la ballata de la freshman senza data

dear peanut guy,

HI! I HAVEN'T HAD A BOYFRIEND FOR ALMOST *8* MONTHS, freshman, AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE GUYS LIKE ME. WHAT MAKES YOU LIKE A GIRL?

~DATELESS

dear DATELESS,

ask the peanut guy what makes him like a girl and you bring a soft, subtle tear to his salty, salty eye. let me count the ways...from the 10 commandments of peanut love! ready, set, feast!:

scrub not thy stalk, for thou art lovely

seek not the salt of the ancients, for its scent is un-savory

what lies beneath the rind?: the innards and thistle

salt thy rind daily

dare to flaunt thy silken stalk

the written word shall haunt thee speak in tongues in tune

applause from your hull rings out with dances in time

bring forth thy bountiful harvest and sing sans tune nor grace

burgle thy peanut kisses, as cookies from the starv-ed child

search beneath the seed coat and ye shall find the brawn of ages

live by these simple rules, DATELESS, and you shall turn *8* MONTHS of loneliness into *8* ETERNITIES of happiness.

feast,
the peanut guy!

i suck at sports...especially running

Hey Peanut Guy,

I'm 13 years old, in 8th grade. Well, since the end of last school yer, I've really liked this guy in my school. I hardly know him, but I just feel that he is right for me. (And I think he's so adorably cute) Also, he is hilarious, which is a good thing. He even danced with me and signed my yearbook. My question is, how do I get to know him? I want to get really close to him. I don't expect a dating relationship becuase I've only had one boyfriend before, and I don't think anyone likes me. I also wanted to ask, what do I do? The same guy that I like is in my gym class, and I SUCK at sports...especially running. When we have to do the mile, I'm going to feel like a complete moron..any suggestions for me?

Thanks!
~Sara

dear sara,

my suggestions are endless as the sands of time. start here: carry one sack of flour in each hand at all times. "who's the girl with the flour sacks?" they'll say. and in time, "why, that's sara the dame!" he'll reply.

know thee, sara, that 8th grade is a vicious time. it's the spanish inquisition of adolescence and few if any escape its malice. the sacks will carry you through, young sara. the sacks will carry you through. consider my story:

t'was 8th grade, 1845. i had the biggest crush on the delectable peanut marie. she asked me for a raisin in home ec, but i just ran out. my heart sank. all the others laughed at peanut guy as his stalk wilted in distress. but then, from the bowels of my being: "a prune, perhaps?" sang i, in glass-shattering tenor, and the skies opened, revealing a neverending prunestorm that swallowed us all.

then, hidden 'neath the prunes, peanut marie came to me and sang sweetly in my rindpipe:

t'was written in the peanut tome
one would call all prunekind home
and at the beckon of marie
would steal a kiss of nougat foam

and here beneath the deep prune sea
i clutch you ever close to me
and at the beckon of marie
i offer you this pocket comb

the comb was all i ever got from marie, dear sara. but the comb secretes pomade in limitless quantities, and can decode animal thoughts.

what's the moral?: carry your sacks the day of the mile, sara. let him come to you. and in time, he will learn to call you master.

der erzherzog der erdnüsse,
the peanut guy!

"stay the hell away from my son"

Dear Peanut Guy,

The other day my coworker told me in confidence that he killed a neighborhood pet while he was busy fixing his hair in the car. What should I do? In addition, my son is allergic to peanuts. So, you know, stay the hell away from my son.

Signed,
~Mr. Wheat

dear mr. wheat,

i am perfectly happy sitting at my laughably tiny desk, quill in hand, for the rest of my days. perhaps you should warn your sickly son with the histamine affliction not to come near me. were he to approach a twelve-mile radius of my well-fortified georgian compound i assure you my crack squad of peanut commandos would put him out of his misery with jaw-dropping precision.

my first suggestion is to listen closely to your soothsaying youth. for the peanut elders teach that the human peanut allergy is but a warning to all humankind that the age of the peanut cometh; and all whose nostrils have been seduced by our carefully salted rinds, our honey-roasted deliciosity, shall perish in the first waves of the great bloody war of legume liberation prophesized in the ancient peanut texts. beware.

as for your murderous coworker, my advice column colleagues would surely suggest you confront your friend about his transgressions and, failing that, report him to the authorities. to do so would be salacious, boobhardy and utterly naive. instead:

offer him an eclair filled with acetone

when he drifts off to sleep, tack a post-it to his forehead scrawled with the words "cat killer"

cut off his hair and fashion a beautiful toupee for peanut guy

verily our new age cometh,
the peanut guy!