Since Paul Bloch is not actually a student at Sac State, the discerning reader may be wondering why he was chosen to be this week’s Student of the Week. As Paul says, “It’s a business matter really. My father is the Frenchman you’ve all come to know and love as Michel, the owner of La Creperie, located in the Riverfront Center.” This restaurant, of which Paul is also the manager, is so well known for its great food, French flair, and friendly atmosphere, that many of its customers are on a first name basis with the father and son team that run it. However, Paul’s days at La Creperie are numbered; he plans on attending Cooper Union, a “savvy and hip art school in New York City” that pays for the tuition of its students. Before answering our questions, Paul wanted us to know that other than eating a crepe everyday, he also enjoys “toast and two over-easy eggs for breakfast,” and that his favorite ice cream is “Ben & Jerry’s Chunky-Monkey.” Shine on you crazy crepe guy.

Hornet Staff: So, why Sac State?

Paul Bloch: It’s really a matter of chance and fate; I actually go to American River although I’ve been here on campus for five or so years.

HS: Where is your favorite place to study?

Paul: To my teacher’s disapproval I don’t. I’ve tried but, libraries make me sleepy, my house makes me restless, and at school I worry about other things. Recently I’ve sampled Denny’s as a study spot; you can’t go wrong with bottomless coffee.

HS: If I turned on your stereo right now, what would I hear?

Paul: Has anyone heard of Manu Chao? He’s super well known with the Europeans, or the Elevator Drops, Flotilla, Kings of Convenience, or any of the other obscure groups I listen to. I don’t turn on the radio much nowadays except for talk radio and those cool rhythms of Acid Jazz heard on Saturdays after 8:00 on KXJZ, 88.9.

HS: Where is your favorite place in Sacramento?

Paul: On the road that leads out of Sacramento! I’m kidding. Every Thursday I go to Luna’s Cafe on 16th Street for poetry readings. There is a huge poetry community here in Sac with something happening every night. I invite everyone to come, just as long as you don’t take my chair.

HS: If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Paul: How ’bout the ability to not compulsively narrate my life and think aloud in the third person. Then I could boast to having a power that no other two-dimensional super dude has ever seen! I would be the one comic character who wouldn’t have the ever-present thought bubble hovering overhead.

HS: If you could sleep with any famous person, living or dead, who would it be?

Paul: To suggest that there may be some iota of decency in me, I refrain from answering on the premise that I don’t “sleep” with women…I make wild passionate love…

HS: What is your intoxicant of choice?

Paul: I honestly don’t get intoxicated except for the occasional light drink with a friend. I’m typically the guy who remains reasonably sober. I once asked a spiritual teacher, that some say is enlightened, what he thought of drugs and he said, “…just meditate man.” So I’m more on my way to spiritual freedom than to material escapism.

HS: What, for you, is the meaning of life in twenty-five words or less?

Paul: LIBERATION. It’s not solely a cool word that makes a good album title. It’s waking up to Now and shining as who you really are.

EPILOGUE: Paul also provided us with a list of places a person might spot him in Sacramento. They are: Luna’s Cafe, Streets of London, Beers Books, TrueLove Coffeehouse, Ross – Dress for Less, or driving on 50 in a ’93 Saturn going to and from school, work, and home.

“These are the people in your neighborhood” is an attempt to create a greater sense of community at Sac State through weekly profiles of interesting people on campus, be they student, faculty, or staff. If you are or know of an interesting person that deserves greater recognition, contact [email protected]. See you in the Funny Pages!