Ink Winter 2017 - Spring 2018

Hottest spots for coffee Student fiction & art Death of the mall

THE INQUIRER MAGAZINE

s s o Acr

e c n e F the

WINTER - SPRING 2018

Ink

THE INQUIRER MAGAZINE Editor-in-Chief Frank Guitron

Editors Managing Production Features Sports Social Media Online Copy

Mahrukh Siddiqui Trevor Cheitlin Kayla Rojas

Letter from the editor

Mark Lindahl Summer Pagán Isaac Norman Courtney Donahoe, Danny Yoeono

Staff members Olivier Alata, Matthew Asilo, Chris Core, Cole Jackson, Kion Karimi, Alexandra Lee, Ryan Lee, Luis Lopez, Cameron Patera, Deandra Procassini, Shannon Richey, Aidan Sparks, Mike Stehlik, Aaron Tolentino

Lab Coordinator Charleen Early

Advisor Mary Mazzocco

Contact Us inquirer@dvc.edu @dvcinquirer www.facebook.com/dvcinquirer

Dear readers, The beginning of the semester was uncertain. I started off as editor-in-chief with only a handful of returning students that would make up my editorial board and I had no clue how this semester was going to go. Thanks to my editorial board, however, it went better than I could have hoped.

This semester we got to interview and learn about several different people in the Diablo Valley College community who help define what makes this college so special. Among these people are Steven Daily, a player for DVC’s basketball team who made his way back to the court despite a devestating injury and professor Chi Zhu, who helped discuss the development of local malls to one of our staff writers.

I’ve now been editor-in-chief for an entire year and I can say that I am truly proud of my staff and all the hard work and effort they have put forward. Hopefully, in this magazine you’ll be able to appreciate those efforts.

Enjoy.

Frank Guitron, Editor-in-chief

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27 TS

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Hardcore punk’s surviving impact

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The death of the shopping mall

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Albert Ponce’s educational journey

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Coffee shops worth a stop

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Changing lives through coffee

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Back in the zone with Steven Daily

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Young fencers on the road to greatness

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Water polo star returns to DVC as coach

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Exploring the superhero movie trend

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Streaming movies with Kanopy

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Comedy at the BrainWash Cafe

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“The Color of It All” (fiction)

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Featured student art

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TAB L

E OF

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TEN

The life and work of Tim Farley

DVC Alumni Excellence

A look at Tim Farley’s life in politics and education Story and photos by Danny Yoeono

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iablo Valley College alumni Tim Farley received the Edwin Crawford Award for innovation which recognizes excellence in state government relations with higher education insti-

instrumental in engaging students with politics.

Farley fights for Cal Grants, coordinates trips with students to the state capitol and wrangles political figures to speak at Saint Mary’s.

On Nov. 15, Saint Mary’s hosted a bipartisan panel discussion with local legisla“My dad was a vet and went tors, state Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Orinda) to DVC under the GI Bill. That and state assembly member Catharine Baker (R-Dublin). Farley helped by getwas one of my very first ting the legislators to come to the event.

But Farley’s impact on education experiences of the school, doesn’t stop with Saint Mary’s. In his going to the bookstore with spare time he also moonlights as the vice president of the governing board for the my dad.”

Contra Costa Community College District.

Tim Farley

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tutions.

Farley received the award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), of which DVC is a member, in October for his work as the director of community and government relations at Saint Mary’s College.

Farley enjoys seeing students succeed saying, “Being at the graduation ceremonies is so gratifying.”

This year is Farley’s 11th anniversary at Saint Mary’s where he has built some of the best government relations in Cal4CD Board Vice President ifornia. arley is a third generation resident Part of Farley’s success comes from of Contra Costa County whose faknowing how the political system works. ther went to DVC and whose son “To be effective in government relations, you meet the legislators as currently attends. early in the process as you can and introduce yourself to the staffers,” While attending DVC himself, one of Farley’s professors, Bill HarFarley said. “With legislative turnover, politicians may leave, but gen- lan, took a personal interest in Farley and inspired him to be excited erally, the staff stays.” about his education.

According to Monica Fitzgerald, an associate professor in Saint The attention and advice he received from his instructors and Mary’s Justice, Community and Leadership Department, Farley is counselors propelled him from working at the Shell Refinery in Mar-

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tinez, to graduating UC Davis with a bachelor’s degree in political science and public service.

From there he interned in Sacramento and began his career in politics, serving under state assembly member Robert Campbell in the early 1980s.

From 1990 to 1998, Farley served two terms on the Martinez city council. During his first term, Farley was the youngest city council member in the county at 30 years old.

While there, he helped pass a public smoking ban in Martinez that became model legislation across the state.

In 2014, Farley ran for and won, a seat on the board of trustees for the Contra Costa Community College District.

Current board secretary John Márquez said, “I feel his past political experience contributes much to his participation and work

on the college board. While we may not always agree in certain matters, we manage to work cooperatively with the best interest of students and district in mind.”

Taking what he’s learned at Saint Mary’s, Farley has brought that knowledge with him to the board.

“I think both institutions have the same goal. We assist our students to get the most of their educational experience. That will set them up for a lifetime of success and fulfillment,” said Farley. “Working at Saint Mary’s has allowed me additional insight into financial aid and access to higher ed that is so important to students’ futures.”

Farley said the number one budgetary concern for the district right now is keeping the academic staffing, a shift from a few years ago when the district was receiving complaints students weren’t able to get the classes they needed.

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eflecting on his career, he wouldn’t stop any young person from following in his footsteps.

“I still encourage people to get into public service and politics. It is honorable and rewarding,” he said. “But also, you have to have thick skin.”

Even when he returns to the DVC campus today, he gets a warm feeling.

“My dad was a vet and went to DVC under the GI Bill. That was one of my very first experiences of the school, going to the bookstore with my dad,” he said.

Farley plans to run again for the 4CD governing board in 2018 when his own term expires.

“I am very proud of being a DVC graduate who has gone on and achieved success in my field. I hope that is an example to all other students attending the colleges of Contra Costa. That is what I am most proud of.”

Tim Farley at work in his Saint Mary’s College office.

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HARDCORE Bay Area scene is still here, still underappreciated Story by Kayla Rojas

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he Bay Area knows how to make its presence known in the music scene, and is rich with local artists who have made it big. But there is another genre of music, another scene that lies beneath the mainstream surface.

Hardcore music has been around for decades, but finally made its peak from 1978 until the late 90s, and has resurfaced in the new millennia. A new, more aggressive style of music that transcended punk rock, the genre was initially a response to the hippie culture at the time.

More and more bands began to emerge from the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as Southern California. Bands like Minor Threat, Black Flag and Bad Brains paved the way for hardcore as we know it today.

In an interview on the music blog Concert Crap, hardcore band No Zodiac spoke about the nature of hardcore and its evolution through the years. “The era of Hardcore that we all grew up in was extremely violent and in your face. The bands had something to say and if you didn’t like, you either dealt with it or did something about it,” they said in a Q and A session.

“Hardcore was not meant for everyone,” drummer Erik Bartow continued. “The music itself has changed in certain ways, taking different aspects of hardcore from different eras and such but it is all derived from the same things so in a way it has also stayed the same.”

In the documentary film “American Hardcore,” much of the footage was recorded in underground venues and at some intimate venues. Today, local hardcore bands frequently still use smaller venues for shows, and house shows are still very popular.

“Although the internet exposes hardcore to a wider audience than it did in the 1990s or so, I would consider hardcore to still be an underground phenomenon because it still relies on DIY venues and promotions,” says San Leandro local Andy Delacruz.

“I would say that it is a better approach than the mainstream because it’s more personal, in which people tell other people to come out to shows, it helps foster a sense of community and camaraderie, as opposed to going to a huge arena show where you do not know anyone at all.”

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espite being associated with aggression, and anti-commercialism, many involved in the hardcore community can mostly agree that shows bring pleasant and friendly fans.

There is a strong sense of communion, and there is no doubt there

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will be a familiar face at any of these shows.

“What I enjoy about the Bay Area hardcore community is its commitment to providing for the community and people who are in need,” added Delacruz. “Whether if the proceeds are going to a memorial fund for a lost one, victims of various sources of abuse, helping a venue stay alive or help people rebuild their lives after a tragedy, people will show up to support while having a good time for a good cause.”

Crews are very common amongst shows, and are usually formed locally. Some say crews are intimidating, but other like Delacruz support their presence and believe they are integral to the culture.

Delacruz is a member of one and says he has joined in order to deal with sketchy characters to look out for others and create a safe space.

“Crews help bring supporters of music together and some even help set up and put on shows to keep the music scene alive...” said Delacruz. “They also make sure that people are protected and safe by weeding out and punishing the scumbags preying on innocent bystanders, attendees or people being sketchy to musicians and bands with a justified beatdown.”

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hough social media groups are not as widespread as for other genres, many fans feel Facebook and the like draw more attention throughout the Bay Area. California is rich in music culture, and now it seems it can only go up from here.

“Hardcore will continue to grow. I feel in this day and age, the internet and social media has the biggest influence on exposing others from different parts of the state, country, or world into hardcore music,” added Bay Area local Alec Valentine.

“I would have to say the Bay Area has a larger history of underground, independent music which has kept the local scene going for ages... I feel that the Bay Area has a huge devotion in supporting artists from the ground up... All of those bands were local bands supported by people attending their sets at smaller DIY venues.”

Culture runs rampant through the Bay Area, mainstream or not.

Hardcore has been around for ages, and is here to stay.

Whether its to respond to hippies or another cause, there is no doubt there is a strong sense of community, and family amongst attendees and other fans. Love it or hate it, hardcore bands will always have something to say, and the Bay Area will continue as one of its biggest platforms.

“Terror at 924 Gilman.” Photo Courtesy of Ray Rodriguez

PUNK

SUBURBAN GOTHIC The life and death of the shopping mall

Story and photos by Shannon Richey

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am often called the father of the shopping mall. I would like to take this opportunity to disclaim paternity once and for all. I refuse to pay alimony to those bastard developments. They destroyed our cities,” said Victor Gruen shortly before his death in 1980.

Gruen designed the first mall, built in Edina, Minnesota in 1956. He initially thought of the modern shopping center as a space which provided suburbs with “the needed place and opportunity for participation in modern community life that the ancient Greek Agora, the medieval market place and our own town squares provided in the past.”

He envisioned it as the answer to suburban nebulousness: a dense mix of commerce, community resources, entertainment and

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even housing in an otherwise civic black hole. Here, suburbanites could spend their free time ambling around, the soft sounds of Muzak lilting in the air. After seeing a show or running an errand, they could leisurely make their way to the food court to gather for a meal.

But Gruen considered the outcome to be more Frankenstein than brainchild, as malls didn’t become the mini city-centers he had imagined.

“Unfortunately, the forward thinking social idea was later replaced with the pure economic incentives of harvesting both the handsome amount of real estate profit for reselling the malls and the advantageous federal tax incentives,” said Diablo Valley College architecture professor Chi Zhu.

By the late 1950s, developers were buying up cheap land on the outskirts of town, putting in a mall, selling them for large profits, then going off to build more.

“All over the United States, shopping plazas sprouted like well-fertilized weeds,” wrote urban historian Thomas Hanchett. According to Cowen & Co’s research analysts, by 2015 there was 23.5 square feet of retail space per person in the U.S. This proliferation wreaked havoc on mom and pop businesses and even encouraged the thing Gruen hated most: sprawl.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the area around DVC. Within spitting distance of campus, there are five separate shopping plazas, offering what seem to be iterations of the same thing. But much like the rundown,

perennially vacant DVC Plaza, malls and & Tourism Council notes that money spent shopping centers nationwide have begun to while traveling grew 4.5 percent in 2017, falter. Some 3,500 stores have shuttered this with Southeast Asia listed as the most popyear, and they are taking close to 500,000 ular destination. jobs with them.

So, if shopping centers seemed to be According to a report put out by Morn- doomed, you may wonder why Concord is ingstar Analysts, the Macy’s in Concord’s building yet another one. The Veranda, a Sunvalley Mall is at risk of closure as a result new shopping plaza, is underway just across of retail losses. And while this doesn’t nec- the freeway from DVC. Enter the “Lifestyle essarily constitute mutually assured destruc- Center,” a new breed of shopping center poption, when a large ping up in response anchor store like Ma“I am often called the to the changing tastes cy’s vacates the premof consumers. father of the shopping ises, the smaller stores When asked what around it tend to fol- mall. I would like to take lifestyle centers prolow suit. vide that protects the opportunity to What’s left behind them from this sea is usually not pretty. disclaim paternity once change, Ashton SimThese large spaces are mons the general designed for big box and for all. I refuse to pay manager of the Veor department stores randa, boils it down alimony to those and are expensive to to what he calls bastard developments. placemaking, which lease. As chains like Sears and J.C. Penhe writes “challenges They destroyed our ny’s dramatically scale the more traditional cities.” back their number of shopping centers by brick and mortar locreating community cations, they have bespaces with plazas, Victor Gruen come challenging to fountains, music and Designer of the first modern mall fill. So they often sit landscaping, forming vacant, leaving behind a wake of suburban the essential backdrop for not only retail blight and crime. stores, but also integrating entertainment, Again, look no further than DVC Plaza. luxury cinemas, a unique grocery store, careWhen Kmart left the premises, the rest slow- fully chosen restaurants, fitness, office and ly went to ruin. What was once a bastion for other activities. This makes this center a gathgaggles of bored teenagers, known colloquial- ering place for the community; in a sense, ly as mallrats, is now a haven for actual rats. a new living room for residents to claim as their own.” o why have so many malls and shopping centers fallen out of favor?

Growth in online retail is the obvious culprit. Consumer Intelligence research found that 46 percent of households in the U.S. have an Amazon Prime account.

Prime’s ease of use and free shipping and returns might explain why Amazon’s clothing and accessory sales are expected to grow nearly 30 percent next year, reaching $28 billion according to Cowen & Co. But a desire for more authentic, community-oriented experiences also seems to be at play and it’s changing the way we spend our time and our money. While retail is struggling, the restaurant and travel industries are thriving. According to Business Insider, Americans now spend as much money eating out, mostly at small, local eateries, as they do on groceries. Similarly, the World Travel

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This is, in theory, much closer to Gruen’s original vision. It paints a picture of a place with all the trappings of the thriving downtowns of yore that we seem to be craving.

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ut in the 1958 article entitled “Downtown is for People,” urban planning activist Jane Jacobs wrote, “Notice that when a new building goes up, the kind of ground-floor tenants it gets are usually the chain store and the chain restaurant. Lack of variety in age and overhead is an unavoidable defect in large new shopping centers and is one reason why even the most successful cannot incubate the unusual.”

So far, all the confirmed tenants of the Veranda are chains, albeit ones dressed up as something quirkier and more authentic.

It all just sort of feels like being served a hot pocket when you ordered an empanada.

Time will tell if this new brand of retail experience has staying power. But regardless, the buildings live on and the good news is that slowly, they are starting to see new life.

DVC professor of architecture Daniel Abbott explains, “If the economic need is there, it will often drive change in a very short period of time and generally with good quality work. So the idea that things can physically change in these shopping centers should the economy change is possible in the years to come.”

The DVC Plaza is slated to become a Carmax. And should the retail apocalypse come to fruition, the Willows could be a new wing of the DVC campus, the Sunvalley Mall, a highway megachurch. The possibilities are endless.

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OFF THE BEATEN PATH Professor Albert Ponce forged his own educational journey. Now, he’s passing the lessons he learned on to a new generation Story and photo by Olivier Alata

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ollege is when people spend most of their time trying to “The most transformative professor I had, even after going to figure out who they really are and what they truly want to do UCB, UCLA and building friendships over the years, was from comwith their lives. Some students have known since childhood munity college,” said Ponce. “He really expanded the way I saw the what they aspire to be. For some, like Diablo Valley College professor world and that’s what I’m trying to do here with my students.”

Albert Ponce, finding their vocation can take a little longer.

According to Frank Ortega, professor of sociology at DVC, Ponce Growing up, his opportunities were limited to joining the military is a role model for not just students but also for his colleagues beor working low-wage jobs if he wanted to stay out of the school-to- cause he always wants to understand the world in order to help othprison pipeline. He dropped out of high ers understand what is happening. school at 16, opting instead to work full Ponce’s primary goal as a teacher is to “Due to how Dr. Ponce has stimulate time. “It was not a very good environment interest and curiosity in every stuframed (his political theory) dent. to learn,” said Ponce.

Ponce’s drive to understand inequality Part of how he does this is by setting his course, I have found myself class in the world led him to earn his GED diup in a circle so everyone can learn ploma in 2001 and enroll at Mt. San Anto- nothing but fully engaged.” from each other. nio College in Walnut, California in 2002.

“Facing one another can help you realize “It was the only way to make an impact... that you have a lot in common with the perJasmine Aliakbar not necessarily a degree, but being educatson who has an opposing view. I think this Political science major ed,” said Ponce. is especially important in a political science Two years later, Ponce transferred with honors from Mt. San Anto- class with the current political climate,” said Daniel Marquez, 25, nio College to UC Berkeley in fall of 2005. who is taking Ponce’s intro to political science class.

After receiving two bachelors degrees with distinction in political Ponce also allows his students to challenge themselves to be unscience and Chicano studies, Ponce went on to University of Califor- comfortable. nia Los Angeles to earn his doctorate in political science in the fall “This course consists of studying many white male philosophers. of 2007.

As a female of color, I was a little apprehensive about how engaged I From 2007 to 2013, Ponce simultaneously studied and taught race, would be with these philosophies. Due to how Dr. Ponce has framed ethnicity, politics and political theory in the departments of political the course, I have found myself nothing but fully engaged,” said Jasscience and Chicano studies at UCLA. mine Aliakbar, a 19-year-old student majoring in political science On Sep. 13, 2013, Ponce was awarded his Ph.D. in political science who is taking Ponce’s political theory class. from UCLA and was offered the opportunity to come back to NorthPonce’s dedication and passion for political science and his stuern California to teach. dents are definitely something to be respected. Drive, determination “As I was completing my dissertation, I got the full-time position at and passion that cannot be dimmed have allowed him to live out his Lake Tahoe Community College in South Lake Tahoe for three years dreams. and now I’m here at DVC,” said Ponce.

“Community college transformed my life,” said Ponce. “That’s why Although he liked teaching at UCLA, Ponce finds something spe- I wanted to come back and teach at this institution.” cial about teaching at a community college.

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“Community college transformed my life.�

Albert Ponce Political science professor

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SHOPS WORTH A STOP On the lookout for a café to call your favorite?

Here are a few in the area worth a visit

Coffee Shop 1321 Locust St., Walnut Creek, CA 94596 50 Lafayette Circle, Lafayette, CA 94549 3160 Danville Blvd., Alamo, CA 94507

Sideboard Neighborhood Kitchen and Coffee Bar 3535 Plaza Way, Lafayette, CA 94549 90 Railroad Ave., Danville, CA 94526

Steeltown Coffee & Tea 695 Railroad Ave., Pittsburg, CA 94565

States Coffee & Mercantile 609 Ward St., Martinez, CA 94553

This industrial style modern café is a great hangout spot in Walnut Creek, Lafayette and Alamo. Coffee Shop celebrates roasters from all around the country. Start your morning off by grabbing a cup of coffee or a highly popular matcha drink and end your night here with their craft beers, wines and cocktails. Walnut Creek’s Coffee Shop is perfect for a break while shopping. New homemade pastries and seasonal drinks like Pumpkin Spice Latte and Peppermint Mocha have hit the shops just in time for the seasons.

Not only does Sideboard have picture worthy lattes, but they also have a wide variety of breakfast, lunch and dinner menu options. Located in both Lafayette and Danville, this kitchen and coffee bar has a homey feel to it. You can grab a cup of coffee or a cocktail and relax with natural, organic and homemade food at Sideboard in the two cities. The café makes for a great date night in the fall and winter.

Located in Old Town Pittsburg, Steeltown Coffee & Tea places their focus on forming an ideal community for this neighborhood espresso bar. The drink menu at this café includes a list of espresso, cold, loose-leaf tea and specialty drinks. They also serve fresh daily pastries, chicken pot pies, quiches and panini sandwiches, making it a great place to study while grabbing a bite to eat. With being dedicated to the community, Steeltown holds events to teach about their coffee and tea brewing methods and they also display the art of local artists in their coffee lounge gallery.

States is the perfect Instagram-post-worthy coffee shop. Popular for their neighborly roasted coffee and American made goods, States Coffee & Mercantile is a welcoming and relaxing place to grab a cup of cold brew. You could also grab a cup of States Coffee Sunday mornings on your way to the Martinez Main Street Farmers Market and seasonal ice skating rink. This rustic modern and spacious coffee shop also sells snacks including doughnuts and ice cream, making it a great casual hang out spot.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY SUMMER PAGÁN

BREWING UP BETTER LIVES STORY AND PHOTO

BY RYAN LEE

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ohn Krause, the founder of Big House Beans has overcome many obstacles in his life to finally find his passion for coffee and spread his story of redemption over the cards he was dealt at a young age.

Growing up, Krause had a rough childhood with many challenges that would shape how he lived his life for the next 30 years.

At age 4, he survived a motorcycle accident with only a few scrapes while his father died from severe injuries.

He then lived with his grandmother who would take care of him, but according to him never having had a male role model or an example of a stable relationship at home made him very destructive at a young age.

By the age of 12 he started drinking and doing drugs to try and numb the pain that he had been feeling his whole life.

At 16 he had his first child, who he would not see again for 12 years while in and out of prison.

John Krause, the founder of Big House Beans, smelling unroasted beans.

In prison Krause found God. In doing so he changed his views of the world and of fun,” Krause said, so he made it into a busi- and a leader,” he says. wanting to better himself by, “praying and ness.

Big House Beans’ mission is to “empower asking him what to do,” he said.

This would be his second business venture individuals through unconditional love and After getting out of prison and living in a after turning over a new leaf. The first busi- second chances,” and “caffeinate and emtransitional home he joined a local church ness he started was collecting and recycling brace our community through every bag of where he trusted that God had a plan for used oil from restaurants. beans.” him.

He says that Big House Beans is known for giving secAt the church is he learned the ond chances to those coming out of prison, “Every day I try to where he met Ben basics of how to but also to those who need help to “break Joyce who helped run a business, barriers,” said Krause. better myself as a father him find his love but wanted to get It doesn’t matter what sexual orientation and a leader.” for coffee. into the business or where they’re from, Krause wants to help Every Saturof coffee so he his community grow. day morning they sold his recycling He has spoken about his life to help others John Krause would roast coffee business and succeed in theirs. “I want to share my story to Big House Beans founder in front of Joyce’s started Big House inspire others,” said Krause. home creating Beans in 2014.

With almost four years in the coffee roastclouds of smoke from the roaster and listenDuring this time of rebuilding himself he ing business he says he has helped about a ing to the turning of the beans, which always also reconnected with his family. dozen people in need of a second chance and made him excited to try the first cup.

He now has custody of three children from those who love coffee with a passion.

Roasting coffee and the culture around it different mothers, so he is trying to create Big House Beans has been so successful grew his passion for coffee. “I couldn’t justi- the family home that he never had. they will also be opening a cafe in Brentwood fy spending 40,000 dollars on a roaster for “Every day I try to better myself as a father next month at 1155 2nd St.

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BACK ZONE IN THE

Basketball player’s tenacity after injury kept him ‘in the game’

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Story and photo by Luis Lopez

eing robbed of your passion is one of the worst things that aily not only tore his ACL, but also the meniscus in each can happen in life. knee, with one being fully ruptured.

That’s why injuries are one of the worst parts of sports.

“The doctor said there was a 50-50 chance I would come For Vikings’ basketball player Steven Daily however, injuries were back and play, or not be able to play anymore,” said Daily. never going to hold him back from dominating on the court.

The average amount of time it takes to recover from such a severe Daily has sustained one of the worst injuries an athlete can endure, set of injuries can take up to an entire year. an ACL tear not once, but twice, in his career.

For any athlete who loves their sport, the pain of a severe injury His first tear came during high school while playing a summer pales in comparison to the pain of knowing they will have to take an league game at Diablo Valley College. extended period of time away from Daily went up for a dunk and after the game they love.

“The second recovery from the landing hard off contact from anoth“This second recovery from the ACL was five times harder than er player, he knew immediately someACL was five times harder than the thing bad had happened. time I had to recover from surthe first time I had to recover from first He recovered in a big way however, gery,” said Daily. surgery.” setting multiple school records in his The injury also took an emotionjunior year, earning MVP honors in al toll on those around him. his senior year at College Park and be“I’ve never been more disappointSteven Daily coming the team’s leading scorer. ed in all my years at DVC and all the DVC Vikings Not liking his recruiting options athletes I’ve coached than when he coming out of high school, Daily decided to take his talents to DVC. tore his ACL in late June of ‘16,” said head coach Steve Coccimiglio, It didn’t take Daily long to step onto the scene for the Vikings, as who has been coaching basketball for over 40 years. he earned a starting spot by the time conference play started during his freshman season. hile recovering Daily felt a sense of helplessness when Unfortunately, while practicing, Daily landed hard after going up watching his team play. for a rebound, and this time, he knew something severe had hap“It was very frustrating, because you know that watchpened. ing your team play, you see some of the mistakes that they make and “What first went through my mind was anger and worry as soon as you’re like, ‘man I could be out there and I wouldn’t make those it happened. I knew my ACL was torn, I was mad and disappointed, mistakes, I could do that play,’” said Daily. “It was hard, but you have I had just been working so hard on getting better. I had put in all this to stay focused on other things in your life other than basketball that work and now it had gotten taken away from me,” said Daily. define you, because basketball doesn’t define who I am,” said Daily.

Luckily friends and family were constantly a great support system,

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often hanging out with him while he was stuck on the couch at his house during the early stages of his recovery.

“I couldn’t walk for the first six weeks after surgery, so I had my brother, whenever he was off work, was hanging out with me, and my friends would come over and just hang out with me the whole day because they knew how (unfortunate) it was to not do anything,” said Daily.

After months of physical therapy and rehab to his knee, Daily made his way back to the basketball court.

“His recovery is something I have great respect for,” said Coccimiglio.

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hat respect is something that has also made its way to his teammates too.

“Seeing someone who hasn’t been able to play for a year come back as well as he has and play as aggressively as he does, he’s not playing in fear of another injury, I really think that gets our team going,” said teammate Ben Wood.

During his recovery the coaching staff helped Daily by being patient and continuing to have confidence in him telling him, “it (the game) will come back to you.”

The process has paid off for Daily.

“In our game (against Columbia), there was a three or five minute stretch when our offense couldn’t get going, so we just started giving the ball to Steve, and getting out of the way, and he got us right back in it,” said Wood. “He got us going both on offense and on defense, that’s why we can rely on him playing at a high level on both sides of the ball for us.”

Ummi Green shows off his stance of attack.

Photo by Mark Lindahl

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ACROSS THE

FENCE

STORY BY AARON TOLENTINO AND MARK LINDAHL

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efore the sun is up, shoelaces are being tied, muscles are stretching and the training begins.

This dedicated training routine includes running multiple hills, push-ups and working out vital abdomen muscles.

Many would think this training regimen would be tied to a sport like basketball, track and field, football, etc.

Nope.

Diablo Valley College students, brothers Ummi and Jabreel Green, are training to perfect their craft in the sport of fencing. Both Ummi and Jabreel are nationally ranked fencers, competing in various tournaments throughout the country.

Since age 5, Jabreel Green has been training to become the best fencer he can, with his older brother, Ummi, not far behind him.

“I plan on taking (fencing) to the Olympics, trying to get to 2020 or 2024 and I’m just trying to do it as a lifelong sport. They have fencing for 80-year-olds,” Jabreel said.

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“Go-getters” is how Sharina Green, their mother, best described the brothers.

“It’s how they are,” said Mrs. Green. “Just competitive guys wanting to excel.”

The most amazing thing about it all is the age of the brothers. Ummi is 13 and Jabreel is 12, definitely not the typical age of students at Diablo Valley College, where they take classes.

I

nspiration can come from anywhere, and one of America’s most important movies helped shape the future of these two young fencers.

Since the first time he saw the famed movie franchise Star Wars, “Jabreel was like, ooh Mom I want to do that. And as a mom that’s fencing,” Mrs. Green explained.

“I thought I could buy him a toy lightsaber and he’d be over it, but he was like, no Mom, this is what I want to do,” Mrs. Green said.

Once Jabreel’s family “Just because you are realized this newfound passion, it was only a matter of winning, people are time before fencing became going to come for you the focal point of every day life. because you’re on top.” “They were coming of age and we needed something to do as far as sports Sharina Green for the guys and football, as Ummi and Jabreel’s mother parents, we weren’t feeling as much,” said Anthony Green, their father. “Jabreel kept pressing us so his mom ended up finding him a fencing gym.”

Jabreel constantly badgered his mother to fence until it got to the point where she finally gave in.

“Right now, this is what you’re saying you want to do, I want to support you in that,” said Mrs. Green.

So after scouring the East Bay for a fencing gym that would take in a young, energetic 6-year-old, they finally got their wish.

According to Mrs. Green, the family repeatedly kept calling until a coach of East Bay Fencer’s Gym said, “bring him.”

“ J

abreel, at 7, had his first breakout year when he was beating older opponents and steadily moving up the ranks.

This was when he thought he was getting good at the sport and wanted to take fencing to the next level.

Ummi described the time when he realized his potential in the sport and that he can compete at a very high level against the best of them.

“First time I beat the best player in my gym, Keith. I think he won the world championships. So I won; he was pretty mad at me,” Ummi said. “I was 12; (Keith) was around my dad’s age. He was 45.”

Ummi has beaten fencers who are not only much older than him, but also those who are world-renowned.

But even though he has notable wins under his belt, “Just because you are winning, people are going to come for you

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because you’re on top… (you) gotta keep working,” his mother explained.

No matter how much of a mismatch Ummi allegedly faced heading into a match, he used his greatest strengths to overcome those challenges. “(Ummi) has nice footwork and also he has the explosiveness,” said fencing coach Abdul Habek.

Ummi is a talented athlete that possesses the explosiveness to strike opponents using his athleticism. Whether size or any other physical mismatch is present, Ummi can use his explosiveness to counter that.

His style of fencing uses athleticism to his advantage. However, Ummi’s athleticism and maintaining it can also be his biggest challenge.

“The conditioning, being able to stand on the strip for three minutes straight, because that’s how long a bout is,” Ummi said on his most difficult skill to acquire. “You get three periods of three minutes and that’s a pretty long time because in épée you have to move around a lot. If you stop moving, that’s the time for the enemy to attack you.”

Jabreel, on the other hand, fences in more of a strategical and tactical manner. He sees the hardest skill to learn a bit differently.

“Discipline, because if you don’t respect the ref, the ref can black card you or he can take away points from you for just not being honorable, you have to follow the sport, follow the rules,” said Jabreel.

O

ne style of fencing the brothers do share is their passion for each and every match.

“Jabreel cries,” Mrs. Green admitted. “If he loses he’ll cry but that’s passion. It means he really cares about the sport.”

These two young men love fencing and know the potential they have within themselves.

“Ummi, his frustration comes within the match. So if he’s losing in the match he gets upset. It’s a mind game and you have to keep your head in the game,” said Mrs. Green.

While Ummi and Jabreel are rapidly on the rise, Mrs. Green said, “they have their moments and they’re growing but they’re still young.”

The maturation process and growth of Ummi and Jabreel is a family-wide process. Everyone in the Green family plays an integral part in the improvement of these boys.

Jabreel appreciates the effort his dad has put in to help him. “(He) travels with me to nationals,” Jabreel said. “He’s always there to help me, give me tips.”

From a pure fencing standpoint, Jabreel seems to have the most significant help in his development as a fencer coming from his older brother.

“He helped me become a better fencer because he kind of inspired me because last fencing season, he got seventh in the winter nationals in Cleveland, so he inspired me to work harder, become a better fencer because he started beating me,” said Jabreel about Ummi.

Jabreel, top left, and Ummi Green, top right, at a tournament.

Jabreel Green, right, prepares for an opponent.

Photos by Mark Lindahl

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ot only does Ummi push Jabreel to work harder, but the two brothers are also friendly rivals.

During a tournament last year, Ummi and Jabreel met on the strip, and Ummi came out on top at the end.

“It didn’t feel as good as he thought it would,” their mother recalled.

Competition is what fencing is about, but the Green family knows there’s more to life than just fencing.

“Leave it on the strip. You’re brothers first, fencers second, and then if you have to face each other, he’s your enemy on the strip, then it’s over,” said Mrs. Green.

But even if Ummi and Jabreel end up facing off against each other, the guidance of their parents has made the Green brothers not only better individuals, but also better teammates.

“My parents help me stay focused,” said Ummi, “make sure everything I do is making me a better as a fencer and in life.”

POOL SHARK

Former DVC star and US National team member Matt DeTrane returns to help coach the water polo team Story and photo by Mike Stehlik

I

f Matt DeTrane wants to brag, you certainly can’t blame him; the pearances in the conference championship. We were a part of the 27-year-old has had quite a storied career. “When I was younger re-emergence of DVC water polo.”

I played all the sports. Baseball, basketball, soccer...I swam from At DVC, DeTrane proved that he wasn’t a one-year wonder by bea younger age and ended up picking up water polo in high school coming a JuCo All-American and Big 8 MVP in both years while because a lot of my friends were doing it and I was a pretty good leading the Vikings to a Big 8 Championship. swimmer, so I figured ‘why not give it a shot?’ and it worked out,” “Everything is under control with Matt,” Roberts said about Desaid DeTrane.

Trane’s playing. “Water polo, it’s a pretty physical game, but he never The one thing that helped him most he had no control over: he lost his head. He played smart. You couldn’t tell how hard he was was a lefty. “That’s kind of a rare thing in playing unless you were playing against water polo,” said DeTrane. “You kind of him.”

“It was a great experience need a lefty.”

DeTrane grew up in Moraga and went fter two stellar years at DVC, coming back and being able to Campolindo High School, where he DeTrane transferred to Pepperplayed water polo all four years, including to help out an alma mater. You dine University. two with the varsity team. A left-handed meet a bunch of great kids...”

“My top two were Cal or Pepperattacker, he didn’t get much playing time dine. I had talked to the coaches a lituntil his senior year. Once he did, he lit tle bit, I had another teammate from Matt DeTrane up the pool. DeTrane finished off his final high school who ended up going there DVC assistant water polo coach year by being named first team all-DFAL (Pepperdine) and he said he’d let them (Diablo Foothill Athletic League) and secknow about me up in Northern Califorond team all-CIF NCS (California Interscholastic Federation, North nia doing well, and the rest is history. I had a couple other options Coast Section.) but Pepperdine was just the place for me.”

He graduated from Campolindo in 2008, and was planning to atHe earned the NCAA All-American honors twice, and concluded tend West Valley College in Saratoga, California. “At the time they his Pepperdine career with 80 goals in 44 matches to go along with were the best in NorCal,” said DeTrane.

41 assists and 30 steals.

DVC had a new coach, John Roemer, coming in. “(Roemer) conDeTrane trained with the US National Team for water polo, going vinced me to come to DVC and we had a great time. We did really to the 2013 FINA World League Super Final in Chelyabinsk, Russia well in my two years of playing here.” and the 2013 FINA World Championships in Barcelona, Spain. Fol“Really well” is an understatement. DVC’s current head coach, lowing the tournaments, his coaches told him that the best thing for Zach Roberts, played alongside DeTrane for the Vikings. “We were his career was to play professionally overseas. DeTrane’s journey led on the first two teams that started (DVC’s) streak of 10 straight ap- him to Budva, Montenegro, where he played for VK Budva.

“

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A

M

ontenegro, understandably, was a culture shock.

“It was interesting, coming from living in California my whole life going to this Eastern Block culture, where it’s cold weather, the people, the attitude is just a little different,” said DeTrane.

After a year abroad, things weren’t looking good; he and Montenegro were like oil and water. “It’s hard to play well and practice well when you’re not enjoying anything around you,” said DeTrane.

Luckily, a friend of DeTrane’s was playing in Italy and told the team about him since they needed a lefty. DeTrane, who is Italian, went ahead with the move when the opportunity presented itself. He spent two years in “The Boot,” playing with Rari Nantes Bogliasco from 2014 to 2016.

Playing in Italy meant more time with the men’s national team. In 2017, he was a part of the team that won a silver medal at the FINA Intercontinental Tournament in Gold Coast, Australia and played in the FINA World League SuperFinal in Ruza, Russia.

In 2016, Roberts took over as the head coach for DVC and asked DeTrane if he wanted to help out. He said yes and the rest is history.

“It was a great experience coming back and being able to help out an alma mater,” said DeTrane. “You meet a bunch of great kids, help them get better at water polo and hopefully transfer on...it’s been

cool, no complaints at all.”

He’s a proven asset in the pool, but as a coach DeTrane is an asset out of the pool, as well.

“Whenever we’ve had an issue with a player, he can connect with them,” said assistant coach Joey Frantz. “He can come down to their level...where he’s got more of like a one-on-one friendship. He can talk to them like ‘Hey, dude, c’mon, what’s goin’ on?’ He does really well with that.”

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eTrane considers himself an even-keeled coach, someone who rarely lets his emotions get the best of him.

“When I have seen Matt frustrated, honestly it only lasts like 15 seconds,” said coach Franz. “He’ll stand up, say something about being frustrated and simply because it’s so out of nature for him...it holds more weight (and) adds more substance to it.”

Both Roberts and Frantz heaped praise on how good of a guy he is. Nice, friendly, great team player, very good at communicating and easy to be around.

Any celebrity swagger is lost on DeTrane. “I’m just another normal person. It’s all in their heads. I’m just another normal guy.”

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Core

ONE

Chris tS ory by

sh a m s S he e o er nto t h r e Sup ir way i eam the ainstr m ADMIT

y of courtse Photos ner Brothers War

T

he superhero genre has evolved past what anyone could have imagined, growing to the point where it doesn’t matter who the next hero in the movie is; if a superhero is in the film, there is sure to be a full house ready to watch.

The 1950s were the beginning of televisions being common appliances in American households. In the 1960s, superheroes grabbed viewers’ attention with “Batman” the TV series.

WHAM! BAM! POW! With pure cheesy comedy and action sequences that revolved around Adam West as Batman, this lighthearted show used elements like onomatopoeias which would fly across the screen with every punch of the Caped Crusader’s fists to bring the famous hero to life in the living rooms of fans across the country.

Although it only lasted three seasons and

22

one film, the impact that the show had on comic culture today can not be forgotten.

An article by The Verge emphasized the importance the show had saying, “West made a tremendous impact on comics and pop culture, embodying a character who’s so ubiquitous, he’s arguably the most important superhero of the modern era.”

The leap of success from the TV screen to the big screen became prominent in 1989 with Tim Burton’s film, “Batman” which was a huge triumph that transformed the genre from jokes to nitty-gritty superhero adventures.

Burton’s film made $43.6 million its opening weekend and stole the record for highest grossing box office weekend, previously held by “Ghostbusters II” which had brought in $29.4 million just a week earlier.

On the 25th anniversary of the premier of “Batman,” Forbes wrote an article saying, “Batman wasn’t just a summer movie, it was the film event of the year, if not the decade.”

Thus the box office breaking era of superhero movies was born.

Marvel released its film “Spider-Man” in 2002 which made history at the box office, becoming the first movie ever to reach $100 million in its opening weekend. “Spider-Man” showed moviegoers the potential a

big screen Marvel film could have, but Marvel’s full potential would not be found until 2008 with the release of “Iron Man.” The blockbuster hit earned a total of $585 million worldwide over its lifetime according to the website boxofficemojo.com and was the first movie in a string of successes for Marvel, which has now released 17 films within the same superhero universe with all 17 being the biggest movie at the box office on release. Each movie has also been commercially successful, with the average total grossed being $306 million.

With Marvel dishing out an insane amount of movies every year, with seven already planned to be released in 2018, some may argue that this quick release of movies waters down the genre and gives fans movies with reoccurring plots and jokes.

However, if past box office receipts are any indication, you would not think that trend is true.

Whether you agree or disagree with if superhero movies should be as popular as they are or if you believe the genre is becoming washed up is solely up to you.

But what everyone can agree on is the superhero genre is firmly entrenched in mainstream media and it does not appear to be going away anytime soon.

D

iablo Valley College students can enjoy a video streaming service full of important key indie films and classics as long as they have their InSite login.

Kanopy offers a huge selection of movies to watch instantly in such categories as documentary, world cinema and animation, as well as selections from the Criterion Collection.

Anyone accustomed to Netflix will feel right at home with Kanopy, which uses a similar visual style, complete with boxed squares and easy maneuverability.

Kanopy may be in the same style as Netflix, but it is more catered towards cult classics such as “Metropolis,” “Donnie Darko” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Trilogy,” to name a few.

It also encompasses important thought-provoking films such as “I Am Not Your Negro,” Alfred Hitchcock’s “Foreign Correspondent” and “Yojimbo,” from Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.

“It has great content and it’s content that instructors can use,” DVC librarian Daniel Kiely said. “This would be great for faculty and students, there is a need for streaming media.”

Not only is this video streaming service convenient, but it offers a solution to Story by Kion Karimi a problem for film students, who no longer have to worry about renting films that are available on Kanopy.

The service brings easy access to films for students at home and on campus, as compared to old traditions where you would have to check it out from the library and couldn’t take it home.

“Our DVD collection they would have to check it out, they can’t take it home,” Kiely said.

Having access to the Criterion Collection is a treat for any film enthusiast, or anyone who’s interested in popular old films.

“It has a lot of good movies and video resources and access to films that are harder to get,” said art digital media faculty member Kimberlee Koym.

“It has a lot of This service isn’t just for film students - anyone can watch good movies and them at any time even if you’re not majoring in film.

“I can use it for my students and show things from it,” Koym video resources and said. access to films that These films were made for all to watch and experience. Even 2017 it is just as refreshing to have a glimpse of what it was like are harder to get.” in to be in a time where films were so influential.

“Students have more access to films then ever before,” said Kimberlee Koym DVC film major Sam Vargen.

Art digital media professor To use Kanopy, simply go to the DVC website and head over to the Library and bookstore tab. You can also use DVC’s Kanopy page, dvc.kanopystreaming.com, to login.

After that you click on Pleasant Hill Library and then scroll down and click on articles and more. You will then be taken to the A-Z database from which you will click on K and there you go, the link to Kanopy.

This will then ask for your last name and student ID number and you’re all set.

If you ever wanted to have a library of classics and new films alike that are thought provoking and meaningful, Kanopy is the place to be.

“The directors of today didn’t have access to these films,” said Vargen.

FILM

COMES

ALIVE

“

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C

OMEDY CLUB washes away competition Story and photo by Cameron Patera

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f you’re walking along the 1100 block of San Francisco’s Folsom Not only have they stayed afloat into late 2017, they’ve been flourStreet, around halfway through you might see a large residential ishing as well. The complex was built and as a result the area no complex. Behind that, however, you’ll find one of the Bay Area’s longer possesses the problems it was once plagued with. quirkiest gems; the BrainWash Cafe. For 28 years, five days a week, A big comedy boom and civil unrest have also historically been the BrainWash Cafe has hosted some of the best amateur stand-up catalysts for humor to rise from the coffin of the world. in the Bay Area.

“It’s kind of like a renaissance … especially during these turmoiled Founded in 1989 by former owner Susan Schindler, the cafe, com- times,” Anthony Medina, the event producer for BrainWash Cafe, edy club and laundromat hybrid was created as an accident. said. “It’s the over-information age… people want to speak their In 1987 Schindler was having a drink with her friend, simply re- minds and what I’ve seen since then is a lot of growth.” ferred to as “Don,” who noticed that the bar they were in would be a As this growth continues, the BrainWash Cafe wants to let everyperfect place to build her dream. The bar was in poor condition and body know that they’re the best venue to start a comedy career.

Don hoped that Schindler’s purchasFor example, audience members ing of it would turn the derelict build- “It’s a great place to perform and are encouraged to yell “a lot of love” ing into something a bit better, hoping at new comedians before their first practice for all demographics.” performance in order to make them to improve the area around his Howard Street store “The Balloon Lady.” feel as comfortable as possible right On the BrainWash website, Don is from the get go.

Roman Bober Regular audience member at BrainWash Cafe recorded saying, “I love this space (the Other clubs in the area really don’t bar) but every time I look at that wall enforce this luxury and I’ve often felt (it was the southern wall behind the bar), all I ever see is a line of very judged and unwelcome at other comedy clubs in the area. washers and dryers … there is no laundromat south of Market, and The BrainWash Cafe doesn’t discriminate either, as the demopeople are always coming into the store asking where they can go to graphic is very diverse due to the eclectic South of Market location. wash their clothes.”

“It’s a great place to perform and practice for all demographics, just After some looking, Schindler settled on 1122 Folsom St. This look at all the different-colored faces in the crowd. We’re in an area would be the formation of “Cafe Laundre,” now the BrainWash where that’s a pretty usual thing, although the area has unfortunately Cafe, the coolest comedy club on Earth. Serving up great salads, been gentrified. A lot of the culture still exists within the cracks left laughs and clean clothes, it’s a location that every Bay Area resident behind, though,” said Roman Bober, a 19-year-old student and regushould visit at least once. lar audience member at BrainWash Cafe.

A

“

ccording to the San Francisco Chronicle, the cafe has fallen on hard times, failing to draw in the crowds and performers it did less than five years ago. This is attributed to the recent construction of a large residential complex next door.

In an interview with Hoodline, current owner Jeff Zalles attributed the clubs issues to “noise pollution and the temporary covered walkway next to BrainWash’s outdoor seating ....(the walkway) is eerie and nobody wants to walk by it at night.”

However, if they managed to stay afloat until the end of the construction, the complex could provide many potential customers and drum up profit.

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aving performed at the club myself, I can say that I personally felt incredibly welcome my first time. The support from everybody in the room was immense and I didn’t feel patronized when I was told to “come back soon.”

Now is the time to start pursuing your interest in stand-up, especially if you live in the Bay Area. Thankfully, rising like a phoenix from the ashes, the most essential club in the area is waiting for you, sitting in the best position it has been in years.

BrainWash Cafe has comedy nights Monday through Friday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and is usually hosted by Bay Area comedy centerpiece Tony Sparks.

THE

COLOR ALL OF IT

Fiction by Max Garber

I

never much cared for my life. Even at the age when one forms his first memories I felt this place was not for me. I don’t mean that in the way that suicides or anarchists despise their given realities, for I very much wanted to live, and even more so wanted to be a part of everything. It’s only that I was constantly dismayed; never truly satisfied by things. The objects inside my room were an annoyance and everything outside was underwhelming. The wind bored me, autumn leaves were irritating and mountains seemed to be nothing but in the way. I was the shadow of a man stumbling around a life unlived, darting between places my parents thought I should be and hiding in the seams between the relationships of other people.

It wasn’t until a blue summer day in June of my 12th year that I was introduced to the color of it all. My hometown had always been shades of grey and darker shades of black, but on this day, this illustrious June day, my world would become as it must have been for the others.

She was the archangel of my wonder and the harbinger of the beginning of light. Looking back, I am quite certain that it was her grace that allowed me to trust her so, and to partake in what would become a daily dosage. She was Helen, or perhaps Annette? Even now, in the middle years of my life, I am not certain. We will continue to call her Helen, for her faced launched a thousand days of joy and dread. The only thing I do remember, and could never forget, was her color. Not as it relates to her pigmentation, but more her soul. Her skin.

It inspired me. How her body seemed to take the place of the sun, and how it glowed in a way I had never seen before. I do not recall what drove me to trust her so. Perhaps I was trying to be closer to her, closer to anything. As she reached out her hand to me, offering me strange green buds in a long glass house, Helen smiled that forever smile and told me to go on, to not fear this gift. I had no such feelings. I wasn’t afraid, I was desperate—wishing, hoping that something would give color to an unpainted world.

Oh, did it give color! My shoulders sank into the bed of my chest, my brow relaxed itself enough for my lips to smile, and my eyes widened to finally see the world. The warmth of the fire on the tip of my lips reminded me that I was alive.

The wind began to sing in my ears, and the grass danced beneath my feet. The colors of the sky swirled into the hardness of the mountains, and I could see God’s fingerprints across the clouds. I danced and smiled for what seemed like a lifetime, perhaps the lifetime I had been missing. I walked along the roads of my town, not recognizing the world that was so uninspiring to me just an hour past.

I reached the river near my house, the same river I had spent eternities with my father pretending to enjoy fishing, and sank my feet in the water. The wetness seemed to slip into my skin and illuminate my soul.

As I sat, a finality of enjoyment slipping across my face, I noticed a rock that seemed to not be like the other rocks. It had captured something. The earth, perhaps. Its essence. I reached out to grab it, and as my young fingers wrapped around a surface that had been smoothed by the infinity of running water, I was transformed. I was holding God. I pledged, then, that I shall never live any other way. This was the shield I needed to survive a reality that was trying to kill me.

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w o years had gone by, and every day I enjoyed the gifts that I had found in the roots of the world. Friends, food, film, novels—all were pleasurable to me now. Or at least they were, for a time. One can imagine my despair at realizing, over a period of two years, that the colors again began to dull. Interactions with other people turned mundane, the smell of the air turned again to ash in my nose, and waking, if one could even call it that, was not unlike swimming fully clothed. I was, once more, limping through my life.

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That is when I met Vanessa. I was a high school freshman and she was a senior, so naturally I was already attracted to her by the simple fact of her being older than me. She was an exotic woman. A Peruvian goddess. She didn’t glow as Helen did, but she consumed everything around her. She moved at twice the speed of normal people, and I was always curious at how she could participate so fully, so exuberantly, in every aspect of life. I had to find her secret, how she moved so quickly, so freely.

To my delight, she offered the secret to me within minutes of our first conversation. Out of her pocket she pulled a little bag, so little I thought it to be useless plastic or the wrappings of a sucker. I did not know then how such little packaging could contain such wonder.

Sometimes it is the things no one imagines anything of that do the things nobody can imagine. A quiet powder rested in her outstretched hand, and I reached for it as quickly as I reached for anything in my life. I remember it looking as if someone had picked a cloud from the sky and ground it up just for me. Vanessa demonstrated to me how to consume this gift, and I, as I always did, followed her example.

B

y the end of my 19th year nothing I was ingesting was working. The powder, the buds and the spirits I got daily at the local corner store no longer sufficed at brightening my world. Ironically, they now did the opposite—serving only to return me to a colorless world. I found that if I didn’t indulge in a substance, I would fall terribly ill. My body would shake, my skin would leak, and any food or water I tried to ingest would immediately retreat out of my sore-ridden mouth. My connection to God and the world now served only as medication to keep me well. Without it my world was black, dark, full of shadow, a much more painful world than the grey one I began with.

So, you see, I no longer had any choice in the matter.

I was who I was and I did what I did to remain that way.

T

hree more years I spent vagrant in that house, a warden of the cold and the keeper of silence. I chased dragons, I wandered powdered fields. I poked my arm full of holes and I burned circles in the tissue that gave me breath, all in the pursuit to remain absent from the hell I know awaited me in a world nstantly, my life was fast-forwarded. I could speak faster, I could without color. The pain was constant now, as constant as the wetness think faster, I could move faster, I could breathe faster. I was of water. It was a piece of me, another extremity on a body withered moving in unison with the rotation of the earth. Oh, how ex- and weathered by snow and sun and snow again. I am oddly grateful citing it all was! I was even more thrilled when I learned I could for it. Without the pain, I would be nothing—more than nothing: A pack it into the pipe I had tireless carrier of scarred veins and bruised bones slambeen using, and ingest it that ming empty fists on hollow ground. For what was Sisyway, in the way I was accusphus without his rock? Who was Prometheus without a “How could I find tomed to. It made everything stone in the Caucasus, relying on that interminable eagle exciting. to give his liver purpose? a job if minutes Coincidentally, on one of Life went on without my permission. I became a resistanding still were our many outings, Vanessa dent of the pavement and a tenant of the dirt—a living, introduced me to the intimabreathing corpse moved only by wisps of wind and sounds like hours in the dark?” cy of a woman and all the joys of sirens. Eventually the authorities of the community that brings. I am grateful to caught up with me and incarcerated me in their cement the powder for affording me coffins. I clawed and scratched and flung myself about, the opportunity to become a trying to remain in the life I had worked so tenaciously to man. build. They told me it was for my own protection, but what did they The thing about this particular substance, it made it difficult to know? What did they know about the hell they were damning me to remain in one place for a period of time. How could I remain in class endure? when the room itself was running away from me? How could I find a job if minutes standing still were like hours in the dark? No matter. hat is the hell I live in now. The hell I write to you from I happily sacrificed conventional success for my world to be colored today. It has been two weeks since I could last make myonce more. It wasn’t until the end of that year when the side-effects self well. I tell them I hear the demons at my door, that began to arise in a troubling way.

I see the keeper of souls, that old dog himself, staring at A fraction of my former self, I was much thinner now. It took me through the windowless walls. They don’t listen. Nobody ever me awhile to realize the glances I was receiving were not due to my listened. Only Vanessa. Only Helen. I think to them now, the way overwhelming popularity, but because it’s the way people look at a she glowed and the way she moved. Perhaps they found the secret to 19-year-old who stands a gangly 6 feet 2 inches and 80 pounds. What remaining in color forever. How I do miss that color. The only shade was I supposed to do? Remedying my shadowed world ravaged my I see now is the tan of my bedsheet as I tie it into knots around the appetite, and without color there was no reason to continue on. I throat of my world. I watch as my final grey breaths expel from my imwas not suicidal; I very much wanted to live, and this had become pending grey body. How I would love to see again the colors I did that the only way I knew how. My family had long since disowned me day in June so long ago. So very long ago. The way the wind sang, and (another regretful side-effect), and the house in which I was living the grass danced. Oh, what I would give to watch the sky make love to didn’t contain a refrigerator, or anyone responsible enough to buy the mountain once more. All the sacrifices of all the world are worth things that go in a refrigerator. As a source of income, I had taken to the pursuit of such a thing. Maybe the path lies in the next high. Just introducing the color of it all to other unfortunate souls who suffered one more hit, one more sip, and I’ll be there. Maybe Just one more. from the same ailment I did, but only because I needed the income Just one more. to survive. And I, as with everyone else, needed to survive at all costs.

It’s always just one more.

I

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Elaina Navarro, “Untitled”

Gallery 27

Jay Chan, “China Beach”

Elaina Navarro, right, “Noise”

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Jayme Courtney, “Paper Crowns”

Jayme Courtney, “Mount Spines”

Jayme Courtney, “Give Back Life”

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