newnumber6

Senior Year Meme

Fill this out about your senior year of high school,

1. Who was your best friend? Didn't really have a person I considered a best friend, had a few I liked more or less equally.

2. What sports did you play? None.

3. What kind of car did you drive? Didn't drive. I didn't even (and still don't) have a license.

4. It's Saturday night, where were you at? Home, probably online and MUSHing.

5. Were you a party animal? No.

6. Were you considered a flirt? I don't think so.

7. Ever skip school? No, pretty much never. I think the most I did senior year was, in the last week or so, sneak out of math class early with a few others while the teacher was out of the room. It was only 15 minutes or so, and we got totally busted on our way out anyway.

8. Ever smoke? No.

9. Were you a nerd? Depends on your definition. I don't think I was considered a nerd, though I was considered a brain. I got voted 'smartest guy', but that was because I was the smartest guy who wasn't generally unpopular with everyone else. I was always kinda mellow and slackerish.

10. Did you get suspended/expelled? Never.

11. Can you sing the Alma Mater song? I don't even know if we had one. If we did, then no. If we didn't, then yes, I could. Every note.

12. Who was your favorite teacher? Hmmm... probably my Philosophy teacher Mr. Scott cause he told interesting stories. Or Mr. Hughes who was earlier my drama and English teacher a few years back and I think in my last year he taught my OAC Writer's Craft class, the only high school class I ever dropped. But I didn't drop it because of him, the assignments weren't doing it for me and the one assigned before the drop would have been another one of those 'interview somebody who's had an interesting life and write up a biography' ones which tweaks me on two areas (non-fantastic fiction and having to interact with another person). Also of note would be my english teacher Ms. Lum who was cool in an ego stroking way because she always tried to talk to me to get me to speak up more in class because she was convinced I always knew the answers or had something interesting to say but was just too shy to speak up with it.

13. Favorite class? Philosophy I think.

14. What was your school's full name? Sir John A. Macdonald Collegiate Institute (Sir John A. Macdonald C.I. normally, and I used to joke the C.I. stood for 'for the criminally insane')

15. School mascot? Some sort of scotsman. Black Angus maybe?

16. Did you go to Prom? No. Well, first, we didn't have a Prom, we had a 'Formal'. But I didn't go as I wouldn't care to go alone, I didn't have anyone to go with, I certainly couldn't ask anyone (and at that time I never really had anyone I desparately craved asking either), and certainly nobody was going to ask me so I just stayed home and saved the $50 ticket (or whatever it was, I can't remember)

17. If you could go back and do it over, would you? Yeah, I would have tried to make more connections and particularly try harder to date rather than just sort of let it happen, or not. I think that year I might have been trying one of those old adages that are a variation on 'you'll find love when you stop trying to find it'. That's a load of crap, btw.

18. What do you remember most about graduation? Not being there. I skipped it. Although not deliberately since I didn't get any invite to it because I technically graduated the year before I graduated (since I had all the credits I needed) but I wasn't finished. So I guess they sent me the invite for the first one, which I didn't go to because it wasn't really my class, and not for the second one, which was. Although I don't know if I would have gone anyway. I'm not big on ceremony.

19. Favorite memory of your Senior Year? My one good high school story. I'll tell it again since I have newcomers on my friendslist.

For the first couple years of my high school career, my lunch period didn't coincide with any of my friends. So, having nothing to do, I just found somewhere to sit, and sat. I chose a place in the school's main hallway, right across from the drama room, and beside a water fountain. I sat there pretty much every day, either reading or watching people.

A lot of people noticed me and either said hello, or asked why I sat there every day (I gave various answers, but usually 'there is no reason, I just do'). There was even a group of younger kids who at first asked me a few random questions about words and, having a big vocabulary, I answered them correctly, every once in a while they'd come up to me and try to stump me with a difficult word they found in the dictionary or some science question or something (they never really did). Couple people threw pennies towards me like I was a beggar or whatever, but okay, I'm fine with ignoring idiots.

Also, although most teachers and staff were amused by my constant lunchtime presense there, one of the Vice Principals tried to get me to move, saying my sitting in the hallway was a Fire Hazard. I defied him, of course, first by 'not sitting, but squatting', or sitting on my bag, instead of the hallway. Finally, he tried to get mean, threatening to call parents and such, so I said I wouldn't do it any more, and stood in the spot, instead of sitting... at least until he went away. Then I went right back to sitting. Everytime I saw him coming down the hall, I stood up right away again.

Anyway, all that's backstory. We had a school student run newspaper, and in my last year, someone wrote a humor feature 'Questions I want answers to'.

First among these was 'Why does that guy sit beside the water fountain every lunch period'. Naturally people came up to me more often asking if I was annoyed, but I wasn't, I found it amusing (I should also note that by this time I spent a lot more lunches with friends in the library, although because I never entered the cafeteria during lunch hour (it was evil), I usually hung out at my usual spot until they finished actually eating, and then we went off, and there were some days I just hung out by myself the whole lunch anyway). Anyway, the teacher in charge of the newspaper was my old drama teacher and he was a cool guy and one day he came up to me and mentioned that they'd had a few letters of complaints about that article because people felt they were picking on me. He asked if I wanted to write a response, and I thought about it, and said, yeah, I'll write something. So I went home and wrote up a top ten list, under a pseudonym (as most things in the paper were written). So they printed up both the angry letter and my article:

Dear MacNews,

We have just finished reading the MacNews dated February 24th, 1995. This paper, usually entertaining and a lot of fun has truly gone too far. We are referring to the "Questions I Want Answers To", an article written by "Zimy". Why did he/she, much less MacNews, find it necessary to degrade and humiliate someone for a few laughs? It appals us to think that someone who has done nothing wrong, has hurt no one, and has simply stood in the hallway during lunchtime has come under attack. Leave him alone! It's a free country, a free school, and a free hallway! why is it so clever to humiliate a fellow student? What are you hoping to gain? On behalf of the innocent bystander, we demand an apology.

Signed, "Unnecessary"

And now, what I wrote. Under a pseudonym (making front page. The complaint got back page. Yes, there are only the front and back page).

10 Reasons why the guy sits across from the Drama room every lunch
1. He's being punished by one of the principals.

2. He's really, really, really bored.

3. Just to drive other people crazy, wondering why.

4. He's planning to run for SAC president, and is starting his campaign early.

5. He's practicing so he can be a wall when he graduates.

6. He's living in his own little world inside his head.

7. He's meditating to acheive a heightened sense of spiritual awareness.

8. He's looking into the future.

9. He's an alien, and his mission is to assess whether or not our generation is ready to be contacted. He is examining how we treat those different from ourselves.

10. He's the mortal incarnation of God (or any other "higher power") and he's picking out who's worthy to be saved from the end of the world.

Okay, now you have some choices. Vote on the one you think is the truth, and drop it off in the MacNews mailbox.

- Brought to you by "The Speculator"

Yes, I made fun of myself. And boy did it get a response! All through that lunch, people, friends and complete strangers alike, came up to me and told me about the article, asked if I was mad. My response was always a smile and saying something along the lines of, "No, man, it doesn't bother me!" Sure, I told a few people that it was me who wrote it, but most of the time I was just extremely amused. I was, for a brief time, almost a school celebrity. The newspaper got more hatemail. A few days later, Mr. Hughes told me he was taking a lot of heat for the article, so I promised I'd write him something for the next issue, explaining everything. Only two people responded to the vote, he told me, and both of them chose option #10.

First, again, the hatemail:

Dear Heartless News,

I am thoroughly disgusted with the article regarding the boy who sits across from the drama room at lunch.

Didn't anyone who writes for MacNews consider his feelings before publishing it? Or are you all just out for a laugh at others' expense? I think that the article was arrogant, disrespectful and very inconsiderate. Before this, I thought that MacNews couldn't get any worse, but, surprise, it did!! Personally, I feel that an apology is in order, along with others from the student body.

Ashamed to be a Mac Student

(The response was 'Dear Ash, No; Yes; So?; Then don't read; Maybe. Ed')

And, this was my final say on the matter...

From The Wall

Last week, MacNews printed an article about me, "10 Reasons Why That Guy Sits Outside the Drama Room Every Lunch". Since then, a number of people have come up to me asking if I was mad. My answer was always, "No." Why? I wrote the article. Yes, I am "The Speculator". Thanks to all those who came to my defense, but it was unnecessary.

I'm not entirely certain myself why I did it. Maybe it was to see what the reaction would be. Perhaps at the time it gave me as much enjoyment writing it as it gave me after people read it.

Whatever the case, what's done is done. If you must blame someone for picking on me, blame me, not MacNews. If someone wants to get a few laughs at my expense, I welcome them to, as long as it amuses me as well. The "pretend he's a begger" routine, and the chant of "Fountain Boy" was funny a bit at first, but they got tired fast.

As to the lingering question of why I sit here, most of those who replied chose #10--that I'm a god. I'm pleased to announce that you are correct. The first meeting of the Cult of Wall is being organized, details to be announced at a later date.

Of course, even though the Cult of Wall thing was a joke, I had a few strangers come up to me and ask if it was really starting, because they wanted to join. I told them I'd let them know. Also, Cult of Wall became a joke among my friends. Also, they made a few errors in transcribing my answer, and spelled my name wrong. I corrected these errors here. It bugged me though.

And so it ended. It was fun while it lasted, and it gave me a story that I enjoy telling.

You know what, in typing this story and doing some checking, I realized my memory was faulty. This actually wasn't senior year, but a year or two before. Woops. Oh well, I'll leave it in the meme because I already did all that typing (and cut and pasting) and it was my one good high school story. And I can't remember a favorite memory of my Senior Year. Maybe the time that, in a math class in the last month or two of school, someone I'd known very casually for all of my high school career asked me if I ever went to an elementary school. I did, but only up till grade 2.

It was the grade school that fed most of the students into the high school technically. Anyhow, he recognized me, finally. And he pointed it out to a couple of other people in the class, who, once they had it pointed out, also recognized me, although I couldn't remember them because my memory sucks. In particular there was one girl that the shocked look of recognition on her face was just so priceless. It's a shame we didn't really have a chance to follow up on it at all.

Possibly also winning some prizes for writing in school-wide contests. I don't remember specifically what year that is though because my chronological memory really sucks and I can't put events in their right order.

20. Were you ever posted up on the senior wall? No, I don't even know what that is. But I had my own wall! And I figure I was probably posted on the wall of graduates somewhere, with my grad pic (see icon).

21. Did you have a job? Not during Senior Year.

22. Who did you date? Me? Date? Shyeah, right.

23. Where did you go most often for lunch? The wall.

24. What did you do after graduation? Hung out at home I guess. More generally than specifically, I took a year off because there were slight financing problems with my university, then went on to school.

25. What was your favorite yearbook signature? Hard to choose, but I had a friend that wrote like a page and a half (with the half page being full of P.S., P.S.S., P.P.S.S. and so on type comments, that was pretty cool, in previous years she wrote comments in a big spiral or something and listing all sorts of memories that was just fun to read.

26. When did you graduate? 1997

And, since it's sorta school related I guess...

They've announced New Line bought the rights to an American remake of Battle Royale. It'll probably suck because that's what Hollywood does, but if it matches the Americanizezd movie I have in my head when I read the book, it'll be awesome. Actually when I finished reading the book I had some free time and a bit of an obsession and actually wrote up an americanized script just for my own amusement (very faithful to the book with just a couple changes mostly in scene scheduling), complete with renaming all the characters. Now that I'm rereading the book my mind constantly uses my names for the characters because it's easier for me to keep track of everybody that way. ;)
And because this is a school meme and I'm talking about BR, I'm including a superflous link back to my 'what I'd do in Battle Royale' post.