20 Years Ago
… I graduated from Oostburg High School.
It’s weird to think that I’m actually old enough to have been out of high school now for that long of a time period. Sometimes I enjoyed it, and sometimes I couldn’t wait to move on and go to college. I still remember a helluva lot from those days, such as:
- Having awesome Bon Jovi-like hair (click here for the proof).
- Sticking a replica of William Perry’s Super Bowl ring in my nose.
- Playing a detective in a play called “Squad Room” and having to go “undercover” with two other guys during one scene by dressing up as women (very badly, I might add). And since I had such awesome hair, I didn’t need to wear a wig.
- Speaking of plays … I was in two plays in high school where my character was supposed to kiss another woman. But for whatever reasons, I was told not to. Basically I turned my head (blocking our faces from the audience with said awesome hair) and got as close to the girls without actually kissing them. Weird.
- Speaking of one of those plays … I was in “Finian’s Rainbow” where I played Woody. This was a main part that required a lot of singing. And I’m not a good singer. And by “not good” I mean I really, really suck. Let me take this opportunity to say to all those who had to listen to me warble through “Old Devil Moon” - I apologize profusely. You deserved better.
- Trying to make it to the south-side McDonald’s in Sheboygan over lunch one day as seniors. I wasn’t driving but I believe excessive speed was used to ensure we got back before lunch period was over.
- Speaking of excessive speed, in a completely unrelated incident I wrecked my car. Went down a ravine, hit a tree, and destroyed my vehicle. Fortunately my awesome hair was not damaged.
- Converting to Christianity. I actually ended up going over the deep-end with that for a while - deconversion didn’t occur until my mid-20s (and by that time I had lost my awesome hair as well).
- Jim’s car Gertie … at least I think that was the name he gave that
piece of junk thing of beauty.
- Drinking warm beer with some friends (yes, I drank beer during high school … like a lot of kids did and do in high school) and watching Kurt throw up an ungodly number of times that day.
- Seeing someone in our class (Dan?) walking down the hallway from the shop area with his thumb dripping blood and making a beautiful line of red down the hallways. I didn’t know what he did to it, but I’m guessing it wasn’t good.
- Playing high school dances with my band “Avenger”. The singer wasn’t great, but I think everyone had a good time. And I got to toss my awesome hair all over the place.
The list could go on, but I’ll cut it off here. By the way, you may have noticed that I only used first names of classmates. That’s not to protect the innocent; it’s to show just how damn small my class was: less than 60 people. So when I say “Kurt” or “Jim”, odds are that if you went to OHS around 1989, you know who I’m talking about!
Published: 06.02.2009 06:58:34 AM CST
