Tranquil center of the universeWhen packing up my apartment, I stumbled across all the issues of I.E. (which stood for, among other things, "Insolence is Excellence") I ever owned. A zine published by the International Baccalaureate students at Henry Foss High School from time immemorial, it was assembled from taped-together texts and images, photocopied, and sold basically at-cost on the sly before class. For myself, at least, the risk of being caught disseminating subversive material that criticized (at various points) the teachers, the IB program, technology, consumerism, and the response to 9/11, and contained no shortage of sex and-- as the Russians put it-- "uncensored words", was part of the thrill.

I don't know what form this material would take if generated now, over 10 years later. I have a hard time imagining us writing a collective semi-pseudonymic blog, and the experience of assembling and distributing the material would have completely changed the dynamic. We realized that at least some authority figures would get their hands on it, but we did try to keep it within our own inner circle.

As I flipped through the treasured issues I had carefully preserved from folds or wrinkles, it occurred to me that they're more than personal nostalgia, they are (if my 15-year-old self will forgive me) "cultural artifacts" that capture something about the shared experience of the overachieving elite at the turn of the century, to say nothing about major political events, such as the election of George W. Bush and 9/11. I think they're worth preserving and sharing-- really, what are the teachers going to do to us now? Black market copytoner racketAlmost everyone wrote under a psudonym, and most non-pseudonymic references are first-name only or are missing a few letters, such that dirty OCR + Google couldn't pick them up to cause the writers grief as they've moved on with their lives. For my own part, I'll confess to being "Nary A Quince", courtesy of an on-line anagram generator for "Quinn A Carey".

I've uploaded copies of the issues to the Internet Archive, given their stated mission of "chang[ing] the content of the Internet from ephemera to enduring artifacts of our political and cultural lives." They'll do a better job with long-term preservation than I will myself, and these are a product of the "internet age", even if we only published them in print. If you want to see the Internet Archive pages for these issues, just search for IE: Insolence is Excellence. I can only imagine what a royal mess their OCR has made of things, but for some reason you want a mangled plaintext version, the Internet Archive has generated it, along with a Kindle version and a number of others.

If anyone else has more issues of I.E. that I can scan and post, please e-mail me at quinn - at - quinndombrowski - dot - com

Disclaimer: Writer's club and its syndicate, i.e. are not affiliated in any way, shape, or form with Henry Foss High School. The opinions expressed here are those of the writers only. You know where you did not get this.

I.E. Vol 27, November

IE, Vol 27, NovemberDownload PDF

  • Mission statement
  • Grandpa Jack's "Male"-order™ !MEN!
  • The Disintegration of Basic Decency in Our Society
  • The Dangers of Hugging Trees: a comprehensive report by Penny Petty
  • Dear Mr. Philosophy Pedagogue
  • Poetry
  • Overpopulation at Foss
  • Horoscopes
  • Random Thoughts From the Upper Lefthand Corner
  • Join Starfleet!
  • Lord of the Flies Island Vacation and Child Care Program
  • Poetry
  • "I have recently found myself lying in bed..." - Justinian in Genoa
  • Dedicated to Someone Unimportant - Stumblebum
  • "Many a night I have rolled the blanket up to my neck..."
  • Poetry
  • Wrath of the Evil Janitors
  • Lies - Peanut Butter Pixie
  • "Can't you do anything?" - Meadowl the Magnificent
  • "We all have defenses" - 67% Alkat
  • Strip Club: The Henry Foss Free Love Commune
  • Why Barbie Should Be Destroyed - Mildly Evil Ogre
  • Points to Ponder
  • Constitutional Amendment
  • Taking Care of the Pet
  • Unbreakable Bones - Every Sandal Off
  • "Come hither dear Stella" - Alkat
  • Punishments
  • The Typical IB Student
  • A Plea To The Writers of the Tabloid I.E.
  • I.E. Idiot Editors
  • IE 1st annual 'Fall Fantastica' Art Contest

I.E. Vol 28, Issue 1: I.E. Unauthorized Access

IE, Vol 28, Issue 1Download PDF

  • Notes from the Editor
  • IE Presents: Things That Are Shiny
  • A Conspiracy of Grass; An Amok Harvest
  • Plan For Week
  • IE Presents: Things That Rhyme With Kitsch
  • The Secret to IB Teachers' Grading Methods
  • The Rant of an IB Junior - Nary A Quince
  • Terrorist Nation/Communist Dictatorship Education Governmental Leadership Development - Clever Pseudonym and the IE staph
  • IE Presents: Things That Really Suck Ass (Formerly the bitch column)
  • IE Trivia, Facts and Information
  • Hell or Farmer?
  • The IE Poetry Page
  • Home
  • Jen & Eggplant
  • Morning Announcements Bingo!
  • Humans - Anarchy Boy
  • Die Kleine Ziege die Könnte
  • The Saddest Limerick Ever
  • S&M's - Clever Pseudonym and her sexy male muse
  • IE personals
  • It's funny... - dark scarlet heart

I.E. Vol 28, Issue 2

IE, Vol 28, Issue 2Download PDF

  • Note from the Editor
  • Foss in an Energy Crisis - Falling Bead
  • How Al Gore Stole My Soul (and Katherine Harris stomped on it) - Clever Pseudonym and her sexy male muse
  • IE Presents: Teacher-isms!
  • Censored Issues & Examples
  • Poetry Page
  • Math for the Oh-So-Cynical
  • Technology - Anarchy Boy
  • Choose Your Own Religion
  • Big Mo Playa's Guide to Rap Song Creation
  • To the 6th Period Clock - Nary a Quince
  • Public service announcement
  • If you are reading this issue without paying for it...
  • Lost and Found
  • IKEA: Incipient Kommunist Economic Attack: Frightening Findings from Penny Petty
  • Wanted: Little Voice Inside My Head
  • Hey, Kids! Wanna Join I.E.?

I.E. Vol 28, Issue 3

IE, Vol 28, Issue 3Download PDF

  • Note from the editor
  • Lascivious Pictography in the Style of Amerigo Vespucci
  • Bob Dylan Illustrated
  • I.E. Presents: Pictionary Words from Hell
  • The Thousand Daily Deaths of Magic - Nary A Quince
  • 88 Lines About 44 IB Students
  • The Day I Scared My Shadow - Mama Crass
  • You believe that you alone hold the monopoly on bitterness...
  • It's Like, Poetry, man...
  • Scooby-Lou and the Case of the Missing Motivation
  • The Idiot's Guide to Success in The Global Economy
  • Lost & Found
  • IB Damned and other reflections from this year's seniors
  • The Conspiracy of Sperm
  • An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • Excerpt from Henry Foss Daily Bulletin, Thursday, May 24, 2001
  • Poll Question: What is the meaning of life?
  • Evolution: A New Application - Mama Crass

I.E. Vol. 29, Issue 1, Back to School Issue

IE, Vol 29, Issue 1Download PDF

  • Note from the Editor
  • Feed the I.E. Box!!
  • One Night Stand - Head Down
  • Open All Nite
  • At Home with Laura
  • Up Close and Personals
  • Gates Grant: Which Way Will Henry Foss Go?
  • Poetry Page
  • Foss ASB President Detained after Park Brawl - The Mirra World Report
  • "It Turns the Screws of Psychological Terror" - Stumblebum
  • From our Friends at the Tacoma News Tribune: A 12-Step Program
  • From your friends at I.E.: A 12-Step Program to Foss - Clever Pseudonym and her sexy male muse
  • Patriotism - Nary a Quince
  • Ginsberg Revisted - Clever Pseudonym & muse
  • Got a problem, PUNK?!?
  • Have you ever had the urge to...

I.E. Vol 29, Issue 2

IE, Vol 29, Issue 2Download PDF

  • Note from the editor
  • IE Horoscopes
  • The Class of Eternal Damnation
  • Plight of IB student type R
  • Lost and Found
  • CNN: Page 1 of 1 Johnson and Johnson® Makes Plea in Baby Oil Case
  • Poetry Page
  • The Terrorist in the Kitchen - Nary A Quince
  • "As long as there have been humans to talk about such matters..."
  • The Band Council - Rich Nauk
  • Daffodil Pageant Review - Nary A Quince
  • New Proposed NHS Logo...
  • "For my eighteenth birthday I always wanted to go to a Strip Bar."
  • "hrm... a mixture of drugs, lack of sleep..." - Turtblu
  • How to be popular

I.E. Vol 29, Issue 3

IE, Vol 29, Issue 3Download PDF

  • The Wonder that is I.E....
  • Attention, Everyone Who Eats in the Pit! - Nary A Quince and the IE staff
  • Horoscopes
  • The IB student's warped view of reality...
  • Olympic Officials Realize They Forgot to Build Speed Skating Rink
  • "Since I was a child, I have always watched the Olympic games" - Stumblebum
  • Maiming of Hearts - Nary A Quince
  • Ode to Dr. Dan
  • Poetry Page(s)
  • A Sample Calculus Problem
  • "Eyes open." - Iron Jocky
  • Paid Advertisement: Recently Discovered in a Cave in Afghanistan: The Kama Sutra of Sleeping!
  • Lost & Found
  • Calculus and Philosophy - Nary A Quince
  • Magic Tricks - Nary A Quince
  • To: G.W. Bush
  • Depravity & Consequence

I.E. Vol 29, Issue 4

IE, Vol 29, Issue 4Download PDF

  • Read this first!
  • Ben: In a Snit!
  • avuncular erotics: The Pleasures of the Closet - Twit and Pussycat
  • Hemingway-esque - N. Mirra
  • Pulp fiction, with references to 33 plays, novels or bodies of work read over the last four years of English IB
  • American Insults of Brotherhood
  • Degenrate Words of Evil
  • IE Horoscopes
  • Sweet Savage Splendor Text Response Journal - Mama Crass
  • Pilgrimage - Nary A Quince
  • "Who is your hero, and why?" - Twit and Pussycat
  • Ms. Colclough Rewrites Chemistry
  • Professional Smart-Ass
  • The Pit - Nary A Quince

I.E. Vol. 30, Issue 1, Back to School 2002, I.E. Wallows in Sin

IE, Vol 30, Issue 1Download PDF

  • Shameless Begging for Submissions (formerly known as Editor's note) - Ed. Err
  • I.E. Horoscopes
  • Mad Props (formerly known as Dedications)
  • Ed. Err has a Thoughtful Thought
  • Up Close and Personals
  • The Worst Story Ever Written - from Yearning, by Justin Merrill Grosslight
  • Lost and Found
  • Six Degrees of Kevin Martin: A decade of Foss romantic history
  • Dress Dubya
  • The WASL: Secret Agenda
  • Which I.E. Staph Member is Your Soulmate?
  • Ben has a Bad Day - Replacement Nick
  • Random Projectiles Thrown from Blue Subaru - Thad Rocket
  • Ed. Err Has a Thoughtful Thought
  • Up Close and Personals