"This is What it Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona"

To start off, I have to say that I am confused by this story's title. Maybe I missed something in the story or a comment that was made in class to explain it, but the title just seems odd to me. I understand the significance of Phoenix, I just would have expected a title referring to the father or to broken relationships instead. However, I did not write the story!
As I read this story, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed it, overall. It did not wow me like some of our previous stories have, but I was also able to stay awake as I read. I thought that the estrangement between Victor and his father was sad, but I was heartened to see that at least Victor and Thomas were able to rekindle a bit of their relationship because of it.
I grew to truly appreciate Thomas' strange and quirky character, just as much as I understood Victor's frustrations with his old friend. I think we have all probably been in a situation before where we felt like we should reach out and befriend someone because no one else would, but the fact of the matter remained that we too were annoyed by that person. We all have to make choices about who we befriend, and I see Victor's struggle in this story as one common at least for me, and I would suspect for others as well.
I would also like to say that I am posting this blog after viewing the first half of the film "Smoke Signals." Oh boy. First of all, in the film, Victor is rude and hateful for no reason. Thomas is portrayed as the most annoying person I have ever seen, and his accent is ridiculous. Also, I felt that the original story contained an appropriate amount of anti-white-man or anti-America sentiments to be effective and give the reader pause, but the movie seems over the top with hatred and bitterness for "cowboys." I do not know who thought up the storyline for this movie, but so far, it has skewed my initial perceptions of Sherman Alexie's story, and not for the better.