Mookie Blaylock: Super Discreet

After many false starts I think I might be on the right track to composing my current thoughts on religion into an entry. But for now, let’s take a little trip down memory lane.

I was watching an old home video (see below) tonight that Melissa and I had filmed on our last day of high school while not attending classes. It was full of obscure references only known to us and many of which are not even known to us anymore. Like the part where we call the trash can the Wizard of Oz? Yeah, I have no clue.

By pure coincidence today, I filled out one of those MySpace meme surveys which asked the age-old question: Ketchup or Mustard? And to which my friend had replied, “Ketchup is evil.” And it WAS. Back then my other friend had a crush on a guy who, for some reason (possibly the color of his hair?) she called mustard. And his girlfriend was referred to as ketchup (maybe cause it was the opposite of mustard?). Only I don’t think I knew any of this at the time – I caught on slowly later – so I just happily proclaimed the mantra: Mustard is good and ketchup is evil! Which, later, evolved to include mayonnaise for friends. In reality I have always had a passionate distaste for mustard but such is life as a teenager when peer pressure compels you to pretend you love what you hate.

Then there were the boys. Anyone we had a crush on was assigned a special code name so we could do stealthy things like talk about them in front of them. Names such as the aforementioned Ketchup, a guy called Church, the infamous Beemoc, another called Max and one guy who had actually three separate nicknames over the years – Lard, Trolley, and Tiffany. I cannot remember the logic behind the last one. Or behind Max, but I’m terrified it might have had something to do with maxi pads.

We also had the really awesome code wherein we would say the name “Mookie Blaylock*” and the following sentence was known to be Opposite. For instance: Mookie Blaylock: I’m really sad you are reading this blog entry right now. See? Cause, actually I’m happy! The opposite statements were always made in a very obvious tone – the kind where you wiggle your eyebrows? MAN, we were stealthy. Surely no one could have figured out what we meant.

And, of course we were weird in other ways. We would squeak at each other across campus. We were KNOWN for our squeaks. To the point where other girls literally tried to emulate us. We shot them dirty looks and eventually they quit.

And, you know, we wore tape.

Back then it was a contest as to who could be more original or different. “Trendy” was a curse word; to be alike was a sin. So we found any way we could to make us stand out. We wrote all over our shoes, schoolbooks, or arms to personalize our world. We found bizarre accessories like the bell I wore on my wrist on a watch strap. We wore clunky Doc Marten boots with flowery dresses (a look I still adore) and belted out Jane’s Addiction songs. We made up our own vocabulary as a (really terrible) code and as a way to express our collective identity to the world around us.

God, I miss those days. (See, I worked religion into it after all!)

Anyhow, enjoy some Vintage Me. Unless you hate old home movies in which case, really I don’t blame you. But I was pretty damn cute, you know. Also, maybe you could clear up the whole “Wizard of Oz” thing for me?

*Mookie Blaylock being a basketball player worshiped by Pearl Jam. Of course.