1999

This was orginially posted to my Facebook, borrowed or stolen from my friend Kate. It’s certainly more expaned here.

This is the summary of my senior year in high school. For those who knew me then, you will find it amusing and full of good memories. For those who didn’t know me then, it might give you a better picture of where I came from.

“Knowing where you come from is as important as knowing where you are going.”
Did you date someone from your school? No, I didn’t really date a lot in high school. I was obsessed with my friends. The boys in my group were the only ones I would have considered dating. We were such a tigh group of friends that dating would have just made things weird. Just ask Emily and Mark.

Did you marry someone from your high school? No. For those of you who know me, I’m sure you can think of the one person from high school I wouldn’t mind marrying. Too bad he now lives on the other side of country.

Did you car pool to school? No – that’s part of the charm of South Jersey – hanging out in parking lots. To get the most out of that expereince, you had to have your own ride. Car-pooling didn’t make it as cool.

What kind of car did you have? 96’ Purple Chevy Caviler that I bought from a friend

What kind do you have now? 07’ Jeep Compass

Its Friday night..where were you? I spent a lot of Friday nights at Mark’s house. Of course in the land of diners, we were usually on our way over the bridge for some late night grilled cheese and tomatoes! You can't get more Jersey

It is Friday night...where are you now? At happy hour with friends, desperately seeking Mr. Right Now.

What kind of job did you have in high school? Growing up on LBI, the only real job anyone could have was a summer job – and there were plenty of them. I worked at a local tee-shirt shop owned by a close family friend. I spent many hours with the stero cranked up sizing racks of LBI shirts or outside working on my tan. I should have used the time to read some books, but I always found better things to do.

What kind of job do you have now? I’ve been a corporate recruiter for a weight loss company for the past three years. I recently got promoted to HR Manager.

Were you a party animal? Heck no – but I made up for that in college. I was friends with too many “goodie” kids to be a party animal, but we made our own fun.

Did you play any sports? Varsity soccer

Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? 7th grade drop out

Were you a nerd? I certainly wasn’t a nerd, I didn’t always have my head stuck in books and I always had friends to hang around with. I stuck close to my good friend Nora my senior year. I had a lot of friends that didn’t go to my high school. I was certainly more popular in my head.

Can you sing the fight song? With all the football games I attended, I have no clue what the fight song is. I’m not even sure we have a chant. Needless to say, I didn’t go to the games for the football, but it was the place to see and be seen.

Who was/were your favorite teacher(s)? Mr. Jim McCabe because he was a normal person. He was our theater teacher, aren’t they always the best? He did sometimes rub his beard in a kind of creepy way, but everyone forgave him.

Where did you sit during lunch? I’m sure I sat at the same table every day, but almost 10 years later, I have no idea where that was.

What was your school's full name? Sounthern Regional High School

When did you graduate? June 1999

If you could go back and do it again, would you? I would go back if I could take the knoweldge and expereince I have gained since. Maybe 10 years isn’t that much life expereinces, but through college, being in a sorority, completing gradudate school and spending 3+ years in the “real world” you certainly learn some things. High school was an amazing coming of age story but I’m not certain that returning now it would be that great. I think I would be much more cautious and less likely to wear my heart on my sleeve.

If you could go back and do it again, what would you change? I would have purchased a flat iron and I would not experminted so much with my hair. I would have held on tigher to the friends that really mattered.

Did you have fun at Prom? Of course, I didn’t spend the night crying in the girl’s bathroom. We dropped our case of beer in the street on our way to prom. We didn’t rent a limo, I drove. I was co-chairman of the prom committee and we showed up late, smelling of beer. My date didn’t go to my high school. I had to wait in line for pictures. My date fell asleep in the backseat on the way home. We saw Austin Powers the next day. My date was the only one who was awake through the whole movie. I guess his nap was helpful!

Do you talk to the person you went to Prom with? I don’t talk to him everyday but he’s a great guy. If I needed him, I think he’d totally be there for me.

Are you planning on going to your next reunion? 10 years – why the heck not? I’m somewhat successful, I’d like to show that off. I went to college out of state which really hurt my high school friendships following graduation. I’d like to see everyone again, meeting spouses, kids, etc. It will be an exciting time. I’d love to see who is still holding a grudge against me too. It’s been 10 years – GET OVER IT!

Do you still talk to people from high school? Thanks to facebook.

What are some of your favorite memories?

My parking spot right next to Nora Cunningham
My 18th birthday party at Mark’s house – first time I bought a lottery ticket
Visiting Ron on his boat
Following Mark and Emily into “the field”
Our mission trip
Away games

One Stop Blog Boutique

I’m sure you have heard of the Style Network’s homegrown reality series Peter Perfect, featuring style guru Peter Ishkhans. For those of you scratching your head, here’s the high level synopsis: it’s a business/image makeover show. I understand that reality shows are the heart and soul of American TV land, but this concept of a business/image makeover show – haven’t we made over enough?

Let’s recap – we have:
What Not to Wear (can’t get enough of Stacy and Clinton)
How Do I Look (hosted by Blossom’s stepmother)
Queen Eye, formerly Queen Eye for the Straight Guy (so popular it changed names)
The Swan and Extreme Makeover (a way to promote plastic surgery in the US)
Extreme Makeover – Home Edition (hosted by former Trading Spaces carpenter Ty Pennington)
We Mean Business (like we didn’t get enough of Bill Rancic on The Apprentice)

And the newest edition – Peter Perfect. Peter Ishkhans, a British American reality star (sound like another else…), consider a Hollywood stylist to the stars, in 2007 opened Peter Ishkhans at Joseph Martin Salon in Beverly Hills.

I’m not saying that Peter Ishkhans isn’t a valid reality star; he’s a great character – kind of like a mini Sergeant Pepper (okay so I stole that image from a business owner who appeared on his show last week), but it’s a really good mental image. One would assume that Sergeant Pepper would have a reality show about running his salon.
Come on, that is a receipt for success when it comes to reality TV. Those of you who remember Blow Out on BRAVO know what I’m talking about. Jonathan Antin is a big a character as Peter Ishkhans – can’t get enough of that dude! “Ya know what I mean, chick?”

So what crazy network executive came up with the bright idea that Sergeant Pepper should have a reality show where he breezes into town in a stretch limo, gray suit, cobalt blue shirt, bring pink tie, two inch rolled pant cuffs and brown high heel boots? Pepper is an image consultant who believes that if you change your image you change your life. Great speech Pepper, but can you deliver?

In the most recent season, Pepper seems to turn every struggling business into a One Stop __________ Boutique. Let’s turn the world of retail into a One Stop __________ Boutique. You know that everyone needs to utilize a One Stop Party Boutique, a One Stop Sprit Boutique, a One Stop Auto Boutique and a One Stop Coffee Boutique every day! If it’s one stop, why do I have to do to 5 different places?


Now that’s Peter Perfect!

Latex Toys

Ellie, who can be often times found half out of her sweater, has an OCD obsession with 3 latex dog toys. 1 pig, 1 fish and 1 chicken. On any given day, she can be seen carrying any of them or all of them in her mouth. Each latex toy has a built in squeaker that Ellie can control by clamping down causing air to be released from the small hole at the pig, chicken and fish butt. Those of you who have dogs can understand the high pitch frequency those squeakers can cause. It’s like an SSSUUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAKK.

The pig and fish were a gift to my dogs from my small neighbor, one for each them. Presley quickly realized that she is not a fan of latex toys and opted to not play it. She much more enjoys a soft and floppy toy that she can pull apart and eat the stuffing. Ellie adopted the pig into her family of latex toys. I’m not sure where we got the chicken, but you’d think that having a pig and fish would be enough.

Ellie used to strongly favor the pig. She is able to fit her whole mouth around it’s belly and has pretty much worn it thin. You can see a clear difference in coloring between the head and butt of the pig and it’s belly. More recently, she started carrying around the fish more. Squeaking it, throwing it in the air, chasing it. Let’s discussing chasing it. When it comes to any of Ellie’s latex toys, she takes on an almost retriever like quality. Ellie has no problem dropping her latex of choice at your feet, sit, stare, stretch, tap and eventually groan for you to throw it. You try to postpone reaching down to throw this toy for as long as possible, but sooner or later you get tired of listening to the groaning and give it; exactly according to her plan.

The fish works best because you can grab it by the tail, shake it a few times, make it squeak a bit and throw it as hard as you can across the house. It’s times like these that I wish my house was longer. It would take Ellie longer to retrieve it, return it and wait for a repeat. This retrieve, return, throw and repeat is an endless pattern that I must endure for hours and hours, day and night.
I’m thankful that Ellie doesn’t bring her latex to bed, but don’t you know, first thing in the morning, after a good long stretch, she is right out the bedroom door and right to the latex – never fails; no matter where she leaves it, she remembers, finds it, and brings it right to your feet, even if those feet are on the bathroom floor, while your drying your hair.

Joint Custody

I’ve been living with my roommate for 3 years. It’s a townhouse, that my roommate owns, from which I rent my bedroom, access to the garage, kitchen, living room, bathroom (both a full and a ½), coat closet, appliances (both kitchen and laundry) and the desk top computer in our “office” (which is really a guest room, since neither of us work out of that room).

Her computer, a DELL (“dude, you’re getting a dell”…what happened to that guy?), has to be one of the slowest computers in the history of computers. Yes, this is the same roommate who has a “stereo” that is really a boombox without an AUX jack. Why would I think she would have a modern computer? We have been though all kinds of Internet providers, Verizon, Comcast, back to Verizon; whoever has the best deal where we can lock in at a discount price for the first 6 months. I used to blame the slowness of the computer on the Internet provider – right, like that isn’t your first instinct too?

A few months ago, amongst our never ending game of switch the provider we got wireless Internet, under the advisement of the customer service rep that said wireless Internet has a higher connection speed. Why would we get wireless Internet with a freaking desktop computer? My roommate decided that wireless was a good idea. So we dusted off my laptop and started surfing the net from the living room. I was in favor of this new computing option because the ice cream chair (that is apparently the official name for the style of chair) used at the desk in our “office” is one of the most uncomfortable chairs I have ever rested by butt on. I believe computing is more enjoyable when you are sitting in a comfy chair.

Never in my wildest dreams did I believe that my roommate would become obsessed with computing. She can spend hours on her day off on the computer. Not playing games, not updating her Facebook status, not IMing friends, not downloading music. What does she do? She reads blogs. Blogs written by total strangers. She is one of those grass is always greener people; always looking that what everyone else has, is doing or saying is better than what she has, is doing or saying.

For all intensive purposes, we share this computer; but I’m the owner.

So what? When I get the computer, only on the days when she is working until 11pm, I update my blog, change my Facebook status, find friends, etc. Today, I made a comment to my friend Katie about following her blog and her not returning the favor (by made a comment I mean wrote on her wall). I came home from work today, with the intention of updating my blog – mostly to see if my friend has taken me up on my offer to follow the blog. I opened my laptop and WHAM – a new wallpaper - my face side-by-side my roommate’s face; a picture from a vacation we took a few years ago. Not the baby Presley wallpaper I was expecting! Not really a great picture to boot!

Joint: united, joined or sharing with another.
Custody: immediate charge and control exercised by a person or authority

The three-legged limp

Winter, rain, cold, and snow - these are words that my dog, Presley, fully understands. You even begin a sentence or section of a sentence with an “s” and Presley already knows what lies ahead of her. I always thought that dogs had a small brain, had hard times remembering things from day to day, week to week. Winter is only a few months long, it only happens once a year, but she remembers, year after year. There have even been a winter or two in her short life where the snowfall was so minimal that I harder remember it happened.

Presley has never been a fan of the snow. Maybe it has to do with the first winter I had her. I bought Presley from a very strange lady in late January 2006, one week after my 25th birthday. Two weeks following, Presley met a rather large snowfall face first – literately. It’s not easy to house train a puppy, those of you who have done it can vouch for that. A good master lets a puppy out every few hours for the first few weeks or months of ownership, teaching him or her where to go to the bathroom. In our case, it was in our front yard. Presley was so tiny that I didn’t get her a collar or leash for several weeks; even I can out run a 10-week-old puppy. Anyway, back to that second week of life in the Minto house.

It was by Baltimore standards a major snowstorm. As a native of upstate New York, having lived several young years in upstate Maine (any by upstate I mean 1 hour past the end of I-95) and many formative years in south Jersey, I have a very different concept of a major snowstorm. But in Baltimore, things were pretty much shut down. I guess I was happy to have the luxury of spending the day in my pajamas with my new puppy; we can call that bonding. Presley had to go outside, as all puppies do so I opened the door and out she ran, face first into the 8-inch snowdrift that had formed on the opposite side of our front door. BAM – face full of snow.

Now, three short years later, Presley is much more cautious and aware of the white, ice cold, solid precipitation that can be found falling from the sky or gathered on the ground. Presley typically will hold her bathroom breaks for days if needed, just to avoid the snow. There have been many times when she hasn’t even made it off the front stoop; but when she does, she does a three-legged limp. Her paws get so cold from the sidewalk, snow and ice, that she lifts them up, often times forgetting that she needs them to stand on. Last night, she had enough guts to lift up three legs, standing still, teetering on just one freeze cold paw. Cute as a button, shivering like a leaf, scared like she had made a bad decision. She growls, I scoop her up, she licks my nose and we head home. I had to do all the walking.

How many more days of winter?

BoomBox…ever heard of one?

I’m in the middle of planning my 28th birthday party – a simple and sophisticated gathering at my house with a bunch of A-listers! As I’m thinking of what to drink (Miller Lite and Corona), what to eat (another question entirely) and what to do to keep the party the event of the year – I thought MUSIC! I like to consider myself a music lover, I have so many songs from so many different eras, genres and artists…I figured there will be something for everyone; not to mention my roommates recent obsession with Akon.

I knew that I need to do some work on ITunes, getting new songs, adding and changing playlists, removing those sappy love songs that remind me of past relationships that I like to turn up loud and sing along to on long car rides (you know what songs I’m talking about). I knew also that I would need to review the stereo situation, making sure I had the required wires. It’s not my stereo; it’s my roommate’s. She has the main component hidden in the bottom cabinet of our TV armoire, with two speakers on either side.

Now I grew up with a stereo. My dad was a big music guy. He loved to crank it up, playing random songs to which he loved to sing along. I’m not certain that any of his neighbors loved his taste. His stereo even had a 6 disc CD changer. The CD changer was one of those book like things were you load the CDs and then insert into the stereo. Not to mention the two full size detected speakers – of course they were wired to main the component meaning you could only place them next to the main component without running yards of wire all over the house. It is by no means cutting edge for 2008 – but in the mid 90’s it was a large and impressive piece of audio equipment.

Back to my roommates “stereo” – we do not listen to it often, maybe once and awhile we have played the radio, but mostly it remains in off mode and tucked away behind the cabinet door. I was excited to realize it was there so I could use it at my party. My intention was to buy an AUX cable (I didn’t know what that was until after this story unfolds) and connect it where the headphones would connect. BOY am I glad I didn’t do that. After further conversation with my AV guy (yes, I have one), it was decided that the headphones jack is not an AUX jack. That was certainly the best way to connect my Ipod to my stereo, but I needed to find the AUX jack. My AV guy was certain the AUX jack, if not in the front of the stereo, it would be in the back. After a trip to BestBuy at lunch, it was decided that I should look at the stereo before making a $14.99 purchase of an AUX cable.

What I failed to mention until now is that this “stereo” is not a stereo, at least not to the stereo standards that I am accustomed to. It is a freak’n boombox! A boombox?!?! Okay, so a boombox, now that we are over the shock of that, my roommate tells me that this boombox will also be celebrating a birthday – it’s 28th birthday! My roommate has had this boombox since she was in like the 8th grade. She graduated high school in 1999 – you do the math. Bottom line is, after further inspection following the advice of my AV guy, I found out that this stereo is so old it doesn’t even have an AUX jack. Not anywhere on the box is there an AUX jack. There is no way for me to connect my Ipod to the boombox to play great playlists at my party. Maybe I’ll make a mix tape as a party favor. Oh yeah…the boombox has a dual tape deck. That will make recording the mix tape making go even faster.

The Year in Review

Each year, TIME magazine puts together a full-length edition displaying images, text and memories as we move from one year to the next. Here is a recap of 5 of my favorite news stories from 2008; however my words are not as good as the real thing. If you can still find it on newsstands, pick it up. If for not any other reason than just to have it – 2008 was a historical year and you should want something to remember it by.

1. The meltdown – “firms that seemed sturdy pillars of the nation’s wealth were exposed as hollow shells and trillions of dollars of American’s wealth went up in smoke in a stock market meltdown” (TIME).

An image in TIME showed a young woman joined in the protest on Wall Street on Sept 25th holding a sign, “I’ve got a 4.0 GPA, $90,000 in debt & No Job. Where’s My Bail Out?” American’s were paying the highest gas prices in my lifetime, losing their jobs on Wall Street as famous US companies entered into Chapter 11, while declaring Chapter 11 themselves because they couldn’t pay their sub-prime mortgage. Just this week we learned that a former top executive from Merrill-Lynch, who was only employed for 4 weeks prior to the meltdown took a $25-million payout and purchased a $35-million apartment in New York City.

What’s next? How will American recover? Can American recover? Will we rise again?

2. Rock Star vs. Old White-haired Guy – an election that made history, both in the cast of characters, the media criticism and the voting turnout. Can President-elect Obama fulfill his campaign promises? Does he have the leadership to rebuild this nation, to concur and overcome the economic crisis? Will he put American’s back to work?

I pointed to a picture of Barack Obama and asked my 7 year old niece if she knew who he was. She said “that is Borock Bobmma and he is the President.” I pointed to John McCain, asking the same question. Her response “that is John McLame, the guy that tried to be President but lost”. I couldn’t have summed it up better. Borock Bobmma and John McLame.

3. Yearning for Zion – Texas state authorities raided the compound, which is part of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, taking over 400 children into protective custody. TIME writer Hilary Hylton wrote “the state is not saying ‘Don’t wear those dresses’. It is saying you can’t have sex with 11-year olds”. The state of Texas later released the children back into their mother’s care, who ultimately returned to the Yearning for Zion ranch and their polygamist families.

4. Michael Phelps and the Beijing Olympics – The tone of the Olympic games was set with the split second underwater shot of Phelps reaching the wall first over Serbia swimmer Milorad Cavic. It was clear at that moment that Phelps’ dream of winning 7 gold metals in a combination of 7 team and individual races was going to become a reality.

Much inline with the political figures, I pointed to Michael Phelps and asked my niece who he was. She said “hum, that’s the guy who won 7 gold metals. I don’t remember his name.” I said “Michael Phelps”. She said “oh yeah, Michael Felts.”

5. The fall of another – Eliot Spitzer was not a common name in much of the country prior to 2008, mostly due to his very public sex scandal. I’m not convinced that even following the negative press, many American’s even remember his name in light of all the other news of 2008. I thought his “fame” was worth mentioning. I’m sure it is a moment that he will never forget, despite if the rest of us remember.

In addition to the news coverage of 2008 as reviewed in TIME’s The Year in Review – they list milestones, celebrating the life and work of those who pasted in 2008. Again, I have pulled my favorites.

Tim Russert, 1950-2008
Paul Newman, 1925 – 2008
Jesse Helms, 1921 – 2008
George Carlin, 1937 – 2008
Charlton Heston, 1923 – 2008
Heath Ledger, 1979 – 2008
Bernie Mac, 1957 – 2008

The most important milestone to me was not covered by TIME; the untimely and unexpected passing of Elizabeth “Betty” Dittler (1925 – 2008), my grandmother. She passed away on August 8th following a short illness. She was survived by her husband, Harry, two daughters, Kathy and Dottie and two grandchildren, David and Amanda. As my mother planned the memorial service, she asked for refreshments for about 25 people – every church pew was filled with over 65 people who took time to celebrate the life of Betty. She is missed everyday.

We love you Betty.