"For the absences I was absence alot just for the simple reason that I was waking up late. I had lots of ISS'S [in school suspensions?] last year. for tardy's," O.S. writes in one of his first assignments for the 2006-07 school year. He tells Ms. H, his reading teacher, that her time chart is "a grat idea."
O.S's neon orange spiral notebook, dedicated to sixth period according to its inside cover, was laying in the street, its pages stiffened by water and sun, when I found it near the intersection of Claremont and Le Moyne almost two summers ago.
Was the neon spiral notebook tossed up into the air on the last day of school, intentionally discarded by O.S, who describes himself as hailing from a "tipical hispanic family"? Was O.S.'s backpack seized by bullies? Did O.S. fail Reading and, possibly upset, pitch his notebook? Would O.S. have enjoyed Reading more if it were his first class of the day versus the sixth?
Do the doodles and symbols at the end of O.S.'s notebook (see 'Notebook' album in photo section) indicate that O.S succumbed to peer pressure and joined a gang? Who or what is "Recone" and why is it written a dozen times and look like a graffiti tag?
*Why* am I hoarding this notebook? What is the significance of these 70 pages? Are they a neon cautioned taped window into the mind of a ninth grader, whose opening sentence tells Ms. H that "I relly don't have anything important to say but I'll start off by saying that I have two sisters. One of them has a baby wich makes me an uncle so that means I have a nece."?
My theory is that O.S. started the school year with very good intentions, as exemplified by his praise of Ms. H.'s time chart, the extra credit he hopes to attain by cutting down on his tardiness. "I hope to learn alot in your class and have lots of fun," he earnestly writes, adding, "And hopefully pass your class with an A or maby an A+ but I don't think so."
Like most best laid plans, however, O.S.'s went the way of mice and men. As the notebook progresses, the assignments are increasingly incomplete. Entries such as "Books I want to Reed this Year" contain only a header followed by a blank page. The letter "a" is written over the second "e" in the word "read" as he corrected himself. The pen presses down very hard on the page, and impressions can be seen even two pages past the entry, perhaps indicating that O.S. is stressed, that he senses he won't ever get an A + yet hates the fact he can't spell a simple word correctly?
The blank "Book I Want to Reed" assignment is a sad juxtaposition against Ms. H's passage, titled "Ms. H's Reading Autobiography," which is taped inside O.S. notebook (possibly for inspiration?) and ends with the bibliophile teacher confiding, "When I move to a new place, I am not settled until I unpack my books. They are my friends."
The bleakest part of the notebook occurs on the very last page. The assignment appears to have been a show and tell/essay. Here, O.S. describes three personal items which hold great importance.
He show-and-telled "my favorite colon," which Se presumed must be "cologne," using his own earnings. ("That colon is special for me for the simple reason I worked for the money I did some construction It was pretty hard work for that money so thats why that colon is especial to me"). Second precious is a pin that O.S. and his best friend F. wear, bearing the phrase "Don't Play," a hidden code between the two boys which in typical O.S. fashion does not offer much elaboration. The final item is O.S's Jesus chain. "The chain is gold so that's why I brought a picture."
No hypothesizing needed here. O.S. may not be able to spell "read" on the first attempt, yet he has mastered other, tougher lessons: don't bring gold to school, even if Jesus is hanging on it.
Koji, resting on the orange notebook
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