9th Grade Diary
Part 4

The Ides of March 1988

I just had to write because of the date but nothing's happened!

Really boring things (for posterity)

1. they aren't going to tell us how we did on the contest for 5 or 6 weeks. As Brandy would say, "That's a real pisser!"
2. Mr. Hunnicutt rearranged the tables so we didn't bruise our hips all the time. So instead of being between Mike + Sherri I'm next to Sherri and across from Mike! Une très grande change! (As long as I can still fantasize about him!)
3. Tomorrow is the 1st anniversary of the Zannine-Brandmar constitution. [fictional country created by me and two middle-school friends] So I'm going to call Zarlanna + Orsya [aka Brandy and Marie] + read a fake "the Constitution works for everyone" commercial.

The 1st Anniversary of the Z-B Constitution 1988

5:15 - I called Brandy. (Marie wasn't home.) She was quite happy. Sang "Happy Birthday To Us" (several times). We voted for Supreme Court justices, but we need Marie's vote to finalize the matter.

Mike [from the bus, not Mike from the previous entry] and Rick (a St. Pete guy who thinks he's cool) had a shouting match on the bus today. In the middle of it Mike yells, "Do you spank your monkey?" And Rick does not understand what that means and answers, "I don't have a monkey!" And everybody burst out laughing because even I understood what Mike meant but Rick didn't.

St. Patrick's Day 1988 (Thurs.)

Rick either wasn't here or didn't ride the bus so the shouting match wasn't continued.

Justin wore a sweater! Usually he wears Led Zeppelin T-shirts, jeans, and shoes my mom would've long since thrashed! (And when it's cold that jean jacket that makes him look so gorgeous!) But today he wore a sweater. It was cute but not like his jacket. The sweater wasn't even green!

Mr. Brown gave us a day off from working on our research projects to talk about St. Patrick's Day. That led to Catholics vs. Protestants in Northern Ireland which led to religion in general. After discussing the different sects of Christianity we got into Judaism. Noah + Beth are the only Jewish people in the class so Mr. Brown had Noah tell us about a little of Jewish history. Mostly stuff I already knew but thought of as Christian history. Weird.

Only a little over a week to go til spring break!

March 25, 1988 (Friday)

Spring break has started! Grandmother + -daddy arrived! Today was somewhat of a free day.

1st period - Jeopardy! Starting with Economics + on to other subjects. We were in 5th place. Everyone started with 100 and Jason got one wrong + I got one right so we were still at 100.

2nd - Free. Mr. Brown graded ntbks; I read Hickory Dickory Death

3rd - Played handball girls (2 classes) vs. those classes boys. They won, of course.

5-6: Watched Moonlighting version of The Taming of the Shrew since we've just finished the original.

7-8 - A sub. No one did any work. I spent the class writing notes in smiley-face code to Jeni.

10th: (9th and 10th were switched because a performance {Gold Fever} was scheduled for last period but we missed last period last assembly so if we went to Gold Fever we missed 9th. I didn't go.) Sub for Dr. Logan took us over to Mme. Dyckman's who let us make chocolate fondue because she doesn't have a class that period.

9th: watched a thrilling film on Arthropoda, Agnatha, Chondrichtheyes, Osteichtheyes, Amphibia + Reptilia. With about 8 students + Mr. Hunnicutt.

Au Revoir. I'll write it down if I do anything particularly interesting (not likely).

March 26, 1988 (Saturday)

Our furniture for the sunroom has arrived. I'm sitting on it now and I like it. It is light wood frames with thick off-white cushions and as Mom would say, "very Flo-ree-dah." I've got the portable tape player out here and am listening to the Bangles. For some reason the radio is staticky out here even though it's not in my room. But I can live with just tapes out here.

Grandmother + Granddaddy have gone food shopping because they don't like the food we have, or rather than we don't have some things Granddaddy considers necessary for his cooking. But at least he'll fix the broken shower!

March 29, 1988 (Tuesday)

I am in a good mood! I bought a tape splicer and repaired that tape that's been broken since 1985! And with some more work I'll manage to do my other screwed-up tape which needs more than one splice. (I'm not doing too well with these 3 colors, am I?)

Mom, Martha, Grandmother + I went shopping yesterday. I bought The Authorized Al, "the amazing and somewhat made-up story of a rock'n'roll legend," namely Weird Al, a Peter Wolf tape with "Lights Out and "Oo-Ee-Diddley-Bop."

Cancel the 1st 4 lines of this entry. [The first two sentences, in this format.] I am pissed, the tape is now beyond repair. I hate these tapes, that splicer, and this tape player.

To continue what I kinda cut off, I also bought Jimmy Buffett's Changes In Latitudes tape (both were on sale) and a really neat fan like the one I had in 7th grade. And today I bought the splicer. so I have about 1 dollar left (from $16). My next allowance will probably go on developing 1 roll of film + buying another.

Au revoir.

Saturday April 2, 1988

Mom Is A Bitch! Grandmother + -daddy are on her side but not as bad. This is because Mom says if I go to the used book store I can only buy 2 books even though I'd be getting rid of more than 10. Now, is that fair?

Other things, some nicer, have happened. a) Granddaddy fixed the screwed-up shower b) Granddaddy replaced the screwed-up needle of my record player so I can listen to records again. c)Granddaddy took me to get my film developed + gave me the money to pay for it. We get them back tomorrow afternoon so I'll have something to do.

Grandmother + Mom have been shopping. And been shopping. And been shopping. How can they stand it? I'd be bored stiff. At the moment they're at Clearwater Mall looking at drapes or something. God!

April 5, 1988 (Tuesday)

The bus didn't come so I got to stay home today. Mr. Brown's gonna be pissed that I was absent because we've got a notebook check for our research papers today. Also I'm missing an Economics test but I can make that up on Friday (a D-day).

I'm trying out Mom's theory that my frequent headaches are caused by too much reading, so I'm bored as hell. It's either watch reruns, listen to gunk music on Q105 or watch Grandmother iron. I've chosen the radio.

I'm trying to use up the red + green ink in this 4-color pen. It's kinda hard because I use the blue + black a lot at school. Also I am trying to fill the diary fast so I can use the new one. I can't stand having unused things lying around doing nothing, it's just so irritating!

Noah got a haircut over Easter break. So now his hair is shorter and straighter. His hair was almost curly when it wasn't clipped like this.

April 6, 1988 (Wednesday)

The bus didn't come again! Mom + I are both pissed. I can't afford to miss this much school! We are going to call Transportation. And if the bus isn't on time tomorrow...

April 7, 1988 (Thursday)

Bus came, Dieu Merci!

Not half as hard as I thought it would be to make up all the stuff. 1st - test to make up 2nd - rien really 3 - nothing of course 5-6 - rien (although I'm not sure how I did on a Taming of the Shrew quiz I decided to go ahead + take today), 7-8 - a test today I didn't take (and will have to make up) and nothing important in 10th. In 9th I missed a day of crayfish dissection + Sherri was absent aujourd'hui so Mary Lou did nearly everything. She's the dissector + I re-drew most of her drawings so they're much better. It works out good. Since Sherri's never here we can't count on her although she's a much better artist than either of us two.

April 13, 1988 (Wed.)

They told us early the contest results. Jeni got 66 out of 80 and was 11th in the state on our level -- I got 65 out of 80 and was 12th. We're proud of ourselves. The other 3 on our level from SPHS didn't even get a rank.

April 17, 1988 (Sunday)

Today was Brandy's birthday! I spent the day over at her house and Lord am I tired!

Lindy and Brandy picked me up a little after 11 (they'd already gotten Marie) and we went over to Brandy's. I took pictures of their cats (and Brandy and Marie) and we puttered around doing Mad Libs and asking the fortunetelling ball [Magic 8-Ball] questions while Brandy made noise on her new drums. Yes, she has a drum set, complete with cymbals + wire brushes for the drums + everything. As yet all she can do on them is make noise; she can't do much in the way of rhythm. Anyway, we didn't do much until around two. They'd rented Lost Boys so we put it in. Then Brandy's friend Bonnie arrived. She wasn't the kind of person I would have even particularly known at school but under the circumstances she was nice. Then Lindy's boyfriend Bob arrived. That's all the people who came except for some little neighborhood girl who hung around half the day. (Some guy named Brian was invited but didn't show up.) So we watched The Lost Boys and Labyrinth, during which we ate pizza and cake and then Brandy opened her presents. I game her the Beastie boys tape [Licensed To Ill]. She also got Whitesnake from Shawn and Kiss from somebody + various other stuff. Then Marie had to go. Then we had kind of a balloon fight. Then in succession, Bonnie, Bob, and the little neighborhood girl had to go. So Shawn, Brandy + me went in her room and they played with the wire brushes from the drum set and made interesting jokes ("Stop hitting me with that brush or I'll rip off your balls!" "Is that a promise or a threat?") Then the 3 of us went for a walk and the 2 of them had a cigarette (but I didn't because I don't smoke and don't want to) and when we got back Shawn's parents were there so he left. Then we sat around and I recorded "OJFM" [the title of a mix tape] and then it was about 9 o'clock so Lindy took me home.

le 22 Avril 1988 (vendredi)

Mom is, and has been, dating a 21-year-old. [Mom was 40 at this time.] His name is Mike. Mom thinks he's gorgeous. I think he looks average. I can't understand why she like him. Luckily, he'll be going back to New Jersey soon. (Mom met him at her real estate class.)

April 23, Shakespeare's Birthday (Sat.)

Incidentally, about p. 117-8 [entry about the fictional country of Zannine-Brandmar] Marie voted on Brandy's birthday. Matt, Jeno, Becky + Ms. Cook are the official Supreme Court Justices of Zannine-Brandmar. I put this in because I am supposed to be trying to finish things I start. (And because right now I'm bored + felt like writing.)

April 25, 1988 (Mon.)

Being a girl is a nuisance! For example:

Today I got my period. (Of course it would be Monday!) So I got cramps like I always do on my 1st day so I ate lunch + took 2 Bayer. But the cramps got worse instead of better until they got to be the type that feel like someone's slowly tying your intestines in knots and then cutting the knots with a knife. So I asked Mr. Lulek if I could go to the bathroom + he said yes. So I went and threw up. That always happens if I take aspirin with not enough on my stomach so I must not've eaten enough. So after that I went back to class but I still felt horrible so I asked Mr. Lulek if I could go to the clinic and he said yes and commented that I looked pale. (And later on today when I passed him in the hall he was nice enough to ask if I felt better.) So I spent the last half of 5-6 period + the first half of 7-8 lying down in the clinic until the cramps went away. Luckily we were just reviewing Great Expectations and going over a test. Well, at least my cramps are over from another month.

April 26, 1988 (Tuesday)

Roger Taylor's birthday [former drummer for Duran Duran, not the drummer of the same name from Queen]

Mom, as I may have mentioned, has been trying to get me out of the house for her dates, so I finally capitulated and asked Brandy to go to a movie with me Saturday night since Marie's grounded. She agreed and we're probably going to see Biloxi Blues.

April 30, 1988 (Saturday)

A 4 heures Brandy + I will go over to Tyrone Mall. The movie starts at 5:30 and ends around 7:20. Then time is to be killed until around 10. Exact description will be written later as right now it's 2:30.

---

It didn't work out quite the way I described.

At 4 we picked her up + drove over to Tyrone Mall, arriving at about 4:19. The next 20 min. we spent in a Maas [Maas Brothers, a department store] bathroom with Brandy fixing her hair. She has her bangs sticking everywhichaways and her parents won't let her leave the house that way. Then we walked through the Mall and temporarily lost each other in one of the record stores. When we found each other + got across 66th [Street] to the movie theater it'd started 5 minutes ago. So we decided to go see the 8 o'clock showing. So we walked back over to the Mall + looked at Mother's Day cards + books. I bought Mom + Grandmother S. cards and a bookmark that says "A book a day keeps brain decay away." Then it was nearly time so we went over to the movie theater + saw the movie. It wasn't as good as its predecessor, Brighton Beach Memoirs (although that could be the fact that Matthew Broderick isn't as cute as Jonathan Silverman!) but still pretty good. Then we called her mom to come pick us up + she dropped me off here at home. Mom + Mike aren't here. So I guess I'll just go to sleep now before they come back and turn the stereo on.

Today was fun.

May 4, 1988 (Wednesday)

Monday the bus didn't come so I got a day off.

Report cards came out today. I got a's in Algebra + French, a c in biology and b's in everything else. The C was because of abysmal lab + lab practical grades. Even though it's only the second C I've ever gotten, I'm not mad. It's weird how I don't get mad at this grade, I get majorly stressed out over this damn research paper in Brown. Speaking of which, I have to make my oral presentation on the 16th which is a Monday (of course) so it'll ruin my weekend. Luckily I don't have to go 1st (about 7th) Jeni's last. Noah's 2nd to last.

May 8, 1988, Mother's Day (Sun.)

News: We had the dumbest sub in Algebra Friday! It was E-day so a few people had academic coaching (Jeni, Tom, Marylou, + Jennifer) so when they left tons of other people (David + other popular people plus some others) so 3 people were left, me, Brian something or other + Mike Grossman. (for future readers, I happen to prefer sitting in an almost empty classroom + reading Gone With The Wind to walking around the school hoping not to get caught.) We, of course, did not mention that anything was amiss (we have some loyalty to our fellow students!) The sub mentioned that this had happened all day (me controlling snickers). Later Jeni said Mr. Brown told her 9th period class (Allana included; that's who told Jeni) that he'd been in West Central and had seen the exodus and not been surprised until he "saw Jeni Shepardson leaving!" Jeni told Allana she really had coaching and to go ask Dr. Cline (her coach) if she didn't believe her! But Allana said "Oh, I'm sure Dr. Cline would lie for you!" because she's been teasing Jeni about supposedly having crushes on 1st Dr. Logan, then Mr. Hunnicutt, and now Dr. Cline. I suggested that Jeni say Allana likes Mr. Brown (quelle idee!)

This week Mr. Brown mentioned a song called Dead Puppies in class and I've got a song called that on the weird tape Brandy made me + I told him about it + he asked if he could borrow it. I wonder what he'll think of the other songs on the tape (Fish Heads, Disco Toilet, etc.)

I watched this neat ballet version of Romeo and Juliet on PBS. It was the American Ballet Theatre and this cute guy named Kevin MacKenzie danced Romeo and another cute guy Johann something was Mercutio. (Lord, I'm starting to sound like Jody!) But it was a great balled, good + dramatic. I was yelling "That's not fair!" when Tybalt stabs Mercutio + stuff like that. I hope they rerun it.

The Ides of May (the 15th) 1988 (Sunday)

Remind me never to spend the night with someone I cannot honestly call best friend. I spent the night with Yvonne (Sciascia, a girl from PE class). J'ai été miserable.

Mom drove me over to her house (she's a non-PAT student at St. Pete so she lives on the Bay instead of the Gulf.) She introduced me to her little sister, Angel, her little brother, Peter, his friend James, and her geek/dweeb of a boyfriend Troy. (It is hereby decreed a crime in Zannine-Brandmar to invite a friend over and then spend all your time nuzzling your boyfriend. Mitigating circumstances: only if said boyfriend is about to be sent to Timbuktu (for the army?) (Or if he looks like Jim Morrison.) So we all went over to the neighborhood pool (public) and stayed there for a while. Then we walked on the beach + Yvonne + Troy had kind of a fight. Then we went back to her house + Troy left + we watched TV + ate hamburgers. We did that for most of the evenin + went to bed at the beginning of SNL but left the TV on until Yvonne's mom got home + turned it off.

We got up about 10 + hung around until 1 when the pool opened (Troy arrived about this time) + went over there. (God are my shoulders sunburned!) We went home + ate lunch + went back to the pool. At 4 we started back to her house + Mom met us in the parking lot. Then I gathered up my stuff + went home (Thank the Lawd!)

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