Matters of Perception

If I said I made chicken and rice for dinner, people who know me in real life would be impressed because I am far from being a domestic goddess. But it would be less impressive if I said I made Rice-a-Roni with store-bought roast chicken for dinner, which was actually what I did and it tasted yummy.

I've mentioned, mostly on Twitter, I think, that I've been enjoying reconnecting with people I went to school with. Some people said they'd be happy if they never had contact with former schoolmates ever. And I can understand that because I used to feel that way. There were a few people I did want to reconnect with (and I did with one) and a few others I was happy to reconnect with but I wouldn't have been heartbroken if I hadn't. And there are plenty, mostly the kids -- mostly, boys! -- who teased me unmercifully when I was growing up. But then I got into my 50s and realized, I don't care about that. I was curious about them. Are they successes? Failures? Did they get old and fat? Did the boys go bald? Did the girls?! And to the point, would they remember me?

I've now had pleasant chats on Facebook with a number of former classmates. One was with one of those boys who teased me and didn't remember it, but he apologized for it, anyway. After 40 and more years, to get an apology! Oh did that feel good. And it made me realize something about myself that I rather like. I don't hold grudges. I sort of knew that, but it was nice to have it reinforced.

Now some of us are talking about our 40th high school class reunion. We're all grown up and have gone on with our lives, although some didn't make it, sadly. How much will we view each other through younger eyes and how much will we see each other as we are now, in 2010? I hope the reunion happens, because I can't wait to find out the answer to that question.

Feeling: mellow

~~~o0o~~~
Technorati Tags: reunions

Reunion Redux

An old friend from high school I hadn't seen since uh, the late-'70s, was visiting NYC for the weekend, so we got together at a diner with 3 other high school friends and it was reunion time again! It's really nice how well we all get along after so many years without seeing each other.

But now I'm too tired to post much because I worked today and got home late after the dinner. And I'm stuffed, too. I just had a grilled cheese sandwich and some fries, but I think I still managed to eat too much.

Feeling: tired

~~~o0o~~~
Technorati Tags: friendship

Thoughts that Dropped Out of My Head

So, folks, it's time to start practicing defensive walking. It's like defensive driving, only with the car. We need to do this because, not only do a lot of pedestrians not pay attention to where they're going because they're busy talking on their cellphones, they're also texting. Yes, texting while crossing the street. It's my latest pet peeve. I saw this odd behavior twice today. A woman this morning, a man lunchtime. Neither seemed in any way aware or bothered that they were surrounded by people who had to dodge out of their way and that there were cars revving their engines in anticipation of the light turning green. Although the guy walking through the subway station on my way home while reading a newspaper wasn't much better.

I have managed to finally activate mobile blogging, as you may have noticed from my sparse test post. I will not be doing that while walking and especially not while crossing busy intersections.

Been playing on Facebook and reconnecting with some old school friends. A couple aren't online that we can find, so we'll have to resort to something a bit more old-fashioned: a letter. On paper. The mind boggles. Still, it's been fun and we hope we can work out an in-person reunion.

Feeling:

~~~o0o~~~
Technorati Tags: peeves

Tale of Two Shellys

Once upon a time, in a Queens, NY elementary school, there were two Shellys in the same class from 2nd through 6th grade, when one of them moved away with her family. Shelly was the nickname for each of them and they became friends and went to the movies together with another friend and fun times were had. But after one Shelly moved, they lost touch with each other and went on with their lives.

Cut to 42 years later and a wonderful site called Classmates.com which helps people find their school chums, but make you pay for the privilege of actually reading messages sent to them by other members. So this Shelly pays the $15 fee for a 3-month membership and messages are read, emails exchanged, and a lunch meeting arranged because, lo and behold, both Shellys still live in NYC.

And today was the lunch, and it was good. We ate at whatever Pizzeria Uno calls itself now and I had sirloin tips with rice and Shelly had a deep dish pizza and we talked and 42 years melted away as we tried to catch up, which isn't easy when you're covering 42 years in 90 minutes. Unlike when I had a reunion with my best friend in high school, after 25 years of no contact but a lot of emotional baggage, this was effortless and comfortable. We still have things in common. We stimulated each others memories. We're gonna do it again. And we both agreed that we haven't changed much. Sure, we look older, but the same pretty much. And how cool is that?

Gonna cross post this in a few of my blogs. Just because.

Feeling:

~~~o0o~~~
Technorati Tags: reunions