Passing Notes and Total destruction

Passing Notes and Total destruction

Sunday, 07 November 2010 00:00

Presumptuous or what?

I had a flick through an old school jotter - or copy - as they call them in Ireland. This happens to be Niall's one. He's the chum who also did a good, pocket-size comic adaptation of SW when he was around 10 or 11. Of course, the jotter's scrawled all over with drawings. In the inside back cover there are some notes that we scribbled back and forth to eachother. We shared a desk for over 2 years and probably destroyed all three with grafitti and drawings of SW and Space 1999. Lovely looking oak things they were, of the type typical in Irish National Schools back then; with a hardwood flip-up-and-down bench attached. I've just realised! - it was probably those grubby desks that gave off the smell of vomit, not the building! Why I didn't I think of that before? Oak has a vomitty, nutty aroma when worked, and we certainly worked this timber with compass points and all sorts. It's amazing how a child can dig a hole through 3/4" solid oak board, with a compass - if given enough time, and not enough amusement. We'd've made perfect prison breakers. Anyway, that inside back cover. Amongst all the mess of insults, counter-insults and drawings; I hastily wrote:

John: "Will you let me have that pic of the Star Destroyer from those pages?" Niall: (In a speech bubble) "Oh John nice fella generous."

The pic was 'borrowed' from the Star Wars Storybook which was possibly 'borrowed' from a certain lending institution and er... never went back. It was a brilliant shot. Incidentally, all of the oak desks were chucked out a few years ago - probably something to do with minimum ergonomic/safety regulations. Or, is it because today's average 10 year old is around 6 feet tall? I wish I had the top off ours. I'd mount it on the wall.