Students Making Use of Damn/Darn Good English
S.M.U.D.G.E.
S.M.U.D.G.E. was [and possibly still is] a club (co-curricular activity) at Adali E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois. The focus of this group was creative writing, with specific emphasis on sharing said writing to a group of peers for comments, edits, and reviews.
I was amongst its members for three years (Sophomore through Senior years) as were many of my friends (which is why I joined in the first place). Alas, I have fallen out of contact with all of my previous S.M.U.D.G.E.rs, though I would quite like to see them again (four more years before the first reunion!). I would note that during my time involved with S.M.U.D.G.E., I was given the following "titles" (in order of date awarded): Archivist1, Lady2, Sir3, and Elder4.
I have posting the Index5 below (though there may be additions to the end section whenever I find the most recent version from within my terabyte's worth of hard drives). If you are a former S.M.U.D.G.E./S.O.S.6 member and want a copy of any or all of your prior pieces, I would be glad to send them to you. If you want a copy of anything other than one of my works, you will have to first get written (and signed) permission from the original author or authors, email me for my current mailing address, and send the written proof and request to me.
Note 1: I claimed/was permitted to have this title for my
services regarding keeping track of whose piece had been read, by whom, and in
what order. Since this position was not secretarial and as I was in charge
of maintaining the Archives5, I was called Archivist.
Note 2: As I was only a sophomore and a recently-joined
member, the highest-level members determined that I could not hold any position
(other than the general "member"). As such, it was decided by
James Liu that I would be given the only then-extant title available, Lady,
which was the title given to the highest-ranking female member of the
group. For whatever reason, the number of women involved in S.M.U.D.G.E.
steadily decreases within a given class until only one remains during that
class's senior year. Being a new club during my Freshman year, the title
of Lady was only held by the Lady Foygel before me. Technically speaking,
I was the Lady Archivist of S.M.U.D.G.E. from this point on.
Note 3: Two years later as a graduate, James Liu decided
that he had enough of my pretentiousness and created a new title, Sir, for me to
use instead of Lady. This did not go as planned as I simply adopted it in
combination with Lady, making my title the Lady Sir Archivist of S.M.U.D.G.E.
Note 4: Elder is the title given to all graduates of
SMUDGE in order to differentiate them from students. Upon my graduation in
June of 2006, I was the Elder Lady Sir Archivist of S.M.U.D.G.E. and S.O.S.
Note 5: The Archives include two things, the physical
Archive of all7 stories read by S.M.U.D.G.E. and
S.O.S.6 and the Index. The Index is a spreadsheet which
includes a detailed accounting of each meeting, including time, place, writing
exercises, stories read, authors, readers, and a few other things which I have
forgotten. The Index is such a large file that several other members
expressed dismay upon seeing the physical Archive, which fits well within a
standard-sized magazine holder.
Note 6: S.O.S. is a single acronym which can be expanded
into three definitions. In order of creation, they are S.M.U.D.G.E. Over
Summer, Summer Of S.M.U.D.G.E., and Sick Obnoxious Sex. The first two
meanings arise from the pseudo-weekly meetings that S.M.U.D.G.E. members held
during summer break between my Junior and Senior years and after my Senior
year. The third meaning was adopted in jest during a week in which many of
our stories tended to include some rather odd depictions of sex.
Note 7: Believe it or not, the Archives are not
complete. Several entries are missing from them due to my absence (due to
illness, vacation, or for other reasons (not detention, I never had
detention). In one case (possibly two), I deliberately left out a piece
from the Archive and Index. So far, no one has noticed which piece that
is, though it is quite obvious from the Index itself. If anyone can
correctly identify and produce the missing piece (pieces?), I will reward them
with the Archive and renounce my titles. Seriously, my juvenile refusal to
add it in the first place is a horrid oversight on my part and I want to remedy
the situation.
This site was last updated on 02/11/2011 12:23 hours.