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This will be a heck of a lot better than catching up at funerals...


Ok, so my 20th high school reunion is coming up. A couple of months ago I wrote about running into some high school people. Well, one of them just forwarded the info. And of course, it’s at Classmates.com which is an evil little website.

Why evil? Basically, you can’t do much beyond getting a list of names of people who are registered. If you click on the names to read their bios or see their pics you get this message:

Can't get a certain someone off your mind, Gordon?
Go Gold now to get back in touch.


Dear Homecoming Queen,* I’ve been in love with you since 1984 but have finally worked up the nerve to tell you. I’m only a cheesemonger, but I offer my undying devotion to the romantic image I made up about you and have been embellishing for 20 years. Please write back!

Yeah, that’ll work.

Anyways, in a drunken moment at a bar last year, I promised co-worker and attendee of the same high school, [livejournal.com profile] ctrhotpink, that we would go together. This is what people mean when they talk about making Bad Decisions under the influence of alcohol. I regret it now, but a promise is a promise. [livejournal.com profile] ilipodscrill what do you think about being our driver and bodyguard?

Anyway, here are some choice examples of why I’m so excited. These are all actual quotes from the RSVP list:


Can we have it somewhere a little more exciting than McInnis Park golf center?
The last reunion I heard about, the 5th year, was already charging $75 a head. I can only imagine how high the price would be if it was someplace "exciting".


What kind of music would you like to hear at the reunion? Phill Collins, some reggae,
Well, the memories would come flooding back.

Been thinking about the reunion for a few months now.
What possesses someone to start thinking about the reunion months ahead of time? Heck, since the reunion isn’t until September so I guess I am. But I was forced into it. Also this was posted last November or so, so this person has been eagerly awaiting the reunion for over a year.

I look forward to coming to see my (very) old California Friends. Its in my calendar and look forward to flying there from my home in Europe. Ciao
Did I tell you about my home in Europe? Hmmmmm?

The only difference is now we know how to really party.
This just scares me. I hope he doesn’t bring the beer bong.

What kind of music would you like to hear at the reunion? A bunch of hammered 40 year old Karaoke singers (meaning us) sounds good, so we can pretend we are still in high school! I thought I was kidding, but it sounds kind of fun... Still a little joker I am!
Making a serious comment and trying to pass it off like a wacky joke. I bet they are the star of their local karaoke bar and want to show off their special skill.

And the comment that really makes me want to attend:

Can not wait to see the MILFS....
That's a guy I can't wait to party with!


See, the problem is that I don’t love or hate my high school classmates, really. I just feel massive ambivalence about the ones I’m not in touch with. I think the whole experience will be lots of fakey-fakey about how great things were and how we all miss each other.

Anyways, I should probably make up some good lies to tell at the reunion. Any ideas? Anyone got reunion stories?



*heh, the homecoming queen actually reads this journal sometimes so let me say that this is meant to be an example of, not actual, declaration of romantic love. Of course, our homecoming queen was a little punky, photographer who went on to double major in English and Physics at a hoitier-toitier school than mine.
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Date: 2005-02-28 08:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] reddawn.livejournal.com
At least enough time for most of them to have been married with children, divorced and forced to contemplate their crimes against humanity and good taste from behind bars. In short, another 10 or 20 years wait would be well advised.

Date: 2005-02-28 08:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] incendiarymind.livejournal.com
I know who won't be going to her reunion next year. :)

Date: 2005-02-28 09:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] captain-grim.livejournal.com
$75 for head is actually quite reasonable in my neck of the woods. Hope you enjoy your reunion!

Date: 2005-02-28 09:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com
well now it might be. But 15 years ago? With no dinner? No way. It also came with some statement, obvioulsy in reaction to criticism, like "We know it's steep, but don't we deserve the best?"

Re: question

Date: 2005-02-28 09:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] arispurr.livejournal.com
as in... the person's own mother? someone else's mother? a peer (i.e. become sexually active)?

am i dense? glad at least that i didn't follow that series...

thanks.

Re: question

Date: 2005-02-28 09:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com
someone else's. not necesarily a peer.

and to think... you do queer youth work.

Date: 2005-02-28 09:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com
totally dude! We're gonna get waaaay waaaaasted!

Re: I have one suggestion for you: Sgt. Cheese.

Date: 2005-02-28 09:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sgt-cheese.livejournal.com
Dress up like me? Do you think I'm a joke? I might just have to make a special delivery to Lesbotown and teach you some manners, Little Missy.

Date: 2005-02-28 09:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com
well, then I might get more work visits.

Date: 2005-02-28 09:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com
and thanks.

Date: 2005-02-28 09:44 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com
ha ha. that is lame!

I don't know any interesting 48 year old guys from Jersey right now, but [livejournal.com profile] ilipodscrill will be one in ten years or so.

Date: 2005-02-28 09:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com
the things I will say about my classmates, many of them are smart enough to put their e-mail in their bio so people can e-mail 'em without paying.

So, are you gonna call this dude? or is it obvious he just wants to hook up?

Re: question

Date: 2005-02-28 09:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] arispurr.livejournal.com
dude, this _never_ came up. and hasn't come up with the community college kids either. MAYBE it's NOT the youth generation. ehem.

and, ew. i mean that it's a referencable group of people. not necessarily shagging someone's mom. though, talking about it, yeah.

Date: 2005-02-28 09:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com
now that's a good idea!

Date: 2005-02-28 09:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com
wow, I think of you as such a music person. I didn't realize you didn't play for so many years.

Re: You darn well better be

Date: 2005-02-28 09:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com
That's right. Don't let him talk like that.

Date: 2005-02-28 09:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com
well, how was the 10th?

Re: high school reunions

Date: 2005-02-28 09:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gordonzola.livejournal.com
cocktails with be mandatory. that's why we need a driver.

Date: 2005-02-28 09:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jwz.livejournal.com
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't even remember most of the people I went to HS with. It would be like, "Oh, yeah, you look kind of familiar. I guess we had English together? How about that. How's. Um. Things?"

Date: 2005-02-28 10:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rootlesscosmo.livejournal.com
When I played "classical" (hate that word) music, up through high school, I never really connected with the music as a way to express myself or have fun; it was about keeping my parents happy, not being guilt-tripped by my teacher, doing well in competitions, impressing people I wanted to impress (girls and their parents, "Such a nice talented boy!" as I schemed on getting into their daughters' drawers.) As soon as I left home and came to Calif for college I quit playing that music but got more intensely into jazz (another doubtful term, Miles Davis disapproved of it.) This was fun, though again it was all tangled up in extra-musical motives; it also started to bother me that I was just another facile (because well-schooled) but totally derivative white boy, stealing (we say "appropriating" now, don't we) ideas from Black artists in what was still very much a segregated music business. When I got my first railroad job and saw some real money I packed in playing without, really, a backward glance.

Over the next 25 years, though, most or all of the extra-musical stuff went away. At that 30th reunion I suddenly felt the desire to play, accompanying an old friend who's a singer and voice coach, and realized that I loved it--loved being in a small group especially. (This, in retrospect, was one of the things I liked about playing bebop, which is, after all, a kind of chamber music.) So I spent some time getting some of my chops back and now I do chamber music, essentially for the sheer pleasure of the thing.

Date: 2005-02-28 11:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] superchones.livejournal.com
I think you should dress to impress. Perhaps a standard issues cult leader robe and a flock of followers?

The milfs will get worked into a frenzy, I am sure.

Date: 2005-02-28 11:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] slit.livejournal.com
That is insane to me. My 10th was a free picnic in the park, please bring a covered dish. (Not that I went. But they were kind enough to send me an invite, which is more than I got for senior prom.)

Date: 2005-03-01 02:43 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] magpiesf.livejournal.com
i was teetering on the fence for my 10th, some years back. had a friend all set to be my date and we were going to turn the place on its ear, but then...

1. i broke my arm

2. i discovered that it was at the holiday inn, cost $65, and all wed get to eat was a spectacular "3-course chicken dinner".

3. i read the line about having to pay for drinks.

1 and 2 werent that big of worries, or at least they wouldnt have been if i wouldnt have have to travel to get to the damn reunion.

but 3... that killed it. there is NO WAY i could handle a high school reunion without an open bar.

that being said, i will probably be sorely tempted when the 20th comes around in a few years, if for nothing other than the sheer amusement value, because i have contact with exactly *1* person from my high school (not counting my brother), and theyre not from my graduating class, and i didnt know them at the time - so whatever reasoning i would have to come up with to go would be seriously perverse.

with the right date, it could be damn entertaining, though...

trouble is, i always tend to hope for antics along the lines of high school reunion movies, and theres just no way...

Re: high school reunions

Date: 2005-03-01 03:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hoppers.livejournal.com
My class should have celebrated their 10 year 3 years ago... and didn't. I can't imagine our class ever getting together. There were two groups, brains and jocks, and never the two shall mix. My graduating class was only 28. Might of had something to do with the lack of harmony.

Date: 2005-03-01 07:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] flipzagging.livejournal.com
If it was a woman who'd gone butch dyke that would be kinda cool though.
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