October 28 - A hell of a lot of entries

So I snuck in another update without a week going by. This time it had as much to do with me being busy as it did with me being lazy. No, seriously.

Third Grade Journal – October 28, 1991
Today is Oct. 28, 1991¹ These are some of my favorite base-ball players² they are very good ball players Lou Gehrig played for the New York Yankees and Hank Aaron played for the Atlanta Braves.³

¹ – For some reason I included the year in this entry. This might be the only time I did this.
² – I’m not entirely convinced that they were actually my favorites. I had never seen any of them actually play, but I had cards of theirs and read about them a lot. Oh, the days when I liked baseball…
³ – There are also excellent, lifelike drawings of Babe Ruth, Ernie Banks, and Ozzie Smith (as well as another of Lou “Gerihg”). I might share them another time.

Fifth Grade ALP Journal – October 26, 1993
Today we invested in Duracell, Disney and Wal-Mart⁴ in the Stock Market Game. We started Odessey Of the Mind⁵.

⁴ – I guess I was better able to keep business and personal issues separate in those days. Not saying I hate people who shop at Wal-mart or anything, but I probably wouldn’t be buying their stock. If I had the money to buy stock, that is.
⁵ – The importance of Odyssey of the Mind, as mentioned before, is difficult to overstate.

Sixth Grade ALP Journal – October 24, 1994
I had a lot of fun today in the Verity A.L.P.⁶

⁶ – I guess I learned my lesson about not just writing “FUN.” Again, I’m still amazed that I never bothered to write down any of these supposedly fun things.

Sixth Grade Journal – October 20, 1994
Dear Mr. Van Norman,⁷

⁷ – Beside this entry, Mrs Robertson wrote, “Why didn’t you do this entry?” Beneath her comment, I wrote in pen, “Because I didn’t want to.” I covered with pencil, which was not the best plan since the original pen writing is still clearly visible. I was obviously afraid Mrs Robertson would see what I had written, but nothing ever came of it. Lucky! Also, this entry was listed on a later, separate page, which explains (since I know you were curious) why it didn’t appear earlier.

Sixth Grade Journal – October 25, 1994
No, I don’t know why but I just don’t believe in ghosts.⁸

⁸ – Well, as long as you have a good reason, kid, you can believe anything. I’m down with not believing in ghosts.

Sixth Grade Journal – October 26, 1994
Some “spooky words” for Halloween are: (1)Trick or treat⁹ (2)Witch (3)Skull (4)Dracula (5)Frankenstein (6)Mummy (7)Bat (8)Blood (9)Black Cat (10)Spider¹⁰ (11)Snake (12)Scare¹¹¹² (15)Reaper¹³ (13)Monster (14)Dead

⁹ – I’m not sure how “spooky” that is. Also, I don’t want to be a stickler, but “trick or treat” isn’t a word.
¹⁰ – I love these lists because I’m fascinated with the ways they shift. First I start with things related to Halloween, but eventually it turns into things that scare me or are just generally creepy.
¹¹ – And then I start to run out of ideas and just list the most generic “spooky word” there is.
¹² – Again, pretty generic. Brilliant, for sure, and accurate, definitely, but generic.
¹³ – I have a confession: reapers don’t scare me. The grim reaper, maybe, but just a plain old reaper? Not that scary.

Sixth Grade Journal – October 27, 1994
Today I have a computer class called Advanced Youth Education at 3:30, and a Verity Governor’s Cup at 3:50.¹⁴

¹⁴ – At the end of this entry, Mrs Robertson wrote, “I’d like to know more about them. Let’s set a goal to write at least 5 sentences a day.” Honestly, I don’t know what more this broad wanted me to say about Ashland Youth Education. I don’t know why she wanted me to explain things she already knew about just for the sake of me writing five sentences. If I were Mrs Robertson, I’d be more interested in finding out how I planned on going to AYE at 3:30 and still making it to the Governor’s Cup by 3:50.

Sixth Grade Journal – October 28, 1994
If everyone helps each other and studies with each other, our class will conducive¹⁵ to learning. Promotion and contributing.¹⁶

¹⁵ – Adding a proper verb to this sentence might also be conducive to learning. Note: Mrs Robertson didn’t ever correct any nonsensical or incorrect sentences. Quite a teacher.
¹⁶ – Next to this entry, Mrs Robertson wrote, “Good!” It’s hard for me to imagine that she was legitimately pleased, what with me failing to write a full five sentences and all.