The Flying IUD and The Standing Diaphragm

This was supposed to be a very simple post, but it got out of hand. I did a complete rewrite after I realized it was going to end up several screens long (even with the smallest font!) and would have amounted to just rambling. So, this is actually the first in a series with "Uncle Charlie's Summer Camp" somewhere in the body. I have a backlog of "posts" to work on, so this series will likely not appear in linear order ... welcome to the ADD-afficted mind-in-action.

UCSC's Flying IUD
This is "The Flying IUD" at my alma mater. Though not pictured here, it's match -- "The Standing Diaphragm" -- was also a campus treasure. Meeting a date by either famed sculptures sent a clear signal: Your dorm or mine?
I went to a liberal arts university, liberal even by California standards! I am an alumnus of the University of California at Santa Cruz ("UCSC") -- greetings to fellow alumni, current students and university staff! The university goes by many monikers, including: "City on a Hill" and "Uncle Charlie's Summer Camp". This won't be a brochure to recruit prospectus students, the university's website is adequate.

The 2,000-plus acre campus is atop a granite rock with a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean, and surrounded by ancient groves of redwoods; historical policies stipulate that less than 500 acres would be used to build the campus. The university has been growing steadily since opening in 1965 (still within 500 acres). The weather is mild year-round, with the exception of a freak snowstorm welcoming my first winter in Northern California.

On a typical day, I could see across to the Monterey coastline and the then US Army-operated Fort Ord military-base-turned DLIFLC (Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center). The campus was, in part, modeled after Oxford and Cambridge in that the school was divided up into residential campuses, each with an architecture of its own and an academic specialty. Years later, I would discover that bloggers amerazn and stargazer might have been at the DLIFLC while I was learning to surf in Santa Cruz.

A snapsot of my memories and experience attending UCSC, details in future posts:
If you're a student now (the University of Life counts), then I dedicate these series of posts to you ... kallun, diadima, akh ... don't let the education system fail you!

tags: .........
another point of view ...

Anonymous Anonymous


I'm going to round up the troope and go cow-tipping tonight! Your blog is full of mischief. - Kara
 

Blogger Barbara aka Yooni


Nam, for some reason I thought you went to UC Berkley...I even told Stargazer that...boy was I wrong. Too bad we didn't meet sooner...we could have met up for some coffee in monterey or something....Don't you think so Kaz?
 

Anonymous Anonymous


"The Flying IUD" -- is that the real title, or did you make it up?
 

Blogger Nam LaMore


kara: have fun, but be careful in the dark, cuz gopher holes can be a problem -- not sure when i'll actually post the entry on cow-tipping, but maybe you can come back to tell me your experience with it!

amerazn: you got it partially right. i actually considered going to berkeley or stanford, but the scholarships wasn't on par with what ucsc offered. and, when i heard about the relaxed atmosphere, and how the natural surrounding was important to student life at ucsc .. well, it was an easy choice. more about this when i ramble about 'elfland' or the 3/2 program.

anonymous: i think the actual name of the sculpture is 'the porter wave' (it was located near porter college, more in the future posts of this series) - but but don't you think 'the flying iud' is more appropriate?
 

Blogger Julie


sounds beautiful...can't wait to hear about cow tipping. Do they really get up and chase you??
 

Anonymous Anonymous


I went to Santa Monica Community College when I was 18. Basically a wasted time there since I didn't study any of the classes I would need to become an artist and the pinacle was me coming out of the closet. So clubbing and sex replaced academia. Is there a schoold for being a fag? That would have been the perfect environ for me to kill two birds with one stone.
k
 

Blogger Nam LaMore


jadedmaniac: i had such a fun time at that college, why i rushed to graduate is beyond me. i finished in the usual four years; however, when i was there, the average student from previous years would take seven or more years to graduate.

i guess i was eager to pay back my student loans and get other debts :-)
 

Blogger Nam LaMore


knottyboy: well, more about college life and experimentation in future posts.

as for fag cirriculum, who would you want on staff? and what would their syllabus be?

i'm thinking the teaching staff could include:
* madonna: going from slut to nun
* cher: looking fabulous at any age
* george michael: the injustice of the legal system
* kylie minogue: packing for the circuit parties
boy george: making the most of drama

guest lecturers could include:
gwen stefani: it's my life
backstreet boys: i want it that way
sandra bernhard: get the fcuk out of here if you have a problem

hmm .. possible blog entry? or a meme?
 

Anonymous Anonymous


Looking forward to "The Great Succession" - I was at UCSC in the late 80's, but stuck around Santa Cruz for a couple of years before heading off to NY. I wonder if you're referrign to (I won't pre-empt) your series.

Nice to come across another UCSC alumnus.

B.T.
Porter College
Class of '89
 

Anonymous Anonymous


Oh, yes I remember "The Flying IUD" - I was an OAKES student, and we would go up to Porter all the time to sit on the wing for sunset. But I think it's off-limit now, can't climb it anymore - I wouldn't be surprised if there was an electric fence around it now!

And you must be talking about Crown's "Standing Diaphragm" -- I only heard about it; never did like hanging out at Crown - too White there.

When did you graduate?

Peter
OAKES '92
 

Blogger diadima


oooooh, dedication posts. i love those! as a side note, i love how universities (including liberal arts ones) seem to thrive on enormous corporate-type iron art that always turns out with sexual connotations (or in your case, contraception). it's too funny.
 

Blogger Nam LaMore


anonymous/BT: thanks for not spoiling my surprise! Unless you lived in town after you graduated, then i doubt if we know each other; i was rarely at porter college. drop by again, and tell me what you're doing, where are you, etc. more importantly, how has the ucsc-experience guided your life's journey?

peter: wow, you were at oakes college. not sure how you enjoyed those dorms - i lived at oakes for a summer (more in future posts), and i just didn't care for the architecture. yeah, you can't climb 'the flying iud [the porter wave] now' - but it's not fenced, at least not the last time i was down there, just a few weeks ago.

yeah, that crown's 'standing diaphragm' was really a fountain - but it looked so clinical that we called it that! what is too 'white' at crown? the buildings or the student body?

i graduated in '92, crown college.
 

Blogger Nam LaMore


whisperingcampaign: thanks for dropping by! do come again! i'm not familiar with the dashboard, i'll have to look it up! i would love to retire in santa cruz, it's one of the most soul-enriching places i've ever been! only more so would be on top shangri-la! i chose my blog's title .. accidentally .. i typed 'laugh out loud' - but this resulted!

diadima: yeah, i've thought that too -- but you said it!

howbizarre: ah, perhaps i will be interviewing you to get your perspective of cow tipping! will all that travel for work, i hope you at least splurge on room service. i once turned in a $200 room service charge for a night's stay! i had a party in my room! just/kidding - i had to have room service for a late night work session for us working donkies (that's what one of my co-workers liked to call us).
 

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