Ship Ahoy!

The Black Pearl, now parked in front of A-100 with a  valid staff parking pass.

Denizens of IVC, especially those who attempt to locate parking in the staff lot directly in front of A-100, will have noticed recently that one of the vehicles finding refuge in the ever-shrinking lot is a hearty mini-van version of the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow's fine craft (though Rebel Girl's son will explain that the Black Pearl was originally owned by Davy Jones, lead singer of the Monkees, and then Jack Sparrow, only to be stolen by Barbossa who teaches in the Physical Sciences).  Rebel Girl has often wondered which faculty member or staff would drive a pirate ship but has been too busy to inquire.

But Rebel Girl digresses.

The Black Pearl now resides quite regularly in the staff lot.  Go see for yourself.

One fine lad did today and this was his report:

He too was looking for safe port in the heat wave. Plus he had a class to teach. The Black Pearl got to a vacant site first and dropped anchor. Too bad for our lad. He noticed, as so many of us have in recent days, that the wenches who disembarked didn't fit the usual description of staff and or faculty. They seemed, uh, younger, more frisky.

He called out, all friendly like. "Do you work here?" he asked. He has a friendly face, one of the the friendliest. So they answered.

"No," came the reply.

"You can't park here then," he said.

"Yes we can," came the reply. "We have a permit."

"But the lot is just for faculty and staff."

"My dad works here. He's a professor."

"Doesn't matter."

"He said we could."

"Who's your dad?"

And here it comes, faithful readers:

"Howard Gensler."

Blimey.

You can't make this stuff up.

Not Johnny Depp.

Johnny Depp.

SEE ALSO: They simply do not like him

Coastline Community College to unveil new campus (OC Reg)

     When the doors to Coastline Community College's sleek new Newport Beach campus open for the ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, one of the things a visitor might notice is that the concrete walls lean.
     Inspired by the mast of a sailboat, they tilt at a seven-degree angle, to be exact....

Mere "foul language"? Orange County Is Bein' Ridiculous Again

"No cussing"

     I just read an article in the Reg that reports that a student at a local high school is accusing his coach of outrageous behavior.
     That doesn’t surprise me. What surprises me is that the reporter—and some of the people he interviewed—describe the coach’s alleged behavior as using “vulgar language.”
     That's quite an understatement. As someone (maybe me) noted in a comment,

   If the coach were to use the usual expletives in, say, describing his visit to a proctologist, then, I suppose, that would be a case of using vulgar language. But this coach displayed homophobia and racism in particularly raw forms—even toward individual students. Further, his treatment of the student in question is verbally violent and disturbingly aggressive. It is bullying behavior.

     Well, judge for yourself (and don't forget to check out the Reg's notorious reader comments!):

Teen's complaint shines light on coach's vulgarity, sports culture
Fullerton baseball player Grant Sims, 16, comes forward to discuss a taboo topic – foul language in coaching.

     I recommend a visit to Merriam-Webster Online. These dictionary people offer cool games (love the vocab quiz) and a series of entertainingly opinionated videos concerning word histories and word usage.
     Sexy, man. Really.

Check out the debate over Why American Students Can’t Write in The Atlantic

Mom, c 1953

CSU system may slash enrollment by 20,000 if tax measure fails (OC Reg)

     The California State University system will cut student enrollment by 20,000 if Proposition 30 fails, officials said Thursday.
     The 23-campus system is telling perspective students they can begin applying Monday for fall 2013, but campuses will hold applications until after voters decide on the proposed tax initiative.
     The cut would amount to about a 5 percent drop in enrollment for the 400,000-student system. Cal State Fullerton, with enrollment of about 37,600, could lose 1,500 to 2,000 students, according to estimates….

Rebel Girl's Poetry Corner: "Beneath us the teachers, and around us the stillness"

Gratitude to Old Teachers

—Robert Bly

When we stride or stroll across the frozen lake,
We place our feet where they have never been.
We walk upon the unwalked. But we are uneasy.
Who is down there but our old teachers?

Water that once could take no human weight
We were students then—holds up our feet,
And goes on ahead of us for a mile.
Beneath us the teachers, and around us the stillness.

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(photo: Professor Richard Lee, in the Cal Sate Long Beach parking lot.  Professor Lee was one of Rebel Girl's patient and persistent professors in the early 1980s.  Sometimes she thinks of him when she is in the classroom, how he smiled at her and made her feel welcome at the university, a place that did not always welcome her.)

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