Time travel can be heartening

Library Despot's Senior Year of High School Meme.

1. What year was it? 1981-1982

2. What were your three favorite bands? Alan Parsons Project, Styx, Bob Seger

3. What was your favorite outfit? Jeans. Because my mom had finally given up the fight. [I never wore a skirt if I could help it, just to piss her off.] T-shirts, including the one that says (I still have it): Sex Drugs Peace and Brew, We're the Class of '82. [Mom really loved that.]

4. What was up with your hair? Short, Princess Di cut. [I just got my mom's 8 x 10 of my senior pic back....The Horror!]

5. Who were your best friends? Laura, Teri, Beth, Rene. I'm still good friends with Laura and Beth.

6. What did you do after school? Worked. No, wait, that was junior year. Uhm, nothing much: TV, I guess, and homework.

7. Did you take the bus? No. Only kids from Goat Hill rode the bus. Laura's dad occasionally took us to school. Beth--or John, or Teri--occasionally brought me home. [My parents built the house where they did so that we could walk to all our schools: five short blocks to elementary, five blocks to junior high, eight short blocks to high school. I had no excuse for not walking, except laziness.]

8. Who did you have a crush on? I don't specifically remember senior year's crushes, but Jeff, Ron, and John were a few of the general high school era names. Oh, and Warren. Of course. What a sweetie/cutie!

9. Did you fight with your parents? Yes--of course, but not as much as about four years previous. We mostly "discussed" choices of college.

10. Who did you have a CELEBRITY crush on? As much as it pains me--I just saw him doing an infomercial last night--Erik Estrada. And Larry Wilcox, and Tom Wopat.

11. Did you smoke cigarettes? Nope.

12. Did you lug all of your books around in your backpack all day because you were too nervous to find your locker? My locker was in the band hallway. I lugged books because it was a pain to get all the way down to the bandroom and back up two floors where most of my classes were held during the allotted five minutes' passing time.

13. Did you have a 'clique'? Yeah, I guess. The brainy kids have to stick together, yes? And I was in band, which was a big deal at my school; we were the best in the state nearly every year at competitions. Actually, band was a great tolerance-teacher for me: there were Smart Kids, Popular Kids, Freaks, Student Government Kids, Sluts...a real cross-section. The teacher especially appreciated the flute-playing sluts....

14. Did you have "The Max" like Zach, Kelly and Slater? Mr. Gatti's pizza place. Yummy pizza, never particularly busy, big-screen TV and tolerance for kids.

15. Admit it, were you popular? See above, question 14. I didn't think so at the time; looking back, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

16. Who did you want to be just like? My brother. Failing that, my dad. In the Big Wide World, Laura Ingalls Wilder. Actually, I just wanted to BE her.

17. What did you want to be when you grew up? I had no idea. I had already worked for over a year at the public library as a page, but time and circumstance had nipped that budding career...or so I thought!

18. Where did you think you'd be at the age you are now? I never considered being my age now: 41. In the vague future, I guess I saw myself vaguely married, vaguely raising children, and vaguely working somewhere. So I guess I vaguely nailed it. I never thought it would be as hard as it's turned out to be!