In not really a curious, but more a vindictive mood, I looked up the election results in the county where I spent my eminently forgettable teenaged years. Sure enough, Trump won there, which does not necessarily mean they are bad people, though some are -- they're in the militias. As for the rest...
Actually, it wasn't politics but Netflix that sent me seeking information about my high school years, because as far as I can recall, that tender period of my life was nothing like what happens in the movies. At least not the ones about love.
Mostly I was surrounded by brutish clowns, who would have made good extras in the Scorpion King movie. The only story-teller I recall was a bulbous, disheveled creature who spewed misogynistic visions while shifting back and forth on his flat feet. He also once kneed me in the groin as a sign of his good will. The rest of the lot dumbly regaled in his tales until it was time to race out to the playground and witness the latest fistfight between gangsters that graced our lunch hours.
They all cheered and drooled a lot.
None of the few classmates whose actual names I can remember turned up anywhere in my Google search, except the local heir to a shipping fortune, who died in a car crash the first year out of high school. Part of this tragedy was that the limited intellectual prowess he may have possessed never did make itself known.
I tried to remember some of the girls' names, in the spirit of Netflix, but the truth is I never dated in high school, never went to a prom or a party, hardly ever spoke to a girl or harbored any romantic feelings all. Until I got into the school's minuscule honors program, I never had any friends to speak of, boys or girls.
That my new colleagues in the honors classes seemed fragile in ways both subtle and not immediately attracted me and made me finally feel at home. The topic of suicide became comprehensible, in the form of a delicate girl who was a musical genius, and there was one fellow who spouted elaborate conspiracy theories to anyone who would listen.
I think he could also perform complex algebraic equations in his head, whereas all I could do was add faster than an adding machine. Still, that's probably how I got into the honors program, which functioned more like a refugee camp for those of us who didn't fit in.
There was terrible bullying amongst the main population; the main victims were girls who seemed to be utterly isolated and friendless. They were deemed unattractive by the horde, but one flashed me a shy smile once, and I regret to this day that I did not have the courage to smile back.
At least I didn't join in making the horrible noise the boys emitted whenever she entered the bus or passed them by in the hallways.
My dear parents probably never had a clue how miserable I was in high school because I kept my own counsel. But in my secret world, I was always planning my escape from that Hell, though I didn't know how that would ever happen.
But my grades and test scores got me into a very good college, probably thanks to the honors program. That was my ticket to ride.
***
The headlines; please pay attention to #1, as there is more on this story TK (to come). You can trust an old journalist on this one:
* Investigators from the World Health Organization (WHO) looking into the origins of coronavirus in China have discovered signs the outbreak was much wider in Wuhan in December 2019 than previously thought, and are urgently seeking access to hundreds of thousands of blood samples from the city that China has not so far let them examine.The lead investigator for the WHO mission, Peter Ben Embarek, told CNN in a wide-ranging interview that the mission had found several signs of the more wide-ranging 2019 spread, including establishing for the first time there were over a dozen strains of the virus in Wuhan already in December. The team also had a chance to speak to the first patient Chinese officials said had been infected, an office worker in his 40s, with no travel history of note, reported infected on December 8. The slow emergence of more detailed data gathered on the WHO's long-awaited trip into China may add to concerns voiced by other scientists studying the origins of the disease that it may have been spreading in China long before its first official emergence in mid-December. Embarek, who has just returned to Switzerland from Wuhan, said: "The virus was circulating widely in Wuhan in December, which is a new finding." (CNN)
* Republican Acquittal of Trump Is a Pivotal Moment for the Party -- The vote, signaling how thoroughly the party has come to be defined by the personality of one man, is likely to leave a blemish on the historical record. (NYT)
* Analysis: An incomparable historic rebuke of a president by his own party (Philip Bump/WashPo)
* Trump’s Republicans, Brought to Their Knees -- They stand for nothing. The Senate trial proved that. (Frank Bruni/NYT)
* 9/11 commission leaders call for bipartisan probe into Capitol attack (Dan Balz/WashPo)
* As Impeachment Ends, Federal Inquiry Looms as Reminder of Trump’s Role in Riot -- The investigation is in its beginning stages, and it may ultimately provide a clear portrait of the former president’s part in the Capitol attack. (NYT)
* Biden On Trump Acquittal: 'The Substance Of The Charge Is Not In Dispute' (NPR)
* Ohio Finds 4,000 Unreported Covid-19 Deaths -- Ohio officials said on Thursday they discovered about 4,000 overlooked Covid-19 deaths that occurred over the past several months after the state’s Health Department said the deaths had not been properly merged between the internal death certificate database and the federal database. (AP)
* U.K. Virus Variant Is Probably Deadlier, Scientists Say -- New research finds that the British variant is “likely” to be linked to a higher risk of hospitalization and death, laying bare the danger facing countries that ease restrictions. (NYT)
* You Think The U.S. Has Vaccine Issues? 130 Countries Haven't Even Started Vaccinating (NPR)
*
Virus may never go away but could change into mild annoyance (AP)
* When NASA's Mars rover Perseverance, a robotic astrobiology lab packed inside a space capsule, hits the final stretch of its seven-month journey from Earth this week, it is set to emit a radio alert as it streaks into the thin Martian atmosphere. (Reuters)
* United Arab Emirates publishes first photo from Mars probe (AP)
* Historic Arctic outbreak brings dangerous cold, snow and ice to central and southern U.S. (WashPo)
* In college basketball, third-ranked Michigan (14-1) beat Wisconsin (15-7), 67-59 after trailing at halftime by 12 points. (Google)
* North Korea Holds Quiet, Low-Key Nuclear Test Just For Self (The Onion)
***
I think I'm gonna be sad
I think it's today, yeah
The girl that's driving me mad
Is going awayShe's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
But she don't careSongwriters: John Lennon / Paul McCartney-30-
I think it's today, yeah
The girl that's driving me mad
Is going away
She's got a ticket to ride
She's got a ticket to ride
But she don't care
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