The Early Days of Writinggal

This weekend I went home to Houston because my parents are moving out of the house they’ve lived in for 30 years. That’s right—it’s older than me! So I had to clean out my closet (while Frank kept chanting the Eminem song of the same name).

I cleaned part of it out when I was home for the ten-year high school reunion. On that trip it was all about notes. I had a shoebox for each grade which contained all my super important epistolary essays. My mom could have cleaned it out herself but the boxes clearly said “For Elsa’s Eyes Only” (and “eyes” was drawn out with two eye balls of course).

After reading through about 276 notes I realized something: Writinggal wasn’t always so cool. In fact, I was a big ‘ol dork.

That lesson was solidified this weekend when I found more of my early works. First, there was this letter to the editor of the Friendswood paper that I think I wrote in like 5th grade:

Landolt Student Proud

To the editor:

Texas Public Schools Week is this week and I feel that it is the perfect occasion for me to tell you about my school—C.D. Landolt Elementary in the Clear Creek School District. Landolt probably has the most functional architecture in the whole state. What I mean by this is that we are divided into sections called pods by grade level. The library stands right in the middle. To me, a library in the middle of the school means that the school feels books are an important part of our lives. Landolt has very clean facilities. If there ever is a problem in the bathrooms it is fixed right away. We raise money by holding monthly can drives and have an annual County Fair. Landolt likes to give to others. We are constantly bringing in food to help others (especially at Christmas). Landolt is a growing school and has a large number of students. We have added a new gym and are now building portable buildings to solve this problem. I am proud to be a student at Landolt Elementary.

Ah, those were the days: we cared about the cleanliness of bathrooms more than metal detectors and we could actually write the word "Christmas" and they would print it without changing it to “holidays.”

And if you thought I was dorky in fifth grade, just wait until you see what I wrote in 7th grade. Another letter to the editor but this time I shared my dorkiness with the entire nation in SEVENTEEN Magazine:

Dear Editor-

I was so excited to see Winona Ryder on the cover of this month’s SEVENTEEN (December). You’re the only magazine that gives this talented actress enough credit for all the fabulous movies she’s made. (Heathers was the best movie I’ve ever seen!) I hope Winona will be in the spotlight from now on.

Hey-I didn’t know then that I was supporting a shoplifter!

I have some more of both of these items if anyone would like to request autographed copies. I’ll make it out directly to you by writing that it’s for your eyes only. And I’ll definitely draw out the eye balls.