Excerpts

From my May 1995 diary, age 15.

"Niki had the kid. Her name is Bailey, and she's really cute."

"Well, I can die happy now. I've seen the boy in his pajamas."

"Gabe is such a smooth talker he can get girls to do almost anything."

"I held many animals while at Timber-Lee, including an opossum, a tarantula, a baby rabbit, a python, and a ring-necked dove."

"If you're wondering, Madison was fun. I liked the capitol building, and I want to live in the governor's mansion."

"Gabe and Nick and I got together Period 2 to work on the reflection. The rest of the class went to the computer lab, but we stayed in the room. We had fun going through Mrs. Leischow's stuff."

"I went to the Jam 4 Peace with Jaki. It rocked. There were a ton of performers, such as Blackstreet, Brownstone, Da Brat, Naughty By Nature, Montell Jordan, Subway, H-Town, Soul 4 Real, Mary J. Blige, and 69 Boys."

"I had to play first base twice while we were on defense, and I caught the ball and made an excellent pass the first time. My second spiral was kind of weak."***

Finally, this picture is at the center of the color montage in our ninth grade yearbook. Classy.





***No, I really wasn't hopelessly confused about sports. We played a game that combined football and baseball in that magical way only junior high gym class can.

Your beer is safe with me

I've never been drunk. I was just thinking about that. I will drink socially, and I've been tipsy in the presence of many drunk friends and probably acted drunk from sheer osmosis. One time in high school, I drove a friend's car home around 2:00 a.m. after a couple of drinks at her house party, with an open bottle of Apple Pucker in my car. (There are so many things wrong with that sentence.) I've had one or two mild hangovers, but they were due more to impending colds and severe dehydration. But I've never been really drunk. I've never felt impaired or not in control of my behavior, and I certainly have never forgotten anything that happened the night before.

So I ask you - is this something worthwhile to experience at least once in my life? Is it some rite of passage I've missed? I understand that some people enjoy it, but anything over a pleasant buzz never really looks that appealing to me. I'd like to hear some other opinions, though.

Maybe I should get incredibly drunk and see Star Wars at the same time! Kill two birds with one stone.