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Wednesday, April 6

"CAUTION: The writer of this note is having a severe nervous breakdown. Nothing said in her notes should be taken seriously or held against her." (BJHS, 1989)

SO!  I have a Blogging Buddy!  You probably haven't guessed this because I'm such an irresponsible blogger.  So I'm telling you.

Everyone, meet my Blogging Buddy, Charity.  Charity, this is everyone.  Charity's blog is here:  Imperfect Happiness.  You should go see it.  Charity's really good at, well, blogging for one thing.  Whereas I'm really good at pouring a second glass of wine and watching Hulu.com until I pass out.  We all have our strengths I suppose. 

Anyhow, as blogging buddies, our job is to motivate each other to write things and read each other's things that we write and generally provide support and perhaps encourage our own readership (that's you!) to go visit each other's blogs.  Charity is very, very good at this.  She can find anything I slap down on the internet relevant somehow to something she is thinking about.  It's impressive as hell.  I am apparently not so good at this as I haven't actually read anyone's blogs in about two weeks and so couldn't possibly begin to tell you how what I'm talking about is relevant to what she's talking about.  Probably it's not.  Charity tends to think a lot and apply logic to her writing.  This is in direct contrast to the way I approach things.  Obviously.

So instead of linking to her blog through a relevant passage in my own text, I've decided simply to blog about her

I have known Charity since junior high.  We spent a lot of time writing notes to each other, and I happen to have a BAG full of them right here and have, in fact, just been inadvertently reminded that my friends regularly addressed me as "Dinker" or "Dink" when writing notes to me for some reason that made sense all around back when we were thirteen. 

I think Charity will be pleased that I've dug out these notes.  Here is an example of why you should go read her blog: 

"I decorated my USHISTORY folder.  It's abstract art.  Actually it looks like a close up of the spots on a cow.  Either that or vercose veins."  (When you visit her blog, you can ask her to explain what those things could possibly have in common.  She'd probably love to discuss it.  Also, I'd put money on her knowing how to spell varicose now.)  "I like the cow one better.  What do you think?" (Honestly, at thirteen, I doubt I had the first clue as to what a vercose vein actually looked like.  Being from Ohio, I probably went with cow.) "I try not to." (She means think.)  "Whenever it's at all possible, I avoid it."  (Yeah, right.  She's a total thinker, this one. That's why you ought to go see her blog.) "I've got to stop talking to Tom Downey." (Don't remember Tom Downey very clearly.  I don't think she discusses him much in her blog.  But still.)  "I could get a detention." (Extremely unlikely. Well... maybe for defacing your USHISTORY folder.)  (Charity, Note to Jenny, BJHS, 1989; parenthetical asides are mine)

So, in conclusion, "You may have won $15,000,000,000,000,000!!!" (Whoa.  That's a lot.)  "To claim your prize, you must eat twelve hot dogs," (Jesus) "fifteen ice cream sundaes," (done and done) "five large root beers," (is two glasses of wine acceptable?) "and the order blank included" (uh-oh - haven't seen that in 22 years) "by 2:30 pm on April 28th."  (Charity to Jenny, BJHS, Rm 114, April 28, 1989; parenthetical asides are mine.)



  

8 comments:

Betty said...

A few years ago I mailed Krista a box of notes I had kept from junior high. So sad now with all the text messages girls won't have this things to look back on in 20 years.

Jenny said...

NO! I never thought of that!

Maggie said...

I remember Tom Downey! He sat next to me in homeroom. I thought it would be hilarious if we got married so my name could be Downs-Downey. (Seventh-grade hilarious, I mean.)

I still have boxes of notes stashed away at my dad's house. He wants to toss them, but I am desperately clinging to them.

Do you remember the quick quizzes we used to put in each other's lockers? I have some of those among my note collection.

Jenny said...

Cling to them, please! Or send them to me!

I'd forgotten about the quick quizzes until you mentioned them - I'll have to go through my big bag of notes to see if I have any. And of course I'll post them if I find them...

AND Downs-Downey is still just a little hilarious. Even if it's only 35-year-old-hilarious. I picture Tom as having really short curly hair that was all on the top of his head - like a cap. Is that what you remember?

CJ/Charity said...

Um, yes. Well. I have very mixed feelings about seeing the content of my middle-school notes on your blog. I feel both flattered and kind of tricked in some way, all at the same time. I think I might need to reconsider the whole "blogging" thing, too. Stuff on the internet is eternal, after all. How will I feel about my posts 20 years down the line?

I do appreciate the parenthetical citations, though. And that you didn't quote anything about any of my crushes at the time.

Jenny said...

I avoided crushes on purpose. And if you decide you'd prefer not having these on the internet, or if you want them to be more anonymous (no linking to your blog, for example), I'll be happy to fix it. Just let me know. Personally, I think they're adorable, however.

Jenny said...

Oooh! I just remembered those stories we used to do - the ones where one person started it and then left off so someone else could take over. I wonder where those got to?

Anonymous said...

My mom said she found the notes I'd stashed. I was thinking about those stories we used to write, hoping maybe there were a couple of those in there. I guess I'll see when my mom mails them this week. I still don't have much desire to read the notes, but I could get into the stories, I think.