Which Reminds Me

It was on the first or nearly the first day of high school, in ninth grade, in study hall downstairs, that the teacher was calling roll and when he called out name he said that my name sounded sexy. He meant to be friendly but I will admit that I was so nervous and shocked that a complete stranger would say something like that in such a familiar way that when I answered "present" or "here" there was a distinct chill in my voice, perhaps to discourage future such comments, and I think that I did succeed in discouraging that, even though the teacher did seem a bit shocked at my cold response. Someone in the study hall noticed that and continues to remind me of that, which gets very annoying because, I mean, really, who is not nervous on the first day of high school? Give me a break. Which teacher was that anyway? I really don't remember him. He looked like Bernie Monserrat, but I don't remember that name. Was he substituting that day or our regular teacher? It is very fuzzy in mind. Anyway, you are too exaggerated. I was just nervous. Give me a break. You are too CRUEL.

Which Reminds Me

Oh, ha ha ha! Am I hearing this right? So you think that wearing blue jeans daily as your self-appointed school uniform qualifies you as a police authority on all subject matters of potential conflict even though your shade of blue more closely resembles that of a coal miner or blue-collar worker's gear than any sort of authority figure, plus you have no badge, no whistle, no hat. Just because Lance might have been wearing blue jeans that day, having that hippie-flower child look of his, even though he was not holding his guitar at the moment, that did not make him an authority on religious matters. Obviously I have no idea who came up with that scheme. I would only be guessing that maybe you were not a Christian, in which case your personal bias would tend to favor Lance's presentation, even while persons of the devout Christian variety would strongly disagree with Lance as well as you on this point. When we once visited my cousin's junior high school in California we were shocked to see almost everyone wearing the blue jeans uniform, so just wearing blue jeans nothing special. Blue jeans are comfortable for casual days once you get used to that, I will admit. Even so, I just think that you are obfuscating the point because you don't wish to be confronted with religious arguments on points that make you personally uncomfortable. Yes, it is a complicated subject and I do think that Miss Marken's ninth grade honors English class is perhaps not the appropriate place for personal determinations of this nature. But anyway there is such a thing as freedom of speech and it was vinteresting to hear Lance's peculiar discussion, even though I might not agree with him in terms of religious belief. Anyway, you can't really control what people are going to say in their English oral reports and also the various ways that people might react to that.

Which Reminds Me

To make matters even more confusing, we have this catty Episcopalian Heather, another high school classmate of U.S. representation, pretending to be a Christian and yet actually agreeing, quite loudly in fact, with Lance in contradiction to the actual teachings of Christianity in regards to the Virgin birth of Christ. So that unfortunately tended to confirm the racist brown groupies in their deluded belief that only they are the true Christians in this picture, in contrast with the clueless white people whom they assumed to be mostly Episcopalians. To further confuse the picture, we have the Episcopalians claiming that only they can represent the U.S. in official matters, in contrast to the U.K., an officially Christian country where official representatives can be presumed to be indoctrinated in the Anglican doctrines of Christianity to some degree, unlike the U.S. where no doctrinal standard applies anyway, while if you actually do have some faith you may be judged a bit too simple-minded to handle the complications of higher office. So that could be a useful political wrench for someone's purpose of whatever intention. I am just saying what I heard.

Which Reminds Me

How many times do I have to explain that it was in Miss Marken's 9th grade English honors class that Lance, in his report on the bull of Greek mythology, digressed to the subject of the Virgin birth, which he clearly disbelieves, and said so in many words of a shocking nature, making some points that obviously did not endear him to Christians of any faith? Obviously I do not appreciate some brown Catholics trying to make that a racial question by dumping me into the same garbage bin as Lance and his gang of faithless white American groupies just because I happen to also be a white U.S. citizen high school classmate as opposed to a Latin Catholic high school classmate. Did I ever hang out with Lance's groupies? No. Even though Lance seemed very cool in a high school way, he was too wicked to be taken seriously at that time. And are there not also some faithless Catholics out there blending into the brown wallpaper? Possibly. Anyway, I do not recall myself ever discussing this point with Sylvia or Kathy or other high school classmate, that she would have anything intelligent to say by way of explaining this point on my behalf. You cannot just jump to such conclusions without giving me a chance to explain what I actually thought about Lance. I might feel more sorry for those wicked brown groupies such as Kathy and Joanne if they weren't such obvious cheaters.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, all of this hubbub does make me wonder what part of GET LOST does the Faulkner tribe of Mississippi not understand? I could not care less about those Dust Bowl novels that really have no bearing on the reality of my life. I never did get around to reading that "Grapes of Wrath" book and I doubt that I ever will. Winning a Nobel Prize is not something that you can ever plan on. Such rewards can only happen accidentally after having done something worthwhile with your life. Didn't Falkner get a "D" in English and yet won a Nobel Prize because his books captured something of the spirit of that time, not because there were any facts involved? Anyway, not to worry. The canneries of the California coastline are still there humming along just fine without me around to gum up the works. The cannery novels have all been written and there is nothing more of interest to be said about that. Perhaps someday the journalists will get around to exposing how the Faulkners sold their literary legacy to gain Viking baubles. Anyway, whatever. None of that is my problem.

Which Reminds Me

And am I some sort of junkyard to be harvested by the filthy rich Faulkner tribe? Just because Faulkner's novel happens to feature a fictional character named "Uncle John," that does not mean there ever was any resemblance to reality in that novel, never mind about the Nobel Prize. Certainly there is no Prize-winning literature with the Harris name on it to justify her loudly clamorous crowing on this point. Some people are too busy flapping their own mouths to pause long enough for the reflection necessary for the writing of books. Anyway, there is a big wall between fiction and non-fiction that cannot be crossed over by just any clueless busybody motormouth.

Which Reminds Me

Yes, the controversial subject of artificial children was also discussed in the dorms at SCC with similar results. I cannot imagine myself ever doing that but the option does exist, a temptation for those wealthy women who demand children at all costs.