i graduated HIGH SCHOOL in 97, so yeah i wasn't at 51 when you were...but my sister was. !!
i was a big nerd in middle school and spent most of my time in the darkroom or reading. then i randomly became hott in high school, which was weird enough, but it got infinitely weirder when i went to college with some of the guys who made fun of me in jr. high and they still looked 13 and were obssessed with me and it freaked me the fuck out. so i can relate to your story of turd-burgers.