HOUSE WITH THE BLUE BED BY ALFRED ARTEAGAChapters: 1 – 9Presented by Anna Li and Elianeth Ramirez

AGENDA• General Introduction• Chapter summaries• Matching game• Discussion

ALFRED ARTEAGA - Narrator of House With The Blue Bed- Born in East L.A., raised in Whittier, California- HWTBB includes short stories and memories in his life that

have shaped his identity - HWTBB includes “…themes of violence, change, cultural

conflict, racism, and human vulnerability…”

BLOOD, SAND, BLOODo Describes a walk/journey by with water with a companion o Alfred Arteaga sees life linearly like a time line

o “…the little boats becoming more so, shrink in view then wait in memory behind the hill.” o “….we’ll walk about the same, and this bright light can neither repeat nor fade.”

o Alfred Arteaga and his friend are represented as a fiery glow o “…bright light…”o “…the distant sinking’s fiery glow….”

SANDLIFE IS UNPREDICTABLE

o Beach in Donegal Bay o Describing the sand and experience of walking on

Donegal Bay Beach - the sand has the consistency of “cake frosting that has

been allowed to sit”

o “Our feet walk not so much confidently as they do relatively ignorant, disinterested in our trail of steps yet jerked to reaction at the trip, stub, twist, or sudden plunge” (pg 6).- walking the sand of Donegal bay is disorienting, but every

time you plunge into the sand, you are re-awakened into reality

SANDSTHE JOURNEY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE DESTINATION

o Compares the sands of Galveston, TX to the sands in Irelando Comes to the conclusion that he prefers the sands in Ireland

because it is unpredictable and complexo “I begin not with the material matter there, but with the steps

and the possibility of sand” (pg 11).o Each step in the sand represents unforeseen events in his life o Prefers the excitement of not knowing what the future holds,

rather than following a predictable, prescribed path

AIREVERY LIFE IS SIGNIFICANT AND AFFECTS THE WORLD

o Reminisces on an experience at Ben Bulben with four other people: a poet, a composer, a hotel manager, and a piano teacher.

o Specifically recalls the wind as he steps out of the house with the “lost” piano teacher and faces the sea

o “Standing there not taking a step I, in a small way like the mountain, made chaos, broke the flow of air from the sea in fragments like meaning” (pg 16). o Being able to affect the natural environment gave him a sense of

purpose and significance

BREATHLIFE MOVES FORWARD

o Compares the typewriter and synthesizero Both machines attempt to recreate human phrasing and flow,

“the beat of breath” (pg 17). o “…they regularize a pace of meaning (syllable or note) over a

span of time, whether it is the human time or breaths or electronic time of seconds” (pg 18).

o The syllables and notes in written music and words are like events in life, always moving forward in time (like a time line)

BODIESHUMANS ACT AS THEY TRULY ARE WHEN FACED WITH DEATH AND INJURY

o Recalls three instances in which an unmoving human body urges one to reconsider what it is to “act human”

o First instance: A woman is hit by a car by Earl’s Court Road. She rests in her own blood and despite being injured/in pain, resembles a calm, awake Ophelia in Millais’s painting. Onlookers kneel by her and watch in silence and with worry. A woman also aids her by retrieving her shoe.

o Second instance: In Paris, a woman is hit by a car and wails in pain. A pale man steps out of his car and slaps the taxi driver that hit her. “The pale man must have needed to do something, driven as he was by the woman’s inability to get up and by her growls in primal French.

o Third instance: In San Jose, two men and a boy are on the street. One man seems to drunk as the boy tugs at him, and before them a man lays still. Policemen then enter scene and handcuff the drunk man as well as the fallen man despite his unmoving body and dragged him to the curb.

RAPETIME IS FLEETING

SilverlakeNew York L.A Alfred was 24 years old accompanied by his wife and new daughter at

this time Sisters house While everyone was asleep he was awakened by a women’s scream “I was dazed and filled with fear: where was I?” (pg.23) At first he didn’t know where he was and had to recollect his thoughts Once the neighbor went outside to check if the woman was okay, it

was too late “ But it had all been too late; even the screams, the live screams,

were a record of a violence past.” (Pg 24)

DAYSFEELING LOST EVOKES A SENSE OF EXCITEMENT

Divorced his wife and returned to L.A from San Jose to live with men who had no children. But he had his daughter.

Worked at Berkeley Dislocasia is seen as, “disorientation” that he feels throughout his

life “The disorientation I felt wakening, in the dizzy transition from

sleep, came to be for me, rather a transition, a lifestyle” (pg 25) Visualized dislocasia as a “timeline” ”Yet I had no panic and managed to find some small ironic

pleasure at each occurrence: again? Ah, dislocasia.” (Pg 27) Enjoyed his disease

MAZELIFE IS A SPONTANEOUS JOURNEY

• Alfred tells a story of when he got lost in Mexico “One reason I could find some joy in spontaneous displacement is that it is such a break with the normal, for usually I have a very good sense of direction, of space and location.” (pg. 29)• He leaves his wife and daughter in the apartment and walks

into a street called, “Calle Niño Perdido”= lost boy Street• “That I was lost fascinated me: it was truly serendipitous and

the surprise delighted me.” (Pg. 30)• However, in London, he knew how to get around

FLIGHTWE ALL CRAVE A SENSE OF FREEDOM

• Hummingbird, represents him. He likes to travel and feel free.• “In my dreams as a child and in my daydreams after, I wonder at

the ability.” (pg 35)• LA was experiencing unpleasant weather• “The angry earth, the gray sky, and the solitary accommodation

all increased the sadness of my spirit…” (pg 34)• “ The lighter sand blowing over the darker, the noise of wave and

wind, the wind itself, and me with wings: for a moment or two I knew what it was to fly” (Pg 35)

• Mexico is his escape, because he likes feeling lost.• He is living life day by day, feeling spontaneous.

FALLGOOD DEEDS ARE NOT ALWAYS RECOGNIZED

Talks about his daughter’s life (Xóchitl) like a timeline• While in the bar, they witnessed the bartender’s girlfriend flirt with a

customer.• Once the bartender saw his girlfriend talk to a man, he spoke with her• Alfred and Xóchitl witnessed the bartender’s girlfriend leave the pub, with

joy• The woman was then hit by a car& Xóchitl and Alfred did their best to

help• That same night, he sees her at the pub once more• He realized that the woman was not aware of his worry during the

accident • This was an important event impacted Alfred’s life.