The Wheels of Time

The wheels of time keep spinning so they say.  I guess everyone would agree that they are much different people now then they were in grade school.  If only you could somehow know exactly how different.  If it could be quantified and qualified.  Well, thankfully, it can.  For me anyway.  I recently came across my Grade 8 yearbook page.  Let's take a look shall we?

Ambitions

"In future years I hope to go to McMaster University where I will obtain a Bachelor of Arts and study sciences, physics and maths.  I will also study geography, geology, history, ancient civilizations, marine life and palaeontology,.  The bachelor of Arts is needed to be a librarian.  Sciences, physics and maths are needed to be an astronaut and the last subjects are to be an archaeologist or marine archaeologist.  I will also learn deep sea diving, snorkelling, and skin diving.  I am considering teaching, forest fire fighting, or fire fighting, forest ranger or camp counsellor.  If I decide on marine archaeology or archaeology I would want to work out of McMaster.  I hope to make a discovery in the field but what inspired archaeologist doesn't?  I hope to win a Nobel Peace Prize.  Will I fulfill any of these dreams?  Only time will tell."  Italics mine.  i.e. present day me.

Well that's for sure.  And here's what Time's telling me:  Even if you could do one of those things a day, you still don't have enough time left to do them all.  The problem, as I see it, is that my cute, innocent Grade 8 self had seemingly glossed over the one obstacle that could prevent me from doing all these things.   High School.  That cured me right quick.  From not being able to decide between two branches of archaeology to deciding I'd be satisfied sleeping on a couch for the rest of my life. Oh well.

Nicknames

"Looney, Wizzle, Quarterback, Mascara, Hamster, Executioner, Quickdeath, Hooded Frank, Radish, Red Legs, Sissy Boy, K.A.R.P., Cotton Legs."

Sadly, while everyone else had pages and pages of nicknames that they could claim, I didn't have any.  I had two options:  I could list everyone else's or make one up.  Can you guess just by looking at the list above which nicknames belong to other people and which is the one that I made up for myself?

Interests

"Computers, Comic Books, Chemistry Sets, Building Sets, Electronics, Outer Space, Science, Magic, Fishing, Sci-Fi, Movies, U.F.O.s, Mythology, Books, World War II, Board Games, Dinosaurs, Ping-Pong, Religions, Histories, The future, Animals, Archaeology, Robotics, Forts, Castles, Early man, Relativity, Museums, Jets, Space travel, Paranormal activity, The universe, Physics, The Sea, SCTV."

Interestingly, this list is still pretty valid.  Other than Relativity which was just me being a poseur, I'm still interested in all this stuff.  How did "SCTV" sneak in there though?

Expressions

"Cool, Awesome, Hey boys, Yap, I'm stiff from this marker, Wot, Trust me, Sure, sure, Don't get caught., Polkaroo."

This is such a great experiment because even I'm surprised by the results.  Again, I still say everything on this list except for "Polkaroo".  Interesting how "I'm stiff from this marker" was showing up as early as eighth grade.  Hmmm.

Pet Peeves

"I hate....battery operated toys, buses, popcorn kernels that don't pop, the picture on my bus pass, things that don't work, things that are incompatible, commercials, blinds that get stuck, insomnia, and leaky pens."

I had some real issues with the public transit system I see.  I'd say that the biggest difference between this, my Grade 8 list, and the list I would write today is that the list I write today would easily span several volumes.

Favorites.

Here's where we can really get our hands dirty.  Some other people in the class also decided to add a list of favorite things but no one had one as long as I did or that included such arbitrary categories.  I realize that some of the categories are a little odd but in keeping with the scientific method I can neither discard nor add categories.  This is what the Grade 8 me came up with and so I'll stick with it. 

What we have learned.

What haven't we learned really?  I guess you could say that little Frank had a lot of big ideas that were promptly beaten out of him by Real Life.  But then again, I think you could say that I haven't really changed at all.  I still like a lot of the same things.  But maybe the fact that I haven't really grown or changed is a bad thing.  So what we've learned is that just because the Grade 8 you likes Operation Wolf, one day you'll realize that you were an idiot and that the next video game is always the best and no matter how long medical technology extends your life you'll never get to play them all.