Good time had

So we had a good time on our trip to MD. Thanks to everybody who showed up for Friday’s dinner… it was simply awesome realizing that there are still some really good friendships with people who knew us when we knew nothing. Special thanks to Justin & Kelly, Jon & Michelle, Jen & Andy, Patty & John, Andrea & Genna, and those who made it to J & K’s house after the dinner to just talk the night away. You guys all rock.

I have more pictures than the ones below (many more!) but I think I want to just get the gallery module working on my blog to make this easier… converting each photo to thumbnail and web-reduced version by hand takes too much time.

So we had a good time on our trip to MD. Thanks to everybody who showed up for Friday’s dinner… it was simply awesome realizing that there are still some really good friendships with people who knew us when we knew nothing. Special thanks to Justin & Kelly, Jon & Michelle, Jen & Andy, Patty & John, Andrea & Genna, and those who made it to J & K’s house after the dinner to just talk the night away. You guys all rock.

I have more pictures than the ones below (many more!) but I think I want to just get the gallery module working on my blog to make this easier… converting each photo to thumbnail and web-reduced version by hand takes too much time.

  1. Our first night in town, we sit down to sing through “Once More With Feeling”, the score to the Buffy The Vampire Slayer musical of the same name.
  2. Justin sings his heart out as Giles. I believe this was “So tell me… Where do we go from here?”
  3. Tickling ivories.
  4. Christy went to the DC Mormon temple on Friday morning.
  5. Self-portrait. I’ve gotten uglier with time.
  6. She’s gotten prettier.
  7. The dinner gang relaxes. Missing from picture is Kelly, at bottom left. You can see her and the bun in the oven in the first picture.
  8. Andy & Jen strike a pose for the camera.
  9. Relaxing at Coldstone with Andy, Jen, Justin, and Kelly.
  10. This was the majority of the attendees at the 2006 QOHS 1991 15-year high school reunion. Can anybody name everyone from left to right? (Check it out in hi-resolution. 1.6 megabytes.)
  11. A Real Wild Child. I won’t identify who she is online, but I just love this picture.
  12. Christy, Laurie, and Bryan.

We also got a little video of the blackmailable “Chicken Dance” at the QOHS 15 year reunion for the class of 91:

Watch the silly 2 minute video. It is rather large, and is NOT a streaming video; dialup users beware.

— Matthew P. Barnson – – – – Thought for the moment: The difference between sentiment and being sentimental is the following: Sentiment is when a driver swerves out of the way to avoid hitting a rabbit on the road. Being sentimental is when the same driver, when swerving away from the rabbit hits a pedestrian. — Frank Herbert, “The White Plague”

15 thoughts on “Good time had”

  1. Higher-res

    Thanks, Matt–these are great. Can you put a higher-res of #10 up? I’m trying to recognize people, but it’s tough or my piddly 17″ monitor.

    This was a great time. Looks like I chose wisely in focusing on the dinner crowd, rather than paying big bucks to meet only a handful more people. (Nothing against those people, of course–I’m just cheap.)

    1. Hi-res

      I’ve posted a link to a hi-res version of #10. If anybody wants higher-res versions of the other ones to print or whatever, just ask and I’ll upload and link.

      Realize all the pictures are clickable to 640×480 versions, too.

      —
      Matthew P. Barnson

  2. #10 thread…

    So from picture #10, left to right… question marks for those I can’t fully remember:

    1. Laurie Jo Haney. Organizer. Tore up the dance floor all night long; time hasn’t touched her much, though I still think she’s giving off a serious Mary Poppins vibe these days.
    2. Tim Clark. God lives.
    3. Chris Long. Was the school mascot. Dude is still a riot and fun to hang around with.
    4. Stephanie… something. Didn’t run with her crowd.
    5. Matthew P. Barnson. Time hasn’t been kind.
    6. Lisa Rosenhaft (Clark). Class of ’92.
    7. Brian Gregg. Long live male cheerleaders! Rar!
    8. Daniella Hull. Organizer. Pregnant with fourth.
    9. Birgitte Nielsen. I think she looks better now than in high school.
    10. Generic chicken dude that came with the DJ. He was much uglier in real life.
    11. Carmel… ???
    12. ??? Introduced herself to me, but I can’t remember.
    13. ??? I remember him, but can’t remember the name
    14. Jim Colleca (detail at right). If you remember, he ran with the jock crowd and joined the show choir at Marlene Baldwin’s behest. He never could quite get the singing down, but he was a dancing fool who showed many of us up on the stage, and showed a vestige of that talent by grinding on the chicken on the dance floor! (seen in the video linked above)
    15. Bridget…? She’s now married to Mike, to her left (your right).
    16. Mike… ? He ran with a different crowd than I did.

    Can anybody fill in the blanks?

    Now that I look, I realize there are at least 15 people I met that night who aren’t in the picture, having either left earlier or opted out of participation in the Funky Chicken.

    —
    Matthew P. Barnson

    1. Second the ‘good time had’ on Friday night, but Saturday…

      I’ve been struggling with how to diplomatically put down (read: throw under the bus, as the kids say) the party planners for the reunion event itself last Saturday. I was more than a little disappointed at the turnout and the egregious expense incurred by all who attended. Lisa kept saying it was ‘weird’, and I would never argue with her, but it went beyond that on a lot of levels. When there are moments when the DJs and the hotel staff outnumbered the reunion attendees, you’ve got a problem.

      On the other hand, it was nice to run into people like Jim Collica, who lives not more than a few miles from us in Montgy County here.

      And I think anyone who participated in the Chicken Dance – myself included – can seriously write off a political career. That kind of damaging footage simply can’t be explained away. I thought I had put all those bad Show Choir dance numbers behind me.

      Friday night however was an entirely different matter. It was a real pleasure to see folks at dinner, it was great to catch up with everyone. Thanks for the pics, Matt. We need to do that again.

      That was Mike Jurgens, I think your #16, and his wife was Bridget #15. Funny enough, Chris Neary, Mike Jurgens and I all grew up in the same neighborhood, literally just doors from each other, went to the same schools all those years ago, and there we all were, standing around comparing notes about diaper changes. Funny how that works.

      Let’s make one note about Daniella about to have her fourth – that will be four kids under the age of 2. I think we should all send her and her husband some valium.

      I can so for certain, we won’t be attending my 20th. Now, I have to finagle my way out of Lisa’s 15th next year.

      1. Neary…

        Right. Laurie Jo married Chris, and I think he was working the front desk at the time this picture was taken. Funny thing… I don’t ever remember meeting Chris Neary in high school. Totally don’t recognize him.

        —
        Matthew P. Barnson

        1. Lucky him

          Being at the desk when the picture was taken means he probably missed out on the Chicken Dance. Smart guy.

          1. Filling in some blanks

            #12 Laura (Owens) now married. Those who left early missed her husband pretend to strip. (be thankful) 🙂 Matt, she used to ride our bus before I started driving us. #14 Mark A. Cant remember his last name at the moment. Other people that werent pictured are Hillary Evens, Laurie McDermott, and Rhonda (whos last name I also cant remember, man I’m getting old)

            I also wanted to say that I had a great time on Friday night. It was nice to see everyone again. Friday was more like the fun I had at the 10 year instead of the actual reunion the next day. But I enjoyed myself at both. Supposedly 60-some people paid for tickets ahead of time, but I counted less than 50 people that were actually there.

            — Bryan

  3. Jealous!

    Jealous that I couldn’t be there to share in the Friday night gathering! I will be coming into DC at the end of July for five days if anyone wants to get together and catch up.

    Pics looks great!

    1. IN town

      Sammy, consider yourself a winner for a free Coffee or eat in dinner at Chez Timpane (Barring the arrival of Liam.. which, may be sooner than expected) and even then, we’d love to see ya.

      JT

      Visit the Official Justin Timpane Website Music, Acting, and More! http://www.timpane.com

      1. Same here

        Sam, we’d be glad to see you, too. Schedule is pretty open, in between trips back and forth to Ocean City.

        1. Calendar?

          Do you think, with all the discussion of schedules and such, that I should implement a calendar on barnson.org to coordinate hang-out times? It would be fairly trivial, but it would be extra “clutter” in the right-hand sidebar.

          —
          Matthew P. Barnson

          1. Put me Down

            Matt, put me down on arriving in Utah for the 12th of Never. 🙂

  4. How much can you fit into one weeken?

    Wow. We did a ton while we were there. We were constantly lost and making u-turns. What a hoot. We couldn’t even find a gas station by the airport to fill the rental, then we couldn’t find the airport again.

    I think Matt forgot to mention among all the visiting that we made it to a midnight showing of Pirates of the Carribean. Great flick…no closure. I guess we’ll have to wait for #3.

    I had a lot of fun reminiscing with Matt about hang out spots, where he met his closest friends, how nothing a the JHS has changed. It was awesome meeting the spouses of all the fellow barnsonians! We have a lot in common.

    I don’t know how many people don’t want their names online so I won’t mention them all. One of Matt’s JHS friends (who is very awesome) pulled out a blow torch and made me a necklace. This is greatly appreciated since all my jewelry was stolen out of my suitase enroute. Hurray, I had a necklace to wear! I gave my best friend the second one that she’d made as a thank you for watching my kids all weekend and she loves it!

    We enjoyed each visit we made. I’m so glad we managed to get together with my sister in law and neice.

    Gotta run, but I won’t be such a stranger on barnson.org as I have been!

    —

    Christy

    1. They stole your jewelry?!

      Aww! That’s terrible! But… I’m glad you liked the necklace-making, and that your babysitting friend does, too. 🙂

      I was really thrilled to meet you and it was great to see Matt again. I hadn’t met Justin’s wife before either, so that was neat. Bet that baby’s going to show up any minute now!

      Andy says it’s too bad you don’t live closer. Alas!

  5. Good Times…

    Michelle and I had a great time seeing everyone Friday night. It was nice to go out without the kids (something we don’t do much). I really enjoyed sitting around the table and chatting with everyone, wow it’s been a long time…

    Matt & Christy, Thanks for making the trek out to good-ol WV. It was great to have you out at the house and to catch up on things. I really think Michelle and Christy hit it off. Michelle has re-sparked her scrap-book itch and was excitetd to learn the new picture book thing (as explained by a guy…heh)

    Thanks again for a good time… Hope to see you all soon…

Comments are closed.