Ladybug Tuesday

Because of Norma's photo today on our afternoon amble,

I thought it apposite to visit  April 17th, 2012 . On that day, the subject wandered to the disciplines of higher education and my experiences with them. I ought to give it more generous and current thought but it goes deep into 1970 and my memory is not what it used to be --whatever that was. It concerns my time at Chico State College. You can see a picture of that august institution below. I can't recall who doodled over the sign.
 
Word List #14: How Spring Break 1970 Never Ended

Knowledge:

There are many definitions of knowledge. We may begin with Aristotle, who divided knowledge into three parts: theoretical, what wants knowing; practical or praxis, which ought be known; poetikos, what we think we know before it gets shoved way back in the fridge and turns into something else. One may augment this catalogue by consulting other philosophers, Descartes, Hume, Kant, Locke, Mill, all of whom explored particulars --method, substance, sensation, synthesis, transcendentalism, intuition, induction and deduction-- but I never went beyond Mill for a simple reason. When I was in grade school, people knew only half what is known now so encyclopedias just went up to M. Our school did get an advance Britannica that went clear to end of the alphabet. We were excited and suspicious. Some of us snuck into the library and peeked. Volumes N through Z were just blank pages.

Coccinellidae:

When it came time to go to college, we students were asked to write our choices on a special form with a special IBM pencil and turn it in to the office. I wrote "Chico State" on mine and it was fed into the school computer, a recently upgraded Babbage Engine designed for weaving 19th century textiles but could sometimes calculate polynomials during lightning storms. It enrolled me into "Coccinellidae" which I, being young and adaptive, figured was close enough.

When I got to college it was immediately obvious some mistake had been made. The desks were tiny. I didn't fit. And all the courses were on the same subject, aphid-eating. When I asked what majors were offered, the registrar answered, "Aphid-eating, of course! For lady-bugs there are no other professions." I was referred to a counselor who didn't ever seem to be in.

I am still haunted by the idea that I may have stepped on him during my first frantic visit.

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I include an abbreviation of the feedback because it pleases me to see all these names again. Carrie Martin  went on to write and illustrate books. DB, Dana Bate, passed away and I miss him. Susan Flett Swiderski remains in my online company and her excellent book "Hot Flashes And Cold Lemonade" is on my shelf between Sedaris and Thurber.

5 comments:

1. 
   CarrieBooApril 18, 2012 at 7:10 AM

   I was a ladybug for Halloween a few (oh wait, make that nearly 10-ish) years ago. I would have fit right in! Your poor little counselor.
2. 
   Geo.April 18, 2012 at 9:08 AM

   Thanks CarrieBoo. I think a lot of surrealism is experience streamlined into something more manageable.

   ReplyDelete
3. 
   Susan Flett SwiderskiApril 19, 2012 at 11:30 AM

   Okay, now, if you're thinking about writing a novel in which the main character wakes up, only to find he has changed into a ladybug, alas, I must tell you, that theme's already been used ...
4. 
   DBApril 19, 2012 at 11:47 AM

   At the end of the Ms there is mysticism. After that, what's to know?
5. 
   Geo.April 19, 2012 at 1:13 PM

   Thank you Susan and DB. Yes, I really did withdraw from Chico State in my Junior year, but there was no Kafka Hall. Mysticism does indeed complete the Ms but "Metamorphosis" appears slightly ahead of it and, as we know, never really ends.

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