Reunion

Warning: This post has nothing to with a hideously bad yet entertaining show on Fox.

I was rather nervous about attending my 10 Year High School Reunion last night. Initially it sounded like a grand idea but as it approached I found myself trying to convince myself that it was an ill-conceived idea. That I didn't need to go. That I was above all that. And when Misty (AKA Headstart), my best-friend and ride to the reunion, had a crazy day that delayed our departure I thought "hmmm, maybe we should see that as an omen and just scratch the whole thing." But luckily the $85 dollars I had already paid to attend (later called "the most overpriced cover to a lame club ever")compelled me to at least get some of my money's worth. It turned out to be a freaking awesome time. Sprizee you totally missed out on an excellent event.

On the way there Misty and I got into a retro mood by listening to Frank Black's Teenager of the Year, which I must have listened to about 600 times during my senior year and remains one of my Top 5 albums of all time. We arrived well after dinner which by all accounts was horrid. Immediately we ran into Zac and he was as crazy, fun, and intense as ever and I knew this was going to be a great night. Most of the people I hung out with a lot it high school, people like Kingston and Gabe, where not there but It was great to talk to all sorts of people. With the exception of once really creepy dude, it was particularly enlightening to talk to people that I knew I high school but wasn't particularly tight with. After staying past last call at the official reunion we retreated back to Nikki Gross's parents house (they were out of town! How fitting). Here are some pictures and anecdotes:


Travis, Anne, Sean Berg, and Misty
My old AP history nemesis Travis was a real delight. He has mellowed considerably of the years and is now a TV news reporter in Spokane. Sean Berg is still Sean Berg, which was reassuring in away. I did not hear him try to argue that Star Trek physics were plausible last night, which he did memorably do in physics class a decade ago. At one point, I heard someone say that "Who new that Sean Berg would be such a hottie!" Which frankly really freaked me out. I guess the lack of mullet can do wonders. Anne seems to being to doing great is now attending the UW's iSchool to get her Masters of Library and Information Science degree so she can be just like me! Or maybe its to be like her parents, I forget.


Karen and Misty
It was really awesome to see Karen. Misty and Karen reminisced about old times and Karen showed us a picture of her lovely daughter. I never knew Karen that well after Misty and Sprizee informed that I was not to talk to her anymore in Junior year, but she has turned out really great.


Amy
The last time I saw Amy was about 9 years ago and I was at her house in Tacoma on acid and my brother was making me cry by badgering me with a puppet Amy had made out of a Band-aid box. Amy remains one of the sweetest and nicest people I have ever met.


Misty and Zac
Zac was crazy kid in school with big dreams. And for the most part he is living exactly the life he wanted. And he's the manager at Shorty's, how cool is that! He was kind enough to retell the famous "Ruben Sandwich" story and the saga of his marriage, divorce, and forth-coming remarriage was inspiring stuff.


Rob, Morgan, and Misty
The five minutes Misty and I talked to Morgan was probably the highlight of the evening. Morgan was completely sloshed and was the same sincere honest asshole that he's always been. He extolled the virtues of being the boss and putting people to work and explained what a complete loser he thought our president was. Morgan Handley was in a word awesome.


Josh and Pooh at the after party
I've run into Josh at the Croc and at Shorty's several times over the years. He's always been fun to chat with and he seems to be really enjoying himself after breaking with his former band The Spits. Josh told me about one reunion possibility that would have been truly awesome if had managed to go down. Josh's friend Allen, who I knew slightly in high school, is now a producer for the Playboy Channel and is dating porn star Ashley Blue. Allen had intended to come to the reunion with Ashley and raise all holy hell. Josh also told me that he overheard that some one in our class had become a female-to-male transexually but he didn't catch the name.

Also Nikki would probably like me to note that the large number of stuffed Poohs in this picture were are going to be given aways to kids at Children's Hospital and that no one in here family has a creepy Pooh obsession.


Aaron and Misty
Aaron was our Homecoming King (although he was really more of the anti-Homecoming King). When I knew him sophomore year he was a scrawny geek that constantly recited scenes out of Ren and Stimpy and the movie UHF. He obviously got a lot cooler by senior year and has turned out to be a really great guy. He was heavily invloved in the Dean Campaign and now runs his own business designing and supporting websites for progressive causes.


Travis and Zac circa 4 AM
Not long after this picture was taken we finally went home. What an excellent evening! A big thanks to Nikki for being such a great host!