her brother bob and boyfriend sajid were already there by the time i arrived, loading stuff into the medium size uhaul truck. later, chris meusel (former coworker) showed up followed by julie's friend beau. her brother bob was suddenly called home when it appeared his expecting wife might be in labor. 
besides a dresser and a table or two, the rest of the large stuff included a couch and a futon frame with accompanying mattresses. when her apartment was finally emptied of content, we headed out to davis square with sajid and me riding in the back of the truck to make sure nothing jostled. 
what we didn't realize was once the door was closed, it was pitched black in there, and there was no way we'd be able to catch anything if it fell out of place during the trip to the new apartment. i shielded my face because i didn't want to be punched by a table leg or a corner of a falling box. i tried using my cellphone to light the inside, but the few led's worth of light weren't enough to see with. fortunately the trip was very short, and once the truck can to a stop, they let sajid and me out.
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julie parents showed up to help with the move into the new apartment. meusel left sometime in the middle, but not before he and sajid had the unenviable task of moving the sofa to julie's third floor bedroom up three flights of spiraling stairs. once we were done moving, sajid, beau and i went out to get beer and pick up the pizza (julie's father gave us the money, which she later repaid) while julie went back to return the uhaul truck. when she came back, we had pizza and beer and got to meet her three new roommates. i left soon afterwards, i had something else important to go to later this day.
around 4pm andrew morse came over to my place the very first time. i gave him the tour and he said my place reminded him of edward scissorhands, how every room is a different color, and how he'd never seen a house painted like this before. we watched a little television ("proof of life" with meg ryan and russell crowe), and then he helped me make dinner which consisted of braised beef leftovers, thanksgiving turkey leftovers, and basmati rice.
we left for boston around 7:30pm, for our 10th year high school reunion held at the international restaurant & pub (184 high street, financial district). it was easy for andrew to find because his office was nearby, and i knew the area a little bit as well having worked on broad street for a few years (my early screen house days). we were one of the first to arrive, greeted at the door by andrew plunkett (class president) and his wife, along with alissa stangle and jay o'shaughnessy, who are now married to each other. i thought maybe 15-20 people would show up from the rsvp list, but more and more people kept on coming, former classmates as well as their significant others. it was astonishing to see the number of people who were married, and married recently, like within the past few years. it makes sense though, around this age is when people start forming permanent pair bonds.
so it was weird seeing married classmates (especially when they marry other classmates), and still weirder finding out they have a kid. there was only one other person with a digital camera other than me, that being kirsten willander. everyone i met i immediately asked them this question, "where do you live and what do you do?" i didn't have time for all the niceties of chitchat, i wanted solid info satisfaction immediately! most of these people i haven't seen since the 5th year reunion, and there were a few that i haven't seen since probably high school graduation or earlier (that's 10+ years people). i was dismayed to see that mark schmitt had lost his head of hair, a coiffure that i very much envied in high school, probably second only to johnny depp or richard grieco. there was a lot of hugging going on, and i think i'm beginning to become a real fan of this embracing chest-to-chest interaction. biggest surprise of the night: finding out that kristin henebury is actually a belmont police officer! i probably stood there with my jaw open for a minute when i heard the news. she showed me her cop id and then flashed me her badge. i think that's so cool, i've never had a cop for a friend before (kristin was actually a guest at my 4th grade birthday party), i have so many questions to ask! and the person i was probably most happy to see (although to be honest, it's really hard to single out any one person, i was happy to see every, even those i didn't really know) was probably amy littlewood. when renata told me she was coming, i felt kind of queasy because i could've sworn amy littlewood would have definitely forgotten about me in the 10+ years since we last saw each other and i'd be in store for some "excuse me, do i know you?" looks. but the reaction i got from her was the exact opposite, as she was very happy to see me again.
 renata & bf |
 deborah & husband |
 alex, kristen, kelly, (billy) |
 anna & husband, kristen |
 tony, andrew plunkett, adam, kelly, jen |
 lisa & husband |
 mark & wife |
 toby, arthur, nick |
 polly, anand, matt |
 amy, kristin, sarah |
 sarah, ricky, amy littlewood |
 kirsten, julie |
 marshall, jay, alissa, amy |
 andrew, cynthia, jonathan |
 amy, karin |
i was dreading this reunion, but now that it's come and gone, i'm glad i went. it's definitely an ego boost, just as soon as you think, "no one will remember me," you go, and it's amazing to see the number of people who remember you, but also what it is they remember, like sometimes they might remember something that you've long since forgotten. and in general everyone seems very happy. with this sour economy and threat of terrorism and god knows what else is eating at the world, the people who came to the reunion were all upbeat. maybe it had something to do with the alcohol, or maybe because those depressing classmates chose to remain at home instead. i think anyone who showed up has got to be pretty brave, but the curiosity level of finding out what your former classmates are doing now is also instinctive, like we're those sea turtles who swim to the same shores every year to lay eggs (is this a bad analogy? i don't know). i think the turnout was pretty amazing, and my only regret is that i didn't get to photograph everyone there! if you're reading this (and i've neglected to include your photo, which is quite possible, i'm only captured the top 1% most photogenic members of our graduating class), feel free to send a photo of you to me, preferably sexy of course.
andrew morse and i got a ride back to my place from toby moore and cynthia freeman. in the car, we talked about how a lot of the guys are out of shape but a lot of the ladies have gotten skinnier. also, there was a general consensus on how disappointed we were that there weren't any "out of the closet" gay classmates at the reunion (statistically there should be something like 20, maybe they all stayed home). i invited cynthia and toby to come see my colorful condo. after a brief tour,
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