set of apartments, and each apartment had steps leadinq 
up to the door. The apartments /aced each other across the walkway, and each had wide 
French windows through which we could spy on each other. 
A sudden crash and then the pitch of the uoice rises .. 1 can nearllJ make out the 
words. Another crash. 
143 
The walkway was planted with tall trees, Australian ferns, four oclocks and star jasmine, 
always a bit dark and fragrant, so that, when I opened the gate, I felt I was climbing into a for--
est. Except that at the very top was an open space, and the sun would shine brilliantly off the 
beige plastered wall across the back of the complex, nearly blinding after the cool 
darkness of the climb. 
IDater is still running in the bathroom. l go in and find Erin dangling her long fingers 
in the water, making a mess, staring at the water with her head cocked to one side, listening. 
Later, in the bathtub, Erin tells me a slo11J about a cal and a magician. She has me 
write the sentences down. This seems ve11J important to her: 
Erin's Story 
Once there was a cal who lived in Paris. He was a very fine cat He lived with 
two good people. Their names were Kelly and Karma, and they had a mother 
who was very good to her children. 'But one day, a traveler was coming to 
town. The traveler was car11Jing boxes and toys. He was a magician and a 
loy giver. He went straight to the cat' s house and he knocked on the door and 
the people answered. 
They opened the door and they said, "IDhat are you here for?'' 
And he said, "l am a magician. l can change things to animals and l 
can make things disappear. IDhich one would you like? A new animal? Or to 
make something disappear?'' 
The man is shouting again, indiscipherable curses; the woman's voice, through the wall, 
murmuring. IDe go back to making paper. lrinse it over and over. The ink won't come out 
}blackens my sink. l don't know what l'm doing. 
At certain times of the gear the brush cherrg trees would bloom in yellow tufts, and 
then drop the flowers like snow across the walkway. The paths of drunken bees wandered 
across the drifted flowers. In the hot months, spiders spun webs /rom tree to tree, across the 
UJalk. 
Tbe Northridge Review 
144 
Taclicll Error #4: Add bleach. 
The pulp has been draining all dag; it smells of Chlorox no maHer what l do. Over 
and over l fill the bowl with water and work the paste through a colander with a big wooden 
spoon. l dig mg fingers into the mass, squeeze it into something like submission. But l arn 
beginning to lose faith. 
Erin's Storg 
So the magician told them to get their cat and he put the cat in a box it 
could fit in. He put it in other boxes .. the box in other boxes and other boxes 
until he had the verg biggest. And he said, "IDizidg, IDizidg, IDizadg IDand .. 
make this cat disappear:· And it did it as soon as he did the last box. He was 
gone.Poofl 
Where the curvature is negative, particles will flow awal.:J, leaving voids. 1 
In number one, at the bottom, lived a tall, brown skinned transvestite who designed 
clothes; below and across from me, a couple who fought a lot and threw lots of parties and 
made strange noises; next door to them lived an Asian man, an architect, who liked to play 
his l}amaha synthesizer late at night; directly across, in the other two .. story unit, was a younq 
hetero couple who wore black, played the club scene, and had lots of skin .. headed traffic in 
and out of the apartment. The woman next door had a child with her for a while, and then the 
father came and took it away. Later she got a cat. 
One dag the fights stop. She starts having girl friends over. Theg climb the long flight 
of steps up from the street, past mg window, to the apartment next door. Through the walls, 1 
hear her laughing. On the wag back from the park with Erin, l see her pause to light a ciga" 
reHe as she gets out of her car, a gellow Volkswagen, pause long enough that we don't have to 
speak. 
'[' adical Holding lJOur breath. 
145 
Some small sound next door awakens me where before it had been the shouting. l 
check the clock: two .. thirtl,}. l hear the scrape of a chair in her kitchen. She's probabllJ a 
waitress or a topless dancer, mal.}be a bartender. 'But l can finalllJ relax, and fall asleep again, 
listening to the sound of a teapot being filled, and her humming. 
I sleep a lot. Naps in the afternoon help, because the days get too long sometimes. 
and my eyes and my hand tire from the work. The walls are so white and blank, I can't bear 
them and so as a relief too from the small scale of my current project .. the tiny brush and the 
lines .. I've been working in charcoal's all shapes and colors shading and light on the walls 
themselves. Horses, mostly. Magic arrows and spears. Petroglyphs perhaps? 
IDhile Erin sleeps, l wander through the dark apartment, checking the doors and win .. 
dows, letting the cat in. Sometimes, as l lie in bed with the child's small bodlJ curled against 
me, l hear rustling in the ivlJ outside the window .. a possum or col.}ote .. but tonight it is so 
quiet, and so warm l get up and pour mlJself a glass of wine. l open the door and sit on the 
steps. The jasmine is blooming, and orange blossoms, and geranium. Up the walk, a cigareHe 
glows in the darkness. 
Then l start unfolding space and time and trade them off.1 
These rooms echo and I hear the next door neighbors thumping and banging. 
Sometimes the little girl cries and it gets confusing. At night, after work, I climb these steps 
through the shadows of the trees and her lights are on. She's still up, and I know she's listen .. 
ingforme. 
T ac1ical 'Error #6: Think too much. 
(ln her studio at the top of the building, looking out across the Citlj, she pauses, the 
brush readl.} for the next stroke. 'Before her, the paint spaHered drawing board, drawing pens 
a.nd brushes in big jars, boxes of charcoalJ 
Tbe Nortbridge Review 
146 
l find out that she bartends at a place down near Melrose and Virgil, and one after .. 
noon as l pass by, l see her car parked out front, the yellow bug, which is so distinctive. l go 
inside, and the bar is full of smoke; the afternoon sunlight slants across the floor in big block, so 
that the corner tables are in pools of darkness. The bar is busy for a UJednesday afternoon. l 
am one of only two white women in the place; sunlight strikes across the bartender's white .. 
blond hair through the smoky air. She's a Sunday School angel mixing Cuba Libres. 
IDhere the curvature is negative, particles will flow awag,leaving voids.1 
I was watching cartoons when she said she had a headache and would I please turn 
the television, it was driving her crazy. So of course l turned it off, and she laid down on the 
couch. l colored for awhile, and then it started to get dark in the house so l went around and 
turned the lights on, except near her, so she wouldn't be disturbed. Pretty soon it was really 
dark outside, and she was still asleep. l opened a can of soup for our dinner and heated it up 
on the stove, expecting her to wake up any time, especially when she smelled the chicken 
soup. But she didn't wake up. And l didn't know what to do. l was afraid and didn't know 
who to call. 
(l just want to be able to pour out poetry,2 
stuff about waiting and speechlessness, 
and floating on air. 
But every time the paper is right there 
the words drag out in darkness. 
l want to keep it light and clear, and 
1 want to be known more 
than anything in the world .. ) 
After a few months she sometimes comes down and knocks at my kitchen door and we 
drink coffee together. She has this way of curling her legs around her on the chair; her eyes. 
very green, narrow through the smoke. IDe discover we have both been to see the Van Gogh 
exhibit at the County Art Museum; we shout at each other over the Irises .. we have never 
seen such glowing irises. 
147 
So it was a few days before my grandmother came by and of course by then, things 
had gotten bad, and I guess I haven't ever gotten over that particular phase of my life. And 
there is some plant, something in the air, this lime of year, whose scent can bleach my mind as 
blank as a sheet of paper, make me nearly blind. 
I was seven when she died. She had been healthy, but drank a lot and for awhile we 
fived with a man who hit her often, so I think perhaps the stroke that killed her .. and she was 
only twenty.-nine .. had something to do with her lifestyle. 
'[' ac1ioll 'Bl'l"'l' lf:'l: Admit anl]thing. 
Later 1 find out that the man with whom she'd been living, the man who threw things 
and shouted all night, had died, suddenll], of a massive heart aHack on the front steps of her 
apartment. An autopslJ revealed that cholesterol deposits had so blocked the blood flow to 
his brain that his behavior had been affected. 
He died right on the front steps, and she had tried to give him CPR. "He was dead 
before he hit the ground," the paramedics had told her. 
I lived with a quy for awhile at that apartment. He was okay when I first knew him, but 
later he became abusive. He'd throw things and push me around, shout at me, call me names. 
I kept thinking I should leave, but how could I leave my apartment? I had a view from my stu.-
dio of downtown .. perfect light .. the air off the ocean when the wind was right. How could I 
leave my only home? 
TICtical 'Bl'l"'l'#S: Make things disappear. 
After manlJ dalJS, the paper pulp seems less gralJ. IDhile Erin is busl] plal]ing with a 
friend, 1 work food coloring into the muck. l color it in batches, and spread it out on aluminum 
foil on top of the stove. The pink looks like hamburger. The green is almost preHlj. 1 press 
lhe batches together and the colors bleed into each other. 1 have no idea how this will turn 
out. 
At this point the idea of making paper seems silllJ and stilted. 1 wonder what 1 was lr1J"' 
htg to do, except fend off April, the cruelest month. Once she told me that our parents are not 
lhe people now that thel] were then, when we were children. Thel]'ve changed and grown 
The Northridge Review 
148 
wiser, she said. 'Back then theq were monsters. 
Writing immediatelg after reading lJOUr leHer because it's been so long since we've known each other 
1 guess 1 feel poiqnantll] compelled to remember what, who l've missed and because, too, some things 
lJOU Sa\] trouble and touch me""3 
One night she comes to the door, reallq flqing and l think she's taken something. She 
talks so fast l can barelq follow what she's saqing, suddenlq she breaks down crqing. She sags 
it's her birthdaq, that she's twentq .. nine. 
"Heq, have a beer. lt's qour birthdaq," l tell her. Of course, how could l know? 
T ac1icll Error #9: 4row Preoccupied 
"UJe're hungrq," the children call from their room. 
"Okaq, just another minute." 
l'm pressing the colored liquid out of the pulp. l've said "another minute" at least three 
times. 4reen and pink all over mq hands. l'm making paper; l am slaughtering trees. l am 
staining the world with carcinogenic ink. 
(Soon the cat was no longer in boxes. He was in a dark wood. He heard the 
voices of crickets and the rustling of possums. The damp earth pulsed with 
trails and destinations, traces of a recent kill. Far off, a larger creature broke 
tree branches and made short grunting noises) 
Finallq l put the paper on the aluminum foil in the oven, and l turn the oven on verg 
low, so it will drq overnight. Mq head is full of ideas .. l think l will do pictographs on the 
paper in ink, and l will look up Egqptian sqmbols, the ones that stand for life and rebirth, and 
the signs for lsis and Osiris who stand for the transformative power of love beqond death. 1 
read stories to Erin with half of mq mind; several times she jabs me with her elbow and salJS 
"UJake up Mommql" but l'm not sleeping, l'm dreaming. 
IDhen she falls asleep, l take a long, slow shower, with the water verq hot and lots of 
steam. The phone rings and rings, but l'm not answering. l alwaqs take a shower when 1 
need to think. 
149 
'['he ratio of trade .. off for spacetime depends on the curvature, which depends on energy density. 
Coming through the gate I thought I smelled smoke. I ran up all five flights of stairs "' 
z guess I knew where it was coming from "' and there was smoke pouring from under the door. 
I pounded on the door and started yelling to wake them up. All the neighbors came out in 
their bathrobes. Then I picked up a flower pot and threw it through the window. I heard the 
little girl crying in the bedroom and went straight there "' the fire was in the kitchen, burning 
up to the ceiling from the stove "' I picked up the little girl, so light in my arms like a feather 
and I carried her out and then the mother comes running out behind me in a blue silk kimono, 
her hair wet, saying "Oh my god, oh my god," like she'd lost her mind. 
lf you make the density just right, then the curvature of space is just right, so the unfolding costs you 
zero. 
T IClicll 'Error #10: "Believe thai the unfolding costs lJOU zero . 
NOTES 
l. From 4/94 OMNI Magazine 
2. Poem, Cathi O'nan, unpublished 
3. Personal leiter, Margaret Lavin, unpublished 
Tbe Nortbridfle Review 


Archaeology

Hinson, Randall

American Academy of Poets Winner-- Randall Hinson 
Perfect Saturday Night 
Looked out through the window 
with paint on the pane, 
the phone on mg shoulder, 
qour voice 
trails off 
between brush strokes 
and the hiss 
of interference 
through the line. 
ijou have a headache too. 
ijou miss him at night. 
But the work keeps gou busy, 
Lonely. 
So what about coffee? 
ln the same cafe bg the tracks 
wheregougo 
lwo, three times a dag, 
just to break monotony. 
l,)ou can smoke in the bar 
and run into the cab driver 
who sometimes gets the check 
so you'll talk with him. 
Their plywood walls. 
The popcorn machine. 
A jelly omeleHe and coffee. 
Later, we can go bowling 
With six of your friends. 
They'll call up the girl 
who closes her eyes 
and talks, 
Wears her lOO% silk shirt 
on backwards. 
Maurice who rides 
a bicgcle. He'll show 
\lou his broken sculpture 
of melted crayon wax. 
'10night, 
we'll score over 'ZO, 
pile in the two door 
of the bog with a lead patch, 
cancer in his eyes, 
and get stoned. 
'ijou can look out 
the steamy window 
at the storm drain, 
pissing on the hood, 
feel mg heart beating faster_ 
Bg five when lleave, 
you'll be too tired 
to remember him. 
lJou'll run out of records 
to play, things 
to paint.4o 
wash the lipstick 
from your face. 
'10morrow, 
we'll meet again 
at the cafe, for vanilla cokes, 
and hot fudge sundaes. 
Tbe Nortbridge Review 
151 


Perfect Saturday Night

Cole, Chris

155 
Dinner, and Other Things 
Chris Cole 
Phil .. "Is a table needed? ShaUl bring glasses? lf one were required to purchase a 
fork will spoons be provided? These questions must be asked, for you have invited me to din .. 
ner. l eat my dinner in layers of stacked quantities; salad, bread, meat, soup. l value quantity, 
there is evidence in quantity. But interruptions are prevalent here, which prevents me from 
responding to your invitation:· .. Interruption l .. "No one has invited you to dinnerl They 
only asked you for directions to dinnerl" 
Interruption 2 .. "IDhy would someone ask you to dinner, friend? l.]ou obvi .. 
ously have no sense of social grace?'' 
Interruption 3 .. "l too believe in being asked to dinner. l.]ou have asked 
some very appropriate questions." 
Dinner must shift from its casually elegant mannerisms to a propelled atmosphere that 
shuns disguises and well meaning blood soaked prime .. rib plates. Dinner must acknowledge 
the cavities of the body as its primal source of in and out goodness. Dinner must free itself 
of table cloths, seated cushions, and napkins. For they are the well meaning accessories which 
provided us with such details as a 28.00 dollar shrimp and steak plate. Dinner must.... 
Phil.. "l.]es, of course l accept your invitation regardless of what those obnoxious fel .. 
lows say. They've probably never dined in their lives. They've reduced themselves to ham .. 
burgers and malt liquor beer. IDell of course my questions concerning the table and glasses 
were relevant, many restaurants have liHle to do with such 19th century technicalities as spoons 
and knives. The majority of restaurants allow the customer to create their own unique dinning 
experience:· 
The Restauranteurs Convention which is held yearly at the Savanioug Convention 
Center took issue with the changing concept of "the dining experience:· Jack Derof, a restau .. 
rant consultant specializing in "dining alternatives" was this years key note speaker. He stated, 
"For the past 25 years we in the restaurant business have assumed that the overwhelming 
issue to contest with is the quality of the food we serve customers. The way in which food 
\Vas prepared and accessorized was highly contested and subject to much debate, but now 
fellow restauranteurs as they say times have changed. IDe are confronted with a society 
IVhose emphases has shifted from the pleasures associated with taste to a culture which ques .. 
tions the assumptions of what the dining experience should involve. IDhat this means ladies 
and gentleman is the customer will no longer willingly comply with such traditional staples as 
Tbe Nortbridf]e Review 
156 cbris cole 
tables, waiters, and chairs, etc.,... IDe as restauranteurs must be willing to confront this situati011 
head on. IDe can no longer deny the shift in our customers' needs. I have been director of 
research and development for Hansen Restaurants for the past seventeen 1Jears and I haue 
personalllJ seen this dramatic increase in customers' demand for a more stimulating dining 
experience. I shall review a variel'IJ of ideas mlJ team has developed in addressing this nell> 
demand." 
IDEA l .. Individual vs. Customer 
"Individuals will no longer tolerate being referred to as customers. IDhlJ, lJOU ask? 
Our research indicates that manlJ people feel it reduces them onllJ to a SlJStemized product 
which is there onllJ to be served and disposed of within a specificalllJ alloHed time. The 
word "customer" formulates a holistic self that eliminates any possibilil'IJ of diversifuing into 
other areas of the social strata. IDhen the waiter or waitress hands the individual a menu theq 
are leaving the individual no choice but to regulate themselves to a specific, confining identitlj• 
the palJing customer. Also the social enforced "dining time," which of course remains unstated, 
creates a machine .. like atmosphere which affects various aspects of the dining experience, 
from the taste of one's food to the abilil1J to carr1J on a interesting conversation. IDe conducted 
a stud1J which anallJzed the relationship between time and the taste of food. One test group 
was given 20 minutes to eat a New 'ijork steak and the other group was given 45 minutes to 
eat the same cut of meat. The meat was identicalllJ prepared for each group. The 45 minute 
group gave the dish an 82 percent approval rating while the 20 minute group gave the meal 
onllJ a l percent approval rate. This statistical evidence indicates that time has a much greater 
effect on the qualil'IJ of a meal than we had been led to believe." 
A man from the audience stands and interrupts Mr. Derofs address, "Excuse me, bul 
might this enormous statistical discrepanclJ have something to do with the fact that one group 
was told to eat under the threat of gunpoint and the others were not?'' 
Mr. Derof replied, "IDe have 1Jet to anal1Jze that aspect of the studlJ. Please do nol 
interrupt again." 
Interruption .. "'ijea, I was at that R.estauranteurs Convention, some gulJ pointed 
out that one of the test groups had a gun pointed to their head which "greatllJ affected the 
subject's response." Sounded like some sort of gag, might have been a set up, I don't know. 
"Hey, where's the fuckin' ketchupl" 
Dinner never meant much but peas and white wine, for white bread sirloin llJpes with 
a feel for clean finger nails and airlJ neck ties. Napkins were alwalJS present, but never need" 
ed. Their outer lips were never confronted with a bit of slopplJ potato or mustard sauce. The 
mouth's outer skin was kept clean, it was used for other things. The food was alwalJS eaten. No 
one once refused it. 
cbris cole 157 
Mr Derof s Individual vs. Customer scenario.. Door opens, individual enters the 
restaurant. Speakers are placed at the corners of the four walls. The speakers speak, 
"U}elcome, please instruct us." The individual asks to be prepared as a dish. The speakers 
ask him to lay on a platform which has emerged from the far right wall. The speakers ask the 
individual to explain their request, so it might be used to gauge population trends. "I have 
always consumed the food that has been prepared for me. I am bored by this procedure, this 
repetitive action which l have never once questioned. I wish to experience the entree's point 
of view. To be treated as an object that someone is paying to consume." .. UJhat is occurring 
in this brief instance? Is it a capitalistic\sexual\power plea? The words, "paying;' "con .. 
sume," "objec,t" arrange this subject into a three .. eyed dye, that refuse to fuse all three terrains 
of knowledge/ desire into one complete "Happy 25th Anniversary" greeting card. The dye 
rolls "capitalistic:· 
CAPITALISTIC 
The grocery store owner questions the thickness of the canned tomato sauce which he 
has placed in aisle four. Can it be thicker than a dollar bill, he asks himself? This question 
annoys him. Five minutes pass. He realizes that he is a grocery store owner who has just ques .. 
tioned the thickness of tomato sauce in relation to a dollar bill. This annoys him further. A cus .. 
tomer enters the store. The customer places a 5.00 dollar bill and two boxes of Twinkies on 
the counter. "The Twinkies are free," says the owner. The customer smiles. "And everything 
else to, take as much as you like:· The customer runs through the store, grabbing as much as 
he can. The customer leaves, still smiling. UJithin 2 hours the store is cleaned out. He is 
pleased. He is no longer a grocery store owner, just a store owner. He lights the carpet on fire. 
The fire spreads throughout the vacant store. 45 minutes pass. He has no store left. The store 
is no longer a store but a space in which he may use to exact a precise stance that has evaded 
him due to tomato cans and other debatable accessories. He thinks. 
IDEA 2.. "Let's go out to Dinner:· .. A PHRASE lN DISPUTE 
Jack Derof.. "Does this request have any significant power left to initiate social, sexu .. 
al, or business contacts? Our research indicates that the phrase "Let's go out to Dinne,r" is 
currently viewed as an outdated approach to social interaction. 'Bq in large people view it as 
"pseudo .. 50's pleasantness" that crops up sporadicallq when the public is confronted with a 
social, sexual, or economic crisis. The phrase symbolizes stability and cohesion which many 
People cling to, to ease their fears. IDe will demonstrate the use of this phrase by playing a 
bit of 50's nostalgia ourselves. Roll it Steve "A screen descends from the curtains. The 
faces are white and young. Their bodies are made of clothing; sweaters, t .. shirts, and jeans. 
Only their necks, hands, and faces look human. Theq require speech to be believed .. 
lie .. "Can I ask you something?" 
Tbe Nortbrid{Je Review 
158 chris cole 
Sh "I"'! 'h d" e .. ea . 
He.. "Na, forget it." 
She .. "No, what we're gou gonna ask me?'' 
He .. "IDell, would gou, na, gou'll just sag no:· 
She .. "Just ask me:· 
He.. "IDell, how'bout gou and me go out to dinner some time:' .. Can this be looked at in 
terms of handball? Each request or response is constructed as a small blue rubber ball which 
is hit and consumed bg a wall. The wall resembles each of the clothed figures. The game 
begins; ball/ phrase.. Can 1 ask gou something- ---.. The ball is unsure. He recognizes 
the ball is limp. 1t is a childish plea which he thought would help him get awag from girlie 
magazines and foul language. He tries to relax himself as the ball is about to be swallowed or 
rejected. She is quite familiar with this ball/ phrase. 1ts smell and motion is a distinct mixture of 
naiuete and aggressiue sweat. She opens her mouth to accept it. IDhg? She feels these tgpes 
of phrases haue possibilities. Though she is aware of what this phrase will euentuallg lead to, 
she enjogs it for its single nature. 1t mag stillleaue her the abilitg to escape with a chance. She 
reconfigures the ball/ phrase in terms of allowing him to ask his question. She waits a few sec .. 
onds though, letting her possibilitg at another scenario last a bit longer. She responds.. q 
o'head--.. -... She waits. He is hit bg the ball/ phrase quicklg. He expected something 
different. A giggle or mag be a no. He accepts it in fear of appearing inadequate ... But these 
are onlg simulations. The intentions giuen to each character are purelg imaginatiue specula .. 
lion, so the characters would, consequentlg, exhibit a humanistic/ poetic dimension which 
would enable the phrases to deuelop into a more telling form of expression. These bodies of 
clothing are themselues phrases constituting a social/ economic function which ends in middle 
class ahhh and tiresome lint remoual. For example a sweater. 
SIDEATER 
Fact.. The "He's" mother purchased the sweater at the local Under Fiue Dollar Store. 
She belieues that clothes should be durable, fashionable, and cheap. She feels that sweaters 
haue the abilitg to appear masculine, if one is able to find one with the right color scheme, and 
soft without being thought as "soft," which denotes femininitg and potential "queer" status. She 
states, ''l'ue alwags thought men looked handsome in sweaters. IDhen me and mg husband 
used to date in high school, he alwags showed up at the front door wearing this louelg green 
and white arggle. He was so handsome. But what persuaded me to start buging them for mlj 
son is when 1 realized how incrediblg popular theg'ue become with the goung people. Euerlj 
time 1 turn on the teleuision some teenager is struttin' around wearin' one of those things. So 1 
said whg not mg bog, he's just as handsome:· 
Sweaters.. 4iuen at Christmas, birthdags, and anniuersaries. IDorn bg fathers, mothers, 
Nnrt.hrirl11r. RP.7JlP.11J 
cbris cole 159 
sons, daughters, and grandmas and grandpas. Sweaters are worn on all prime time programs. 
'['hese shows are predominantly domestic comedies involving a husband, wife, and two or 
three kids. These shows never discuss why the characters choose to wear sweaters. Jim 
Arpello, a well known producer of one of these "domestic comedies" discussed the sweater 
issue stating, "l really don't know what to tell you. UJhat sort 'of question is that anyway? lJour 
asking me to talk about why the characters in the show wear sweaters? lJou see in the past l've 
tried to be as polite as possiblewith these types of questions. l say to myself, 'Hey it's some no .. 
nothing, no .. offense, grad student probably working for his college paper, or maybe he's 
working on some idiotic research report that quote ""explores television's influence on the 
public."" So what do you want me to say that since Sears is one of our major sources of adver .. 
tising revenue that we have deceptively made our actors wear sweaters to increase Sears' 
sales, which leads you to believe that Corporate America dominates every aspect of our lives. 
See, you didn't think l knew that angle did ya. l went to college to ya'know. Took 
Communications lOl. Learned all about the ""mass media:"' l oohed and ahhaed all semester. 
UJelll'rn here to say after l5 years in the television business, lT AIN'T LIKE THATl lJou 
know why l have my actors wear sweaters? Do youl Because UJoolworth's put out a sweater 
catalog which my wife can't get enough of. She suggested quote ""how lovely"" they would 
look on t.v., and after about six months of her bitchin' at me about it, l put' ern on the air. So now 
when l come horne alll got to hear is her whine about the new car she wants. Maybe l'll have 
all my actors drive around in new Chevys so you can do a paper on how G .M. controls the 
entertainment industry. Now, would you please go away:" 
Gave him a sweater. He'll wear it most likely. He doesn't like sweaters, but l know 
he'll use it. lt will stay in the closet and be taken out occasionally. Maybe for playing in the 
park with his son. He will forget l gave it to him after a couple of years. He might ask his wife, 
"lJou got this for me last year?" She'll remember, and tell him l bought it. "Oh yea," he'll say, 
and smile. 
DlJE ROLLS .. POUJER 
Card Game.. Five men sitting around a table playing cards. 
First man .. He is tired of coco. He drank it every night for two weeks. He 
drank it to warm himself before he went to bed. After two weeks the chocolate flavor seemed 
sour. But he did not drink it for its flavoring. He drank it because he felt cold. He drank the 
coco in his den, so he could watch the television. He would watch bits of videotape. He never 
thought to question why he chose certain scenes. They made up so liHle of his day. 
SCENE 
A bald man appears. His name and title are shown at the boHorn of the screen .. Arthur 
Franklin, Art Director, Metropolitan Museum of Art. He speaks, "UJhat Expressionism does is 
Tbe Nortbridge Review 
160 cbris cole 
say we're not going to portray the outer world, but the inner world. UJe're not going to paint 
the skin, we're going to paint the bone and sinew." Consequently there are shots of various 
paintings which provide evidence for Mr. Franklin's assumptions. The paintings are thought of 
as innovative for their time. The web of colors overlap, creating distorted figures which are in 
need of a response. He thought of what Mr. Franklin said about the inner world. How would 
the expressionists have painted him, "the guy with the cup of cocoa?" Perhaps the painters 
would betray his calm scene. UJould he be torn into streaks of blue and black? UJould his 
portrait, entitled "Man with Cup" been selected by the producers of this documentary? He 
felt they could have used him. 


Dinner, and Other Things

E. Archilla, William

Somewhere in Lincoln Heights

Klawitter, George

204 
Restaurant 
lJou eat fish the way you eat my heart: 
Slowly, under frilly conuersation, 
Euery slice a deliberate caress 
Unconscious to yourself. 
1 don't care. As long as almandine 
Lengthens sole, 1 tolerate your poise. 
Nothing good comes at precipice .... 
The slow slide into you increases joy. 
And other customers, unaware 
Of your delight in meat, go about 
George Klawitter 
Their scallops, seeing us a dullish pair 
Propped in a window seat on UJickenden 
UJhere pedestrians pass obliuious too 
Of my diminished chord shrinking as 
Each bite you meditate becomes a spore 
Exploding into multitudes of heart. 
Tbe Northridge Review 


Restaurant