seems to me like i promised photos and choice stories from last weekend's reunion like days ago. "michelle, joe, andrea and i" is just too much to type, so we will collectively be known as "party crashers".

we got there around 10pm or so... it was awesome walking into the hotel and running right smack into the hotel bar. like it's the first thing you get to, even before the front desk. a ton of people from the reunion had already left the reunion to hang out there. and it was like walking right back into highschool - i mean, i know we party crashers were severely underdressed, but we came more prepared than most to have a good time it seemed... like people were too cool for school. well i've got a newsflash for you walter cronkite....

...

...

you aren't.

so the three of us (andrea hadn't quite gotten there yet) surveyed the crowd for a bit, and made way for the bar to order some drinks. as we're waiting, and waiting, and waiting, i see a girl we used to know go into the bathroom. our parents are friends, and we used to have classes together, so i tell michelle hey, there goes so and so. when she comes out, we should go say hi! michelle agrees.

this my friends, is the setup for THE SNUB OF THE CENTURY.

our girl comes out of the bathroom while we're paying, and when we find her she's talking to some other chick. we approach with a bright "hey, name of girl! how are you?" and start chatting for a couple of seconds, introducing her to michelle's husband, just saying how we popped in to see who showed up... and then this chick turns to the girl she was standing with, and like we weren't even there, says, "so anyways, as i was saying, blahblahblahblahblah". we were dumbfounded. "so, uh, i guess you're still a jerk then?" i wanted to yell over my shoulder as we walked away. it was so bad it was funny.

so andrea shows up, we all have a good chuckle over THE SNUB OF THE CENTURY. we party crashers start heading towards the ballroom where the reunion's being held. you know that record scratching noise that stops all the noise at a party? picture that happening for a brief second as we walk up the stairs into the patio area. it's a bit silly that it's only 10:30 or so, and there's maybe 40 people there. out of a class of 500. that's like 8% of our graduating class. if those numbers were tv ratings this train wreck woulda been cancelled faster than the latest emmanuel lewis sitcom!

so we wander around for a bit, and found simon - michelle and i have known this guy since grade school, and he's one of the reasons we wanted to crash the thing, cuz how cool would it be to hang for a bit! met his fiancee shea, who seems really cool, and found out that guy lives like four blocks away from me in long beach. small freakin' world. so we may all go out for roscoes sometime. this other dude they were talking to - his name was dan or jim, i can't remember which, was taking email addresses for an 11 yr reunion next year, and promised that it'd be at least 750% less gay than this travesty, so yes please sign my ass up!



as we wandered back over to talk to tammy and andrea and company, we party crashers decided we needed to up the ante just a tiny bit and see if we could actually get in the door of the ballroom without paying. tammy slid her "i belong at the party" neon green wristband (pictured above) and handed it to me, and i spent a good five minutes squeezing my much bigger hand into it. the other girl at the table, who's name i can't remember, donated hers to michelle to help the cause. that done, we figured the best way to sneak joe in was to have us flanking him and have him kind of hide his hands as he walked in the door. deep breaths taken by all, and we walked towards the door like we totally belonged there.

waltzed in the door to find the place almost deserted. like five reunion-goers on the dance floor, maybe four staff members, and a dj. no greatreunions representatives anywhere. (remember that old classic rock one that goes "woaaaahhh, take the money and run"? that popped into my head just now. take the money and run indeed. get while the gettin's good. i'd like to think the great reunions people snuck out the back just as dinners were being brought out so no one would be able to complain to them later. they must be very used to this sort of thing...)

so back to the patio we went. where i found my favorite conversation starter of the night. the line that really should've been the theme of the marina high class of 95 reunion: "i vaguely remember your face. did we have class together?"

and chatting with sarah martin, the best conversation bit of the night happened when the dj put on "smells like teen spirit" by nirvana:
me - "man i love this 90s era music they're playing. it - "
sarah (interrupting) - "it really makes you feel like - "
michelle (interrupting) - "killing yourself?"

and by 11pm, the last of the reunion-goers went to the hotel lobby bar where the real party was going on. more random mingling, more random "hi i vaguely remember your face, did we go to school together"s, someone smashed a glass and for once it wasn't me, more chuckles were shared over THE SNUB OF THE CENTURY, and that was pretty much that. it was a really fun retarded good time. and i think that was the first time i ever really crashed a party, and i think it went off quite well...

oh god i almost forgot! why don't you go check out the reunion photos!