The Terrible Catsafterme

I first met Alicia Keeton when we began attending Ankeney Junior High during our seventh grade year in 1984. I can’t remember the time or the place, or which classes we might have had together – if any. But what I do recall vividly was that Alicia was not only very pretty (as seen at right with the high hair of 1989), but very nice to everyone with whom she came in contact. That was rather uncharacteristic for most pretty girls that age – who seemed to be anything but nice to geeks like me.

Read the rest of this entry »

I can’t quite remember the first time I met Dawn Weller, but my guess would be that it was on the school bus. That’s pretty much where I first met all of my friends in the old plat. She and her family moved onto Pine Bluff during April of 1979, a full year after we moved in, but she didn’t start attending Fairbrook Elemetary until the Fall. For a young ‘un like me, Pine Bluff (the street in front of the Dean house pictured behind Dawn above) was on the other side of the galaxy from Winterset Drive where I resided, so I didn’t begin venturing up there too much until later. Besides, you had to ride your bike up quite a hill to get there. Read the rest of this entry »

A week or two before heading out to Eco Adventures camp from June 14-20, 1985, I received a postcard in the mail from the counselor of our group. The postcard was a photo of a young guy with a ‘Rick Springfield’ look, hiding behind a large plant. It was odd, I grant you, but I knew that I was in for a fun week when I saw that my counselor just might be half as nutty as I was. It turned out that Scott Sliver was an extremely charismatic guy with a great outlook, a wild sense of humor, the ability to effectively communicicate the Gospel, and a rare personality that would allow him to connect with virtually everyone. There he is in the photo above right next to junior counselor Rhonda, flanked by me (with the head of Brian Broyles seemingly growing out of my chest). Read the rest of this entry »

Wendy Johnston was among a group of gals that included Kim Littlejohn, Dorinda Dohner, and Amy and Mandy Angle, with whom I attended two weeks of Eco-Adventures camp at Woodland Altars in 1985 and 1986. Although we were friendly during our first year of camp, she and I along with others formed a cohesive bond and became an inseparable clique during the second year. She, Mandy, and Darin Anderson were all in my group counselled by Brian Bohlander and Gloria Landis, so we had ample time to spend together that week.

Read the rest of this entry »

As I recount the days of my life, I have come to the conclusion that the time period around 1984 contained what I recall as being the best days of my life, although it’s hard to say exactly why I’m so drawn to this era. Thinking about it carefully, it was an angst-ridden time where I was chubby, awkward, and confused. I liked girls but they didn’t care for me – and that about says it all. So why is this time now so well-received by my current-day self? One possible answer is because Eric Welch was my best friend during this time period. Read the rest of this entry »