Sarah B: In my dream last night, one wall of your apartment was the makeup aisle from Duane Reade! You had a lot of L'Oreal lipstick, and you let me come over and try them on. It was really awesome.
Fish: That? Is an awesome dream.
Sarah B: And I don't even LIKE L'Oreal makeup! But man, yeah. You were living the life.
Fish: I used to have dreams when I was in junior high (and SO uncool, and poor, and badly dressed) that I had this closet full of clothes. Do you KNOW how devastating it was to wake up?!
Sarah B: When I was in middle school, my mom used to tell me about dreams she had where we'd found some cute new way to do my hair, and then we'd try it in real life and it would fail miserably. Somehow even more pathetic and sadmaking.
Fish: Adolescence is a bitch.
Sarah B: COULD NOT PAY ME ENOUGH TO RELIVE IT. Unless it was for like, just one day. No orthodontist appointments that day, though.
I didn’t even have orthodontia and the thought of my early teen years still makes me cringe. Awkward is far too kind of a word for that stage of life, and it is with wonderment that I look back without becoming catatonic from the stress to my system. Hey, it could happen; I get hives when my boss yells at me. And I’d rather get yelled at by my boss nine thousand times a day than spend one second in my seventh grade gym class.
Shudder.
You're so right! I hated that time in my life! and I hate those people who really liked high school. I hated every moment.
Posted by: reality at October 26, 2004 11:57 AMThose people should die. What kind of psychopath actually *enjoyed* those stages?? 'cringe
Posted by: Babs at October 26, 2004 12:00 PMI'd rather eat my own spleen, raw, after digging it out with a spoon than do high school again.
Posted by: Coelecanth at October 26, 2004 12:12 PMI was pleased to see that gorgeous picture turn up in your about section. I love that it appears with this post, because it's a sweet, little reminder of how far you've come.
(That sounds a bit presumptuous, but I've been reading this blog for years, so I feel like I know...)
Posted by: Shelley at October 26, 2004 12:21 PMI once dated a girl who looked at her high school years as the best time of her life. I should have known right then and there that she was completely fucked up. Anyone who can thrive in those circumstances has to be twisted. As it turns out, she was. My two years with her were almost as bad as my junior high/high school years....and those were pretty damn bad.
Posted by: Oz at October 26, 2004 12:36 PMI once had a dream that I was back in high school and I WOKE UP CRYING.
Incidentally, I got my invite for my 10 year reunion last week. I wrote, "I'd rather not," across the RSVP and dropped it in the mail. Ah, the joy of finally having a choice!
Posted by: avery at October 26, 2004 12:45 PM1. Excellent picture.
2. Having begun to think about it again, I guess I could do it again, particularly if I had the benefit of knowing how badly the "cool" kids would do after graduation. I kinda knew already, but that would be good knoweldge to have.
Posted by: New Blue Shoe at October 26, 2004 01:28 PMLife pretty much sucks until your junior or senior year of high school, if not longer. I'm in my mid-40s, but the kids I know say it's pretty much the same as when I was in school.
Posted by: Lex at October 26, 2004 01:35 PMEvery day takes me farther away from jr high, and for that I am so, so very grateful. Shudder is right.
Posted by: janna at October 26, 2004 01:55 PMI would like to go back and tell my self that, "Hey junior and senior high school are a wash" You will be so much happier in college. No one ever told me that, and it was awkward and painful everyday, thinking I needed jeans to fit in or I had to like "x" to get acceptance. If there is one way to be a success as a parent, I think it would be by showing your kids the absurdity of adolesense. Although, finding out these things for yourself is an important part of growning up.
Posted by: Mike at October 26, 2004 03:04 PMI didn't hate high school(I'm actually kind of neutral on it-- it didn't rock or suck, was kinda "blah) but Jr high was miserable. Awful terrible. :) High school, though, was still not my best time ever. I ALWAYS tell kids this--just wait, I say. You'll see how much better life is.
But I did go to my HS 10 year reunion. After having gone to the hubby's I thought it might be fun. It wasn't, really. Several people mistook me for someone else (a girl I never really liked). And then there were the awkward contests, and the pettiness I remembered from certain people that they had clearly not grown out of. But it sort of made me feel good to go-- because I WAS such a success, and because I didn't have to prove ANYthing, but seeing that those people were still pretty much the same was priceless. But if there were a JR high reunion-- no. Never would I go to that.
Posted by: Kim Wells at October 26, 2004 03:57 PMhated 13 - 18 . . . jr high high school all of it. But I wish I could go back to that age with all that I now know--- just like the song goes . .
Posted by: bluepoppy at October 26, 2004 04:11 PMcheers to not having to go back to relive those awful junior high years. even 'knowing what i know now' i wouldn't want to walk those hallways again, not for one bit!
Posted by: sassylittlepunkin at October 26, 2004 05:38 PMhas anyone noticed that 75 percent of your high school class still live within 15 miles of the school? I moved half way around the world and never looked back. After 15 years the cold sweats and nightmares go away.
Posted by: b at October 26, 2004 10:48 PMFish, you are such a genius. You are Carries Bradshaw come to life
Posted by: kenton at October 26, 2004 11:14 PMWow. I have fond memories of Jr. and Sr. high school. There are things I would change if I returned, but I don't have anywhere near the disdain all of you folks have for it. I even organized a reunion for all of the aquatics program alumni on the day after my twenty year reunion a couple years ago. Sorry for being such an outcast now, I guess.
Posted by: Brooks at October 27, 2004 12:45 AMCould not leave the comments stuck on 13. Now that we are talking about the bad years it could be considered fitting. Btw Fish. Being a sculptor I would like to say you have a perfect neck. You have strong bones structure. Have a blast in North Africa.
Posted by: b at October 27, 2004 07:28 AMHi Fish. Just perusing your site and there you are! All pretty and perfect with white flowers. I was wondering where that picture went off to...
Posted by: Anna at October 27, 2004 09:38 AM