Lesson interrupted by cat in distress

Picking up the phone to make a call a few days ago, I discovered an extension somewhere in the house to be off the hook. A brief search unveiled the bathroom phone to have been knocked into the toilet by a cat. Possibly two cats working together. I fished it out, grateful that it hadn’t shorted out and that the toilet had been flushed. An hour later, in the middle of a dance lesson, a police car rolled up and two of Oakland’s finest marched up the stairs. There has been a lot of recent crime in my neighborhood and I was worried about my out of town neighbors whose cat I was tending. “We got a 911 hang up from this house,” explained one of the cops. “Are you sure?” I said, stupidly. “Was it my number?" He checked. Yes, that was the number. I asked when it had come in and he said an hour ago. (Aren’t you glad that if you manage to dial 911 before the bad guys disconnect you that you only have to wait an hour for the police to drop in?) “Well,” I said, giggling in spite of myself,“an hour ago my cat knocked the phone into the toilet, but I can’t imagine she dialed 911 before doing so.” It’s not as if I’d locked her in the bathroom after all. Right on cue, Fred sauntered into the room and looked inquiringly at the cop. He looked at Fred. “Is that the culprit?” he deadpanned. My students where in stitches and I couldn’t believe the police were buying this story. I wouldn’t have bought it. But lucky for me, it appears that there is an explanation, although I have to admit I didn’t understand it. There is a way that the circuits can get confused when a phone lands in a toilet and 911 can somehow get triggered. “It happens,” said the cop.

Caviar, with or without Mom

Last week I went to the wedding of a former student who met his bride on the dance floor. A success story! It was a traditional Chinese wedding, with a ten course meal. One course sticks in my mind because I’d never seen it before, and it was notably disturbing to the Caucasian people at our table. The biggest prawns I’d ever seen, each one wrapped around an enclosed egg sac. The roe turned out not to be stuffing for the prawns, but rather we were being served pregnant prawns with the egg sacs still attached. Caviar plus Mom. I’m not a big fan of caviar, but I love the flying fish roe that comes with Sushi, and this was a lot like that. Not salty but satisfyingly crunchy. I was not totally immune to the somewhat creepy aspect that caused my table mates to forgo the course, but I am a big fan of shrimp so I got over it. Nevertheless, I was fascinated by the question of why we’re comfortable eating prawns, and may consider caviar a great delicacy, but only if they’re separated first. I felt a little guilty enjoying my pregnant prawn, as if it was a tad cannibalistic of me.

What does it take to teach at Laney?
A couple of years ago I was offered a job in the dance department at City College, but my teaching degree is limited service, Peralta College system only. So the friend who offered me the job talked me up to the Laney dance department which is close to my home and therefore a good place to work. I was offered a class, possibly two, to teach, but before the start of the term, the head of the dance department was replaced by someone who wanted all Laney teachers to have master’s degrees. I was fired before I even got started. A couple of weeks ago I got a call from Laney offering me a class again. New head of dance department, very nice guy, thought I’d be great for the job but maybe I don’t have the legal qualifications. He has to check. Probably I won’t get it because the guidelines are very clear for dance teachers: a teaching credential in dance or a college degree in dance. My degree is in fine arts and my credential is in Physical Education and special Ed, and therein lays a tale. Back in 1979 I was teaching self defense classes for people with physical disabilities and Vista College offered me a job. They really wanted a self defense class in their disabled student department and I was the only teacher in the field. I didn’t have the qualifications, so they pulled some strings and presented me with something called a limited service lifetime credential. Good for life, but only in the Peralta system. Everyone tells me how lucky I am to have it since lifetime credentials are no longer available. And I would be lucky to have it if I could use it for anything.