High school freshmen in the locker room, changing as quick as possible, so as not to be standing around in underwear for too long, but it was just long enough. Our indentities and our defenses were in different place in that room than anywhere else. Perhaps it was the absence of any female energy, or the sweat and testosterone, or the fact that we were taking off our pants. Probably it was a combination.

I recieved dirty looks for wearing combat boots and having dyed hair, but it was here, with the boots sitting next to me, my plaid pants hanging in a locker, my dress shirt replaced by a t-shirt featuring the schools logo that it would actually be discussed. At this moment it was apparent that I wasn't so different than anyone else and the question could be asked. "Dude, why the hell do you dress like that? You're going to get your ass kicked."

I didn't have a good answer, but I'd shrugg lace up my cheap K-Mart sneakers and get ready to go out to a grass field where I'd avoid getting involved ... Read more ...

Jody was a large kid, really large, tall, wide, just large in every way. He was a nice guy.

 In 10th grade he saw some of my drawings and went nuts. I'd never been the class artist before, but when he saw me using recently acquired skills like two point perspective he made sure everyone knew what a good artist I was. He even asked me to draw a picture for a ghost story he'd written. I was excited at Jody's enthusiasm, and the enthusiasm he generated in my classmates toward my artwork. In fact it started me down a path that would have a major effect on my life.

 I was then quite surprised when Jody, out of the blue started calling me a fag and acting tough during summer school. I wasn't the most popular kid in class or anything, but I certainly wasn't low enough on the scale for this dork, nice as he may have been, to be tying to use me as a means to make himself look better. He should've started with Cameron who always wore dirty clothes and couldn't fight worth a damn.

Of course, mayb ... Read more ...

even more for your entertainment!

The first transatlantic cable was laid in 1858 between Newfoundland and Ireland.

40 degrees below zero is the same in Fahrenheit and Celsius.

The Galapagos Islands are the only place on the equator where both penguins and fur seals can be found.

Standard pencils write on average 250,000 English words or a 35 mile (56 km) long line.

The "f" word is used 246 times in the movie Goodfellas.

The heart of a peanut, that little nub that holds the two halves together, contains a high amount of a chemical that is know to cause migrane headaches in some people.

A Rubik's cube has 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible combinations.

The world's heaviest person weighed 629 kilos or 1,387 pounds.

It is a myth that the hair and nails grow after death; the surrounding skin shrinks, giving the illusion of their growth.

A wild t ... Read more ...

more than you thought!

Correction fluid was created by the mother of Monkee, Mike Nesmith.

An item must contain 92.5% silver to be considered "sterling silver".

Over 40% of the women in the U.S. have been a Girl Scout.

The largest pyramid in the world is in Cholulu de Rivadahia, Mexico. (177 feet tall, covering 25 acres)

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to be appear on television. April 30, 1939.

Prior to 1791, the U.S. Capitol was located in Philadelphia, York, Lancaster, Baltimore, Annapolis, Princeton, Trenton, and New York City. 

Einstein never learned how to drive a car.

Broccoli has twice as much Vitamin C as an orange.

Saint Patrick was not Irish.

A McDonald's drinking straw holds 7.7 ml (over 1.5 teaspoons) of fluid.

It is not possible to fold a piece of paper in half more than seven times.

when you thought there couldn't be!

Britney Spears is an anagram for Presbyterians.

The word "queue" is the only word in the English language that is still pronounced the same way when the last four letters are removed.

There is a city called Rome on every continent.

Winston Churchill was born in a ladies bathroom.

"Spheno Palatine Gangleoneuralgia" is the technical term for an ice cream headache.

Bottled water costs about 1,000 times more than tap water.

The acid in a vulture's stomach can dissolve a nail.

The three wise men were named Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar.

Venus rotates in the opposite direction from the other planets.

Tapeworms can grow to 80 feet long.

A dragonfly can fly backwards just as fast as it can forwards.

Basketball was invented in the United States in 1891.

Mercaptan in asparagus is what causes urine ... Read more ...