Can I have your number?

This would never happen today. No one has rotary phones, and no one passes notes on paper, they text on their cell phones. Nor are there many time and temperature numbers anymore.

USA for Africa

There was a Cartoon Aid project, kind of like the Band Aid one. Even though I was just in high school, I wanted to participate. This was my offering.

Academia

Back when I was in high school, there was an afternoon daily called the Phoenix Gazette that has since been absorbed by the Arizona Republic. Every Wednesday they ran a section they called the 'Teen Gazette.' I had made up my mind the summer before my Freshman year that I wanted to have a weekly comic strip. Their previous cartoonist was a Senior who was graduating. I loved his strip, it reminded me of Funky Winkerbean. I created Howie Smith, an "everyman" who looked a lot like me, only skinnier. He attended "Orangewood High, home of the Fighting Tangerellos." I LOVED Doonesbury and was tempted to name my strip "Bull Tales," after his at Yale, because we were the Shadow Mountain Matadors, but it occurred to me that the Teen Gazette was for the whole Valley, not just my school. So I leaned toward what Berk Breathed had called his Bloom County when he was in college, the "Academia Waltz." But of course, copyright law freaked me out, so I just called it "Academia." 20 years later, I still admire Doonesbury, but the older I get, the more annoying I find Bloom County and Opus. Tastes change, whatchya gonna do.

Space travel had become routine

I don't remember if this was from Challenger 6 in April or Challenger 9 in October of 1985, but the point is that we had become almost too comfortable- even complacent about space travel. In January 1986 the Challenger broke up after lift off killing all aboard. I was in Newspaper class at school and we all gathered around a TV. Our advisor had been a finalist for the teacher in space program and had known Christa McAuliffe personally. Talk about traumatic.

Prom Night

Dedicated to my friends Kevin & Ireen. Kevin & I worked together at a Baskin Robins when he was a Senior and I was a Junior. Naturally I had to work and he thought it would be cool to call me from the limo. Senior year I had a date but came down with a 106° the day of Prom. Fortunately for my date, our mutual friend, Chris was home on leave from the Marine Military Academy and had his dress uniform so he could pinch-hit for me without having to rent a tux.