High School Burn Book

Today was interesting. The senior class president and Mr. Timberlane (Timberlane being our school) wrote an 83-page long Burn Book on every senior in the school. I've uploaded it to mediafire, if anyone feels like reading some of it.

Download it here.

However, I doubt everyone feels like downloading it just to read what was said about me. So here, I'll just quote it for you.

Quote :

218. Kyle Meisner: “Different”. 0. UnCool. He is going to be nothing when he grows up except a hobo philosopher. He has nothing planned for the future and always wears the same dark sweater and thinks that he is so kool because he is so different than every other person and is so much kooler and intellectual than every other person. He tries to introduce his knowledge, but he is just annoying every other person in the world by putting himself so high up on a stupid pedestal so he can look down on all the other ignorant people that do not know all of the things that he knows.

So yeah, that's me. I know it sounds harsh and demeaning, but honestly I think it's quite true. It describes me perfectly. And alongside all of that, I also agree with almost all of the other comments he made about people in the document. However, he's getting into huge trouble with the school about it. For putting his thoughts on a piece of paper and giving them to the wrong person (who spread it throughout the school), he's now in a whole shitload of trouble for it. Now, if you take the time to skim through a bit of it, you might realize that it's not exactly a "Burn Book". It's more or less a book about what he thinks of everything around him. Take the first paragraph for example:

Quote :

... this book is basically a description of each and every person through my eyes. Now, my opinion is not like everyone else’s so this is not exactly true and it is going to be quite interesting. It is also more based on the people instead of a fact for fact kind of nonfiction kind of deal. Also, a good portion is made up exaggerations that make this novel more interesting to think of ...

He states that "a good portion is made up exaggerations that make this novel more interesting to think of". With that statement, he's justified any mean or fictional statement he makes within the novel. So although he may have insulted me personally, and even though I feel it is true, I do believe that something like this being written helps not only me, but the others who read it. Honestly, I feel that this is a good piece of literature and that something like this should be a school project. It's really quite good and a really nice reference to how people "actually are" in the school I go to. Either way, what do you guys think?

SOUNDS A LOT LIKE THE PLOT OF A MOVIE THAT WAS MADE ABOUT TEENAGERS, besides that, I think it's a decent idea and I don't think the kid should get in trouble for writing it.

Some of the most hilarious shit I've ever written was in my English Lit class being all judgmental and writing down what I thought of what was going on in class and what the people were doing. Now obviously I never shared what I wrote with the class, because they would probably have hated me for it, but some dudes in another one of my classes got a good laugh out of it.

I've actually read some of it. There's no reason the kid should get in trouble. At all.

Oh, the writing style, from the sample describing you Sin, seems pretty simplistic and repetitive. He could use some work.

Edit: After downloading and skimming the abomination I've come to the conclusion that this dude is a bit of a bastard, and he could use a lot more than some work with his writing skills. Its impressive that he managed to pull off that many pages, but honestly, the content is not what could be considered acceptable English.

IMO, it's pretty early in the year and that he hasn't actually gone over and edited it yet for "publication". AFAIK, he got "caught" too early with it.

I'm sorry, but fuck this guy. Yes, it is prefaced with the idea that he's egotistical and shit, but, (ESPECIALLY) as a poet, he shouldn't be throwing around the idea that "Big words are to be avoided" because no one will "understand" what you're saying. Guess what Tubbs, I FUCKING KNOW what the big words I use mean.

I don't even know what set me off, man, but I have something like post-traumatic flashbacks to the abysmal nature and my disdain for high school.

This "boy" (as he called himself) has no idea what a good poem is.

You might be pretentious, but at least you're god damned honest about it, Sin. I respect you for that.

All I'd have to say, is that I wouldn't want this prick to teach any children.

I couldn't read past the "poetry" (butchering of any artistic language). His type are the reason that poetry may one day be relegated to the realm of "parlor tricks." Don't write meaningless bull shit about printers and generic thoughts about "never wanting to grow up" and pretend that it gives you the right to call yourself an amazing poet. Maybe he doesn't, but his opinion is certainly bolstered as he says that he won the Mr. Timberlane contest "because of his [piss-poor] poetry."

Fuck this guy. Seriously.

He should get in trouble more for that word diarrhea than for his blunt thoughts on other people.

/rant done.

/apologizes.

His poor poetry shouldn't mean he doesn't get into college because the colleges are too afraid of the backlash of the public when the public is overreacting.

Never said he shouldn't go to college.

What I think would help him is a reality check. If you're too damn lazy to consult dictionary.com for those oh-so-oppressive big words that he speaks of, then he just might get owned in college (of course depending on which one he goes to and which major he declares). Besides, the media will pick it up and report on it because they can, the crap will blow over, and he'll have achieved his 15 minutes of fame and probably become an even greater douchebag. Perhaps I'm judging harshly, but I do tend to believe that poetry is one of the most personal things you can write. This kind of "dumbing down" just annoys the crap out of me. Removing big words also removes tons of opportunities for rhyme, assonance, alliteration, syncopated rhythms, and, I think, leaves one's poetry feeling boring much of the time.

Perhaps this is just degenerating into me denigrating his aesthetics. But I digress.

He should have a fair shot at college like everyone else and writing down straight opinions of other people really should not get in the way; however, I don't believe it will happen like that. I.e. colleges won't disregard him due to controversy. They'll disregard him because of his lackluster essay skills.

Yeah, colleges that actually look at essay writing as a determinant of acceptance would certainly destroy this kid. From what I read, hes at a late-elementary to early-high school writing level, which is pretty comparable to what most community college English classes consist of, which is a tragedy. But I doubt any true semblance of fame will emerge from this, as it is barely even a controversy, the "burn" content isn't that burning. Its his writing ability that is really concerning to me: Is this kid really graduating high school?

I didn't read his poetry, but if its as simplistic and poorly written as his prose, I wouldn't be impressed.

Edit: Since I'm insulting the kid based on English and writing ability, I just want to acknowledge my comma splice. I'm proud of it. The offending comma has been bolded and underlined.

For the record, I am taking the GED next week. I already took the practice. (Same thing but many sections are half length.) The GED is designed so that if all graduating seniors took it, approximately 60% of them would pass. (A passing score on the GED is 2250/4000.) Nothing on it was above an 8th grade level. I scored nearly perfectly my first time, and I expect to get a perfect score on the final test after studying.

Soo, apparently the public school system fails so hard that on average their students stop learning after 8th grade.

Yeah, when i dropped out and got my GED i got perfect scores on the math section and one other section, reading or English I think. I can't remember. I'll need to get it out since the college I'm transferring to wants a high school transcript.

Speaking of which, I think subtly bringing up the topic of discrimination against me for having a GED in my appeal letter was a big factor in getting them to reconsider my transfer, which they initially denied.

Basically what happened during my first year of college was that my GPA at my first college was good enough to not get an academic dismissal if i had had a high school diploma, but not if I had a GED, so I got dismissed. They called me later and said they'd take me back, but it was WAY too late to change my plans at that point. I was actually ON the campus of the community college out here in Cali. paying fees or registerring when i got the call, which was hilariously ironic.

Good luck on the GED Dragon, although we both know you don't need it, the test is pathetically easy. Public school has basically become babysitting and social training, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, except they don't learn shit.

Yeah, on the practice I was perfect in Science and Math. (My worst subjects ironically enough, but since they only test 8th grade level stuff and don't have as many questions that are stupid and open to interpretation they are easier.) Then I missed one in reading for keeping in a sentence which I considered very relevant*, but which the test though I should have removed. I also got counted off .5 on the essay for not restating the pathetically open ended topic.


*Article was from a teacher's aide about a plan to expand on the playground equipment. In the last paragraph they ask that salaries for aides be re-evaluated, especially with the amount of quality work and planning they are doing on the playground project. That sentence was supposed to be removed. If I was that aide, and someone told me that I needed to edit it to remove the sentence asking for a raise because it made it more correct, I would completely disagree.

No, he's being rejected from schools because of it from what I hear (From SinisteRing).

Also note: This was LEAKED. This wasn't a finished version, or a final. He gave it to someone to EDIT, and presumably fix his bad grammar and writing in general. The person he gave it to leaked it the public. It's not a finished version, and was in the process of being edited so I don't think it's fair to judge him on his English.