Liv's questions, part 2

And I am so cranky that I need to write. My wonderful JAMES was eliminated from IDOL last night, or as Bing put it, "God, he was the best one up there. What the fuck is WRONG with America?" She also added some stupid comment about how a low talent coffee singer won last year, but I ignored her. And no, I don't vote, so I don't have much wiggle room...but god...I will miss James, the one and only metal rocker to hit that Idol stage...the only brave soul to ever bring Judas Priest to the stage.

Ok...carrying on even in my um...sorrow...:)

1) Do you use anything you learned in high school in your life now?

Hmmm...that is a hard one. Mathematically? No. Grammar wise? Yes. The rest of it...not sure. I did learn a lot socially in high school. I learned that the beauty queens were often the ones who were most insecure in front of a mirror. I learned that the ones that had to gush about their boyfriends were usually the ones who would get dumped soon. So...lots of social learning going on. But...academically? I admit that I learned much more in college and beyond.

2) Who was your best friend in high school? In grade school? In junior high?

I didn't have any, honey. I had a group of girls and boys that I hung around with, but I never had a best friend like you do. And I know this sounds awful, but I was a really happy loner. I preferred reading to talking any day. I was never a big sharer, never really enjoyed sitting around gossiping or talking about boys, so I wasn't really good best friend material. In fact, it wasn't until I met Harriet when I volunteered at your school lunch room that I finally found a best friend. I was really, really close to my sisters, though. Especially your Aunt Celia.

3) How did you do your hair in high school?

I was no fashion plate AT ALL. When I was in high school, Farrah Fawcett's hairstyle was really popular and I think that I was the only girl in my class who didn't have those wing things in my hair. I usually wore it in a braid down my back or on dates, etc. I wore it down. My boyfriends didn't seem to mind!

4) What did your favorite pair of shoes look like?

I had a pair of button up victorian boots that I lived in. Wore them with everything. They looked like this. I also wore high top sneakers. They are pretty similar to the high top Chuck Taylors I wear now. I know. I know. Sounds kind of weird, doesn't it?

5) What was your favorite subject in grade school? Junior High? High School?

In grade school, I liked reading the best. In Junior High, English. In high school, English. Are you seeing a pattern? Kind of like your favorite subject is science or math. I think that most people don't change a lot from when they were kids. My WORST subject was math. Always math. Which is why I groan and point to Bing when you have a math question. I am so impressed that you are interested in string theory, Liv. It just baffles me and that is the truth. You are already ahead of me in math.

6) Did you join any school clubs?

Let's see...I was in debate club in high school. And your mama was GOOD! I used to be so good that my opponents would gulp when they saw that I was their debate opponent. Kind of the way that Bing gulps a lot when we argue! I am a take-no-prisoners kind of arguer. And I sort of hope that you never are because it is really not all that much to be proud of. I was never one of the popular girls in high school. I was a real nerd. My group of girlfriends were definitely Hermione Granger types. We were smart and we used to snicker at the popular girls. Not snicker like the goth girls, just your basic vanilla snickering without a cigarette in our hands. I worked on the school paper for a while but left because I disliked the teacher who was the sponsor of it. She was a very conservative nun and she wouldn't let me write anything interesting. So..I quit my senior year.

7) What has made you laugh until you cried?

Your Aunt Jessie when we talked on the phone last weekend. We were discussing this book we were reading about Laura Ingalls Wilder and we both just kept one upping each other and we ended up laughing hard. Some of my best laughs have been with your Aunts, Liv. It is one thing that I wasn't able to give you that I wish I had: sisters. I have never been as mad at anyone or as hurt by anyone as I have by your Aunts, my sisters. But, I have never laughed harder with anyone or loved anyone (except you) as much as I love my sisters.

8)Did you have a diary in grade school, junior high and high school?

I had one in high school. I thought it was very lofty and intellectual. Except now I look back at it and it all seems like play acting to me. As if I wanted everyone to think that I was much more sophisticated than I really was. I think I fancied that I would die young and someone would find it and say, "My god, she was so wise for her years!" Silly really. I keep a journal now. You know that. I write in it every night at bed time and I keep it right out for anyone to read. I figure if I hide it, then it will just be something that you are aching to find. This way, no one reads it!

9) Tell when you got your driver's license. Did you pass?

Good story. I was 14. I lived on a farm and you could get something called a "school permit" when you were 14. This was to drive to school and back and go to school activities. Pish tosh. I drove everywhere all the time. I got it the summer after my 14th birthday and I still remember how hard I studied and how your grandmother used to take me driving all over town to practice. So, I aced the written test and then I took the driving test. The guy who gave it to me was this fella with a handlebar mustache. He kept his sun glasses on the whole time and he made me do EVERYTHING. I had to parallel park (in the small town where I grew up, all cars parked sideways, not parallel, so just finding a place to make me do this was hard) and he tried to make me turn right from the wrong lane and then just smiled when I told him that I could not, it was against the law. At some point, he turned and looked at me and said, "How old are you? 14?" I nodded and he said, "You're already a doll, you're gonna be gorgeous in a few years, the boys are gonna be circling you like flies on a piece of candy, you know that, dontcha?" I was mortified and had no idea what to say so I just sat there. When we got out of the car, I was wearing a short sleeve top and he actually stuck his hand UP my shirt in the back and sort of rubbed my back before we got into the building. I asked him if I passed and he smiled and said, "Um...yeah...I guess so..." I was so relieved and I did not say anything to anyone about how he had inappropriately touched me or spoken to me. I was raised that he was AUTHORITY and you never questioned it. Now, I think back and I wish that I had felt comfortable telling my mother about this. Liv, if any man or woman EVER does anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, you run to me and tell me as fast as you can and I swear to you that I will make it right for you. No girl should EVER let a man do things or say things like to her and get away with it. Ever. Okay...mama is off of her soapbox. Just sayin'.

10) What did your first car look like?

Ugh. It was this big ugly blue tank. No idea what kind of car it was, just that it used to belong to one of the handy men on the farm and he sold it to my mother as a "teen car" for me. He was an obscenely fat man and the seat sagged way down. I had to sit on a pillow whenever I drove it and it always smelled like a fat man's butt. I tried everything to get the smell out of it, but I never really could. I hated that car. The first car I bought on my own was a little yellow bug very similar to the one we have now. I loved that car, Liv and I was so grateful to have it. I went years and years depending on the bus system, a bike and rides from friends...so having a car was like a luxury. I used to walk almost everywhere.

11) What was your first date like?

I was 16. I know that. Because that was your grandmother's rule. NO DATES UNTIL 16. I think we went to a movie but I can't recall what it was. I do remember the good night kiss on the front porch and then walking inside and wondering why all the books made it seem so magical when it was really no big deal. I found out later that when you dated the right boy or girl...that first kiss could take you to the moon and back. And I HAD kissed a boy before. I played spin the bottle when I was 14 and remember enjoying the kisses very much. But, somehow I expected a date kiss to be like...special. I am sitting here trying to imagine you kissing someone and you just seem so YOUNG to me, sweetie! I hope you don't jump into the kissing thing too early. Take your time. Wait for a boy (or girl) that you truly like. I'm serious. It will make a difference.

Ok..babe. I am tired and I need my beauty sleep for your violin recital tomorrow. You will rock it, kill it, get the job done. You will shine like the sun.

And afterwards...we will go out for enchiladas at Guaca Maya! Promise!

Love you more than ten moons,

Mama