Craziness

Or crazine-s, you decide.

I did graduate. It was spectacular, but not in the way that you would think.

You see, it did get down to the last possible second and Helena and the other guy were still neck and neck for the big prize.

They decided to have a dance-off.

I am absolutely not kidding.

It was awesome.  The winner was awarded the Valedictorian medal.

Helena won.

And then she gave her speech and made no less than ten references to various rap songs.

It was stunning.

This week has been slow in a fast kind of way.

I’m going to try and keep up.

But nothing beats a dance-off.

Steve in the basket from which we ate our post graduation french fries

This is what I got by starting at the beginning.

Courtesy the good people at

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/letter_generator/

annletter1

I don’t really expect a response, because his typing skills aren’t terrific.

Call me Diego, if you must

My senior theme (I hate it that they still call it that, it makes it sound like this is the one thing that will set the whole tone for the rest of our lives,like some bad high school dance in the gym of the world.), is on Epistolary Literature.  You would be amazed at how many people at my school, a few of them teachers, thought this meant I was going to write a paper on handguns or maybe hair removal products.

I wish I was kidding.

Although a handgun that removed hair might be interesting.

No one wants to be dead and hairy.

For those of you who really want to know

“There are two theories on the genesis of the epistolary novel. The first claims that the genre originated from novels with inserted letters, in which the portion containing the third person narrative in between the letters was gradually reduced.^[1] The other theory claims that the epistolary novel arose from miscellanies of letters and poetry: some of the letters were tied together into a (mostly amorous) plot.^[2] Both claims have some validity. The first truly epistolary novel, the Spanish “Prison of Love” (Cárcel de amor) (c.1485) by Diego de San Pedro”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistolary_novel

But I don’t plan on limiting myself to the novel.   I was at the college library, a surprisingly humorless place, browsing while Mac furrowed her brow at a Sylvia Plath biography. I pulled out a book at random.  Maybe to find a fact to stave off the information vampires that feed on me, and a letter floated out.  I didn’t read the whole thing; I just saw what was on the bottom.

Sometimes you just know

You are here. (But why?)

I came very close to telling Helena that early does not apply on weekends.

I woke up to Mac sitting on the side of the bed nudging me out and straight into Helena.  I knew I shouldn’t have told them where we keep the spare key. I don’t think my parents were even up yet.

Yes, I have considered telling them that I do not appreciate the fact that they are both such heavy sleepers that I could be kidnapped or assaulted or dragged out of the house by marauders disguised by teenagers and they would be none the wiser.

Our study task for today: Pick the topic for our Senior Research Paper.  We went to breakfast and neither of them said anything about my coffee or drinking or usage of artificial sweetener.  That made me suspicious.  This was going to well.  And Mac was sitting next to me, so I couldn’t get out of the booth for a fast getaway. (She usually sits across from me so she can have the maximum amount of legroom.

Helena waited until my mouth was full of delicious pancake before she mentioned that we would have to start getting ready at around 5:30.  I’m an idiot so I said, “Get ready? For what? Are you guys taking me to the dance?”

Dead silence around the table.  In my head I heard the background noise from Friday the 13th.

Helena just smiled at me as Mac elbowed me against the wall.  Helena told me that in the interest of fulfilling the goals of becoming more effective in our own lives, we should participate more in school events.  I didn’t say anything.  Mac said, “Come on, Ann, do you want to spend you’re whole Senior year staring at the ground?”

Yes.  Yes I do.  I have seen the tragic result of looking at people.  Besides, looking at the ground is how I found Steve (my rock)

That is exactly what convinced me that maybe I am getting too weird.

Helena went on to say that we should  begin with the end in mind.  That implies that I have some choice in the matter. Of course, I’m the idiot who didn’t suspect anything when Mac bought the shoes.

So we’re going to the dance.

For some reason I keep thinking of that scene in the John Hughes movie where the parents are trying to force their son to attend the dance.

I’m not lending anyone my underwear, not even for Farmer Ted.

It was- good coffee

Less Effective, More Objective

I think I’m going to confiscate Helena’s library card.

She came bounding up to me and Mac hugging a book against her chest, her backpack swinging wildly on her shoulder, narrowly missing my head. She reached out and gave me a pat and showed us the book.

97 Things to do before you finish High School.

I thought we were kind of in the middle of another Helena project. This is the exact thing that Mac was thinking as I caught her eye over Helena’s head. Before either of us could say anything, Helena explained that this book would be a great resource for  the first habit of being proactive, as well as the second one, to begin with the end in mind.

It all sounded ominous and wrought with tension.   We still have a bunch of stuff to do as far as our school work is concerned, and I thought that should take priority otherwise we won’t be graduating, which I guess would give us plenty of time to finish the 97 things.

Helena swore that she would help me and Mac with the outlines for our Senior papers which were due at the end of next week, and she promised that we would do something fun this weekend.  I saw this in the parking lot and picked it up.  I wondered what it meant. Helena said in a stage whisper, “I think Steve is the rock’s name.”  Steve is in my backpack reminding me that bright things are available even for those who are looking down.

A bright spot in the parking lot