02.09.05 - 9:44 p.m.

Questions about my senior year in high school:

What year was it?
1995-1996

What were your three favorite bands?
R.E.M., of course, but looking back at my Trilobite tapes from that year, I was still into Live, Pearl Jam, Weezer, Veruca Salt, Jeff Buckley, and...Hootie and the Blowfish.

What was your favorite outfit?
Yikes. Though my style was improving (from oversized band t-shirts and my father's old jeans in the early years of high school), my favorite clothes were still cringeworthy. Mostly I remember the shoes: a pair of brown pseudo-combat boots with a chunky heel, platform Converse-style sneaks by NaNa, random Mary Jane heels I bought in France the summer before senior year. I also loved t-shirt style shift dresses (think mod 60s minidresses) in any fabric imaginable - I had them in red, silver, and fluffy pink. Double yikes.

What was up with your hair?
It was a chin-length bob, blunt, no bangs. When one of my college boyfriends saw my senior picture, he told me I looked like a divorced librarian. The string of pearls I was wearing in the photo probably cemented that description, but I have a feeling the haircut had a lot to do with it too.

Who were your best friends?
Deb, Jamie and Andrea (aka The Beav, and I can't remember why). We monopolized the corner booth in the lunchroom.

What did you do after school?
I came home and watched Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (!), I went to work (see below), or Deb and I went to the mall and ate all the samples in the food court.

Where did you work?
Jamie and I worked at Boston Market, where they treated us as if we were interchangeable (and I guess we were, really). It wasn't difficult by any stretch and it wasn't too bad - I still eat the food, but I'm happy I don't have to clean large rotisserie ovens with those brain-eating chemicals anymore.

Did you take the bus?
No, I had my own car, a strawberry-red Escort named Tim (after the line in Monty Python and the Holy Grail: "There are some who call me...Tim?") I would pick up the brother-and-sister duo Randy and Sandy and drop my sister off at middle school in the mornings, sometimes having time to stop by Sheetz on the way for a Shmuffin and Cuppo'cino. After school, I would sometimes drive Russ home and we would make out.

Who did you have a crush on?
I can't really name names, but apart from the aforementioned Russ, I had an unrequited love for Josh the basketball player, Jon the Secret '80s Man, and John the super-nerd. Bassie, you are probably shocked by those last two as I'm not sure I ever told you about them. When I told Deb about John, she stopped breathing and gasped out, "Big men are sitting on my chest!"

Did you fight with your parents?
Always with my dad, not really as much with my mom. I perfected the art of lying/selectively telling her where I would be. Many times I was in Pittsburgh when she thought I was at Denny's. My dad was still mad at me from the fashion crimes of yesteryear, even though I was on the straight-A track to greatness. Sigh.

Who did you have a CELEBRITY crush on?
Michael Stipe, and Eddie Vedder, always and forever.

Did you smoke cigarettes?
No, and I didn't try my first and only cigarette until my sophomore or junior year in college. Still never tried pot.

Did you lug all of your books around in your backpack all day because you were too nervous to find your locker?
Why would you be too nervous to find your locker? I've never heard of anyone doing that.

Did you have a 'clique'?
Apart from my three best friends, who were my true clique, I hung out with a lot of the same people I went to elementary school with. It wasn't really a clique as we never did a lot of stuff outside of school, but we did like to make spirit t-shirts for the football games together and plan new, improved spirit days once football Fridays were over - Blue-Hooded Sweatshirt Day remaining the favorite of the bunch.

Did you have "The Max" like Zach Kelly and Slater?
Not really - we went to Denny's, Sheetz and Dairy Queen an AWFUL lot but that was just us. And you can't truly hang out at Sheetz anyway.

Admit it, were you popular?
I wasn't popular in the cheerleader sense of the word, but I don't think it's too bigheaded to say I was well-liked. Everyone more or less got along with everyone else in our class, which sounds like bullshit but it's true. Even the football players tried out for the school musical.

Who did you want to be just like?
I identified with Angela Chase, but I wanted to be Jane Pratt.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I don't think I ever had a specific goal, but probably some combination of artist, writer and traveler. Moneymaking ventures all.

Where did you think you'd be at the age you are now?
Again, never one for the specific plans, but I guess I always figured I'd end up in New York eventually. I don't think I would have believed you if you told me I'd be getting married, though.