Slam Books

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I was recently up at my dad's house and decided to bring home some things I'd stored up there. It was an interesting excursion into the past. I had shoeboxes upon shoeboxes of letters from summer-camp friends. Another box from my first boyfriend, who lived across town and went to a different school. (Never mushy teen melodrama, just two sarcastic smart-ass teenagers writing their views of the day back and forth.)

I also found "slam books" from the pre-teen era. Each page has a question and each person has a line and answers the questions. In the end, you have a microview of preteen life, trends, and the occasional nasty sniping comment about some other kid.

The current equivalent of the slam book now arrives via e-mail as spiffy little chain-letter question sets you're supposed to answer, then send to ten friends, while cc'ing the person who originally sent the list to you. For some reason, I'm still entertained and fascinated by this concept of sharing random facts


  1. What time do you get up? 5:30a during the week, however long my son lets me snooze on weekends
  2. If you could eat lunch with one person, who would it be? Living = @. Passed = @'s twin.
  3. Gold or silver? Silver
  4. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Little Miss Sunshine
  5. What is/are your favorite TV show? Grey's Anatomy
  6. What did you have for breakfast? Black cherry soy yogurt with dried cherries, whole grain cereal bar
  7. Who would you hate to be stuck in a room with? A misogynistic racist
  8. What inspires you? Being challenged, nature, fresh air
  9. What is your middle name? Austin
  10. Favorite ice cream? New York Super Fudge Chunk
  11. Butter, plain or salted popcorn? Kettle
  12. Favorite color? Purple
  13. What kind of car do you drive? Hybrid!
  14. Favorite sandwich? Peanut butter on whole grain bread, NO JELLY!
  15. What characteristic do you despise? Dishonesty -- to self or others
  16. Favorite flower? Lisianthus
  17. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Australia and NZ
  18. What color is your bathroom? One is green, one is gray
  19. Where would you retire to? Rural area, likely mountains
  20. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
  21. What did you do for your last birthday? Went to Maui with my mom & her hubby. It was her birthday too.
  22. Where were you born? Apparently, very nearly in the front of a car... But made it to Stanford in time.
  23. Favorite sport to watch? Soccer, Olympics
  24. Coke or Pepsi? Caffeine-free Coke
  25. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Morning person who tends to stay up too late
  26. Do you have any pets? One big silly dog
  27. What is your favorite season? Physically: summer. Philosophically: each has different meaning. (Excuse me while I go eat some granola and hug a tree.)
  28. Tea or coffee and what kind? Decaf black tea with apricot
  29. What color pants are you wearing right now? Cozy gray

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