uno mundo

Santa Cruz conforms to every right wing stereotype - or 'meme' - about the two Americas. It's the kind of place that makes being right wing appealing to a certain degree. Everyone here is so guarded and precious, as if everything a person says could potentially be subjected to rigorous (but also ridiculous) scrutiny. I like to throw bombs into polite conversation, and I find paradoxically that the most repressed people here are titillated by it, like 'who are you and what planet do you come from?' I made some crack about my Salvadoran cleaning lady and found that I became something of a court jester. Being a court jester is a role I've always excelled at, especially when you can poke fun at folks without them knowing that you're poking fun at them. I think I've mentioned my affinity for this before. ...The thing is, as farcical as I find places like this, I can't help thinking about how paranoid I felt last night blowing up through those conservative rural areas along the 5 freeway...