Blast from the past

I've been struggling with what to name some of the characters in my novel, so yesterday I turned to my middle school yearbook for inspiration.

And got sucked into staring at it for like half an hour.

So first of all, I graduated from middle school in 1992, which doesn't sound like that long ago, but oh my God, that was 18 years ago.

In all of the pictures of me, I look constipated. Myself and my friends all look a bit homeless, with our over-sized clothing and disastrous attempts at achieving the puffed bang look.

The girls to my left and right had much better 1991-92 hair.

But the real treasures in this yearbook are the notes from my friends.

One friend wrote, "I hope I never move because I probably would never bee (sic) the same. But I doubt I will move. Yay! If we were moving I would know by now. We will probably be in biology together. I hope you and your 'dude-friend' turn out fine."

She did move but we still attended the same high school and remain good friends today.

My "dude-friend" wrote that he had to go "weez the juice - buu-dy!" and signed off, "Love you."

It didn't work out with that particular dude friend. There was an unfortunate incident involving a homecoming dance, braces, and my first French kiss.

My English teacher wrote: "It has been so refreshing to have you in my class this year. I knew each day I'd have at least one pleasant, smiling face out there. Thanks."

Poor guy used to get terrorized by students every day. Junior high is a battlefield, man.

So today, it's back to the drawing board. I still haven't come up with names for all of my characters, so maybe it's time to hit the high school yearbooks...