Which Reminds Me

Actually I don't remember Heather all that much and I really get annoyed at this irritating presence out there in the periphery of things, as if she were anything but a pathetically horrid and nasty rich girl whose presence never meant anything to me. She was just there in ninth grade acting like the nasty person that she always was. And where would I go to sue her wickedness? I don't have the requisite millions of dollars to pay lawyer fees nor sufficient library resources to lay out a credible lawsuit against such a horrid and nasty person as Heather. I don't even have a clue where all of this nasty Heather garbage started nor do I care to pretend that she herself was not the sole source of all of this worthless nonsense. I certainly never knew anything about it until now nor was Heather ever discussed with me in high school probably because nobody really cared about whatever happened to that nasty Heather person. Life is short. If Heather is going to be so pathetically inhospitable then she should not be expecting my phone call because it won't ever happen.

Which Reminds Me

A while back I thought I heard the shrill and shrieky voice of that vile creature Maria Smith saying a bunch of nonsense. How nice that Maria managed to get herself licensed a science teacher. The pathetic creature will need such a certificate to detract attention from her humble origins. How ridiculous to hear Maria pontificating in such an ignorant way. The only Maria I can remember from those years was the maid who cooked better than she cleaned and could barely read and write, having never advanced much beyond an elementary school education. The questions and comments that Maria sometimes made were mildly amusing in their unbelievable ignorance but we understand that it is hard for you to get the big picture when you only lived in a tiny Salvadoran village most of your childhood and did not have the opportunity to get out and learn about how things really work.

Which Reminds Me

Years ago Philip Kirsten and his parents had dinner at our house. I think that Susie Stewart was also there at the time. If there was Grey Poupon on the table I cannot recall. I only remember that the subject of Evangel arose and suddenly Philip launched into a description of the biology teacher at Evangel College whom he described as being someone he had a personal problem with. I was not sure exactly what he meant by that. I cannot even recall now what the teacher's name was. However, at the time I did remember that I, too, had taken biology from that same teacher during the year that I was at Evangel and he had seemed to me boring in the extreme, monotone in his delivery of facts, which put me to sleep, even though he probably did know plenty about biology. Anyway, science always was my least favorite subject. What Philip's problem was with Evangel's biology teacher I really could not say. Phil had served as some type of assistant in the science department at Evangel but he was sort of vehemently incoherent on the subject over dinner. Anyway, I don't understand why I should care or be implicated in Philip's emotional problems, his immaturity and lack of communication skills. Anyway, Phil's Ph.D. is in chemistry if I remember rightly. However, I find it hard to understand these geeky science nerds. In my opinion, school politics is a subject to gloss over in a noncommittal way if you know what is good for your own career in academia because these little comments can come back to bite you later if you are not careful. Just look at what university politics did to Kent Stone's "Ph.D." career. So sad.

Along a similar vein, sadly we cannot give the Danish any credit for so devotedly obeying the Stereotypical Orders outlined in Nash's brilliant treatise. We are starting to think that Nash knew whereof he spoke, so generously have the Scandinavians attributed lavish credit to Nash's reputation as a scholar.

Which Reminds Me

Oh, did I accuse someone of smoking pot? I actually don't remember doing that. I don't remember anything specific now. Obviously I would not know anything about that. I would not want to have to press charges when I have no evidence of that but certainly that funny smell in the air makes you wonder what is going on over there.Was that incense burning or something? I don't remember.

Speaking of Privacy

I wonder why it is that everyone is so worried about "fixing" me in ways that never would have occurred to me to do even to my worst enemies. They almost give the impression that I am something less than human, something akin to a canine critter and not really on the level of human being. As if Richard were himself entitled to something that does not belong to him. I am sick and tired of hearing about that decandently obnoxious and whiny Richard and his family, as if I "owe" that creepy thief anything. I am not feeling myself inclined to submit to his wicked schemes. Richard will have no control in this story. We will tell him where to get off. I do not feel like rifling through infinitely more books, as for example Richard Green's "The Mirror of Modesty," a medieval retelling of the apocryphal book about Susanna, for no particular reason, as if that were the only thing to say about virtuous womanhood and trashy wicked Richard the sole source of all truth. There is the quote about not catching much with only a bare hook, which is the most applicable thing to say on this point. And there is also part where the two lechers talk about cracking her credit so that she will have to rely on them for mercy in the future, thus undermining her husband's credit and community standing, if she agrees to submit to their evil scheme. The two lechers have snuck into her husband's garden where she is preparing to bathe, having sent the servants away for soap, and encounter her in a state of some disrobement. The conversation is prolonged long enough for the servants to return and witness this strange encounter between the wife and the two lechers who are really only employees of her husband's business. They have been watching her secretly and are bedazzled by her beauty. But if she submits to them, they will have the upper hand in her husband's business. So what can one woman do when two or more men are conspiring against her and it is only her word against theirs? There is no solution for her dilemma until Daniel decides to question them separately. Under which tree in the garden was she standing, Daniel asks them? Each man names a different tree, thus revealing, according to the story, that their alibis do not exactly match. The two lechers received the death sentence they had desired for Susanna, which seems a fit and just end of story. After all, they were bearing false witness against her so it was all just a big lie.

Which Reminds Me

I vaguely recall during high school that Michael O'Farrell was kidding Martha 'Matty' Brizuela about her possible "Mata Hari" connections. I always thought it was just a somewhat juvenile and sophomoric joke typical of high school days. However, the seriousness with which this minor comment has been treated gives us pause to reconsider the possibility that there might actually be something to that, not that I would know anything about it or be able to explain the context of that. I only vaguely recall hearing this reference to the wicked spy lady of World War I. For more details you might get more information out of Michael O'Farrell. But it is also true that often these Frenchified people have some rather bizarre and intriguing connections in continental Europe that simple-minded American white people such as myself could not be expected to understand. We might get a few clues here and there but some things that are just too personal to discuss with them, obviously.

Scripting Problems

Ok, so this is the part of the script where I am supposed to launch into a tirade about all of these yappy little  Japanese attack poodles, cheerleader Kelly being a prime example of the Japan problem. "Were two atomic bombs not enough? Will we need to nuke stupid Kelly also, if only to zip Kelly's stupid mouth shut and thus advance this conversation beyond this annoying Japanese hangup point?" Yes, I really don't understand what the Japanese problem is at this time. I did feel a certain degree of pity in high school for Yasushi Takeda when describing his ambivalence and mixed feelings toward the United States, Japan's ally that had formerly nuked two major Japanese cities in order to terminate World War II early partly to cut down on U.S. casualties. And then we heard that he went on to work in the White House press corps representing Japan although I haven't heard anything recently. And there was the issue of Japanese people in the U.S. who spent the war years in prison camps. Yes, how sad. It must be sort of weird for Kelly Misaka to pretend to be a Christian when she is actually working for the Devil. Huh? Well, the U.S. treatment of Japan is puzzling and strange and I don't pretend to understand what the issues were but in wartime conditions anything can happen. There are no guarantees in life. And I have yet to understand why this should be my problem when I am not even remotely Japanese and not connected to this issue in any way. I heard the same speech that everyone else heard in high school but I don't know anything more about this than the average U.S. citizen. There are various types of Orientals, not only Japanese, even though sometimes it is hard for us foreigners to tell them apart. Certainly Japan could not reasonably expect to someday be running China in the democratic and self-governing view of things so what is their problem anyway? They have their island kingdom all to themselves so there should be no other expectation emanating from Japan that I know of, and yet I know nothing. Don't ask me. How would I know? In wartime conditions anything could happen.