From 01/07/07: I was so cool

When I was in high school, I was friends with everyone. The popular kids were ok with me and the bad kids liked me alright. My friends were the ones that were not overly concerned with fashion or trends. We just wanted to have a good laugh. We got into our share of things, but most of us just never got caught. Half of my friends were really into drugs and partying, some pretended to be, and then there was me. I did my share of drinking, but I did not indulge in the drugs. I had no desire to do so. I was one of "smart" girls in school. I made good grades and school was pretty easy for me. So, needless to say, I am not sure why some of those other guys were friends with me. Anyways, I had a couple of rather worldly friends -the ones that came to Austin a lot, had the wild spiky/colored hair, listened to club music. These guys were the exception in my school in a town of 2000. I am sure everyone in Austin was like these guys, but in Mason, they were quite a site. So, I looked up to these guys at the time. They were different. They did not care what anyone else thought. Well, as many of you know, I have naturally curly hair. In high school, it was exceptionally curly and tangly. My worldly friends gave me the nickname "Nappy." By the end of high school, everyone called me that. I felt included by having a nickname. I felt special. I loved that nickname so much, I had it put on my class ring. It was not until years later that I learned that "Nappy" is not always used in a nice way. In Mason, there was really no one that could have really told me what it meant. I know that it can simply mean tightly curled hair (which is what mine was), but it was later that I learned it could also mean tightly curled, unwashed, and uncombed. So, when my children look at my class ring, I will have to explain how sheltered one can be in a small town. I am just glad I did not like the word "dildo," because I did not know what that word meant at the time, either.