High School, and the Yearbook

Another conversation with the same friend as what spurred
on my recent Clue reveries has prompted me to fulfill some
kind of sado-masochistic prophesy, and break out my
high school yearbooks. I admit...I've spent quite a while tonight
laughing fairly hard over those old pictures. Dang, we was
funny back then. But I was so much older then I'm younger than
that now, right? Anyway, here are a few pics of me, back in
the day. No real order or reason here...just going through and
picking out what stands out to me. (Although I'll be smudging
last names to protect the guilty...)

I will say, however, that we were all proud (cough cough) students
of Hustisford High School, Hustisford, WI. Go Falcons!

Click on the smallies for some largies...

Fair warning: this is the only even moderately cute picture
you will see of me on this whole page. This is as good as
it gets, folks. (It's from the standard "Identify the kid as one
of your goofy classmates" page...)

Here's a pair for you. Lilian was one of the sweetest
girls I have ever known, an exchange student from
Columbia. I was terribly fond of her. Ale is another story...a
hard story to tell, actually. Another exchange student, from
Mexico, Ale was killed in a drunk driving accident while
she was here in the States, only a few months into the
school year. I don't think I was ever quite the same myself
after that...it shook me quite a bit. She and Lilian had
become good friends, and it broke my heart to see Lilian
at Ale's funeral. 'In Memorium' pages are terrible things
to have to have in a high school yearbook.

Okay, after that story, here's your first chance to laugh. I had
some long hair back then. :)  As for my prom court date...I
suspect that the hardest relationship I would ever have to sum
up would be the one I had with Sarah. So I won't try to sum it
up. But I liked her a heck of a lot, too.

And we look so happy to have been chosen, too...this is
my good friend Duke, who I reference on the Clue page...

Let me let you in on a secret, too...Duke and I were
'selected' for Badger Boys State because we were the
only two from our class who qualified. Honestly. Our
school advisor approached us one day and asked
whether we were planning on applying for it. Neither of
us had any real interest in government, so we both said
no. He then hinted that we really should apply, it'll be
good for us, etc. After we both said no again, he admitted
that no one else in our class met the state's qualifications,
so if we didn't apply, no one would go...and if we did apply,
it was guaranteed that we'd go. So...we went.

Did I mention the long hair, and the heavy metal and the
hey hey? Before you get too excited: this was for a lip sync
contest, for Homecoming. There's Sarah again, on the right,
and my good friend Jason in the back. Had a lot of good
times with Jason that year. Great guy.

I have always been a tech geek, when it comes to theatre.
That meant lighting in high school, mostly sound in college.
But here is proof that I did step out in front of the audience
one time...for one scene. This is the cast photo for "Bye Bye
Birdie", a really rather strange play about a music star who...
does something...and goes somewhere. I really don't recall
what. But, I played guitar in one scene. My mom took all that
hair you've seen in the other pics and bundled it all up into
a pretty sweet looking pompadour. I upset the director just a
bit when I rolled a borrowed pack of cigs up in my sleeve...but
hey, I was going for authenticity. So, no red circle necessary,
I'm the one in the back, with the guitar.

Academic Decathlon! Tom = Geek!
If I recall, we really put in zero preparation for this, pretty
much across the board, and we got killed. But...it was a fun
time. Here's a test: can you find me? Hint: I'm still the one
with all the hair...the male, that is. Another hint? I'm right
next to the one guy who's obviously not a student. That guy,
by the way, is Hank, in all honesty one of the finest educators
to walk the earth. I kid you not.
Also note that we were, apparently, "SPECIAL!"

Several points to bring up about this picture. First...
it should be "Stacey and Tom", not "Tom and Stacey",
given the order in which we appear in the photo. Eh, big
deal. Secondly, I will note that we were, apparently, a very
cruel class, or perhaps a cruel school entirely. My friend
who's conversation prompted me to scan these pics told
me that her class didn't give out a 'Best Brains' award,
because it might make people who didn't win it feel bad.
Well, not only did we give out what amounts to a "These
People Are Smarter Than YOU" award, but we also gave
out the "Most Likely To Get Married First" award, which
of course ensured that the unlucky couple chosen would
break up within the year...and they did. But worse yet, we
also gave out the "Most Gullible" award. And we didn't stop
there. To top it all off, we gave out the "Most Likely To Be
Single Forever" award. I kid you not. Wow. Harsh.

Stacey, by the way, here in the photo with me, is someone
I probably should have gotten along with more in high
school. We were actually fairly good friends in grade school,
for a while. But not in high school, although I suspect now
that we had a lot in common. In fact, in a rare instance
of Yearbook Veracity, I do believe that she and I are the
only two from our class to go on to PhD programs.

Well, that's...oh, forgot one more...

As these things are figured, these were my three closest
friends from high school: Dana, Duke, and Joe. This
pic was taken after another lip sync contest. I have no
recollection of what event the contest was for, but I do
remember that Dana and I lip synced to "I Had the Time
of My Life", while Duke and Joe danced around in the
background.
I apologize for the language of the hand-written note in
the larger version of this picture...you know how high
school boys are :D

If you're in one of these pictures...drop me a line! Because
odds are, I haven't heard from you in a very long time. And,
oddly enough, odds are that I'd like to.