Category: high school

Home Alone in the Shower

Posted in 70s, Alfred Hitchcock, basement, bathroom, Chicago, high school, memoir, meter man, Psycho the movie, shower, teenagersLeave a comment

If you’ve never seen Alfred Hitchcock’s horror movie, Psycho, Janet Leigh gets killed while taking a shower.  It’s a creep fest, and she won awards for her convincing screams. Flash back to the 70’s, when I was a teen and home alone, taking a shower in the new basement bathroom. It was a crude affair… Continue reading Home Alone in the Shower

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

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 great 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… Continue reading Behind Closed Doors

The Neighbors, the Loose Pitbull, and the Daily Pooper

Posted in animal control, antique store, California, children, confrontation, dogs, Frisbee, high school, leash, memoir, middle school, neighbors, pit bull, poop, teachingLeave a comment

(re-run) We bought a house on a street that was a long court with two courts coming off of it. We were up at the top, and it was a great and safe place for my kids to walk our greyhound mix dog. Until it wasn’t. “That was a short walk,” I said when they… Continue reading The Neighbors, the Loose Pitbull, and the Daily Pooper

Prom Be Gone

Posted in dancing, dating, firsts, fraternity, high school, Prom, puppy love, relationshipsLeave a comment

(re-run)  It was supposed to be junior prom at Stoughton High, but it got cancelled (thirteen years before the movie Footloose). Patsy wasn’t going steady with anyone, so she wasn’t too upset. At the last minute the school arranged a dance in the high school gym, but with no decorations, no court (no prom queen),… Continue reading Prom Be Gone

Pennies from Heaven

Posted in college, drugs, Eric Clapton, firsts, head shop, high school, humor, Iowa, J.J. Cale, memoir, music, relationships, smokingLeave a comment

(re-run) When I was sixteen, I saved up my babysitting money and went downtown to Cottage Grove Avenue in Des Moines, where there was a head shop filled with incense, hanging beads, roach clips, black light posters and tie dye. Although I wasn’t a pothead (I didn’t smoke cigarettes either), I enjoyed the ambience of… Continue reading Pennies from Heaven

Abortion, High School Pregnancies and Memories

Posted in abortion, adopting, cheerleading, fooling around, girl crush, high school, memoir, memory, PE, pregnancy, pregnant, reputation, teen pregnancy, teensLeave a comment

(re-run) It amazes me how one memory leads to the next and so on and so forth. Our brains are a beehive of memories, each one stashed in its own little honey-comb hexagon that doesn’t break out until something triggers it. Today it was talk of abortion and how a friend told of hers at… Continue reading Abortion, High School Pregnancies and Memories

The Sequin That Bugged Me

Posted in alto, chorus, head voice, high school, memoir, OCD, pandemic, parts placement, rehearsal, sequin, singing, sweater, tenor, YouTubeLeave a comment

It was on my shoulder, and it was bugging me, one shiny sequin that I’d failed to see when I’d cut them off my second-hand sweater. It was a blue and green floral, found in a thrift store, hardly worn, but the sequins dated it. to the 80s. So I’d cut them off, except for… Continue reading The Sequin That Bugged Me

The Tennis Shoe and the Broken Window

Posted in classmates, college, high school, Iowa, Iowa State University, locker room, memoir, physical fitness, physical fitness award, softball, teacher, windowLeave a comment

It was senior year in high school. I was on my last semester of PE, my least favorite class. I maintained a straight-A average in all other classes. Not PE. It alternated between a B and a C. I was feeling good. We were in our next-to last unit, the physical fitness award. I already… Continue reading The Tennis Shoe and the Broken Window

Four Bands and Birthdays in Four Nights

Posted in Beatles, birthday, California, dancing, Eagles, friends, girlfriends, high school, humor, live music, milkshakes, relationships, summer, two-dollar billLeave a comment

(re-run) I know summer is here when I’ve seen four live bands in four nights. The first band played in Moraga on Thursday, a bit of a drive with traffic at 5:00 p.m. Three Day Weekend had good harmony, interesting song choices and some mean guitar, even horns. The crowd was mellow, lots of families… Continue reading Four Bands and Birthdays in Four Nights