6th Grade Diary
Part 2

New Year's Eve 1984 (Monday)

I had a very strange dream last night, all about some sort of ceremony in Birmingham, England, with Duran Duran in it + going back in time to about 1841 + getting married to Simon in 1841, + after 1841 spending the night with some local girls on the beach, + having John + Simon make love to me in the water, + performing in some sort of ballet -- Strange!

Speaking of Duran Duran, I have been seeing a lot about them. Let's see, Saturday night I was a little show about them, with 5 of their videos in it. Then yesterday I saw the "Save A Prayer" video, + yesterday night they were on "Liner Notes" saying a lot of stuff about how people at their concerts have everything from pink hair to white hair. And I was just listening to "Girls on Film." And I did get "Arena" and "Seven and the Ragged Tiger" for Christmas. Maybe all that stuff about visual stimula affecting dreams is true.

But enough about the Fab Five. I already know I'm a Durannie. I need to plan my birthday party. I have less than a month. Let's see, who should I invite? Jody of course. And I think Amy should come. And Wendy + Tammy. And Sarah + Margaret. And Gena Kohn. That's enough.

Oh, did I say that Jennifer Adkins moved away? To Alabama.

But back to the party. I'll buy 6 rolls of crepe paper. We can decorate, and still have enough to make a mess. I'll have to remember to get batteries for my tape player so we can listen to stuff [outside].

I decided to give a sort of biography of my favorite groups.

Culture Club Boy George, Roy Hay, Mikey Craig, and Jon Moss. Albums: Kissing to Be Clever, Colour By Numbers, Waking Up With The House On Fire. 9 hits (so far.) Do you really want to hurt me?, Time (Clock of the Heart), I'll tumble 4 Ya, Church of the Poison Mind, Karma Chameleon, Miss Me Blind, It's a Miracle, THe War Song, and Mistake #3.

Duran Duran. Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Roger Taylor, Andy Taylor, Nick Rhodes. Albums: Duran Duran, Rio, Seven and the Ragged Tiger, Arena. Hits. Rio, Hungry Like The Wolf, Is there something I should know?, Girls on Film, Union of the Snake, New Moon on Monday, The Reflex, and Wild Boys.

Eurythmics. Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart. Albums -- Sweet Dreams, Touch. Hits -- Sweet Dreams, Love is a Stranger, Here comes the Rain, Who's that Girl? and Right By Your Side.

Huey Lewis and the News. Huey Lewis, Bill Gibson, Johnny Colla, Sean Hopper, Mario Cippollina, Chris Hayes. Albums: Picture This, Sports. Hits: Do You Believe in Love?, Heart and Soul, I Want A New Drug, Heart of Rock'n'Roll, If This Is It, and Walking on that Thin Line.

The Gogos Belinda Carlisle, Charlotte Caffey, Jane Wiedlin, Kathy Valentine, Gina Schock. Whoops! I forgot Jane Wiedlin just left the group. Hits: We got the Beat, Vacation, Head over Heels, Turn to You. Albums: Beauty and the Beat, Vacation, and Talk Show.

Bye.

More New Year's Eve (still Monday)

I found a poll on the sex appeal of names. [I think some of these votes would be cast differently now after 15 years.]

Most sexy: Christine, Candace, Cheryl, Melanie, Dawn, Heather, Jennifer, Marilyn, Michelle, Susan

Least sexy: Ethel, Alma, Zelda, Florence, Mildred, Myrtle, Silvana, Edna, Eurolinda, Elvira.

I think I will have to have one of those big foldes for my fantasies. I've only written down 3 but they keep flooding my head all the time. Anything can start them up, a cute boy, a strange video, a phrase in a book, something a teacher says, anything!

I'm watching the MTV video music awards winners. The Awards were in September, but it fills the time until the New Year's Eve Ball.

Jodz writes fantasies too. She wrote one in her diary (which is actually just a notebook) about Thomas and Jack tying her to the bed + making love to her.

Now the New Year's Eve Ball is on + Joan Jett + the Blackhearts are performing.

New Year's Resolutions:

1. Practice ballet.
2. Write down fantasies
3. Think of a way to get Lee to notice me (in a good light)
4. Do better projects (Quit doing so much last minute stuff, especially on my independent study)
5. Save allowance.
6. Do homework earlier.
7. Do more physical activity.
8. Improve my handwriting.
9. Make more friends.
10. Go through with things I plan to do.
11. Brush teeth + hair, wash glasses, + use Stridex.
12. Get rid of scalp condition.

New Year's Day 1985

I had a rather strange dream last night. I was at the bus stop at school, but instead of the bus there was this huge foam-rubber thing shaped like a banana split. I got on + there was a new girl (no name) + we got to talking + the bus driver turned out to be her brother. Then the banana split-thing turned into a sort of rectangle. Still white, and we were on little square platforms on rope behind the rectangle and were whizzing down the highway.

My last day of freedom + Her Majesty, Queen Mom wants me to spend it in drudgery. Grownups are so sickening!

January 4, 1985 (Friday)

Guess what! I found out that Lee likes "Union of the Snake," which is my favorite Duran Duran song too. He asked Brandon Arthur in 6th period whether his "Arena" tape had Union of the Snake on it. I was tempted to say, "Of course it is. Anyone knows its on Arena!" But I didn't + Lee will probably never notice me at this rate.

I overheard a very interesting coversation Wednesday. It was betwene Ginger Norris, Sean Cary + Kenyon Bell. Sean started off with, "I thought there was gonna be a mass orgy at that party." Then there was a boring part about kiss-chase + other games. Then Ginger + Kenyon said "Not a word of this goes beyond this table, okay, you guys?" Chris Waters and I nodded. Then Kenyon told us about something he + his girlfriend were about to do when her mother walked into the room. Ginger laughed + said, "Kenyon, I sure hope you had your clothes on!" After that, the talk quickly turned to fave rock groups.

Mrs. Herring is leaving us! She is going to a place at Dent [Middle School]. Mrs. Peter will be our new teacher.

I think I've finally figured out what the "Hungry Like The Wolf" (Duran Duran) video is supposed to mean. It goes this this: Duran² are on tour in Sri Lanka (that's where the video was filmed) + the band usually spent their days together, when Simon starts making excuses, and slipping away. One day John, Nick, Roger and Andy decide to follow him. First he goes to a small restaurant for breakfast and ends up turning over the table. Then he (and they) walk across town, where they lose him and have to ask a little boy if he's seen Simon. Later, they catch up with him (in the woods)(this part is shown from their viewpoint) and watch him rendezvousing witha young black girl with a painted face + not much else on. They make love, rolling in the leaves (the video doesn't show this, but why else would he sneak off?) Later, all the band meets in the cafe where Simon had breakfast and, then, he confesses.

January 11, 1985 (Frigga's day)

Have I ever mentioned Philip Stent? No, it's not another crush, just an amusing incident that took place today. You see, we were playing dodge ball, and there was this huge piece of paper all crumpled in the corner of the gym. Anyway, one of the balls fell in there, and Philip jumped in to get it, and as he was thrashing around, Amy Powers called out, "So you'd like to make it with a piece of paper, ay, Philip?"

Our class (ALERT) threw a going-away party for Mrs. Herring. We even had a cake that said, "You're #1, Mrs. Herring." We also had break dancers. Or at least they tried to break dance. You see, Philip brought his jam box, and after we heard Van Halen for a while, some hip-hop came on, and Chris Waters, Kenyon Bell, Sean Cary, Philip Stent and Greg Edwards tried to break (their necks). Kenyon was best and Sean was worst. Suraj Menacheri was acting like a cheerleader, waving red + white streamers everywhere. Gretchen Meyers tried some footwork but got laughed out of the circle.

Jodz and I now have a fantasy-trading service. I keep her fantasies, + vice versa. What we write is very different, though. I write long detailed fantasies with little sex and Jodys are short and mostly sex. Mine take a lot longer to write, too. They are often 5 pages or more, and Jod's are two at the most.

Adios!

January 21, 1985 (Moon's day)

Mrs. Lee Mathis

Mrs. Suzanne Mathis

Ms. Suzanne Mathis [this one has a check mark by it]

S. M. Mathis

S. Mathis

Ms. Marie Mathis

Mrs. Marie Mathis

M. Mathis

Mrs. Suzanne Marie Saunders Mathis

Mrs. Suzanne S. Mathis

Ms. Suzie Mathis

or

Mrs. Mark Osterman

Mrs. Suzanne Osterman

Ms. Suzanne Osterman

S. M. Osterman

S. Osterman

Ms. Marie Osterman

Mrs. Marie Osterman

M. Osterman

Mrs. Suzanne Marie Saunders Osterman

Mrs. Suzanne S. Osterman

Ms. Suzie Osterman [this one is checked too, although I hate being called Suzie]

January 22, 1985 (Tuesday)

Lee borrowed 15¢ from me today. He would've borrowed 30¢, but I didn't have 30¢.

I made some little notes in classes today. They're as follows.

Math. Km - kilometer hm - hectometers dam - dekameters m - meters dm - decimeters cm - centimeters mm - millimeters SM - Stupid Metrics

If she doesn't care how we do perimeter, can we do it with a calculator?

S. S. How about: Dear Mr. Reagan, Tell your ?%&$! nuclear plants to keep their ?%&$! nuclear waste out of South Carolina!

English (sub. teacher) Kristen always has her homework, my great-aunt's broken foot!

Lee, come on! The guy says he has his homework, he thinks he has his homework, but he doesn't have his homework?

What is this, a tattletale society? Every few minutes, Leaf (Lee Fletcher) says, "Carlos has something to say." then Carlos (McFadden) tells on someone who doesn't have their homework. They've done it two or three times

January 25, 1985 (Friday)

Lee still hasn't paid me back! Monday he is gonna get it! I mean, dead meat is what he is!

Speaking of Lee, he supported my idea in Social Studies. You see, we were discussing the Mayas and why they disappeared and Willie Armstrong (I think) said that maybe the Spaniards drove them off. Well I said that I agreed + I had read an old Aztec legend about one single Spanaird who came to their shore riding on a dolphin, and the Aztecs didn't live too far from the Mayas. Then Lee said, "Yeah, and the Aztecs were conquered by the Spainards." [Obviously none of us realized that the downfall of the Maya civilization occurred some centuries before the Spaniards arrived in Central America.]

Speaking of Willie, turn back + read page 72-3 again [in 6th grade part 1, about Ginger asking me if I had ever gone out with Lee], and consider this: Willie and Lee are very good friends. They always sit together in ALERT. And in Math. This means that Willie probably told Lee about that incident. and I remember that all I said was "Of course not.", and a nod when Ginger said "That'd be the day, eh, Suzanne?" I wonder if Willie did tell Lee, and if so, what Lee thought. I wonder.

January 26, 1985 (Saturday)

Today was my birthday and my birthday party! Wonder of wonders, they fell on the same day this year. Now I'm almost a teenager, since I'm 12.

At my birthday party, we had chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, and grape juice. Staci Emmanuel, Gena Kohn, Sarah Lefton, + Wendy + Tammy Dinkins were there. I got:

• A set of 12 markers, really six markers, but one color on each end, so twelve colors, from Staci.
• A little notepaper holder + note paper on 4 colors, (fron Wendy).
• A gift certificate for $5.00 at Sounds Familiar, a record store. from Sarah.
• A book about The Police. from Tammy.
• A little book to write down homework and a pen (from Gena)
• A bunch of Barbie clothes (from Mom)
• A Happy Birthday Barbie and a Sweet Roses PJ (from Grandmother + Granddaddy Lonon)
• A purple Members Only jacket from Mom and Grandmother L.
• A Cyndi Lauper album (She's So Unusual) from Joe.

We played Make A Mummy, See Which State You Can Stick, Mad Libs, Race, Crepe Paper Spirit, and a lot more! Oh, I forgot to say that I got an extension cord for the headphones on my stereo (from Joe).

The "A" + "B" honor rolls were published in the school paper again, and those people still can't spell! The mistakes from last time were corrected, but they made new ones. Carolina (Caroline) Dugan, Chrs (Chris) Waters, Lok Yin (Lok Yi) Yip, and get this, BRINA Wyatt! (It's supposed to be Brian.) And that's just in the sixth grade (all I looked at).

Our ALERT class is now studying medicine under Ms. Peter. The teacher who took over her class is called Mr. Hinton. We moved into Ms. Peter's classroom which has a phone in it. We take turns answering it, one each week. This week Staci Buebell got to answer it.

January 30, 1985 (Wednesday)

I read a neat book today, called Rainbows + Fireworks. There's one character, Toby (a girl) who finally voiced what I've been thinking for a while. She said, "There's no point in having a crush on someone who might ask you out. Then it's not a crush, it's a mutual attraction." I think that's probably why I have a crush on Lee, because he's so...inattainable.

Oh, did I mention that Jodz says she told Mark that "Suzanne likes you." Supposedly he said "Good. I like her too." Goody!Of course, Jody doesn't always tell the truth, but I like to believe she was. I hope she was.

January 31, 1985 (Thursday)

Lee finally paid me back! A week + 2 days after he borrowed the money!

Jody says she looked through the window of the boys' locker room + saw Thomas [unclothed -- That wasn't the original word I used, but I'm tired of this page drawing those who expect to view obscene images]. I don't believe her. She showed me the window that she had supposedly looked through and it is clear, though. [The window was high above eye level and you had to stand on something to look through it.]

Speaking of Jodz, guess what? She's coined a new nickname for bleck! Sherry Kelly. Broom Hilda! You see, Sherry calls me Mary Poppins, for some strange reason. I told Jody "I don't know why she calls me that. Mary Poppins flew with an umbrella, and I skip." Jody goes "She flies without an umbrella." I go "She flies with a broomstick!" "Thats it! Broom Hilda!" Jodzie yells.

February 8, 1985 (Friday)

Lee Mathis
417 [*****] Rd.
Columbia, SC [***]-6736
Birthday -- August 20
Mark Osterman
2331 [*******] Hills Rd.
Columbia, SC [***]-1523
Birthday -- February 28

I'll send them birthday cards!
Or Valentines!

My ALERT class went to Discovery Place [an educational atraction in Charlotte, NC] Wednesday. It was really neat. We got to hold real sheep's hearts + lungs, + got to see a real human brain in a jar!

Mark was sitting by me in English yesterday, + I was reading a Choose Your Own Adventure book, Lost On The Amazon, and Mark asked me what I was reading. I showed him, + he asked what choice I was making, + I told him I was deciding whether to hire Portilho or Mendoza to fly me into the jungle, + he said he'd read the book, + to hire Mendoza. I did, + sure enough, I found the lost expedition!

[Below this entry are two hearts, one saying "LM + SS" and the other saying "MO + SS", with the word "or" between them.]

February 9 (Saturday)

Our school is having a March of Dimes read-a-thon. Naturally, I'm in it. The way I read, I'll get a lot of money for birth defects! I've already read two books and they just announced it yesterday.

February 17, 1985 (Sun's day)

I've read 7 books for the March of Dimes read-a-thon.

I'm worried. You see, I sent Mark a valentine. I didn't sign it, but it was homemade + Jodzish delivered it. But Mark might've recognized the handwriting + decided I was coming on too strong. I really doubt it, but I'm worried.

February 20, 1985 (Wednesday)

I hate N.K. Lonon
I wrote N.K. Lonon because I hate her so much I don't want to admit she's related to me. I'm glad she and Joe are getting divorced so she'll change her name back to Lonon + I won't have to share a name with her. I hate her with all four chambers of my heart, all 206 of my bones, all 30 odd feet of my intestines, all 16-odd square feet of my skin, and everything else in my body! Everything, you hear! Everything!

Now that I'm cooled down a bit (but believe me, not all that much) I'll write of other matters. We dissected a frog in ALERT today. Actually, I should say frogs, plural, because we divvyed up into pairs + each pair did 1 frog. I was with Christy Lagle.

N.K. Lonon just yelled through the door that she was sorry for yelling at me. My great aunt's broken foot!

February 21, 1985 (Thursday)

Hello, Hello Again!

In English, I passed around a survey that I asked people to fill out. Unfortunately, the thing ran out of blanks before it got to Lee and Mark didn't sign it. Venk did, but all her put were favorite color + hobby (blue + playing football) so it didn't give much to go on as to Mark. Margaret (Maggot) Nesbit put "Hunks" for her hobby. What hunk would ever give her a second glance?

March 7, 1985 (Thursday)

Mark never talks to me about anything but books! I'm sick of it! I think I'll try something drastic, no books in homeroom, S.S. + English. Believe you me, that's drastic!

I've read 28 books for the March of Dimes thingy. Everyone is amazed.

March 8, 1985 (Friday)

Hello.

This picture is of the science fair winners. I'm not one of them, but I cut the picture out because from right to left the people in it are Elizabeth Skiba, Kerry Roberts, Rana Okasha and Mark Osterman! I know I have strange taste, everyone says so.

March 16, 1985 (Saturn's day)

I have now read 41 books for the March of Dimes Thing. You can imagine how amazed everyone is. For comparison, Ginger Norris read four as of Thursday.

In ALERT, I found out that our class has a dirty mind. No kidding. We had ALERT on Friday with Mr. Hinton teaching because Mrs. Peter was in Washington DC with the 8th graders. Anyways, we were discussing steroids + their effects on people. (Steroids are artificial hormones that athletes often take to make themselves grow.) Anyway, Mr. Hinton said that when a man starts taking steroids, his natural system of hormones shuts off. He asked did we know what that means? Somebody, I think it was Sean, yelled "No Fun" + the class cracked up.

Then later when we were trying to learn the names of the muscles (did you know that your rear-end-muscle is called the gludimous maximous? [actually, "gluteus maximus"] Christy Lagle was trying to name the deltoids, which are in your shoulders, and she goes, "It starts with a 'd'." And then our speaker from Danny's gym goes, "I know something that starts with a 'd'." And the whole class cracks up again, even Ginger who was also shouting, "Guys, he didn't says it was something dirty that begins with a 'd'!"

St. Patrick's Day (Sun's day)

Strange thing about Jodz + my initials. Her full name is Pamela Jo Wilson + she likes Patrick + Jonathan. (She's out of love with Thomas + Jack.) And my full name [as written in my baby book, but not on legal documents] is Suzanne Marie Lonon Saunders and I like Sean, Mark, + Lee. Weird, is it not?

March 20, 1985 (Wodin's day)

I pointed Lee out to Jodzie Tiw's day. She says I'm sort of exhibiting good taste. That's better than she thinks of Mark, although not of Sean.

Speaking of P.J., she thinks she's a cow. I kid not, she does! She's been running around yelling "Moo!" for 2 days now. WIERD!

Independent! Study! Time. Yuck. Well, this year Ms. Peter says they don't have to be huge projects this time at least. I'm doing childhood diseases, Sarah's doing teeth, I don't know what Jody, Sean or Mark is doing, + I think Lee's doing the brain, I'm not sure. Ginger Norris is doing pregnancy. I can imagine all the jokes that'll be made at her presentation.

Ms. Peter read us some neat stuff out of a book called Pain + Relief, like the fastest operation ever was the amputation of a man's thigh in 35 seconds. Unfortunately for the amputee, the doctor cut off more than that! -- castrated the poor guy.

Also, the people back them were so prudish, when a doctor performed an operation of any part of a woman, even a wrist or an ankle, he wasn't supposed to look at her. I'm glad I didn't live back then.

March 31, 1985 (Sun's day)

I read 50 books for the March of Dimes thingy. They gave me a "gold" medal, which was for anything over 20 books, and a special certificate, since I read more than anyone else. I'm holding it in the picture.

Jodz invited me to go skating (roller) with her yesterday. I went. We 1st ate lunch at Burger King + then went to the skate rink. We skated for a long time. They (Jody + Jay, her little brother) kept pestering me for refreshments since I brought money + they didn't. One time I told Jodz "When this song (Material Girl) is over" and it turned out to be the extra-long version, it repeated the words at least 3 times. Then Jay fell down + hurt his arm (it turned out to be a broken wrist) + when Jodz's father got there to pick us up we went to the emergency room. Jodz + I stayed in the waiting room + read brochures on breast reconstruction + fat removal. In the car on the way home, we jinxed each other. That's when you say:

Pinch, Poke, Owe me a Coke, Jinx!

And the person you jinx can't talk until you say their name. Oh, I forgot to say you can't say the rhyme until you and the person you are trying to jinx say something at the same time.

After the emergency room I went home.

Go on to Sixth grade part III
Diary Index

Home | Writing | Bio | Resources & Bibliographies | Links