Year Book Signatures

I used to feel kind of cheap going around and asking people to sign my yearbook. Often, it was a numbers game, where you were trying to get as many signatures as possible. Consequently, you had no idea what people would say in the official record of your school year. My big ego and fear of what people actually thought of me made this a terrifying experience. Continuing on the "showing more of myself in the blog" meme, I give you a sample of signtaures/notes from my class yearbooks:

1983/4 (3rd/4th grade)

• "Don't be dum nex yeare." The irony aside, this guy had the coolest cough in the class. A deep, chesty, vibrato cough. I think he had asthma. We used to chase him around with sticks just to hear it.
• "Joseph K is the BEST." My healthy sense of self and ability to judge talent was apparent early on.
• "L.J. is the BEST." Nonsense from my unoriginal, delusional best friend at the time.

1984/5 (5th grade)

• "It's nice to know there are friend's like you." Who was teaching grammar at this school?
• "Thanks for being a good friend." I wonder if he would have written that if he knew that I used to fantasize about making out with his twin sister.

1986/87 (6th grade)

• "To a friend who shares a fascist mind with my commie mind." I don't think either of us knew what those ideologies were, but that they sounded cool. Not as cool as being anti-triclavianists. But, still cool.
• "To Joseph K, tu es 'un sourire' dans la classe. Tu es tres intelligent et quelquefois un petit peu embetant. Mais, je suis tres contente d'avoir fait la connaissance de cet eleve genial." This was from my french teacher. Just between you an me, I think she had a 'thing' for me.
• "Your ugly face and big mouth has made this year more exciting." This was the same guy who made the comment a few years before about not being dumb the next year. I think he had a 'thing' for me.
• ""Joseph K, I really don't know you very well. But thanks for saying stupid things to me. I always loved your ties." This girl would later try to strangle me with her purse for reasons that escape me now.

1989/90 (11th grade)

• "My future opinion page editor. And to think that I'll have to continue to put up with your bullshit journalism." Prior to becoming the opinion page editor, my friend N and me were the pollsters for our high school paper. We'd be dispatched to find out the buzz among the student body on important issues. Our polling technique was not scientific, per se. Basically, we go out during journalism class, play ping pong for the hour, and survey ourselves and the guy who loaned us the ping pong balls. A lot of "33% yes, 33% no and 33% not sure" results. There were many questions about the accuracy of our results. I got elected to the opinion page editor position, which is yet more evidence that democracy doesn't work.
• "We gotta fight for de motherland. Keep fighting the invisible enemy." This guy was Dutch, and I am not. Who are Holland's invisible enemies? The Danes?