December 23, 2020

"I was 12 years old in the 9th grade - younger than my classmates, and (as you may possibly be able to imagine) pretty awkward, shy and nerdy.

"And I had a crush on Patrice Y., the girl who sat directly in front of me in math class (because the seats were all arranged in alphabetical order for some arbitrary reason)...."

40 comments:

Yancey Ward said...

Compare to Joe Biden's autobiography:

"I was 17 years old in the 9th grade, and at the top of my class."

sterlingblue said...

Weird Al is awesome. Although he's had to become more PC, and therefore less funny, to avoid being cancelled.

Thanks for sharing this, Althouse.

RMc said...

Why can't more people like Al run for public office? How cool would it be for someone like Al to be your mayor or governor, or even president?

Joan said...

Saw this a few days ago and was completely charmed, once again, by Weird Al. He’s a good man.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Joe Biden would have drooled on Patrice's hair. Then, scored a drug deal after school, after raping a few young gals in the rape rooms he made. Patrice's boyfriend was never found again and disappeared under mysterious circumstances.


As for Weird AL - cool. Talented in the drawing dept.

Curious George said...

Nice drawing. Weird Al is a talented guy.

Bob Smith said...

I had a terrible crush on a hot blond named Rosalie. She was terminally cute. Ran into her six or so years later, she must have weighed 220 or so.

Joe Smith said...

That's a great story and a very good drawing.

We've all had our 'Patrice's.'

Fernandinande said...

Nice story, nice picture!

For those without facebook accounts, if you click the FB link or rt-click "Open in new tab" it'll say "You must log in to continue."

Well, that's incorrect: just copy the link URL and paste it in a new tab.

Dan in Philly said...

I'm still friends with my high school crush. Sometimes I think that the reason we're still friends is because it never went anywhere as relationship.

Joe Smith said...

"Ran into her six or so years later, she must have weighed 220 or so."

But she started at 330, so even hotter?

: )

Darrell said...

I tried to trace a few girls back then and it did not go well.

Ann Althouse said...

The drawing made me think he learned how to draw from Mad Magazine. There's a Mort Drucker/Jack Davis vibe, no?

Mattman26 said...

Tears in my eyes, damn you!

And yes on the Mad Mag vibe.

Howard said...

I love her embroidered Mexican peasant shirt. That's so LA in the early 70's.

Howard said...

Norman Mingo. Black out her top front tooth and she could be Alfreda E Neuman

Deb said...

What a nice story. The awfulness of 2020 makes it even more so.

Skeptical Voter said...

Guy finds out 50 years too late that he made a real connection. Story of a lot of teen age boys lusts and lives---too soon old, too late figuring it out.

It is a nice story though---good for Patrice and good for Weird Al.

Joe Smith said...

"The drawing made me think he learned how to draw from Mad Magazine. There's a Mort Drucker/Jack Davis vibe, no?"

Or 'Napoleon Dynamite.'

Ligers, and Trisha...

Yancey Ward said...

Wow, she saved the drawing!

Freeman Hunt said...

What a great story!

Amexpat said...

The drawing made me think he learned how to draw from Mad Magazine.

Just read a long article about Weird Al yesterday from the NYT magazine. The main focus is on his concerts, but there's also a lot about his childhood and mentions that he was really into Mad as a kid. He spent a lot of time stuck in his room (his Mom didn't allow him to play with other kids), so it makes sense that Mad influenced his drawing style.

He comes across as a really decent person in the article.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/magazine/weird-al-yankovic.html

I'm Full of Soup said...

Heck of an artist and a nice seasonal story Althouse. Thanks!

Joe Smith said...

"Wow, she saved the drawing!"

Maybe she was shy too.

What might have been...

SeanF said...

Joan: Saw this a few days ago and was completely charmed, once again, by Weird Al. He’s a good man.

He posted it to his Facebook less than 24 hours ago. Where do you see it "a few days ago"?

Joe Smith said...

"He posted it to his Facebook less than 24 hours ago. Where do you see it "a few days ago"?"

Blame it on covid...time has no meaning : )

DavidUW said...

Weird Al always seems like a fun person who'd be awesome to have a beer or 6 with.
and totally snob-free.

grimson said...

Not only did she keep the drawing, she could readily locate it.

Temujin said...

Pretty cool story. Weird Al is a neat guy. Talented to be sure. But when you listen to an interview with him, he's funny, smart, and seemingly just a nice guy.

That's what makes him weird in today's world.

daskol said...

You could do worse than watching his late 80s movie, UHF. Also pretty heartwarming and some good laughs.

FullMoon said...

From the comments over there, which are all positive:
"Sarah ....
Aw that is so beautiful Al 💗
When i was 12 years old,. unbeknownst to me i was being crushed on by a boy named Nigel. He used to write me dirty notes in class.
Fast forward over 30 years and we met again through Facebook.
Our love was instant and we just got married this past October. 💗
And guess what?
I kept every note he ever wrote me and made a book of them for our wedding.
Love is forever"

Joe Smith said...

"When i was 12 years old,. unbeknownst to me i was being crushed on by a boy named Nigel. He used to write me dirty notes in class."

Dirty notes? At 12?

"Hey, baby...I want to eat your peanut butter sandwich so bad."

Sounds like a serial killer in the making.

RichardJohnson said...

Darrell
I tried to trace a few girls back then and it did not go well.

I ran across mention in a political blog of an ex-girlfriend from my time decades before in the Bay Area. I then saw mention of her in the Occupy Wall Street brouhaha. Some years later she was living in the same New England town as an ex-girlfriend from my New England high school years. (My sister had lunch with her brother, which prompted my curiosity from that end.) I didn't follow up. Decades ago we made decisions to stop contact. No point in reestablishing.

OTOH, I had some good meetings in recent years with some female acquaintances from my childhood. But there was never any romantic interest. That is probably why the meetings went well.

Young Al had some artistic talent. Though he probably had more talent in the path he chose- music and writing satirical lyrics.

traditionalguy said...

Scots Irish Southern instrument players include John Thompson from Kentucky who developed and played the 1903 Springfield 30 cal rifle, and the 1911 45 cal automatic pistol and the 1918 45 cal submachine gun (called the Chicago Typewriter.)He was best known for the music of his instruments being played to slaughter German and Japanese soldiers at close quarters.

madAsHell said...

My first choice for Prom date turned me down on a Thursday night about two-n-half weeks before Prom.

On Monday, my Language Arts class was dismissed for lunch, and there's my favorite cheerleader asking me out to lunch at the local burger joint.

What is this about? I mean.....we were well acquainted, but she NEVER goes out her way to talk with me. Here she is asking me to lunch?....and she's driving in her Dad's '66 Mustang. Ummmm.....yeah, count me in!!!

We buy lunch dutch-treat, and settle into a couple of seats. The first words out of her mouth...."Who are you going to Prom with?"

Son-of-a-bitch!!! She already knows the answer to that question. I've been dying to get next to this girl since the 7th grade, and there was always some other guy making time with her.

Yet, here she is telling me she doesn't have a Prom date!!

Curious....why do I hear sirens?

The next words out of my mouth....."Would you like to go to Prom with me?"

Prom night was eventful for all the wrong reasons, but that's what Prom is!

At the end of the evening, I leaned-in and kissed her. It was just a peck on the lips. I thought it was a.....where-are-we?....kind of kiss. She pushed back into that kiss, held it for a beat, and then stepped back.

She pronounced "That was nice!"

I was elated. All the other guys told me this would never happen!! I'm thinking I might even get to fondle her butt!!

She then continued with "Don't ever do that again!"

That was her ride home.

madAsHell said...

Full disclosure........Recently, she actually went out of her way to make amends through mutual friends.

Wince said...

I’d like to see photos of her then and now.

Not in a hot or not way, just curiosity.

Weird Al too.

madAsHell said...

It only took 45 years!!

Sam L. said...

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Good on ya, Al!

loudogblog said...

Weird Al is a class act and a genuinely nice person. One of the best shows we ever had at Knott's was the 1987 Weird Al show in the big theater for our Halloween Haunt event.