better than ezra: good
by about 10 PM, the reunion was swinging like one of those house parties i was never invited to in high school. although there was probably less miller light involved.
everyone finally reached the understanding that we *all* felt awkward, and therefore, we could acknowledge it and move forward in pursuit of actual enjoyment.
and thus, we enjoyed.
suddenly, the catty comments were flowing like the extremely $$$ liquor poured by the doubletree bartenders. since the room was crowded, it was easier to stare at people without getting caught.
i believe this was a reaction to a certain person’s hair, which indeed has remained unchanged since 1996. actually, it’s a pretty amazing feat if you think about it. my hair changes within the first five minutes of walking outside, so to preserve it for over ten years?! where was the award for THAT?
because yes, there were awards. sort of. the reunion organizers placed sign-up sheets on a table with headings like, “most kids” and “least changed.” people could then nominate someone and, through an extremely scientific process, vote for them by employing the Tally Mark Method.
about halfway through the evening, i was alerted to the fact that my name was on the Most Eligible list. i was given this news by erika, who i suspect, just on a hunch, MAY have been involved in placing my name on said list. i then informed erika that i am not, actually, so eligible, since i have a boyfriend. erika, however, had on her “pretending to listen but not really” face which i often observed in sophomore english during one of mrs. william’s lectures where she spoke “through” her alice in wonderland doll.
so i sent raymond, becky’s husband, over to the list to take a picture precisely for this blog.
i’d like to point out a few things here.
first, yes, it’s blurry. i’m sorry.
second, you will notice the names of ashley estes and vicky walters. you will also notice the name of dominick trupia, with lots of scratch marks over it. file this away for later.
third, my votes apparently increased exponentially after this photo was taken due to the efforts of concerned voters like becky. given our summers of watching “clerks” and “so i married an axe murderer” on endless repeat together, as well as our devotion to the MMC (yeah, i said it!), i could understand her fervor.
by the way, this is becky’s fifth beer on an almost empty stomach, i.e., democracy.
given the strength of my campaign, i began to worry about what would happen if i won this award. would i have to talk about my dating likes and dislikes? my miracle diet? (i don’t have one, in case you couldn’t tell from the prevalence of food talk on this blog). i texted henri for comfort, but he simply wrote back, “i hope you win and then have to dance with the Least Eligible Person.”
great. great GREAT.
fortunately for me, they didn’t announce the award winners at the ceremony. oh no, they sent out an EMAIL, today in fact, to EVERY person who attended the reunion! and guess what? i lost!
i lost Most Eligible to these bitches!
congratulations, vicky and ashley. hope you picked up some hot dates from the football team.
the male winner? dominick trupia, whose name was CROSSED OUT ON THE LIST. i’m not saying we have some sort of florida situation on our hands, but the authorities MAY want to look into the issue of hanging tally marks.
he deserved it though– look at this cuteness:
disregard ashley, who apparently can’t stand to share the Most Eligible Spotlight.
at this point, the reunion was disintegrating into drunk people on the dance floor, and people watching the drunk people on the dance floor. which is ok by me, cos hello, that’s what’s *supposed* to happen at yr reunion. and i was actually worried at the beginning that there would be no dancing, given the horrible, “say hello to my pores!” lighting and extremely cheesetastic dj. but these girls just HAD TO DANCE, and for that, i give them major points. cos i was way too chicken/sober to get out there, but, just like in high school, they had MORE than enough confidence to strut their stuff. and i loved it.
ashley loved it, too, cos she took secret undercover videos for me.
(make sure you’re paying attention around the 16 second mark)
i swear, nothing makes people shake their moneymakers like tone-loc. i hope that dude still gets paid royalties.
(wait for the 9 second mark = primo dance move of the evening.)
ok last one. i’m sorry, it’s just TOO AWESOME! especially around the 39 second mark.
absolutely outstanding. OUT-STANDING.
and in case you’re blocked from youtube or are too busy and important to watch a 50 second video, here is a reenactment, courtesy of ashley and vicky:
it was all just so G.L.O.R.I.O.U.S.
the mood in the room had shifted from completely stale to all out love fest. cougar pride was in full force.
ever since i met them back in high school, trey and dominick have been bffs. as i mentioned earlier, trey lived around the corner from rachel, so we used to terrorize him and his friends during our slumber parties. i recall one night in particular which i believe involved some sort of relay race on the street. jennifer taylor fell and sprained her ankle, so trey had to CARRY HER back to rachel’s house. like, they were TOUCHING. it was CRAYZEEE! i’ve never seen jennifer’s face so red.
one of my clearest memories of dominick is from the day that tupac shakur died. dom wore his tupac t-shirt to school in mourning. and he meant it.
as the reunion drew to a close, we couldn’t bear to part ways quite yet. it seemed wrong to say good-bye after so recently saying hello and bonding all over again. consequently, we decided to head over to trey’s house. before we left, though, i got a picture with lindsey knox, who i worshiped in junior high:
i even remember the outfit i wore to her seventh grade birthday party cos i actually got it at 5-7-9 (!!!). see, i had to look as cool as possible, cos i wanted to blend in. sad, pathetic maybe, but true. even worse? my outfit included red plaid shorts. YES. I WIN.
our time at trey’s house was one of my favorite parts of the whole weekend. we flipped through his yearbook and talked about people who were there, people we’d missed, people we wish we could see now. we told stories and ragged on each other and laughed our pants off. it was like a “big chill” moment, except without the mowtown. it just felt like home.
here’s a sample of our (affectionate) trash talking about a classmate and his, um, career in brain surgery:
after all of these years, it’s incredible to know, really know, that our connections to each other haven’t faded away. over the course of our time together, we branded each other’s hearts, and those marks burn even under the layers of our adult experiences. we can’t go back, we won’t go back, but we can still cherish those pieces that remain.
like trey’s american studies t-shirt, circa 1996, that he still wears.
dear cy-creek class of 1997,
stay sweet.
LINKS
who knew c-span 2 could be so completely MIND-BLOWING? caution: the word “barbaric” *will* get caught in yr head.
i know, we’ve all become immune to the skateboarding mishaps on youtube. but um, this is still pretty amazing.
note: xmas is rapidly approaching. just, fyi. in case you still haven’t gotten me an awesome gift.
how much more can i say it, I LOVE CRAY CRAY PAULA ABDUL!
microchips to track people with HIV? um, cue up 1984 and ROLL IT!
Um… I think the jellio table is just an old trash can that someone put a glass top on and then called “classy.” I like their idea, but where’s the frosting?
the video about ben is just fabulous. that sums up exactly what we did all night there, and poor pam just slept in the corner.
i’m so glad i didn’t get my tipsy ass out there and dance lest i end up on someone else’s blog. and who was the girl wearing that god-awful 1970s dress?
I’m waiting for this link to get out into the wild
classy dancing. the video quality of youtube only further enhances the major-like experience.
i feel like i must defend myself here. i would like to draw your readers’ attention back to the ‘most eligible’ list picture. if you’ll notice both vicky and i had only two votes at that time! i think there was, without question, some highly suspicious counting methods at work here. i’m also quite certain that i have erika to bla- i mean thank for the mysterious appearance of my name on that list in the first place. dear sweet erika…. she’s lucky she lives in NYC.
i must say that the videos turned out better than i could have hoped for in my wildest dreams. i shall be alerting my friends to your blog so they may all witness my cinematographic accomplishments. that, and who wouldn’t enjoy watching crazy drunk, white girls shake it to tone loc? i think pam, trey’s wife, deserves some serious kudos here, as well. she ventured onto the dance floor with all of this going on around her and somehow managing to maintain her dignity. props to you pam!
well done on the recap. i felt like i was reliving the horrifying yet exhilarating experience all over again.
ps. i totally worshiped lindsey too! secret crush, anyone?!
heed… pants! now!
i had no idea i possesed such potential for power at so young an age! if only i hadn’t been completely consumed with my own insecurites…i coulda been great. i coulda been a contender!
1) I attended a wedding a few weeks ago in NYC and the end of the night entertainment included the Sugarhill Gang AND none other than Tone Loc. And yes people still love to dance to him.
2) I never owned a Tupac shirt. The only rap shirts I owned were Wu-Tang shirts. While I was sad that Tupac died, the real tragedy came years later in 2004 when one Russell Jones AKA Ol’ Dirty Bastard passed away. Now I DO own a RIP ODB shirt which I proudly still wear. In fact you can read my myspace blog on the anniversary of his death.
ha ha ha ha!!
it’s nice to know that my horrible memory isn’t a recent development. sorry, dom. i didn’t mean to imply that tupac’s death was as great a tragedy as the passing of ODB.
erika, i hope you’re reading this blog so you know that some day, when you’re least expecting it, there will be PAYBACK. and based on ashley’s sly filming skills, i would avoid drunkenly dancing… even in the privacy of yr own apartment.
linsdey, uh, hiiiiiiii!
OMG, Lindsey reads this blog??? EEEE!!! Omygodomygodomygod…
Okay. Okay. Be cool, henri. Just… be… cool. Don’t let her see you sweat, cause she’ll see right through that.
Okay, just run! Run away, now!
herro. i’m officially embarrassed now.
tell me i didn’t just read the phrase “red plaid shorts” in your blog listed as something you actually wore. please, just tell me. lie to me if you must.
and even though i lurve you lots & lots, i am so not buying you a $750 coffee table that doesn’t really look like a cupcake. but maybe my super-handy fiance (!) can help me build you one that looks even better! hello projectpants!
ahh, this is FANTASTIC and makes me reconsider attending my own reunion, which was out of the question until you wrote about your own.
I’m so sorry I missed the reunion, but I feel like I was there with your very detailed blogging, pictures and videos. I was in San Diego for Comic-Con so I couldn’t make it. Ashur Awaise was in SD as well and we met up and drank to the Cy-Creek class of 1997. We were there in spirit. That was some fancy dancin’! I wish I could have seen the popular girls looking all old and orange. Maybe next time.
I’ll make you a cupcake table in shop class (actually I have slave labor- I mean students - to do that kind of stuff for me.)
celina, comic con is a pretty good excuse for skipping the reunion. i do love the image of you and ashur toasting everyone across the country.
becky, yes please. i’m all about sweatshop labor.
hilarious
I think I’ll change dentists now, just in case. (Yes, Ben’s dad is, uh, was my dentist)
I think that we should really consider making certain those ladies get a hold of these videos so they can see how stupidly absurd they look. Consider it a public service.
On the other hand, that might single-handedly kill the 20-year reunion when they will be trying to fit in the same dresses and dancing the same moves to the same TL.
PS Their dancing truly was barbaric
Part 1:
(a) I DID NOT write Sarah’s name on the “Most Eligible” list. If Jeff did, he acted of his volition (although I did have to give him the correct spelling of her name).
(b) WHOEVER (not necessarily me) wrote Ashley and Vicky’s name on the afore mentioned list was a TOTAL POLITICAL GENIUS. Whoever that was probably noticed that Nhu’s name had “infinity” votes, which would make it very unlikely that she would be chosen by the event organizers to represent the eligible ‘97 Cougars. The GENIUS would then have only voted a few times for the winners, making them seem like SERIOUS contenders for the throne and leading them to share the most coveted title of the reunion. Manipulation of the elections. Barbaric (in the positive way)!! Congratulations Ashley and Vicky.
Part 2:
A tribute to my good friends on the dancefloor from Tag Team.
Amazing, outstanding, demanding, commanding,
you people dancing
Oh!! That’s a breath taker,
I produce a second, the under taker
You wanna come down to the underground,
OLD SCHOOL, here’s the shovel,
Can you dig it fool!
PS: Did anyone notice the Glamour Shots on cycreekalumni.com?
erika, thank you. you have spoken the truth, and it has set you free. now you can fall asleep at night with no guilt. noooo guilt whatsoever.
and yes, i actually sent out an email to a few select readers featuring said airbrushed photos. i *really* wanted to put them on my blog but… i just couldn’t. according to my lawyer.
p.s. all of her photos are like that. seriously.
It looks like you guys had a blast. I still have my American Studies shirt too. Go Trey!!
PS, thanks for writing such a hilarious blog and posting all those pictures. Hurray for living vicariously.
“one of my clearest memories of dominick is from the day that tupac shakur died. dom wore his tupac t-shirt to school in mourning. and he meant it.” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH I have no doubt!
I realize I was not part of the class of 1997 but let me be very clear when I say, “I am very glad we did not dance that night.”
My ten year never happend. Thank You Cy-Creek class of 2007. It was worth it.
stan
Thanks for posting the vids and pics. I think the class of 1997 has grown up tremendously. Stifle the cackling for just a moment and ponder:
The most eligible babes chosen were not blonde, bubbly superwhores. Clearly, the winners are intelligent, witty, charming, REAL women with no aftermarket parts picked by an adult-minded (not addle-minded, or Addie-minded) contingency…named Erika. No more tie. I officially bequeath my half of the crown to Ms. Estes.
I had fun. Admit it, you all did too.
even lindsey’s man friend reads my blog now!!!!
SWEET FANCY MOSES. i am officially MADE.
and clearly, without shame.
Okay, reading this was quite interesting. Even more interesting is how i came about to reach this website - i was at a bar last night with a number of other folks from the class of 97. i found a stack of fliers with only two things listed on it - 1. the website for this blog, and 2. a note that said to check out who was the most eligible bachelor. As someone who missed the party, i figured it would be funny to check it out. so i get on the blog and notice that dom was the winner of most eligible. first reaction - congrats to dom. second reaction - wait, i remember seeing a guy with a goatee and a wu-tang hoodie placing some of the fliers with the blog address around the bar, was dom placing these addresses around to hype up the victory??
actually i made that up, dom was not hyping anything up, i received this address from an independent third party.
This was an interesting recap of the night and i hope all ya’ll are doing well. oh, congrats to vicky and ashley as well.
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