California State University, Northridge

"Mama, are we near Disneyland yet?"

"Remember, Trevor, that I told you Disneyland would have to wait till another time?"

"They have a pirate cave ride where things explode!  It's real fire and everything."
"Wild World has rides too.  Lots of them."

"But they don't have pirates, do they?"

Trevor asked this in the dejected tone of a boy who already knew the answer.

"No, I don't think they have pirates, but they do have roller coasters."

Trevor's mother plucked the Dr Pepper out of the flimsy cupholder and finished it off.

She was treating Trevor to a day out that a boy would enjoy.  Paying for eight hours of babysitting was an unpleasant idea.  She couldn't afford both the Disney admission and the round trip drive to Anaheim, which would be almost $10 in gas, more if they had to sit in traffic.  She also couldn't afford to take unpaid time off of work, but Christmas came and went with only promises.  Trevor didn't complain, but she could tell he was a little down for it.

Trevor's mother pointed to the empty aluminum can.

"Trevor, there's a roller coaster on the can here.  Can you read what it says?"

Trevor picked it up and studied it.

"$5 off."

"That's good!  But I meant the name of the roller coaster, the big fancy words there."

He squinted at it.

"I don't know what it says."

"Well, sound it out.  One letter at a time."

"M...mmmmm...mah...tah...door.  Mah-tah-dor?"

"Matador!  Good!  Perfect!"

"What is...matador?"

"That's the name of the ride.  I bet it will be exciting!"

"Matador.  Mad at door.  I am mad at the door.  That's a funny word."

Their two-door Honda puttered past Trevor's primary school.

"Mama, why is there no school today?"

"Today is Martin Luther King Day, Trevor!  Didn't they tell you that in school?"

"I don't know."

"Today is a national holiday in honor of a man named Martin Luther King.  He fought for people like you and me to have rights like everyone else."

Trevor took this in.  Why was a king fighting?  Doesn't being king mean everybody does what you say?

"Who did he fight?  Pirates?"

Trevor's mother laughed before she could stop herself.  "Oh, no!  He did not fight with violence, he used his words to lead the people.  This was happening when your mama was a little girl."

Mama is really old!

"Tonight when we get back home we will watch a program about him on TV.  They have a big concert in Washington, D.C., which is the capital city of America."

Trevor looked uninterested.  Kings were kind of cool, but they had to stay in the castle.  Pirates had the whole ocean.

Radio ads for an MLK weekend blowout on all Sealy, Serta, and Simmons repeated on every break.

They pulled into the Wild World parking lot.  A bright red roller coaster snaked overhead.  When they got out of the car, Trevor's mother reminded him, "Now remember Trevor, if anyone asks, you are five years old."

"I don't want to be younger.  I want to be older.  Why do I have to say I'm five when I'm not?"

"We can get the same ticket for a little less money if you are younger.  And that means we can go on more rides!"

Trevor knew they weren't rich.  The same backpack since kindergarten with the left strap ripped off, the packed lunches that sometimes left him hungry, no presents this Christmas.  He saw his mother come home from work really tired, so he would help her where he could - making dinner, emptying the garbage, keeping his room clean sometimes.  But he didn't want to lie, even if meant going on more rides.

"You can say it.  I don't want to say it."

"Trevor..."

This was her 'you need to do what I'm saying' tone.

Trevor screamed.  "No!  I don't care about these stupid rides!  I don't want to go!"  He turned around to go back to the car.
"Trevor, get back here!"

She turned and grabbed his arm.

Trevor unhinged his jaw with a piercing screech.  Other guests in the parking lot turned to look.  Tears streaked down his cheeks as he struggled against her.

"Trevor!  Trevor, Trevor, calm down.  Calm down now, please.  Calm down!"

"No, get off me!  Let me go!"

She picked him up and heaved him over her shoulder, rocking him.  He began to quiet down.

"Shhh, shhh.  It's okay.  You don't have to say you're five if you don't want to."

"I'm not supposed to lie.  You're not supposed to lie.  It's not good."

"I know it's not good and Mama was wrong to ask you to do that.  I'm sorry, okay?  Okay?"

She put Trevor down.  He wiped his nose on his arm.  "Okay."

She unlocked the car and pulled a napkin from the side door.  She cleaned his face off.

"We will go to Disneyland and ride the pirate rides some time.  It's just a lot of money.  Now do you want to have fun today?"

"Yes."

At the ticket booth, Trevor's mother handed the Dr Pepper cans and cash over to the attendant.

"One adult, and one six year old."

Trevor was hopping up to see through the ticket window.

He said, "I'm the six year old."

The attendant smiled and slid the tickets under the window.

Trevor stopped jumping.

"Mama, the ground just moved!"

"I know!  The Matador is a real big roller coaster, isn't it?"

"The roller coaster did that?  Okay.  Can we go ride it now?"

"We can ride it as many times as you want, baby."

A fine photo of a cell phone photo of CSUN's campus orange trees.

Pepperdine University

Wow! This post marks the one year anniversary of the College Cup Project online! At first, one post per week seemed to give me plenty of time to stay ahead of the curve. But around #40 I realized I had better pick up the pace or I'll run out before I've barely gotten started. Fortunately two huge road trips in the summer of 2009 replenished the supply.
21 May 2008. Entry #53 brings us Pepperdine, a school well-known for its architectural and natural beauty, overlooking the shores of Malibu. The hills will give any visitor a workout, even the God of the Sea.

Neptune sat in his recliner, eating Pringles.
Either his appetite was growing or the chips were shrinking because he polished them off. He tossed the can towards the kitchen. It bounced on the linoleum and rolled under the microwave stand. He sighed. Immortality has its drawbacks.
It was 70 years ago that Neptune was the first great two-sport athlete in Pepperdine University history. He exploded off starting blocks in the fall and lit up the basepaths in the spring.
After centuries of controlling the waves and ruling Atlantis, thinking he had it all, he happened upon Malibu. He discovered competitive swimming and baseball, and fell in love. Neptune was not as omnipotent at swimming as one would think. He actually was quite sedentary, often riding in his dolphin-drawn chariot. At first he had a god complex, but quickly was put in his place by several seniors on the squad. His swimming prowess started to grow, along with his baseball abilities. For his junior and senior years he was assigned to the A team in the pool and team captain in the dugout. His contributions helped put both programs on the map nationally. The school honored him by using his likeness as the team logo.

He graduated a legend.

Over time though, his many records were broken and his name moved further down the list. Men's swimming funding shrank and the program finally was axed. The final blow came when the Neptune logo was retired in favor of a gaudy orange and blue typeface.
Neptune was watching a commemorative retrospective on Pepperdine athletics. He looked at his trident in the corner and noticed a few cobwebs. He reminisced about his time in Atlantis and at Pepperdine. And he wondered: would he ever have another moment in the sun, or in his case, the sea?
He tried to fathom it.
But he couldn't.

Humboldt State University

7 Mar 2008. When in Arcata, do as the granola-eating, hemp-growing, earth-massaging Lumberjack fans do, and get a California Springs reusable water bottle.
The Humboldt Bodtle and the Towson Tumbler get daily usage, while the rest of the cup collection holds my dust collection.

Alexander von Humboldt: Mr. Darwin, the days grow weary.
Charles Darwin: I, too, feel the nostalgia of adventures past filling my head, Herr Von Humboldt.
AVH: Ho! Those salad days do not have to end quite yet!
CD: What say you?
AVH: I challenge you to a race around the Cape!
CD: But my cape is still at the tailors, kind sir!
AVH: Nay! The Cape Horn!
CD: Ah! My loins fill with great anticipation! The parameters, praytell!
AVH: We aim for the great northern California bay, coordinates 40'45' N, 124'12' W.
CD: Gadzooks! The journey itself will be a reward.
AVH: Patience, knave. The government of Spain has chartered a school of higher learning in the baytown. The winner shall be written into the charter and will be the namesake to that institution!
CD: Mystical carp gullets! Pardon my language, but a Darwin University in the new world! Dare I dream so?
AVH: An equal chance to dream for Humboldt University, have I.
CD: Then preparations must begin.
AVH: To be fair, as I knew of the Spanish charter five days beforehand, I will give you a sporting chance on this competition. When your vessel clears the horizon, it will be, let us agree, a full seven days to the minute until my departure.
CD: Indeed a charitable gesture, kind sir. Are we allowed to bypass the Cape completely?
AVH: What intriguing ideas are there swimming in your brain pool?
CD: A camel convoy crossing of the Central American continent. A short-cut if you will.
AVH: Sweet degrees of bonhomie and chagrin! I failed to allow for the Dar-win-at-all-costs ingenuity! All routes are fair game. Feel free to discover the Northwest Passage in your spare time, you swashbuckler!
CD: You flatter me, Alexander. I wish you luck.
AVH: May the best man win, Charles.

Alexander kept his promise to depart one week later than Charles. Charles did indeed complete a dromedary portage over the Nicaraguan isthmus. Thus he arrived in the bay one month before Alexander. He was surprised to see it marked on local maps as Humboldt Bay. But he was pleased to see the construction on the university already beginning. Inquiry into the Spanish charter revealed the school already had a name: The Humboldt Institute of California. The Spanish governor was adamant about the name, and was not entertaining any ideas about name changes. The story of cross country camels did little to change el jefe's mind. Charles had many questions upon Alexander's arrival.

CD: Alexander, you must speak to the governor! He claims to have heard nothing about our contest. And the school and bay are already named Humboldt!
AVH: Already named Humboldt? What a strange coincidence! None of my relatives have ever been here, and I certainly never have.
A local man in a woven poncho walks by with two small boys in tow.
AVH: Greetings Enrique! The twins are growing strong I see! Well, Charles, I guess we have to call this contest a draw. Better luck next time, eh? I have a ride to catch.

Alexander leaped onto a locomotive pulling out of the depot. The local children chased the steam engine while he doffed his sailor's hat and waved to the village. The freight cars had the words Humboldt Railways painted on the sides in green and gold lettering.

CD: I've been had! B...b...by that cad! ...Alexander von Humboldt, you've had a nice laugh, but I will claim the last one!

The last painting that Alexander and Charles would pose for as friends.

San Diego State University

10 Dec 2005. This stadium cup, whose holographic images are irrepresentable here, was picked up in the Cox Arena during a men's basketball game between SDSU Aztecs (great nickname by the way) and Washington State. I did not stay to see the conclusion as it quickly dawned on me how uninteresting a game can be if I am not playing in it, have no rooting interest, or have no money riding on it. SDSU is far away from downtown San Diego, where there is plenty of affordable land. Problem is, it's riddled with California hills. There are pedestrian bridges everywhere and miles of stairways. But it is the cardiovascular environment and the lovely weather that keeps the coeds tanned and delicious.

University of San Diego

10 Dec 2005. The USD Toreros have a great athletic logo. In fact it is my favorite of all time. I entered the bookstore with sky high expectations. Poor decision. There were no cups, pens, blankets, notepads, hats, lip balm, belt buckles, commemorative ketchup bottles, or shoehorns with the multi-blued spectral bullfighter. The cups were all quite bland and believe it or not this big tumbler was one of the more exciting of the bunch. The campus though is unlike any other I had visited so far. With the history of the early Catholic missionaries, the academic buildings reflect this style and transports you back to old world Spain.

University of California, San Diego

9 Dec 2005. UCSD's campus in La Jolla, a northern swanky suburb of San Diego, is one of the most beautiful campuses I have seen. This is without having seen the crazy Dr. Seuss library, pictured below, which makes up the school's logo and is rumored to house studious pod people. Oddly enough I have seen another online list that has UCSD in its bottom 10! What a completely incorrect and subjective list that was. The Tritons play in Division II, so although their bookstore was fairly large at two stories, the range of athletic logo apparel was not as impressive. That is where this simple translucent tumbler comes from. Nothing had an imposing sketch of Neptune ready to impale his foes, which would have vaulted the cup design to the top of the heap. But not to worry, a more flagrant disappointment is next....

University of California, Los Angeles

9 Dec 2005. This visit to pick up an insulated travel mug was preceded by another visit the same day as USC. But in early 2004 I chose an XXL UCLA women's water polo national champions tee shirt instead of something I could drink out of. The shirt had long since been donated to Goodwill once the novelty wore off (and what will become of these dozens of cups and glasses once their novelty wears off?). UCLA differs from its cross town rival in that USC is located in a shady part of town surrounded by Burger Kings and hot cracked asphalt. In contrast, UCLA is cradled by friendly retailers such as Potbelly Sandwich Works, Jamba Juice, and Quiksilver. Long live the University of California for Loaded Asians!

California State University, Long Beach

2 April 2005. Southern California entices you to live there with its sunny moderate climate. Southern California dares you to live there with earthquakes, wildfires, high cost of living, horrendous motorcar traffic and the accompanying smog. This day happened to be disaster-free, and after utilizing the thinly-stretched public bus system, I arrived at Long Beach State, or simply, "The Beach" as their marketing literature calls it. School was in session and it was a brilliant day that the student body had anticipated for a while. The sky was cloudless and Earl Warren Drive was free of detritus save for fallen palm fronds. The atomic fountains misted passersby and the big blue Walter Pyramid distracted pilots approaching Daugherty Field. Yes, this was a day that orientation brochure photographers dream of. They even had an outdoor swimming pool at their student center, but it seemed like a necessary luxury in this environment. And outdoor escalators too! Who has outdoor escalators?
The two story built-in bookstore had a wide selection of - oh, what's this? A big tumbler in an uncollected color? I simply must have it!

Brother Mathias.

University of Southern California

January 2004. It was a drizzly weekday afternoon in the canyonlands of Los Angeles, California. The nation had been stricken with a fever, a fever for once and future man-child quarterback Matt Leinart. The USC Bookstore was flooded with Rose Bowl merchandise and customers, despite classes being suspended for winter break. Half-heartedly browsing for a keepsake for some reason, nothing struck my fancy. I eventually settled on a gigantic plastic tumbler for its practical use. Thankfully the date of the Rose Bowl was etched on the side, letting my future self know the exact date (or at least the exact year) when this escapade known as the College Cup Project came to be.