Earliest evidence of high intensity….
In my defense, however, I must say that I’ve lightened up considerably since age 5, and this seriousness followed the death of my great-grandmother. My spelling is also much improved. The handwriting, unfortunately, is not too far off from today’s….
For an idea of just how big I really wrote, this was written on that big manila (or “vanilla,” as I thought it was) paper apparently used only in elementary school.
Translation:
All people and animals need water. And food. To make them healthy. Sometimes people do not eat food and water. When people do not eat food and drink water, they die. And people bury them. Some people stay alive until they are 100. Many people do not stay alive until they are 100. Animals do the same thing. Some people and animals get sick. Sometimes the sickness makes them die. That is not funny. That is sad. It is not madness. It is sad.
Mara Collins said,
September 30, 2008 at 12:51 am
Ha! Rainer and I were walking to school last week to pick up his brothers and I realized that he was trying to catalog all the things that would make you dead (not eating and not drinking and not breathing and getting hit by a car — it went on most of the walk). Apparently he needed the book you wrote when you were five! Also, your title? All About People? Don’t you miss being five and getting big picture books with “All About Whatever” as a title and thinking, yep, read this and I will have it MASTERED. All about volcanoes. All about rainbows. All about birds. Sigh.
skwarepeg said,
September 30, 2008 at 7:59 am
Yeah, and wouldn’t it be nice if it were that easy about people especially….. !
jenzai said,
September 30, 2008 at 10:14 am
okay, I have to ask about the ginormous hands(?!). Did you always draw them that way? It’s kind of fascinating. I wonder what it was about hands that made them seem so big to you, or maybe you just had to draw them big in order to get in all the fingers… Hands are so difficult to draw. I’m impressed that you attempted fingers at all!
skwarepeg said,
September 30, 2008 at 10:32 am
Well, my therapist once told me it was about connection — trying to connect with others. But then again, it could really just be what you said…. I had to draw them big in order to get (most of) the fingers.
But yeah, those are some big ol’ hands, huh? 
Interesting that you noticed that.
skwarepeg said,
September 30, 2008 at 10:32 am
The thing that makes me laugh about this though is the use of the word “madness.” heeehee
unnarrator said,
September 30, 2008 at 11:46 am
It is madness, it is!
Betty Edwards, somewhere in Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, claims that children often make the details of their drawings, especially drawings of bodies and/or houses, inordinately large because they have this idea about complete presentation. Hands must have all five fingers–so they wind up looking elephantine. Chimneys must have every single brick to be accurately represented, and a doorknob on every door–etc. She says it better than I do here.
So can we nominate this for the National Book Award? I guess it needs an ISBN.
modernicon said,
October 5, 2008 at 8:33 am
My three thoughts were (in order)
“Why is this tagged ‘Being a dork’?”
“Wow, what big hands!”
“What great penmanship for a five year old.”
skwarepeg said,
October 6, 2008 at 1:35 pm
1. Because I think I’m pretty dorky in general, therefore I think it’s funny to tag almost *everything* as “being a dork.” Eventually I will have 500 posts tagged “being a dork.” And I think that’s funny, thus proving my dorkdom.
2. Yes, they are big hands.
3. Um… thanks. How about for a 39-year-and-11-months-and-14-day-year old? Because I don’t think it’s all that much better. OK, perhaps a bit of an exaggeration.
And I’m all for the NBA (not the basketball variety) and ISBN. If it takes this to get it, then by all means, I’m game.