innismir:

True Story: In 4th grade, we had to write a report about the Alaskan State Flag. We had a month to do it. I didn’t do jack until the last night and convinced my parents that it was an overnight assignment. I finished it, got the highest grade in the class, and was mentioned in the school newspaper.

This corrupted me for the rest of my scholastic career.

I was on the envirothon team in high school, and we were supposed to have been doing beach cleanups all year and reporting “findings” of some sort for this district wide competition. We slacked off until the week of the competition and ended up going down to the beach with a year’s wardrobe, doing quick changes to simulate the various seasons as we pretended to pick up litter for photographs. 90 degree Florida heat, and we’re standing in sweaters, fake-shivering, trying to keep the tourists in bikinis out of the camera frame. Went to the competition - took second place.

First place award? A set of encyclopedias for the school.

Second place award? Tickets to see Lenny Kravitz.