Smells like teen spirit


I've been a fan/stalker of Ms. Sarah Brown's blog for years. Finally, her humor in book form via teenage angst-filled diary entries compiled in a neat little package. I bought Cringe today and I've already read half of it. It's like reading through all my Corona notebook journals tucked away in a box somewhere in my parents' house. The obsessive chronicling of daily outfits ("gray peter pan shirt, green-and-blue checkered culottes"), the pining after boys next door, the irrational parental hate, etc. It's all coming back to me now.

I think I started a journal in second or third grade. It was all about Paolo, who lived a few blocks from me and whose older sister I was busmates with. He played basketball and looked like a puffer fish, which I found very charming. I made up stories about how we'd ride our bikes to the park together and get ice cream. Oh my God.

To the face that launched my bicycle countless times, I think of you and cry. I think of you and smile. I think of you and laugh. I think of you and scream. I think of you and jump up and down. I think of you and want to see you again. I think of you and wonder, do you think of me, too?

This and other gems like I HATE HER!!! BYE! and I Find Myself Collectively Insane and much, much more.