Day 13: Tag

Here's a challenge from my friend Chrysanthemom--can I turn a "Tag" into a creative writing experiment??? hmmm?


1. DID YOU DATE SOMEONE FROM YOUR SCHOOL? No. Because I was fat in high school. But I did have my share of hopeless, unrequited crushes on tall, gangly boys with huge Adam's apples who knew every lyric to that "Mmm, mm, mm, mmmm" song. Be still my beating heart.
2.WHAT KIND OF CAR DID YOU DRIVE? Oh my. A gold Dodge Colt that I inherited from my older brother. The true beauty of this car coming out late in my senior year when you would turn it off, take out the key, and it would start again. On it's own. Like Herbie.
3. DID YOU PASS YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE TEST YOUR FIRST TRY? Yes. I should mention that I ran a stop sign, swerved into on-coming traffic, and failed both the u-turn and the parallel parking section. But, apparently, Mr. Gardner didn't have time to wait for perfection and passed me anyway, as well as my driving partner, who ran into a fence.
4. WERE YOU A PARTY ANIMAL? My parents never gave me a curfew. Why? Because they believed that if I was out until 4:00 in the morning, I was probably staring at the stars and pondering the eternities. Okay--and that was probably true. But there was the one time we went mooning instead.
5. WERE YOU CONSIDERED A FLIRT? No. Because I was fat. (See answer 1)
6. WERE YOU IN BAND, ORCHESTRA, OR CHOIR? Ah, the joy that is Acapella choir and Madrigals, led by Mr. Elmo Keck. (Not a pseudonym.) If not for choir, I'm fairly convinced that I would never have known the joy of having the lyrics to "Sweet Georgia Brown" in my head for days on end.
7. WERE YOU A NERD? Yes, but in a good way. We had a LOT of "in a good way" nerds at our school. The nerdiest kids got elected to Student Body and Class councils, and they were the coolest nerds I've ever laid eyes on.
8. WERE YOU ON ANY VARSITY TEAMs? Varsity teams? Does that include the varsity J-ello wrestling teams during lunch? The one man Oshi-Baba varsity squad? The varsity Harvest Ball Queen greased pig chase? Then, no.
9. DID YOU EVER GET SUSPENDED/EXPELLED? No, but I do remember that we got threatened with it in 9th grade when we all staged a sit-down protest in the hall because they were going to send us to Seven Peaks Water Park for our end-of-year field trip rather than Lagoon amusement park. No Vietnam protesters were ever more proud to exercise their right to free speech than we were over this worthy cause. I thought Mr. Robert's head was going to explode.
10. CAN YOU STILL SING THE FIGHT SONG? Ah, yes. All Hail Spanish High School, with the lyrics so cleverly changed to "To HELL Spanish High School." Sing with me.
11. WHO WERE YOUR FAVORITE TEACHERS? Mrs. Davis was my English teacher, and I was always completely inspired in her class. She had a little potpourri pot going and a papasan chair, so that we could be creative. My AP English teacher who, I'm convinced, was drunk a good portion of the time, but introduced me to JD Sallinger and the word juxtaposition and nuance. The above Mr. Elmo Keck and his choice "isms" which included "That's sick enough to puke a dog off a barf wagon." I don't have any idea what that means, but it generally got us to be quiet to ponder it.
12. WHERE DID YOU SIT FOR LUNCH? In the quad, on a bad day. In someone's car on the way to Hogi Yogi on a good day. Especially if that someone's car had bad brakes and you couldn't slow down.
13. WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL'S FULL NAME? Well. What was it's full name, or what was the name that our rivals called it? Those are two very different questions.
14. WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL'S MASCOT AND COLORS? Our mascot is a curious creature known as a "Don." When people would ask us what that was, I found it easiest to answer "A Mexican Cowboy." Some people have tried to convince me that this answer isn't accurate, but I've seen enough people at our high school to know that if it isn't the right answer, then it should be. Colors--red, silver, and black.
15. DID YOU GO TO HOMECOMING AND WITH WHO? Yes. My senior year, because I called a boy from out of town and begged him to take me. Bless him.
16. IF YOU COULD GO BACK AND DO IT AGAIN WOULD YOU? Heck *no. (Oh wait, did I say that out loud???... *revised for my mom. *grin*)
17. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT GRADUATION? I remember passing around grape soda and Swedish fish candies in the choir section, and laughing at all the wrong parts of our principal's speech because we couldn't hear him. Good times.
18. WHERE DID YOU GO SENIOR SKIP DAY? I believe there was illegally jumping off Salem bridge involved.
19. WERE YOU IN ANY CLUBS? Thoreau Society (so distinctive and high-schticking), German Club, various seminary clubs, choir... that's all I remember. Because I couldn't sew, so FHA was out. My GPA was a 3.74 so I didn't qualify for National Honor Society. And I wasn't desperate enough for drama club.
20. HAVE YOU GAINED SOME WEIGHT SINCE THEN? Um. No. Well--yes. So, I lost it, had a baby and gained some, lost some, had a baby and gained some, lost some, had a baby and gained some (see a pattern here???).... But at least I have the consolation prize of knowing that if I ever do show up to a high school reunion (doubtful) and I'm fat, people will just say "You haven't changed a bit!"
21. WHO WAS YOUR PROM DATE? That's between me and my therapist.
22. ARE YOU PLANNING ON GOING TO YOUR 10 YEAR REUNION? No offense, but $40 to go to a public park that I could go to for free???? Uhhhhhhhh....
23. DID YOU HAVE A JOB IN HIGH SCHOOL? Burger Barn. I shall never forget when that hamburger bun fell on the floor, a mouse ran across it, and the cook still slapped a hamburger on it and served it. Didn't strike me as strange, at the time.