Category: high school

C is for Choices

Posted in attitude, babies, best, bucket list, California, cats, childhood, choices, chorus, climate change, dating, dogs, ex-boyfriend, expectations, friends, gender, high school, humor, memoir, relationships1 Comment

Life is a series of choices: what to eat for breakfast, what college to go to, which person to marry, whether to see the cup half full or half empty. It’s much easier to look back at life and say what choices were good or bad. Whatever they were, they got you to where you… Continue reading C is for Choices

Belly-up Beetle

Posted in alcohol abuse, beetle, California, cars, dating, drinking, drugs, guardian angel, high school, marijuana, memoir, relationships, Volkswagen, worstsLeave a comment

(re-run) Curtis drove a1969 vintage Volkswagen Beetle. George, his wing man, brought the weed. They’d met their dates at a party. Stacy and Camille went to San Leandro High. Curtis and George went to Castro Valley. Curtis liked Camille. George got Stacy. They all partied at a friend of a friend’s house in Oakland until… Continue reading Belly-up Beetle

Chuck’s Drive-in Movie Date

Posted in California, dating, drinking, drive-in movie, high school, humor, necking, Pontiac, taxidermy, worstLeave a comment

(re-run) Chuck drove his powder blue Bonneville Pontiac to pick up his new girlfriend for their drive-in movie date during his senior year of high school.  He had tricked out the interior of the car with his two taxidermy quail on a bed of shag carpeting in the car’s back window. When he drove his… Continue reading Chuck’s Drive-in Movie Date

Writing It Down

Posted in blog, boy, dancing, exercise, female issues, gender, gender roles, high school, humor, Iowa, memoir, relationshipsLeave a comment

(re-run) Yesterday, as I drove up the freeway to BART, where I would meet two girlfriends and one of their daughters to go to the city to see Hamilton again, I was composing my blog post, out loud, in the slow lane. I was on a roll, phrasing each sentence to perfection as other drivers… Continue reading Writing It Down

Get Some Facetime

Posted in California, cell phones, high school, humor, memoir, Millennials, relationships, school, school shooting, student march, vote, waiting roomLeave a comment

(re-run) As I stepped into the waiting room of my chiropractor’s office, three women and one guy were looking down at their cell phones, sitting in a symmetrical pattern amongst the u-shaped chairs. Feeling giddy from my fifty-five minute massage I said,” Well, this looks like a blog post to me! You’re all on your… Continue reading Get Some Facetime

Scariest Student Ever

Posted in children, firsts, high school, humor, Iowa, junior high school, memoir, middle school, Midwestern, relationships, teacher, teaching, worst1 Comment

(re-run) During my ten years of teaching public school, I had many a student that caused me grief.  The 8th grader transfer student who called me a bitch in front of the whole class on his first day.  The brilliant 7th grade boy who lit matches in the hallway and dropped them on… Continue reading Scariest Student Ever

A Lasting Love

Posted in California, cars, Catholic, Chevy, dancing, dating, high school, Homecoming, humor, music, parking, relationships, romance, sisterLeave a comment

(re-run) Maurice was a sophomore at Riordan Catholic High School for Boys in San Francisco. He played tenor sax in the marching band. His buddy, Dave, was dating a girl named Sheila from Mercy Catholic High School for girls, and he suggested that Maurice date her older sister, Colleen. The foursome went to the football… Continue reading A Lasting Love

Behind Closed Doors

Posted in abuse, attitude, basement, brother, Catholic, childhood, Facebook, gender roles, high school, Iowa, junior high school, memoir, physical abuse, relationships, worstLeave a comment

(re-run) I read a memoir about a woman’s tough childhood, with violence, danger, and an abusive older brother. I recommended it to Facebook friends online. A friend said she didn’t like it because she didn’t think the book rang true. “The Mormon part or the survivalist part?” I asked her. “Neither.” She didn’t think anyone… Continue reading Behind Closed Doors

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

Posted in California, Carmel, college, dancing, fashion, fraternity, high school, mom, Nebraska, quirky, sorority, stay-at-home mom, thrift store, wingtip shoes3 Comments

(re-run) When I was in high school and bought some of my clothes at the DAV (Disabled American Vets) thrift store, they called me quirky. When I made a cool pair of bell bottom jeans out of my dad’s old work pants, they called me quirky, but they also asked me where I got them.… Continue reading Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

A New Chorus

Posted in alto, choreography, chorus, directors, Disney channel, dogs, high school, memoir, pandemic, rehearsal, singing, teenagers, vocal rangeLeave a comment

(re-run) My chorus hasn’t given a performance in two whole years. We are scheduled to sing next month, with only two rehearsals left.  Tonight, we rehearsed for two and a half hours, and we were on the risers for half of it. This chorus is not like the one we had two years ago. The… Continue reading A New Chorus