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“I offered up my innocence, got repaid with scorn.” It took years of accelerating past 7th grade to frame existential questions, most notably why wasn’t I good enough? I had never been looked down on before, just for breathing. Girls giggling in the hall, glancing your way so you knew what the subject was about.… Continue reading Not good enough aka I love Paul Weller and Pete Townshend

Can you imagine this slithering mass of excrement actually having any other job? So of course, we all pass the next quiz and wind up with c’s. The old man makes me write down every tool that I know in the shop and tell him what they are. And make sure I understand what a… Continue reading Shop Class: The Aftermath

The worst teacher ever. The shop teacher was a grizzled old guy awash in wrinkles, coated in a buzz cut. From the first, he made it clear we were shit. He knew few of us would ever use the things he taught–we could care less about making wood boxes or plastic heart necklaces. He told… Continue reading Junior High Shop Class aka A Career of Evil

So we cross the bridge to the elementary building, down the steps into something called ‘Boys Locker Room.’ No such thing in elementary school. You grab a locker and change into your gym clothes. I liked wearing gym shorts under my pants, it made for a quick change. Pull on the clean t shirt when… Continue reading Boy’s Locker Room aka ‘Morrissey, I get you, man’

A wild sociology experiment created by error! The merger/jointure of the two school districts was very rushed and, as you’d expect, they fucked up details. But only when it came to the ‘poor town’ school, ie, our junior high. Where the Foon was in charge. The school had no athletic fields within a mile of… Continue reading The Girls are in Charge! (starring Grace Slick)

A signpost ahead: You are entering the pre-teen twilight zone. My world was surrounded by music. At home, my radio played the local AM rock station (WRAW) and the center of my gravity, WFIL in Philadelphia. I still can tell you the names of the weekend dances in Philadelphia/South Jersey. When mom went to the… Continue reading Steve brings the music

Not exactly what they were hoping for….. Once a week, the Assistant Principal held ‘Orientation’ class. As I said, he was a large imposing man with a crimson face ravaged by teenage acne. He endeavored to show his softer side here (more Andy Griffith, less Goebbels), and by and large he succeeded. In the beginning,… Continue reading Junior High ‘Orientation’ Class

Don’t get Above Your Raisin’ Boy I guess I’m just like most of you when it comes to the past. Hartley said the past is a foreign country. But our memories are always of sunny days, smiling faces…..all the girls were young and perfect, none of us boys were bald or fat. The grass was… Continue reading The Hills are Alive with the Smell of Cow shit

Not the ending I wrote in the book of my life. Senior Year, we shared a Chemistry lab table. I was very surprised when she chose to sit in front of me first day; guess she didn’t know anyone else– we were barely nodding acquaintances. Over that year, we became semi-friends; somehow, I was allowed… Continue reading ‘Veronica’–Epilogue

In all my juvenile thoughts and future aspirations, never did I dream I would write the next 2 posts. ‘Veronica’ parachuted into 7th grade like a floral garden ablaze. Long brown hair (that didn’t move), perfect legs, a smile that would make a dentist swoon. Huge brown eyes and a flawless complexion. What really set… Continue reading Part Two: Veronica