The Rosalinda Reading/Latino Cultural Center, Dallas Texas

My girlfriend, Rosalinda Garcia, a teacher from Grand Prairie, Texas, has cancer. It's bad, and it's good in that Rosalinda is loving life every single minute.

On Monday, April 20th, I'm reading at the Latino Cultural Center, a place that is a dream come true for me, as the appointee on the Commission for Cultural Affairs who initiated, and led its establishment in the early stages.

I couldn't have done it without Maria T. Garcia Pedroche. Dr. Catalina Garcia. Diana Flores. Regina Montoya. Felix Zamora. And Rosalinda Garcia, who listened, protested, and helped me with her powerful listening, patience, support, protesting, marching, and most of all - love.

So I am dedicating my reading to her. Golondrina, why did you leave me? is a love story based on my mother's life. And like her, Rosalinda is a golondrina: questioning, freedom-loving, fearless, and most of all, she knows that love is the land we're seeking.

Reading for Rosalinda
from Golondrina, why did you leave me?
The first Chicana novel from UT Press/Chicana Matters Series
Latino Cultural Center
Monday, April 20th, 2009
Dallas, Texas
7 pm

Praise for Golondrina, why did you leave me?

But what makes Golondrina special, what drives its considerable innovation and perfumes its hundreds of tiny pleasures, is the sheer descriptive mestizaje beauty of the novel’s language, word-by-word, in English and en español. González wields Golondrina’s Tex-Mex dialect with real mastery; in her hands, the language is lyrical, big, luxurious, funny, and terrifying. González’s arsenal, linguistically and as a storyteller, is immense and complex, with Joycean neologisms (“cornpaste”) and fierce rhythm...Sarah Fisch, San Antonio Current

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Today is Tuesday, May 3rd, and so much has happened. A brain tumor. More yoga and walking. A little less combat. Weight dropping. Spirit rising. Back in the city, where I belong. Looking for good photos to give you, organizing my crazy files. And a new President! So much to say, more than beating up on him -- that will only take us so far. Time to hit the streets, challenge the fears that he represents. Don't be afraid, no tengan miedo. If I survived a massive brain tumor -- big as a grapefruit -- we can survive and transcend this. More tomorrow. One day a week from now on.

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