Thursday, October 16, 2008

Beauty Is In The Eye of The Beholder

It's seventh grade and I'm in art class....Not one of my favorites subjects.....I was never one of the kids who really shined in this class with newly revealed hidden talents with a lump of clay and a kiln. I also was never the kid who the teacher picked to walk every one through their own project, so that one out of thirty of us had a master piece worthy of an art degree- which upon reflection happen to be COMPLETELY made by someone WITH an art degree! My particular lump of clay had the amazing grace to completely resemble it's former kiln and painted self and looked exactly like.....a lump of clay. Any way, the gods of artistic talent, for one reason or another, did not shine on me in the great junior high world of art....(these same gods did not exactly favor me through home ec., shop, music or gym)---They must have been saving all my true natural talents for my not yet to be followed blog...Yea Me!---
Well, as any one in junior high can clearly tell you, those of us without artistic talent tend to flock together, similar to vultures, who (although we never did), were probably not above bumping (accidentally of course) the teacher's pet model tea pot worthy of any indie shop to a million pieces on the floor! So, it happens I sit at a table with otherwise unartistic types like myself---Of course, this is known simply by a look that is given to a particular tables participants, and based on the fact that they did not look like complete dorks to me, nor I to them, (although would one dork know if he already WAS a dork that He looked like a dork---that sounds like a whole other chapter....)
And there, in seventh grade art class, I have the wonderful good fortune of sitting next to Jimmy. Now, maybe I had seen him before, but age and memory limit me as to this being our first meeting....Any how, what should come up at the table of unartistic art students (not to be confused with the island of misfit toys)....But this new aquaintance introduces himself..and I thought, cool, at least I have someone to talk to when I should be spinning clay or painting Rembrandts, cause clearly I was gonna have time on my hands for THAT class!---Next thing I know, my new unartistic friend asks if I want to go to a "small" party at his house that weekend....slight panic, yea I want to go....what am I crazy? I don't even know this guy....
Mass murderer theory aside (or maybe he likes multiple victims) 'cause then he asks if I have any girlfriends I could bring......
Well, this was the first of many a wild party....and if you lived anywhere near Steven's Street or Long Island for that matter...chances are you heard a few of them....

Suffice it to say....We went, we partied, we laughed...and NOBODY got murdered ever (although there WAS that one time when an oversized drunk showed up all bloodied from a recent fight?!)

And yet out of that art class not one project made it home or under the tree for christmas or wrapped for mother's day.... The closest success in art was a paper machie christmas elf who strongly resembled a lumberjack, and had the unfortunate name of Abby Normal...And yet out of the class was crafted the foundation for friendships of people I stuck with through high school and beyond.....
However, I also remember those parties surprisingly well...I should, some of the best times of our lives were spent in that yard.....And I have to say...it's a wonder we all came out better people for it.....What are the chances of THAT ever happening again...

Now this was all those years ago, and it's funny what triggers a memory, but last christmas my then ten year old presented me with a school made gift...As near as I could make out, it was a lump of clay... Looks like he's not the teacher's pick either....

Now it looks like I can't leave home on the weekends until he graduates college----Great.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Now that party was somewhere around the Feb. break and I remember it well! It was 1980!!! To read these stories cracks me up! Now we have to go back into those unforgotten boxes that are collecting dust and start geting those old pictures out and getting them up on Facebook! Your blog is great as is Christine's...she wants to teach me how to blog, but I am having way too much fun reading yours that I don't know if I want to go to Blog class!!! Miss you and keep up the great stories!
Jill