Catty in blogs

If you do a search of "Catasauqua" in "search all blogs", you can find some interesting things. Does anyone know this person? Hmm, maybe we need to start a post about Bulls Head.

I've also received emails from other Catty grads (older) who asked for some help getting their own blog started. I know Heidi Miller is now trying to get one going for the '88 class now. We may have started something.

Just Thinking . . .

As I sit here in In-School Suspension (first period EVERY day), I was thinking about our days at CHS. I remember much about those days and thought that I would create a post about one aspect of high school, and I would like to start with favorite teacher. I want people to come up with his/her ONE favorite teacher from CHS and why he/she chose that teacher. Here I go.

My favorite teacher in high school was by far Mr. Raymond Laubach.
I have many reasons:
1 - he was my homeroom teacher for all four years of high school.
2 - he possessed many of the qualities that I try to emulate as a teacher
3 - he pulled no punches and expected you to do as well as you could possibly do
4 - I had him for about 17 different classes (Field Math, Trig., Math Analysis just to name a few - okay, maybe it wasn't 17, it just seemed that way back then)
5 - He was strict, yet the glass trick on the board and the key jingling was entertaining
6 - He was the Varsity "C" advisor and put up with us
7 - He made me want to learn
8 - "You think I'm kiddin' ya?" is a classic line
9 - "QED - Quo Erat Demonstratum" is another classic line
10 - It has got to be the red hair, the glasses, and the way he said "Saurday" - Saturday without the all important T

- Okay everyone, let the memories of your ONE favorite high school teacher begin.

WHERE IS THE BIO???

I found this picture on the Internet of one of our (in)famous classmates....anyone venture a guess as to WHO it is??? HINT - He still hasn't posted a bio. Looking at his Business web-site, he is overdue to post a Bio both Here & There..Maybe this will help to 'motivate' him.

Jeff"

Block of Rooms

I would like to defer the room blocks at a local hotel to someone who will be using the rooms. It would be very helpful if someone could tally the number of rooms needed, the number of nights the rooms will be needed (Friday and Saturday, just Saturday????), and that person could deal with that aspect of the reunion. I am trying to make it all work, but if someone could take this string of the event and get it going, it would be much appreciated. The Sheraton Jetport's number is 610-266-1000 and their contact page is Sheraton Jetport Contact Page .
Let me know so we can work on this aspect of the reunion.

Blue Monkey Music System

According to Gary,
The Blue Monkey system upstairs plays CDs. Now we need to figure out if it is a possibility to take on the task of compiling and burning the list of music.

About the alcohol supplied: Well drinks would be rum and coke, vodka and cranberry, screwdriver, etc.. All made with house brand liquor. Usually 2 or 3 wines are in an open bar with buffet because many people like to drink wine with their dinner. White Zin is always included (There Sonya, you can drink your wine and Dan, you can save some money).

About those of you asking for XX and Imports on tap, I am sorry to inform you all, but they are not included in our price, since we are getting domestic drafts only in our party plan.

Keep the comments and questions coming, this event is one we shall all be involved in planning and hopefully one we all have a great time at.

- El Presidente

Let the Music Play

Music entertainment seems to be creating some "talk". I am for all the involvment of as many of "us" as "possible" (I think I am getting crazy with the "quotes" so I will stop now).
Seriously, since so many people have mentioned the possibility of creating a mix that we will play ourselves, I need Lew or Robb to let me know if they are comfortable contacting Gary or if they want me to do that. I am not trying to squash anyone's involvement, but Gary may become confused if more people start contacting him on the same event. It may be simpler to let the officers be the intermediates on this one.
Gary told the three of us at the meeting that he has a DJ that also does karaoke, but I am feeling the idea of us creating our own mix of music that everyone has a part in creating. The sooner Lew lets me know about contacting Gary about the use of their system, the sooner we can move on with this or go back to our original DJ plan.
Input is welcome and expected (as always)

- El Presidente

At Last, The Bio

This is a picture of me from June '05 in Krakow, Poland. I'm standing next to "Krak," the dragon who has become somewhat of the symbol of Krakow.

Sorry it has taken me so long to do this; I seem to have become quite the procrastinator!

I ended up majoring in philosophy and graduated from Penn in 1990. College was a blast and I met some really great people.

While in school I worked part-time as a computer tech for three years at Wharton which really saved my ass when I went to look for a real, full-time job because having a BA in Philosophy during a recession wasn’t exactly a standout credential.

After 30 interviews I finally landed a computer tech job at LaSalle University in North Philly in February ’91. The only thing that kept me together during the unemployed time was Michael, who I met on a Rush fan e-mail list. (Note: toward the end of college I got really into the rock band Rush. I should have listened to Dan P. in middle school!) Michael asked a question on-list and we ended up having a private e-mail correspondence. From this we struck up a friendship and then a romance. He was at PSU at the time but then transferred to Temple to be with me. (Silly boy!)

Michael is a couple of years younger than me so we stayed in Philly for a couple of years while he finished his undergrad (BA in German). We moved to Pittsburgh in ’93 so he could go to law school and I got another computer job. We also married that October. Around this time we acquired our first two dachshunds, Johann, a red short-hair male (above, with Gretchen) and Ludwig, a chocolate and tan long-hair male (below). When Michael graduated from law school in ’96 he got a job in Delaware so we moved again and I found another job.

After years of wondering why most of my friends had traveled even when they didn't seem to have any money, we finally traveled to Europe in 2000 to attend Michael’s brother’s wedding in Hungary. Now bitten by the travel bug, I surprised Michael later that year by taking him to Iceland for his 30th birthday.

The following March my sister and I traveled to Italy. A few months later Michael and I bought a house. These two events had a lot to do with me deciding to pursue a career in interior design. I had been thinking about getting out of the computer field for years but I didn’t know what I wanted to do instead. Traveling to Italy reawakened my interest in art and buying a house focused my energy on the importance of comfortable, livable spaces.

At some point, Michael and I had gotten involved in Dachshund Rescue of North America. This also meant that we had adopted two more doxies: Gretchen, a black and tan short-hair female (above) and Romeo, a black and tan dapple male (below).

I began working on my MS in Interior Design at Drexel University in Philadelphia the summer of 2003. It is a full-time program. I knew the program was going to be intense but I am amazed at how my whole life has gotten sucked into this strange black hole of graduate school. I am looking forward to having a life again since I graduate on June 17.

Fortunately, by the time I see all of you, this grad school craziness will be a thing of the past and I will be working at some type of job or seeking employment.

I hope this was worth the wait. :-D

Blue Monkey Drink?

I've been wondering about this for some time now...does the Blue Monkey have a special drink called "The Blue Monkey?" I checked their Website and didn't see any mention. It seemed more like a beer kind of place.

So, tell me, those of you who have been there, is there a special drink?

Meeting at Blue Monkey a success

On Monday, April 17th, 2006 at 6:00 PM, Mary, Julie and I met with Gary Conrad to work on the menu for the reunion. We came up with the following:
1) the festivities will begin promptly at 6:00 PM and go until 10:00 PM.
2) there will be well drinks and domestic beer on tap from 6:00 until 9:00 as part of your ticket price (cash bar for anything special and ANYTHING AFTER 9:00)
3) there will be a buffet (eat at your leisure) of Chicken Cordon Bleu (Tim, you know you want some chicken), Stuffed Manicotti, and Stuffed Flounder. The side dishes are Italian mixed vegetables and parsley potatoes (hopefully like we use to have at CHS) along with salad, dinner rolls, coffee, tea, soda and assorted desserts.
We are working on the entertainment portion of the evening, and will post when we have more information to pass along.
The price looks like it will be $25 per person (if it changes, which I doubt, I will pass that along).
We are also working on actual invitations that will be mailed to everyone we have addresses for, so those of you working on contacting the "lost classmates" should try to get addresses as well.

Let's get back together and talk about old times and new on the weekend of October 6th and 7th. I can't wait for what Judy has coined the term "Octoberfest".

What Ever Happened to . . .

The blog has gone hardcopy as the feature article (two pages) in the April 17th, 2006 Morning Call. For those of you FAR, FAR, AWAY (Thanks Shrek for the line) or just don't get the Morning Call, check it out online What Ever Happened To . . .. The article is also two pages online, so navigate to the bottom and read page two (that is where the important links are, not that Judy Almazon's (not my spelling) quotes are not important).
In other news, the officers are meeting at the Blue Monkey tonight to finalize food and work on the entertainment segment of the reunion. October, 7th. 6-10. Remember, October 7th, 6-10.

20 years later...

how come there is no halo over Andrea's head?

Randy was spotted on the driving range yesterday at Willowbrook

Getting ready for the reunion outing Randy?

Golfing at Willow Brook

WILLOW BROOK GOLFING
We have a 10:00 AM Tee time Saturday October 7, 2006
I will try to get an earlier tee time if possible.
Do we want to do 9 holes or 18 holes?
Anyone can register to play. It doesn't matter if you play or just want to go out and give it a try.
Email lkrg73@rcn.com to register. Please indicate if you have never played before. (You'll be on LongE's team) Just Kidding.
www.golfwillowbrook.com

This completes the 6 Third Grade classes

Was this picture ever posted?

Thru a friend of mine who works at Sheckler, I got a hold of all the 3rd grade pictures. This is the only one I don't think has ever been posted.

The Newest '86 Offspring...

Better late than never, Christopher Joel (8lbs., 15 oz)arrived on Sunday, April 9, 2006 at 6:01 a.m.

Listening for the collective "Awwwww..."

for the ladies...

Friday October 6th. Judy and Mare seem interested in getting this going. i'm not sure what goes on at one of these, but i tend avoid large groups of women armed with sharp objects.

Meet, Greet and Cheat

interested in getting together Friday evening for a little warm-up before the saturday big shindig? if no other plans get made we're just gonna show up at Kim's house (don't tell her) around 9:00. see you there!

18 Holes Anyone?

Hey Booboo whats in the pick-a-nick basket?

anybody interested in getting together to eat tubed-meat and let the kids run amok?

Monkey See, Monkey Blue

The reunion main event will be at the Blue Monkey in Catasauqua - 6:00 pm until 10:00 pm on October 7th, 2006. more details to come...

The Blog is Going Hard Copy

Check the Morning Call on Monday, April 17th, 2006. They are doing an article on the Blog. Last evening a reporter called me and we discussed the use of the blog to communicate our intentions of a class reunion. I believe the reporter talked to Matt and I know she talked with Dave.
I don't know if we are the only blog she is writing about or if we are part of a article on the new lines of communicating.
Read the article. When it goes online, I will post the web address for everyone who does not get the Morning Call in print to see.

Unbeatable!

these guys could've made that Gators squad so much cooler. check out Chuck Roth sporting the supafly tinted eyewear and Pauko with the pristine white Chucks. a sign of things to come.

photo courtesy of Joakim Gillespie

GATOR BAIT

I haven't seen many posts from "Dan the Man" since I've joined the blog....thought this one may bring him out - Hopefully he placed his money on "The Mighty Gators" and didn't do anything foolish (like placing it all on Nova). I Can't wait to see what the Football Team does with the #1 Recruiting class coming in -Could be Two in one Year....GO GATORS!!

P.S. - Didn't Matt have a Hairstyle like Joakim's somewhere along the way???

And the Winner Is . . . .

We have a winner . . . It is official that the Class of 1986, Catasauqua High School's reunion will be held at the Blue Monkey. Julie notified me today that the deposit has been delivered and the date has been locked in.
The unofficial time of the event will be from 6:00 pm until 10:00 pm on October 7th, 2006. We are still working out the details of food/drink/entertainment/lodging and possible transportation to the lodging place (for those interested/inebriated).
When the officers meet with Gary Conrad from the Blue Monkey and finalize the rest of the details, I (or someone) will post on the blog.
Clear your calendar for Saturday, October 7th to be in attendance at the event. We all have a lot of catching up to do, and this will be a great venue to do just that.

Freeman

Has the blog gone foot fetish?

Yo Dave - these are the kicks I purchased. air Freemanos. They were the best fit out of about 1 pair. can they be any nicer? plus, Jude's got big wheels (she said it, not me).

paukopinion

yo dave - these are the sneaks i purchased. air vomeros. they were the best fit out of about 8 pair. can they be any fuglier? plus, i got big wheels.

Bloginishing Returns

Oh the Blog has aged.
Not by but a month or three.
Matt keeps it going.


Thank U Matt.

Big Day for Dave

far too modest to mention this i'll have to do it for him...

Dave is opening a store/business today. an old fashioned brick and mortar, customers and cash-register type store. he hasn't been real forthcoming with the details so all i know is that he will be selling running shoes. (he is still a pretty serious runner) anyway i just wanted to say good luck to him on this the opening day of in his entrepreneurial endeavor.

oh, it's his birthday as well. and none of this is an April Fool's thing, seriously.

classic 80's style

too blurry to tell if that is a hood or a collar that Steve was about to fly away with?