High School Questionnaire

What does it take to provoke you people??? I thought Twilight would do it but I guess I'll just have to try harder. But not today. Today I want to take a trip down memory lane. . .

Remember the 80s? Great decade. I went to high school in the early 80s. I've been hooking up with high school friends on Facebook and it's so weird to see everyone all grown up. Especially since I haven't aged a day.

Yesterday a friend of mine made a comment about Twilight and the movies we liked in HS and that got me thinking about the movies I liked and how I spent my time in HS and stuff like that. I should probably warn you that I'm not going to confess anything earthshaking here because some of you are my colleagues and some of you are my mom and the ones who need to know were there (and I still love you)... but feel free to tag along, you might just find some old friends.

So, without further adieu here's the High School Questionnaire:

1. Favorite HS movies: 16 Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, White Nights, Animal House, Porky's and Hitchcock's Vertigo

2. Favorite books: Dune, Pride and Prejudice, Dragonsinger

3. Favorite music: Go Gos, Duran Duran, Adam and the Ants, Yaz, Oingo Boingo, Bow Wow Wow, B 52s, A Ha, Boomtown Rats, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Human League

4. Favorite video: Prince Charming (Adam and the Ants)

5. Hair: Shudder. Cringe. I wanted to have big hair. And blond. My hair objected to this and died so I ended up having to cut off most of it before going to college. It's just starting to recover.

6. Make up: Covergirl foundation, purple eyeshadow, blue eyeliner and hot pink lipstick, what else?

7. Favorite foods: Steak, chocolate chip cookies and potato chips. Yes I was a tad overweight.

8. Fashion sense: None. To hide my extra pounds I tried layering with the result that I often got asked if I was pregnant. Lots of cheap jewelry was involved as well. Some of it may have been cool but I don't insist on it.

9. Confidence: Strangely high. I knew exactly who I was pretending to be. I would have preferred to be rail thin but I didn't hate myself or anything.

10. Favorite subject: Definitely math. I was good at it and the teacher called me 'Hamburger.' How can you not love someone who calls you Hamburger?

11. Least favorite subject: English literature. I liked most of my English teachers OK but I mean, seriously - Moby Dick, Red Badge of Courage, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Great Expectations, they're all so BORING. I still don't like literature that much, or at least not the common garden variety in which the author tries to show off by going into excruciating detail about the dirty fingers and rotted brown teeth of the midwife or subjects us to an endless stream of consciousness about the futility of life. Who needs it?

12. Sports: Volleyball and rodeo. My volleyball team took state senior year and I even got to play sometimes. The rodeo bit may sound more exciting than it actually was because I wasn't very good. I was probably better than most of you people but I was on a team with cut-throat cowgirls who did nothing but ride their own horses. For the most part I stayed on my horse but I didn't bring any glory to our team. I mainly did it because the boy's rodeo team was totally hot: we're talking Wranglers, boots, buckles, hats, the whole 9 yards. To prove their worthiness as mates they chewed tobacco and vied for female attention with daring feats of precision spitting. I still like cowboys.

13. Favorite memory: It's hard to pin it down to just one. I really enjoyed doing plays, it was kind of like work only way more fun. Also rules tended to be a bit more lax around the theater so we 'actors' had a great time smoking, er, cigarettes and talking smack.

14. Dumbest thing I did: I went to a boarding school and lived in a dorm. Lots of kids got busted for sneaking off campus. I got busted for sneaking back on campus when I was overnighting at a friend's house. Bright idea, huh? Talk about something ventured, nothing gained.

15. Favorite TV shows: Monty Python's Flying Circus and Dr. Who

16. Popularity: I think most people knew my name, does that count?

17. Biggest bummer: Both the guys I really, really loved got expelled.

18. Favorite yearbook quote: It's hard but I think this one shows the most insight into my character: "Baby, Sweetie, Honey Pie - Well, you mix-matched, rumple paged valedictorian you somewhere along the line of life we seem to have graduated. I hope you don't get lost on your way to college. The bell rang. See you later. With love, Mark." Mark really got me.

19. Most painful yearbook quote: I attended my school for 7 years and there was another girl who was there for 6. She was pretty and sweet and if I'd been a guy I'd have dated her and if I were gay she would have been at the top of my list right after Sarah Michelle Geller. So anyway, I adored her slavishly and she gamely tolerated me and I've often wondered what became of her. Looking back at my senior yearbook I found this from her: "I hope that life gives you a fair shake and that you get what you deserve and desire. But remember do it without being offensive or you won't get any thing." Well, what can I say? 'Anything' is one word, you moron!!

20. Smartest thing you did after HS: I didn't got to Berkeley. They spelled my name wrong, anyway.