who are you again?

coming up with titles for these posts is always the hardest part. i had this problem when i was on the newspaper staff in high school (as the school's humor columnist- perhaps one of my bigger accomplishments), and i still find myself at a loss for words when i get around to coming up with a line compelling enough to make you actually read my ramblings.

speaking of high school, you may have heard a tiny little rumor or two about saturday's ten-year reunion*. let me set a few things straight:

1. while a couple of my former classmates were three sheets to the wind by 11:00, none of them were spotted dancing on tables with lampshades on their heads. (the fact that there weren't any lamps at this event is just a coincidence.)

2. it appears that none of my former classmates have grown up and become elvis impersonators. (then again, only about half of my graduating class showed up at this shindig.)

(i said two, right?)

the reunion went well, despite the lack of elvises. pre-reunion, i met up with a good friend i hadn't seen in, well, ten years, for dinner (just because you never know what sort of cuisine will be served at these shindigs). we caught each other up on the past decade over salad (me) and a chicken sandwich (her). initially, she'd mentioned wanting to steel herself for the reunion with a cocktail or two, but she wound up waiting until we got to the actual reunion. (i'm guessing she didn't want to be the first one up on a table, lampshade or not.)

upon entering the building, we were presented with our name tags.

before i go any further, a word to my young readers: when the time comes to take your senior picture for your high school yearbook, make sure you're having a good hair day, as that picture will haunt you for the rest of your freaking life.

my senior picture was not exactly flattering, as my hair has always had a mind of its own, and that day, it felt like doing some weird wavyish thing, except where it was straight, and don't worry folks, because i will never, ever get that jacked-up short haircut again. (hear that? it's my dad and SO cheering, because they just skipped over a few words and read that i was never going to get a short haircut again.)

anyway, naturally, my senior picture was on the nametag, which i promptly folded, not just because i never actually resembled my senior picture, which sucked, but because i figure i look almost exactly the same as i did in high school (well, maybe i'm an inch taller, give or take and inch) and anyone who knew me then would recognize me now....unlike one of my former classmates, who used to be a wee bit geeky but has spent the past ten years growing up and becoming downright hot.)

but i digress.

in addition to a little nametag origami (which wound up being pretty pointless by the end of the night, since the nametags were those cheap plastic sleeves and somehow my tag, dreadful picture and all, flipped out of said plastic toward the end of the evening, as i walked through a crowd of people who never gave me the time of day even back in high school), i also borrowed a marker and did a little editing as far as my name was concerned. (props for putting "duff", but ten years hasn't been long enough to convince me i should capitalize it.)

while i didn't run into everyone i'd hoped, i did manage to run into a couple of unexpected folks, including a girl who was my best friend for several months my sophomore year before one of us (not sure which, but probably me) fell off the face of the earth. even more interestingly, she recognized me first, which, quite honestly blew me away. we'd dated brothers during our brief but close friendship, and she's still in contact with them, which is how she knows that the one i dated (andy the first, as opposed to andy the second, who's the one i usually reminisce about on here) is now married with almost enough offspring for his own basketball team. (in retrospect, i'm kind of glad things between us didn't work out- i shudder to think what it's be like to have six kids at my age. i mean, sometimes, you just have to say, "no, honey, not tonight.")

i tended not to seek out people during the evening- figured they could come to me. i'd blame this sort of approach for my lack of dates in high school, but i think it was actually more a problem of not being able to subtly harbor a crush on just about anyone at the time. (i've since gotten better about this, believe it or not, though the dates still aren't exactly pouring in.)

oh- that's another reason i stayed (fairly) put. i mean, how could the hordes of men wishing to apologize for never asking me out find me if i were running all over the place? i mean, i'm small and quick and easy to miss, despite the turquoise and orange outfit i'd worn that evening. after sensing that my horde wasn't coming, i came to the conclusion that i'm not yet rich, famous, or gorgeous enough yet to inspire serious regrets. however, by the 20th reunion, i'll be there....and perhaps by then, i will have learned to walk in girly shoes. (for the record, i wore my bouncy adidas. after all, i haven't changed that much. well, maybe i have a little- otherwise i would've packed my plaid doc martens and worn those to the reunion, but i suppose in some small way, i wanted to sort of attempt to fit in a little....and i'm just not willing to sport jewelry of significance and pop out a few kids to do it.)

i could ramble on and on for a bit about the reunion, but i'll spare you the bulk of the details. however, i should note that i'm still trying to figure out how the guy who swore i was in his ceramics class new me, since i never took any art classes. i also would be remiss if i didn't compliment the other class clown on his clothing choices for the evening. (lack of orange chuck taylors was a downer, but i really liked the "sex, drugs, and dungeons & dragons" t shirt.) oh, and i finally got to meet the boyfriend of one of my best friends from high school. we spent most of the evening hanging out, and i'm quite excited about the prospect of meeting up with them the next time i'm in phoenix.

ok, i'll shut up now so i'll have time to post a few reunion photos over on random photos before bed.

*i know, i know, since the reunion was on saturday, i'm actually a day late writing this post. however, i have an excuse- it's taken me awhile to come up with the perfect title.