How to Raise a Star Wars Nerd

I have to confess my nerdiness, although I’m not really sure that I have done a good job at hiding it. Not only am I a bookworm, I am a Star Wars aficionado. Some people say “Fan Boy,” but that makes me feel like a little kid. Having these two hobbies/interests/obsessions comes with its own struggles; of course one of them is fighting the ladies off with a stick. I love reading and I love Star Wars, but sometimes people do not have the same passion that I feel when these two topics arise. So you can imagine my fears when I found out that my wife was pregnant. What if he hates books? What if he doesn’t love Star Wars? And worst of all, what if he likes Jar-Jar?

I have a very young cousin (now in middle school) who loves books and reading. I buy her books whenever I can to encourage her love of reading. I made a deal with her a few years ago that any book that I gave her I would read too, and we could enjoy it together as part of our shared interest. Naturally, the first book I gave her was Star Wars themed. She loved it. Now I have my own son and I want him to be raised with the force as part of his life, but more importantly I want him to appreciate the written word. How could I ensure that I raise him to love reading?

I have found a solution to this problem that eases my concerns. Listed below are a few wonderful Star Wars themed books written for children; well, written for parents wanting to brainwash their children into loving the same franchise that they were raised on.

Darth Vader and Son by Jeffrey Brown

 

This was actually the first book we purchased for our son while my wife was pregnant. It is mostly a picture book with little dialogue and it is about the struggles that Darth Vader encounters as part of being a father. Some of these include Luke getting a boo-boo, Vader digging Luke out of the compactor, and even Vader/son naptime. Brown has also written Vader’s Little Princess which is about the Dark Lord’s little girl, Leia. This was the first book I read to my son, but mostly I just show him the pictures and say things like “look son, a lightsaber,” or “that’s Darth Vader.”

I Strike Thee Quickly with My Lightsaber

              Don’t you love when two of your favorite things collide to make one super-awesome thing? Peanut butter and chocolate? Amazing. Rum and Coke? Delicious. Bacon and milkshakes? Well, that might be an acquired taste, but you get the idea. Last year I stumbled upon another exciting marriage of two seemingly opposite things: Shakespeare and Star Wars.

The New Tuesdays...

Hello, I have created a new site in order to use Tuesdays with Yoda for another purpose. TWY will now solely focus on the connection of Star Wars and the world of literature. I will begin posting on tuesdays with relevant articles.

If you enjoyed my previous posts, you can follow me at my new blog I'm the Milhouse or at The Poetics Project. I hope you enjoy the blogs and thanks for reading.

Overwhelmed at the Festival of Books

Last weekend I went to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Although I have always been a bibliophile I have never had a chance to visit this event. Something always got in the way. Not this year though. I was lucky enough to attend day one of the festival with my wife and my infant son.

The festival of books took place on the campus of the University of Southern California on the weekend of April 12 and 13. This was the 19th year of the event and the second year in a row that USC has hosted. More than 150,000 people of all ages attended the festival making it "the largest and most prestigious literary event in North America," according to the LA Times.

Let me begin by saying that it was great to see such a large turn out for a festival whose main focus was literature. It kind of restored some hope for humanity in my mind. I mean, to be honest, I knew people still read, but I didn't think they really cared about literature. I hate crowded places, but it was pleasant to share the day with thousands of book lovers.

The Year of the Horse, and Jackie Robinson

            This post is a little late, but I wanted to give proper praise and recognition to Jackie Robinson. April 15 is not a national holiday, but it is a day of remembrance and a celebrated day across the United States. This is Jackie Robinson Day across all Major League ballparks. It is the day that Jackie Robinson entered Major League Baseball as the first African-American to play in the big leagues. The historical impact has reverberated throughout the ages, and across the spectrum of our culture. This one event in the world of sports has had an impact on everything, including our literary world.

            When I was a young boy I was given a copy of the book In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, written by Bette Bao Lord. I was a young baseball fan growing up in Los Angeles, so of course I rooted for the Dodgers. At that age though, I had not been exposed to the history of the franchise; including the monumental event of Robinson breaking the color barrier.

            In this short novel written for grade school aged children, Lord tells the story of Shirley Temple Wong who is a young Chinese girl who has immigrated to America with her family in the same year that Robinson joined the Dodgers. Shirley faces many prejudices at school because she is different and because she doesn’t speak English well. Shirley becomes a follower of Robinson and through him she finds motivation and courage to pursue happiness in the United States.

Parts of Speech

Parts of Speech

            We have already discussed common mistakes made in grammar, and there are a million posts on blogs about those mistakes littering the Internet. Let’s take it up a notch. Before I jump into any complex or strange rules of grammar that no one understands, I am going to focus on parts of speech today. Sure, you may think you know your parts of speech, but lets just give it a refresher because it is fun to get to know your language on a deeper level. For example, did you know that there is a name for everything? Seriously. You know that little dot above every lower case i and every lower case j? That has a name. It is called a tittle. And since I told you that little bit of useless knowledge you might as well know that the horizontal line that crosses your t is called a crossbar.

            Okay, back to parts of speech. Let us start with the most popular members of our parts of speech:

Poetry Slam: Snap Your Fingers

            A couple of weeks ago the high school where I currently teach hosted a very special event. This is my first year at this school, so I had never heard of nor participated in what found out was called “Get Lit.” This is an event where local students and young people from around Los Angeles stand on our stage and recite poetry to our students. My first reaction was one of sheer horror. I reached for my riot gear before heading for the auditorium. Surely this would be a disaster. Boy was I wrong.

            As awesome as this sounded, I had predetermined that our students would not buy into this event. I have taught poetry for several years now and I am always met with slight hesitation, and then the students are wowed because they end up “getting” what the poem is about. This, on the other hand, was a poetry slam.

            As the slam started the MC, a man in charge of the GetLit program, welcomed the students and gave them a few rules and instructions on manners. His calm and jovial presence made everyone in the audience feel comfortable and excited. He too the students to be respectful, but to express their connection with the poets with snaps, claps, and by interjecting by saying "word" if you agreed. It felt as though we were waiting to see a rock show or a debut of a new movie.

Common Mistakes

The beautiful thing about the internet is that there is an endless amount of information and entertainment available at your fingertips. But there is more to the net than conspiracy theorists pages, porn sites, and videos of cats being cute. Millions of people (billions?) use social networks to express themselves. The problem is most of us are expressing ourselves incorrectly, grammatically speaking.

Don’t get me wrong; I am no exception to this problem. As someone with a degree in English I am often the target of ridicule when I make a grammatical mistake. Like most things in life, grammar takes practice and we can all use some practice when remembering the complexities that make up the English language.


This video surfaced out of frustration from seeing so many people make the same common mistakes: 

Double Dippers

            I used to wonder why I sucked at so many things and why some people were amazing at practically everything they attempted. It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized that very few people were truly exceptional at more than one thing. That doesn’t stop people from trying though. Pretty much every celebrity has tried their hand at something outside their expertise. More often than not, these efforts are major flops and often times lead to hilarious results, as with Shaquille O’Neil’s rap album or Mariah Carey’s acting.

            But there are a few who do this with some success. Here are some celebrities that have crossed over into the world of literature without making complete fools of themselves. Some of these are older, but have maintained their status on my bookshelves. They are, in my opinion, successful double-dippers.

Fiction

Shopgirl by Steve Martin

This is a poignant and compelling novella about a young lady who sells gloves at an expensive department store. We are taken through Maribel’s idle life as a bit of a wallflower and her confusing love life as she balances relationships with a middle-aged millionaire and a nerdy and socially awkward suitor.

Martin has written a few other novels since Shopgirl, including The Pleasure of my Company and An Object of Beauty, but in my opinion this is his best work. His characters are vibrant and real.

Non Fiction/Autobiography

Scar Tissue by Anthony Keidis

I am a bit biased here as a big fan of the Chili Peppers, but this was a very interesting autobiography. I don’t think you can make up the kinds of stories you find in this book. Besides getting a pretty cool look at the formation of the band through his point of view, you also get memorable stories of Keidis shooting up in a diner with a six foot tall transvestite with a mustache. Keidis is very honest about his past addiction and mistakes he made in his life.

I Before E

Except after C!

Pass Your Homework Up

This is my classroom. Welcome. I am a high school English teacher working in Southern California. I love what I do. It is a rewarding career. I love that I get to share great pieces of literature with wonderful students.

I am adding this section as an informational resource for teachers, a fun way to express what goes on in the school setting, and to vent about the frustrations we all have with our education system. Glad you can join me. Please pass your homework up. 

Welcome to Tuesdays

Although I have already posted a few things on this page, I neglected to introduce myself. My name is Cesar Castellanos. I would like to welcome you to Tuesdays with Yoda. The name is an homage to one of my favorite books, Tuesdays with Morrie, and to the smartest little green dude in a galaxy far far away.
This page was created to share information and anecdotes about life, film, literature, and various other interests. My intentions when creating TWY was to give myself a place to reflect. We spend so much of our lives preparing for the next phase that we often forget to be introspective. I know that I am very guilty of this at times. I make constant lists and goals for myself. I do this to the point of giving myself panic attacks and headaches because I create a world of expectations that no one could meet.
I have learned over the years to slow down. I should have listened to Ferris Beuller's advice, but I was too young to realize what he meant. At least I have my wife to keep me in check and tell me when to calm the fuck down. A verbal splash of water to the face and I am back to normal.
This, getting back to the point, is my opportunity to reflect on a minimal scale and an opportunity to be introspective. I am not sure how much I can contribute to humanity or what I can say that hasn't already been said, but I do know that it is important to have something to share with the world that you can be proud of. Welcome to my world, wipe your feet before you enter.

Espresso

By Cesar Castellanos

            I was eighteen years old when I tried espresso for the first time. Coffee was nothing new to me. I come from a Mexican household where cafecito con leche was a daily ritual since I was about twelve. Espresso, on the other hand, was an unexplored world of coffee that I only saw twenty-somethings on tv drinking as they prepared for meetings with high profile clients. It was a bit of a step up from the Folgers world that I was accustomed to.

            I remember hanging out in the University coffee shop during the first semester of my freshman year. It was a rainy fall afternoon. I was alone, as I often was in college. My friends were either in class or had gone home. I hadn’t met any new friends because meeting new people because I suffer from a rare case of awkward-moment-syndrome. On this particular afternoon I thought I would be daring and try something new. Isn’t that what college was supposed to be for? I’m pretty sure people have a different meaning when they talk about experimenting during college, but for me a new type of coffee was equivalent to losing my inhibitions.

            I nervously approached the barista and ordered a double espresso as if I knew what I was talking about. She read right through me. “Espresso for Cesar!” they shouted as my drink was ready. Great, now everyone knew that I was a tool. I picked up the cup and noticed that it felt empty. I looked inside, only to find about two ounces of black sludge at the bottom. Surely there had been a mistake, but it was too late to turn back. I hunched my way into a corner with my experimental drink. It was time. Passed the lips and through the gums. And almost back from whence it came. The bitterness made my face convulse. In a scientific anomaly my face cringed and expanded at the same time. I forced the sludge down. I decided to stick with my standard cafecito. 

The Cesar Chavez Effect

By Cesar Castellanos

            There is a new biography in stores this week. It tells the tale of tough and draconian leader who used organized crime to accomplish his goals. This biography takes what we thought we knew about a man, and gives us the dark background of accomplishments. This book, and the controversy it will stir up, will probably sell very well.

There is also new film premiering this weekend. The protagonist of the film is a strong, courageous hero that stands up for what he believes in and saves thousands of people. He is more than a hero, as he transcends those clichés. He is a folk legend and cultural icon. Yet, I have a feeling that very few people outside the southwestern part of the United States will even recognize his name, let alone watch the film. That is a shame.

            The film is Cesar Chavez. It was directed and produced by critically acclaimed duo Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal (Y Tu Mama Tambien, Amores Perros). The film chronicles the life of Cesar Chavez who led an American civil rights movement for migrant workers. Chavez was a labor organizer who is famously known for his nonviolent means of protest, including fasting for 25 days to bring awareness to the social injustices that many migrant workers faced. It is advertised as telling the tale of an American hero.