Speaking in the New SDSU Student Union…

James Brega: What I Write Instead of Nothing

Have you ever driven up the California coast from San Luis Obispo to Monterey, knuckles white on the steering wheel as you fight for control of the car through hairpin curves? Have you ever dreamed that you had murdered someone and, upon waking, been unable to shake the conviction that it was true? Have you ever sung onstage to a packed audience, been robbed at gunpoint by a ten-year-old, laughed when it seemed— for a moment—that a famous author had stolen your mojo, wondered why we don’t drive steam-powered automobiles, or confronted your guardian angel at high tide on a gay beach once claimed by Pilgrims ? In What I Say Instead of Nothing, James Brega invites you to explore his real, imagined, and re-imagined experiences through his collected essays and short stories—a journey that will feed your nostalgia for life at the end of the twentieth century and remind you how desperately you wish that a great deal of it had never happened.

Speaking in the New SDSU Student Union…

March 6, 2014

Jim Brega with Guillermo Aranda

I had the privilege of being one of the speakers at a ceremony in the new Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union at SDSU this morning. The ceremony was the re-dedication in its new location of the Mural Triptico that was painted in 1970-72 by Mexican muralist Gilberto Ramirez in the old Montezuma Hall. The new 200,000-square-foot Student Union building is officially opening this week.

The photo at right is of me with one of the original artist’s assistants, Guillermo Aranda, in front of the artist’s working drawing for the mural. I donated the drawing to the Associated Students in 2009. To discover the story about my connection to the drawing and the mural, read my speech here.

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James Brega: What I Write Instead of Nothing