5 posts tagged “blasts from the past”
As usual, stealing things off my sister's blog. But these are my answers, of course.
Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be...so they say.
1. Who was your best friend?
Betsy
2.What sports did u play?
Drama
3. What kind of car did you drive?
1970s Fiat
4. It's Friday night, where were you?
Home reading a book - heck, I don't remember...
5. Were you a party animal?
Pretty tame stuff - mostly a goodie two shoes
6. Were you considered a flirt/player?
Well, I supposedly had a reputation as such, most likely made up out of jealousy, but I was sweet 16 and never been kissed. Then I had a very serious, steady boyfriend my senior year who went to another school.
7. Ever skip school?
I can't remember...I don't think so.
8. Were you a nerd?
I thought I was a nerd and thought none of the cute guys liked me but at my 20th year high school reunion, every one of them professed to have had a crush on me in high school but were too intimidated by me to ask me out. Gee, all that misery and loneliness in high school for nothing!
10. Did you get suspended/expelled?
Never. Goodie two shoes, remember?
11. Can you sing the fight song?
No clue
12. Who was your favorite teacher?
Can't remember any of them. Maybe I was taking drugs then and can't remember because I can't seem to remember the details.
13. Favorite class?
Can't remember - maybe English.
14. Your schools full name?
W.T. Woodson High School
15. School mascot?
Cavaliers.
16. Did you go to Prom?
Yes, with a basketball player who followed me into the girls bathroom to ask me out. I was eating my lunch in the girls bathroom to dodge him because I was hoping another guy would ask me out. But that guy asked some popular blonde and I went with the basketball player. I was pretty pathetic about it, crying at the prom until other girls had their dates dance with me so I had some fun. The basketball player later gave me two second row center seats to the Rick Springfield concert to make up for the bad time I had. It wasn't his fault - I was just hoping this other guy would ask me. (Not my steady boyfriend who lived in another state).
17. If you could go back and do it over, would you?
Never. Ever.
18. What do you remember most about graduation?
Standing in the hallway before stepping outside for the ceremony and watching the sunlight streaming through the doors thinking "I have to remember this moment forever. This is important."
19. Favorite memory of your Senior Year?
Starring in "Cabaret" as Sally Bowles. That was also my least favorite memory. Too much backstabbing and catfights in drama.
20. Where were you on senior skip day?
Did we even have one of those?
21. Did you have a job your senior year?
I think I was working at a clothing store.
22. Where did you go most often for lunch?
The girls bathroom or the hall by lockers - not the cafeteria. Too freaked out by everyone. Too shy.
23. Have you gained weight since then?
Yes. Had a baby. What do you expect?
24. What did you do after graduation?
Like right after? I think I went to some parties. If I say I can't remember, I'll sound totally lame, so I won't say it.
25. When did you graduate?
1982
26. Who was your Senior prom date?
The basketball player
27. Are you going to your ten year reunion?
Hello! I went to my 20 and plan to go to my 25th, this time, with my gorgeous husband and beautiful baby girl.
28. Who was your homeroom teacher?
What?
29. Who will repost this after you?
Don't know
30. Who was President of your class?
Tom Karl? I think so...
I just found out that someone I knew from Virginia was brutally murdered on New Year's Eve. The whole story is completely shocking. Links to the news stories about the murder of Bryan Harvey (formerly of the band "House of Freaks") are here: Richmond Times-Dispatch: Harvey family slayings.
I met Bryan and his co-band member Johnny Hott of House of Freaks on several occasions while I was living in Richmond, Virgina, going to school at VCU and waitressing at the Village Cafe downtown.
When I got a job in the music business in 1987 at East Coast Entertainment in Charlotte, NC, I helped my boss book bands at fraternity parties and remembered House of Freaks as a unique, 2-man music experience. I thought they'd be perfect for frat parties so tracked down Bryan to book the band. I also helped book them into a local alternative music club and remember hanging out with Bryan outside the club on a beautiful, clear night, just talking.
Later, after I moved to NYC, we were still in touch and when House of Freaks came up for some gigs, Bryan stayed at my place. I vividly remember running through a rainy Manhattan street at night after an evening out and then he kissed me impulsively.
We considered pursuing a more romantic involvement but finally agreed that we were better as friends. We eventually lost touch, although I did look him up when passing through Richmond in 2001 after September 11th. I even stopped by House of Mirth, his wife's store in Carytown. He was happy, settled, a family man. I was still the restless wanderer, trying to find my place, trying to find my home.
My sister called and left a message for me tonight, stumbling over the words to tell me what happened, thinking that maybe she shouldn't. Then she vaguely said that he was killed. I had no idea that he was brutally murdered along with his family. I'm still in shock.
And are there coincidences or not, I wonder? During the day on New Year's, I thought I wanted to listen to some Beatles music and pulled out an old box of cassette taped then decided to go through them to organize them. In that box were two cassettes of House of Freaks - "Tantilla" and an old demo that Bryan had given me. I remember thinking "I wonder how Bryan is doing?" but didn't think much more about it as I carefully placed the cassettes back in the box and closed it.
Other news coverage:
MSNBC: House of Freaks singer and family slain
Family found slain in burning house
Virginia Family Reportedly Found in Burning Home
Court TV: Musician, Wife & Children Slain in Home
NY Daily News: New Year's massacre
Daily Press: Musician and his family found slain in Virginia home
Crime Library: Harvey Family Murders Hit the Blogosphere
TimesDispatch.com: Remembering the Harveys
NBC 12: Police continue investigating family murder; vigil held (includes news video)
The Velvet Rope: RIP Bryan Harvey
BLOG LINKS
SLANTblog: Family Found Murdered
Buttermilk & Molasses: Thoughts, One Day In
Richmond Democrat - Richmond Mourns
Save Richmond: Remember Them Well
The Dark Side: The Burning of a House in Richmond (The Harvey Family Murders)
bluemerle: Harvey Murders - Local Updates
MISC
I posted some photographs from New York City on Travelgirl.com that I took a month after September 11th, 2001 and then a year later.
Well, at least I have a calendar up here and can see that tomorrow is the 4th anniversary of 9/11.
On September 11th, I was waking up early in my RV, parked at a KOA campground in the middle of Nebraska. I was watching the Today Show, making hard boiled eggs and tea.
While on the road on September 11th, trying to figure out where I was going, I stopped into gas stations along the way to watch events unfold on the television, to ask people what they had heard, to figure out if I was heading toward safety or danger.
I was initially on my way to Manhattan to start a book tour but opted for a detour away from the East Coast, ending up at the home of a friend's mother in Salina, Kansas for a few days. Then I headed to Richmond, Virginia to stay with my sister for a month.
When I returned to Manhattan, dark jets flew low overhead and on the day I arrived and switched on the television in my tiny studio apartment on the Upper West Side, the regular program was interrupted by news of anthrax discovered at the NBC studios.
That's when I knew I'd be moving out of the city permanently. That's when I decided Wyoming was a much safer place.
I'm adding a new category called "Blasts from the Past" for odds, ends and ephemera from my cyber-days.
Here's a site I found that is still up about my 1st Internet book, Cybergrrl: A Woman's Guide to the World Wide Web.
My favorite part of this site was the Voices section where women talked about the Internet or actually talked about their fears, interests and ideas about the Internet. This was in 1998!
My booktour diary wasn't very detailed but the fun part is seeing how I used to use links in text back then. If I mentioned the weather, I linked to Weather.com, for example. Ah, the innocence of the early Web.
I met so many fantastic women back in the cyber day. Sometimes, our paths cross and I get an email out of the blue from one of them. I love those opportunities to reminisce. Maybe with age comes more feelings of nostalgia...
