When I went to secondary school (at 11 years old), I got very excited about the chance to do Technical Drawing (TD). Sloped desks, huge rulers… yes please. But in the first lesson the teacher told me I was rubbish and not to choose it as an option again.

Undeterred, I continued to choose it as an option and despite further criticism earned my TD accreditation and quickly became the foremost TD’er in Britain, nay Europe, eventually receiving the Nobel Prize for TD in 1995.

Well, no. I never chose it as an option again. But, that early experience couldn’t surpress the thrill of finding this vintage foolscap graph paper in a charity shop and the fun I’ve had with a metal ruler and blunt pencil. Merry Christmas, everyone.

(For further true stories, replace Technical Drawing with French, German or Maths. Thank god for lifelong learning.)