kstaff

Comments by kstaff

Nothing Really Big Ever Happened Here

Thanks for reading; glad somebody does. I'm really more into modern history, more the sort to wander around the grounds of old Camp Lockett in Campo looking for C-ration cans while wondering what it must have been like on December 7, 1941. There was actually a day in history when the 11th Armored Cav spread out hastily from there, serving as the first line of defense against a land invasion, air raid, or other incursion by Imperial Japan through the Gulf of California at a moment of great uncertainty. The title refers more to my childhood perception that anything not involving cowboys and Indians, soldiers, and such really didn't count as "interesting" or worthy of historical note. Actually, that's sort of the way it is anyway; traditional history is in essence a recounting of one group's aggressions against another and/or the tendency of people to settle differences by force.
— May 7, 2013 10:18 p.m.

Nothing Really Big Ever Happened Here

Why is it so damned difficult to find my own blog on this site? No wonder nobody reads it!
— May 6, 2013 9:16 p.m.

San Diego State's growing contempt for undergrads

The article really says it all, which might be why so few comments. It partially explains the proliferation of superflous administrative positions with resulting periodic "budget crises," and--believe me--administrators will administer empty classrooms before they'll eliminate one of their own positions. The problem really is that every institution wants "status," and of course the money that comes with it. The original education plan for California, with its clear delineation between the roles of community colleges, the Cal State system, and the UC system, has been twisted beyond recognition.
— March 29, 2013 12:55 p.m.

Auld Acquaintance

I can't even find my own blog anymore, except for the fact that I know it's there and can do a search for it.
— December 4, 2012 6:46 p.m.

Vending Machines

Fantastic memory for detail you've got! I remember the peanut-shaped benches now that you mention them. Can't remember if the red and white striped bags of peanuts I'd feed to the monkeys and munch on myself came from a vending machine or over the counter. I got into trouble in elementary school once for claiming during a Career Week activity that my ambition in life was to own a bunch of vending machines, live off the change, and hang out at the beach every day. The old bottle dispensing machines at the Mission Bay Yacht Club were my inspiration for that.
— May 26, 2012 11:12 a.m.

Slow Your Roll: A Writer’s Cacophony

Have often wondered if the advent of word processing for the masses made for more good writers who otherwise would be too lazy to do it... or just for great forests of mediocre writing. Probably a lot of both. Nice to discover this one, though.
— May 21, 2012 11:28 a.m.

Beach Baby

Hmmph! This actually looks like a story now, instead of drunken ramblings.
— April 26, 2012 4:15 p.m.

Beach Baby

Good Lord! I have that image and quotation from Poop-Sky on a metal license plate hanging in my front window. Are you stal... Oh, never mind! ;?) My gal reads these things from time to time, so I thought of deleting this one altogether. Won't, though. It's really just an honest statement of how much I don't want to mess things up but am sometimes tempted to find a little something to hedge my bets and tide me over...
— April 18, 2012 11:46 p.m.

Davy Jones

Just discovered the "Reply" function. I enjoyed Peter Tork's article. To paraphrase one of Davy Jones' non-hits, though an enjoyable song just the same: Thank you, dude, for making a better world for us.
— March 16, 2012 10:22 a.m.

Davy Jones

There! Happy now, Mr. Fikes? Actually, the revised wording gives the sentence a better rhythm anyway. Thanks for the input.
— March 15, 2012 8:39 p.m.