What's this? Good news?

Hey, thanks to everyone who wished me well and offered support and an ear yesterday. It was a long, strange, stressful day, and it helped to know that people were there to let me talk it all out. Anyway, I got a call from Geico this morning, and it looks like a dodged a bullet. The car is not going to be totaled, even though the estimate is a hearty $2,500. They didn't say whether or not that included my exhaust system problem, but I'm holding out mischevous hope that they'll assume it was caused by the accident and will go ahead and fix it on Geico's dime. Wink wink. In the meantime, the Cobalt is probably mine until next Friday; obviously it wouldn't break my heart if they go ahead and keep at it until the next Monday. I don't plan on taking many liberties with this rented vehicle, but it would make for a much smoother ride to the Eastern Shore. So anyway, my financial ruin isn't imminent just yet. But I'd still be willing to sell some organs, if anyone is game.

Since yesterday's post was a heady read, let's take a trip into the Wayback Machine, just in time for my *gulp* 5-year reunion next month. Wanna do some blow?

1. What high school did you go to? Archbishop Curley High

2. What year did you graduate? In the year 2000

3. What were your favorite band(s) or artist(s): Pearl Jam, woo!

4. What was your favorite outfit? well, we had a dress code that I stretched to its very limits. I was fond of my short sleeved button-down shirt that was BRIGHT ORANGE. Oh, and the buttons were metallic. Wear that with one of my trademark ties (Dali's Persistence of Memory, Joe Cool, or the orange tie with little white flowers) and either my light blue or olive green corduroys, and you can see why I didn't date much.

5. What was up with your hair? Eesh. Freshman year I started getting the Caesar cut every time I got tired of my generally shaggy mop. Soph. year I tried parting down the middle with disastrous results. Junior year I started off with remnants of a blond dye job, and spent most of the year gelling it. By senior year I settled into the buzz cut you all know and love.

6. Who were your best friend(s)? Joe, Will, Ryan, Dillon, Goat, Geoff, and Johnny D

7. What did you do after school? track, cross country, lacrosse (one year - HA!), Blackfriars' Theatre, The Curley Chronicle newspaper. I also dabbled in Visions Lit Magazine and the CORD Yearbook.

8. Where did you work? Ech, I never worked during the year. But I spent one magical summer manning the snack bar at Bengies Drive In Theatre, one of two drive-ins still open in Maryland

9. Did you take the bus? There was no bus for the good Catholic boys. I carpooled in the mornings and my parents picked me up in the afternoon

10. Who did you have a crush on? Haha, I actually used to have a list. There were at least a dozen. The one that did the most damage was Emily. If you really want that story, it'll cost you.

11. Who did you date? Let's see, there was Cindy freshman year (4'9" - funny visual), a whole lotta nothin', then Erica and Kim senior year.

12. Did you fight with your parents? Oh yeah...my dad and I went at it all the time. Fire indeed hot.

13. Did you ever get detention? Like four times total. Always dress code violations - dark socks on gym day, facial hair, that kind of stuff.

14. Favorite subject? Spanish, English with Mr. Keller

15. Who did you have a CELEBRITY crush on? This one is humiliating. Jennifer Love Hewitt. I will now set myself on fire.

16. My grades were... Damn good, with occasional horror stories like Pre-Calc thrown in for flavor

17. Did you smoke cigarettes? A drag here or there

18. Did you lug all of your books around in your backpack all day? ugh, usually not. Have you ever seen one of those giant square Literature anthologies?

19. Did you have a clique? mostly I hung with the other oddball smart kids, and then of course the drama kids

20. Where was your Senior Prom? The Belvedere in downtown Baltimore. It was nice enough, but the class of '99 had their prom at the Marriott in Times Square. You can see why we were a bit disappointed, no?

21. Did you have a Max like "Saved by the Bell"? My friends and I always hit up the Double T Diner in Rosedale

22. Admit it, were you popular? No - I even had a few mortal enemies (in that really ridiculous name-calling and shoving macho all-boys high school way), and then a decent sized group of people who liked me for who I was

23. Who did you want to be just like? Joe always seemed like nothing ever really got to him, that he didn't sweat things. But I know now that there's a downside to that.

24. What did you want to be when you grew up? A writer, on the creative side of things

25. What was the color of your yearbook? There was a navy blue one, a nasty light-blue marble one, a fruity rainbow one, and a neat greenish one.

26. What were the colors of your school? Black and white, with red as an "accent color". Dude, I'm not lying. It says that in the handbook.

27. What was your school mascot? The FRIARS! RRRRGGGHHHHHH!

Current Music: Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues