Friends For Fullerton's Future
FFFF supports causes that promote intelligent, responsible and accountable government in Fullerton and Orange County
Former Fullerton tourists and bon vivants Jean Claude DuMonde and Charles Louis Verlaine getting excellent wifi connection, and enjoying illuminating and witty FFFF blog posts along the seedy cobblestone streets of Marseilles, prior to embarking for North Africa to participate in the Paris-Dakar rally.
Former Troy High foreign exchange student and Friend of Fullerton B’rni (Barney) Wewak, current headman of a Papuan highlands tribe, recently sent us an e-mail. It seems that Barney not only follows the doings in our humble little burg, but he also keeps abreast of California politics. We reproduce his e-mail wherein he shares his thoughts on Proposition 1F. We have translated his e-mail from the original Papuan Sepik dialect so that you Fellow Friends may enjoy it, too.
Greetings Brothers and Sisters of Fullerton! May your deities grant you a bountiful red fruit crop and may the tree bark grubs fall easily onto your banana leaf!
I have been keeping myself informed about the perilous economic time of troubles in your beautiful land of California where the warm sun shines beneficently on the succulent bosoms of your generous women. I believe that the strange-speaking, abnormally shaped Headman of your noble country is attempting to lay a heavy burden on you in the form of Propositions 1A-1F. There is no need for me, once merely a humble visitor to your abundant land to tell you that 1A-1E are nothing but lies and deceit – the malicious whisperings of an evil spirit. But I must also tell you that 1F is full of danger for you, as well.
If I may be so bold, let me share with you a story about my tribe that I think will help you understand your danger.
Some time past our tribe began to experience a shortage of bright feathers. Our tribal council of elders began to borrow feathers from neighboring tribes, promising a percentage of our annual taro crop and sea shell reserve. We soon became heavily indebted to the neighboring tribes who began to lord their superiority over us. And then it became known that much of the bright feather shortage came from the elders themselves who had begun to create ever more elaborate headdresses!
Finally, the tribe had endured enough and decided that unless the elders produced a balanced feather plan they would be forced to yield up their annual Yam Stipend. The elders met and deliberated for many, many months. And it came to pass that in order to maintain their splendid plummage and keep their yam allotment, the elders raised each tribesman’s feather quota!
And so my Friends in Fullerton and California I earnestly admonish you to avoid the costly error of my people and do not fall into the tapir-trap that has ensnared my tribe.
In valediction I say to you – my fellow Friends of Fullerton : may the gods remain favorable to you and grant you gentle rain in the summer and confusion to your enemies.
B’rni (Barney) Wewak, D.Lit, Cantab.
Author Gustavo Arellano, will be speaking at Fullerton’s Main Public Library on Monday, May 4, at 7:00 p.m. Gustavo is the author of “Ask a Mexican” and “Orange County: A Personal History“.
FJC’s 2009-2010 curriculum will include Gustavo’s Personal History book for its One School, One Book program. Participating Hornet students and faculty will read and discuss the meaning of the book.
The Fullerton Main Library is located at 353 W. Commonwealth Ave. For more information, call the library at 714-738-6334.
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The other day, while driving along Chapman, I was struck by the scrawny Bottle brush trees pruned to the point of embarrassment and disgrace. I’ve seen some of the worst examples of improper pruning of both trees and shrubs in Fullerton –both along boulevards and at private homes. Who are these morons with saws? I thought I’d share some of what I look forward to seeing when I go back.
Savannah is a cosmopolitan city with a mix of old and new. It’s an old city, one where history matters and has played a role in the shaping of it. One of the things that grabs the first time visitor are the trees. There are giant oaks draped with Spanish moss. The delicate but strong strands of moss takes over every thing from trees to camellias and azaleas. But the greenery seems to hold the entire city together giving it a level of comfort and sophistication.
There is a stately grandeur about these trees. Nowhere is this seen better than the oak alley planted along the road to Wormsloe Plantation. Wormsloe was built in 1740 by one of the original settlers, Noble Jones. What’s left of Savannah’s first fort are the “Tabby” ruins, a mixture of lime, sand, and oyster shell halves thrown in for good measure. While the ruins are interesting, it’s the alley that everyone remembers and associates with plantation landscapes.
One of my favorite finds was the discovery of two secret gardens. Secret meaning they’re private and I peeked through a fence. The two gardens shown here belong to townhouses along busy streets. They provide the owners respite in an area where funeral hearses are resurrected as tour buses, and the usual mix of tourists and business crowd the area.
Anyway, the grace of the trees and the way the moss takes over everything is part of what makes the city so beautiful. Further out, along the river, there is much scenery to take in as well. I find the natural landscape evocative of where I grew up. The bulrushes are beautiful as well. Here’s the dock over by a house we looked at to buy. This is the stuff of dreams as well.
Fullerton Friend Jerome (Jerry) Mahoney, 21, formerly of Domingo Road, St. Juliana’s and Servite High School, relaxes with the latest FFFF blog post while attending St. Simplicius Seminary in Youngstown, Ohio where his thesis involves translating the Apocrypha from the Vulgate into Esperanto.
FJC Maintenance Department employee Dusty Bickle enjoys an amusing FFFF blog post as he takes a break from visiting the old homestead in Greenbrier County, West Virgina, where the family has a long and respected tradition of distillery and exersize of 2nd Amendment rights.
Four-and-a-half year old Yoshii Kawamura of Minamiechizen Village, Nanjo District, Fukui Prefecture, and penpal of Golden Hills Elementary’s March Citizen of the Month, Trevor McGrath, takes a break from precalculus class at the Nanjo Normal School to enjoy a riveting FFFF blog post by the Fullerton Shadow.
Former Miss Fullerton and current hand model Brittney Anderson shows a lot of moxie commenting on an FFFF post while relaxing on an Aussie beach near Brisbane, not long after losing the lower half of her body in a great white shark attack.
Friend of Fullerton D’annika Washington, a sophmore Art major from CSUF currently studying male nudes abroad, enjoys an engaging FFFF blog post while waiting for an absinthe at a hip cybercafe located in a trendy reconverted warehouse in Montparnasse, Paris.