mckenzie malanaphy

The great thing about maintaining the habit of keeping a journal is that you can read back over your previous entries and laugh at what a complete idiot you happen(ed) to be.

According to the inside cover of my first diary, which spanned elementary school through early jr. high, I had quite a progression of  thoughts that were, in their time, rather revolutionary,  including but not limited to:

“I hate my handwriting”

“My motto: ‘fuck that’”

“Sponge Bob says, ‘always reach for the sky’” (accompanied by a drawing of sponge bob that looks like it was competed in the dark)

“I love boys” followed by “I hate boys”, which is repeated 4 more times.

A few entries, unabridged:

February 15th, 1996:

“Today I played outside for gym. I love Jonathan Taylor Thomas!”

February 22nd, 1996:

“Today after school I am going skiing. I like Andrew Draper.”

February 26th, 1996:

“Today I decided I like Brandon.”

March 3rd, 1996:

“Andrew is so cute.”

March 12th, 1996:

“Andrew knows I like him.”

May 12th, 1997:

“Today I found out some good news. Eric was on to me at gym in scatter ball and the half mile it was exciting we talked. I was in Matt’s class for RLST. It was interesting.”

May 15th, 1997:

“Today school afternoon Bronson couldn’t take his eyes off of me! At the concert at the end Eric had a big grin on his face and said ‘hey McKenzie, good bye’!” (This entry includes a sticker saying “I HAD THE BEST TIME!”

October 26th, 1997:

“Dear Diary, Much has changed. About a week ago I asked Walker (heart) Shepherd out. He still hasn’t answered! I’m soo nervous about the answer. I’m afraid he will say no! I always liked him but I wasn’t sure he liked me. About two weeks ago I had the biggest crush on Matt. I tell all my friends I was in private art class for a year but they don’t believe me.”

December 23rd, 1997: 

“Well, weeks have passed and I did end up dating Walker but once I got to know him better, the more I hated him! ((Dumped him!!)) Walker is too immature! Now I’m dating a nice guy named Mikie. He is really nice and mature — I hope it lasts longer than my last affair!”

And let’s end with this AMAZING Christmas gift list from 1997:

“Christmas was great! I got: Boom box, wind pants with stripes, spice girls cd, soccer camp, hemp, and hemp book!”