College Memories

Yes, they really can be nasty there at SCC, especially the music majors. I remember that Rose Wilson sang very well but everyone was afraid to write letters because Rose Wilson worked in the mailroom which meant that your in-house mail would probably be read if not sealed and possibly even sealed letters were not safe. The contents of any student-to-student correspondence would likely be distributed to the four winds which was another reason to not write any notes or letters. One could not be sure about that. I remember that Cori belonged to a book club and received books every month by mail. She talked me into doing that as well. I signed up for the book club and the first package was personally delivered to my door by Sue McGartland of the mailroom along with some ominous mutterings about the dangers of reading too many books. I immediately canceled, needless to say. Sue McGartland was in the voice class for which I served as accompanist, playing such old vocal class standards as "The Holy City" and "I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked."

Which reminds me that Barbara Kraiss, Larry's mother, did an excellent job as my accompanist during my junior year. She was said to have learned piano later in life and yet was fairly advanced for being a late pianist. Most pianists think that piano has to be learned at age 4 or nothing but there are exceptions.

Which reminds me that one year there appeared at SCC a girl singer who had experience doing backup vocals for some rock band. I don't remember which one. I don't remember what her name was or why she was at our college when she could be out touring the world in glamorous style. I am reminded that Barbara Kraiss made some scathing comments about her, although I don't remember the details. I only know of this singer's presence at college because of scathing remarks from Barbara Kraiss and others, maybe Warren although I don't remember. Without hearing that I would not have any idea of her existence as I had no classes with her. But if you know how those people are, speaking of the Kraiss's and other higher-up district people, you would not be surprised to hear them criticize everyone on the planet. No one is good enough for them, basically. They will find an excuse to dump everyone eventually. That is just how they are.

Which reminds me

During the last couple of years that I was in college I had a part-time job accompanying some vocal students on the piano, maybe four or five in a semester. I also had the experience of playing for the voice class which is all beginner stuff anyway. For all of this musical work I was paid about $100 for the entire semester which seemed at least enough for pocket change for this college student but really not really enough to compensate for the hassle of trying to "help" those obnoxious whiny singers in certain cases. I also worked as a dishwasher in the cafeteria occasionally. I do not recall whether I reported this to the IRS. I seem to remember that at the time the amount earned did not seem to reach the threshold of needing to be reported to the IRS. I seem to think that I did not ever earn $1,000 for the whole year during college so the thought of taxes did not seem urgent at the time. I really don't remember.

Extreme Rudeness

I find it very rude of these people to be predatorily bombing my head when I did not do anything to them and was not even aware of their existence and/or any possible connection to myself and family although I can't speak for the other Strickland relatives on this point. My relatives, well, I could try to explain but, well, I really would not know where their heads are. Uncle Winfred's daughters were not discussed that I recall. We never talked about this at all. The U.S. Postal Service does an excellent job of delivering the gas checks to my mother's address so obviously they could find our addresses if they really wanted to. Anyway, we have to be so careful to try to be polite to these complete strangers who constantly prey upon us and lurk around every corner. We try to give them every opportunity without prejudice based on race, gender and/or ethnicity just like everybody else on the planet, as we are taught by society so we expect them to be fair and play by the rules as we do. When we see Larry Kraiss and Karen Klein always together as a couple we have no thought of caring one way or another because we never met Larry personally and Chicago people are so boring anyway, so full of themselves as the center of the universe. My first year at SCC Larry's two cousins, Beverly and Ann Kraiss, were on my dorm floor but they did not come back the next year and I don't remember anything about them. I only remember their names. The Old Testament says, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." I am not saying this in a threatening way as if I had any plans to do anything about Richard and Beverly. Are they divorced now?  I never knew they existed so it would be ridiculous to expect me to react to something of which I am not aware. My thought is, basically, that this means, "live and let live." I generally do not subscribe to the "live and let die," Paul McCartney's morbidly imperialistic theme that I find chillingly cold and unappealing, although war has its place on the battlefield. I never liked the idea of James Bond movies anyway. Brrrrr! What a creep he really is. I don't think I deserve to be targeted by persons I don't even know regarding whom I bear no personal malice or thought of harming. I suppose that if I racked my brain I could think of something that I don't like about you but I would really rather reserve my opinions to myself for my own benefit. These predators really should make themselves known to us and identify themselves as Richard's deadly missiles so that we know to get out of the way because Beverly left a long time ago and we don't know where she lives. That would be the fair thing to do, if there were any justice in this world.

Presidents

I think that it is important for us American citizens to vote for president. I did this even in college. I remember walking over to the Costa Mesa City Hall building to vote in the 1980 presidential elections However, I do not imagine that either candidate was even remotely aware of my existence as a voter. I did not vote to get special favors from the president, whether Reagan for whom I voted or Carter for whom I did not vote in 1980 because, well, the Iran thing was getting ridiculous. But I was only doing my civic duty like so many other voters. There are many voters. Just look at the tiny little voters and non-voters crawling around on the globe of earth. Viewed from outer space these tiny little voters and non-voters look indistinguishable from each other. We are just the people, the human beings, the jars of clay so to speak. Which reminds that I don't recall participating in the student body elections. Who voted for Rusty anyway? I don't recall doing so. I do not imagine that either Reagan or Carter would have been aware of anything about my identity. In this regard I cannot speak for my well-connected relatives. Was not my Dad's Aunt Julia married to a colonel of whom I know almost nothing? Do great-grandmother's diaries not record that Uncle Ariel and family went to some camp meeting in San Clemente? Was not San Clemente the home of President Richard Nixon? Inquiring minds perhaps want to know what Uncle Ariel was doing in San Clemente and whether there was any connection there to Nixon. I have no idea. The diaries do not specify the exact location within San Clemente and purpose for which Uncle Ariel's family went there, not even whether any presidential thought was involved in their stopping by perhaps the San Clemente McDonald's restaurant on their drive north to Pasadena. I have no idea. You would have to ask them what exactly that meant.

Flood

Which reminds me that it was nice of Sue McGartland to come upstairs to help clean up the flooding even though it was only her job. Perhaps I should say thank you again but I don't know what happened to all of these people. Sue can be at times a very annoying person with a lot of mental problems which probably explains her intense interest in working her way into the mental hospital a few blocks down the street on Fairview. I really don't know anything else about that. I am kind of busy following other paths so I will not have to time to figure out what Sue said to Cori or what else happened at Fairview. These social workers have their places but I was never at Fairview so I really would not know anything about that.

Drill Sargeant Dykes

If truth be told, Cori/Lori is just another drill sargeant dyke, as are all of these hideous women who waste my time with their mindless chatter about nothing much. It wasn't supposed to be like this but I do understand how unbelievably sick their minds are. And then I am supposed to say that I don't need it. I can live without it. I was not taking it for granted in the first place. I don't quite remember what I said about it anyway. But it is true. I don't need it. I can live without it. I wasn't taking it for granted in the first place. Only in their sick minds. They don't really know what I was thinking. They are just guessing and they are almost always mostly wrong. I am just saying I would rather be alone that be stuck with your obnoxious dykey-dog company only, basically.

More memories

Which reminds me that during my first year at SCC that Priscilla Galatar was the choir conductor and one evening she took us in the choir to a concert at a Seventh Day Adventist church there in Costa Mesa. It was a nice concert but in retrospect it would seem a bit odd that Mrs. Galatar would be so well connected to the Seventh Day Adventists, a denomination with whom we have disagreements on various doctrinal issues. The music was great but it was not like I would ever congregate there for church. I would prefer a more Spirit-filled type of worship rather than the dry bones legalism of Seventh Day Adventism, personally speaking. Just legalizing things does not bring about the Spirit-filled worship of which I speak. Lots of dry bones legalists do not like being told what not to do. It is a Spirit thing. But I did enjoy the concert very much, in particular the dramatic soprano's excellent rendition of "I Wonder as I Wander," which was remarked upon later by Mrs. Galatar or someone. I agree that the music was great.