Saturday, February 11, 2012

A Safari in Rural Santa Barbara County

I am so jazzed that I'll having a tough time sleeping tonight. My parents' Godson Timmy, who has a couple of days off from medical school, has agreed to me to go to the home of the professor who claims she owns a cougar and keeps it on her personal property. I've investigated and now know precisely where she lives. If she keeps her mountain lion in the house, we may never learn the truth, although Timmy says he's prepared to go to the door handing out campaign leaflets in order to get a good look inside.

Auntie Jillian is out of the hospital and is recuperating on a nearby island. She's a little miffed that we're not waiting until she is able to go along before we make the trip, but we can go again when she's up to it. As for me, I cannot wait any longer, and my parents both think I need R & R from schoolwork as well.

I'm just incredibly curious as to whether or not this professor has a cougar on her premises. The law apparently is that she must have a special permit in order to  own or house  such an animal legally. She appears to be quite libertarian in her approach to laws as well as life in general. I can't see her letting a little thing like the legal requirement of a permit stop her from owning a cougar if she really wanted one. Why she would want one is another question  --  one I'll probably never be able to answer other than that the woman is clearly sanity-challenged.

Regarding nuns, a little bit of knowledge being a dangerous thing, and other matters. my cousin on my mom's side was a passenger in a minor fender-bender involving another driver who was a nun when he was about three years old. My mom said he loved to tell the story, and it grew to more epic proportions almost every time her told it. By the end, according to my cousin's version, after the accident, the nun hopped out of her car and ran from the scene of the accident, only to be chased down and cuffed by  Officer Terry, a police officer known to the family. When asked why Officer Terry would cuff a nun and transport her to jail, my very creative-with-the-truth cousin  answered, "But he HAD to!" My mom said she asked why the officer HAD to cuff and transport  the nun to jail, my cousin's answer was,"Because nuns are drunk drivers."

Perhaps there was and is more truth to what my cousin said in his very young days than most people assume to be the case. Furthermore, perhaps nuns are not just drink drivers; they may be drunk teachers as well.

Mat, the editing process is much more tedious than it would seem that it should be.

Rebecca, Jillian is on the mend. She's back to tutoring. Uncle Scott thought it would be good for her to get away for the weekend but to do very little other than rest. He just thought the change of scenery would be good for her. As for me,  I still occasionally bark, but it's reached the point that my teachers and classmates no longer fear getting tuberculosis or something even worse from me.


8 comments:

  1. Editing. However, for a spot of something unfortunate, check this out. A new, major book on Charles Dickens, and there's a grammatical error in the title!!! http://thatsbooks.blogspot.com/2012/02/charles-dickenss-networks.html

    And as for the Cougar, maybe the professor shares the house with her slightly older sister who is "a cougar?" ;oD

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  2. Hahahaha!! Matt is funny.
    Sounds like quite the adventure! I hope you'll keep us updated about the outcome!

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  3. I'll give cougar details in a minute. Matt, you are too funny; however, I suspect the prof herself is the cougar as opposed to any older sister she mau or may not have. She just can't get enough of the boys in the class. i'm already half preparing my appeal just in case she tries to give me a B. Maybe if I am proactive by introducing her to my twin brother it will provided the needed insurance for my A.

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  4. Ouch! I have just realised that most cougars who like younger men are actually younger than me.

    Though I did once have a brief affair with a woman who was a cougar. But this was before the term cougar had been invented in that context.

    I was 28 and she was 60. She was/is one of the most beautiful women I have ever known. The was before I met Mrs Matt, of course. Who is nearly 10 years younger than me.

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  5. PS Sacrifice your brother to the noble cause of your higher education.

    It would be a learning experience for him.

    If the professor is older than your parents, the ironic juxtaposition of bride and groom's mother in the wedding pictures would be sweet. Or something.

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  6. Matthew needs a bit of worldly education IMO.

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  7. A professor who keeps a cougar at home? Yep. That'd do...

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