Golden hour with Limber Lou in Modjeska Cyn.

I told Lou about "Golden Hour." We looked at the trees, the hills, the sky.

Lou was the only kid at the little party. He had made name tags for everyone. He was pretty serious about those name tags.

Lou showed me his bike-riding technique on the roof. It was good. He was goin' counter-clockwise. "Go clockwise," I said. I explained that.

After a while, he said, "I know how to ride a bike."

"Yeah? But not clockwise. Not on this roof."

Limber Lou's a good kid. I like his hair.

I heard his dad call him "monkey." I smiled. I just call him "Bud."

I keep waiting for him to say, "My name's not Bud." But he never seems to get there. Why?

It's like we have a special bond or something.

And now he knows about Golden Hour.

One of my favorite Mathur episodes

.
YEARS AGO, after Dan Larios was selected as IVC president—but before he arrived on campus—the cunning Mr. Goo [aka Raghu P. Mathur, currently Chancellor of the SOCCCD], sensing an opportunity, busily constructed a document that listed IVC personnel and that drew yellow lines over the names of those employees whom Goo judged to be troublesome or unsavory. Essentially, it was a Mr. Goo “enemies list.”

When Larios arrived, at some point, the ignoble Goo presented himself to the new president and handed the document over to him, hoping the unsolicited “gift” would create a useful debt of gratitude. Some say that, at that moment, Mr. Goo genuflected and then tearfully implored, “In view of my extraordinary helpfulness, perhaps you would consider helping me to further my non-presidential administrative ambitions!” (Could be somebody just made that part up.)

Unfortunately for the Gooster, Larios was not a slimy and duplicitous rat-bastard, and so Goo’s gambit was about as useful as that damn seed that Onan spilled upon the ground. (I’ve been studying my Bible lately.)

I’m told that Larios still possesses the document (and, possibly, others possess copies). His peculiar and unfortunate sense of professionalism precludes surrendering it to those who share his low esteem of the Gooster and who might make good use of so perfect an artifact of rank Mathurian duplicity and weaselhood.

–From The ‘Vine, 7/28/98