Need to know how to hook your antique VCR up to your new high-definition flat screen TV? AJ is your man. While A.J. didn't go to our high school, he was an honorary alumnus of the Former President Grover Cleveland Humanities School Without Walls Magnet High School.

Blogs involving A.J.

Need to know how to stop A.J. from hooking up your antique VCR to your new high-definition flat screen TV? Denisse is your woman. Denisse is A.J.'s fiance and also happens to be my birthday twin--one of the only people I know who shares my birthday.

Blogs involving Denisse

A New Yorker living in L.A., and a fellow Yankee fan, I went to high school with Andy and have known him now almost twenty years. He is known for his sports fanaticism, as well as drinking Ketchup out of the bottle. He is one of the few of the high school crew left living in Southern California.

Blogs involving Andy

Andy's better half--or better third, since Mandy is so much smaller than Andy. Mandy didn't go to high school with us, but I remember the first time I met her at an Italian restaurant in Brentwood and the smile she put on Andy's face. She has flicked off most of Andy's rough edges. You should see their cute family portraits with their little baby, Rudy. Mandy is from South Africa and has the coolest accent. I am good at accents but I have a lot of trouble with that one.

Blogs involving Mandy

Eric is another high school croney whom I have know for nearly 20 years. Back in the day, we co-authored half a dozen hilarious short stories which were circulated around school, and, if were circulated today, would have probably gotten us suspended. Eric is a Cardinals fan, possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of music, and can probably beat me in Trivial Pursuit without breaking a sweat. He also introduced me to my first Indian food and Tequila shot.

Blogs involving Eric

Ryane, Eric's wife, did not go to our high school, and is therefore one of the most educated people in our group. She has a Ph.D. in political science, and is, in fact, a college professor. She is also an Angels fan, which has, I imagine, led to some interesting discussions between she and Eric when the two teams have played one another.

Blogs involving Ryane

Lisa is another high school pal who I've know for a very long time, even though she, like Norm, is somewhat younger than the rest of us. She is another of our crowd who is sticking it out in Southern California. In addition to the exciting world of project management, Lisa edits a popular pet magazine. I even have an autographed copy of the magazine, which I have tried selling on e-bay by advertising it as a "magazine signed by Lisa Kudrow".

Blogs involving Lisa

Norm is yet another high school buddie whom I have known forever. As it turns out Norm ended up moving to a town in upstate New York where I spent many summers. He, like Ryane, is another one of my super-educated friends, and is fearfully intelligent. I am always afraid of arguing or debating Norm because of his tendency to tear my reasoning to shreds. At one time, Norm had an affinity for cats, but now it would seem, he only has eyes for Mets fans.

Blogs involving Norm

Vicky is the Mets fan for whom Norm now only has eyes. I mention the Mets fan thing to illustrate the fact that no one is perfect. I don't think I have ever before seen two people who are more perfectly suited for each other than Norm and Vicky. In addition to the Mets fetish (which we can overlook), Vicky also has a Disney fetish and if she could live inside the Magic Kingdom, I think she would. Vicky is a Brooklyn girl and a school teacher in roughly that order. She also once made Norm and I hike to an unimpressive waterfall in the middle of the desert. It was Vicky's idea that I do this cast of characters, because she didn't know anyone I was talking about in my blog entries.

Blogs involving Vicky

I met Dan on my first day at UCR and mistook him for a jock. (I think it was his haircut). In actual fact, Dan was a Republican from Orange County with a secret passion for punk music. Sixteen years later, Dan is a hardcore Democrat living in Morro Bay, Califoria. I like to think I had some influence there. I have been to more concerts with Dan than with anyone else I know: two. He taught me everything I know about punk music, whether I was a willing pupil or not. (I memorized Henry Rollins "lectures" having listened to them so many times in Dan's car driving to OC. Dan acts in real life the way Jim Carrey acts in the movies.

Blogs involving Dan

If Dan had a secret passion for punk music, then his passion for Megan was far from secret. He and Megan met during our junior year in college and they have been together ever since. In fact, Dan and Megan were my first friends to get married and this past year, they celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary. Megan is one of the most patient people I have ever met. She also has enough common sense for Dan and I put together. If Dan reminds me of Jim Carrey, then Megan reminds me of Meg Ryan. This past November, the three of us went to Hawaii for a week and Megan came back the whitest of us all.

Blogs involving Megan

I met Rich my first year in college and he, Dan and I ended up rooming together for our last two years. Rich and I roomed together our second year. I knew it was a good idea to become friends with Rich when he told me he wanted to be a doctor. I figured that once he had become a doctor, and had received all of that training, I could count on him to recommend a good doctor for me. And it paid off! I have a new doctor and he was recommended by Rich. It amazes me that Rich started out as a gangly freshman like me and is now still a gangly freshman. Actually, Rich is a surgeon. He is married and had two kids. He has lived close by these last few years but we don't see each other all that much because he's always saying he has to "do rounds" whatever that means.

Blogs involving Rich

I knew Rich was going to be a good surgeon from day one because he was always such a smooth operator. Case in point. Tricia lived on our dorm hall in our freshman year and Rich and Tricia have now been married just over ten years. Tricia was always like a third roommate. She gave a badly needed woman's touch to our apartment, but I think the damage was already done. I used to amuse myself by knocking on Tricia's dorm door when I knew that she and Rich were engaged in anatomy lessons.

Blogs involving Tricia

Doug is my younger brother by just over two years. I stress that because everone who meets him, or sees pictures of him, seem to think that I am the younger one and I resent that. I spent a lot of time hanging out on this planet before he ever got here and I deserve some credit. Doug has done just about everything. He was on (and won) the Jenny McCarthy dating show. He was in a commercial for the Discovery Channel. He played baseball all through high school and college, and then went on to the semi- pros, pitching for the Debois County Dragons. He was the first person in Debois County history to be ejected from a game. He's been a bartender, been in the Army, is married, and has two of the cutest kids I've ever seen.

Blogs involving Doug

The reason that Doug has two of cutest kids I've ever seen is primarily due to his wife, Rachel. When I first saw Rachel, I thought that Doug had started dating Nichole Kidman. Actually, although Rachel could do very well in Hollywood, she is a masseuse and runs her own business. She is great with the kids: Ruby, Carson and Doug. Doug and Rachel have a cute house on a hill in the Seattle suburbs with a quaint little dinner train that runs through their backyard. I'm not one to pick favorites, but of all my sisters-in-law, Rachel is my favorite.

Blogs involving Rachel

Jen, aka, jen_ashlock is my baby sister and the only other person I know among my friends who also makes occasional use of LiveJournal for blogging. In addition to working in a show room, and running a greeting card business, Buttercream Cards, Jen is also the first one to read drafts of my stories, hot off the presses, and to comment on them. She's a pretty busy girl. It amazes me that I can remember a time that she was not so busy, when all she did was lay around in her crib all day and occasionally cry. Jason, her husband, tells me that not much has changed since then.

Blogs involving Jen

Much in the way that Rachel is my favorite sister-in-law, Jason is my favorite brother- in-law. Jason is an ad man, and you can blame him for many of the commercials that seem to constantly interrupt your favorite TV show at the most crucial moments. Here is a secret about Jason that just about anyone who knows him is well aware of: he is a huge Pearl Jam fan. Really, he is almost obsessed. He's been to something like 61 Pearl Jam concerts, and the band's security have pictures of him posted in the headquarters of each of their venues as someone to keep an eye on. Of course, Jason will say I am exaggerating this, but denial is a clear sign that he has a problem. (Now, if it were R.E.M. or Metallica or Def Leppard I could completely understand.) Jason and my sister got married this past October at a vineyard Temecula, California. Jason is an amazing cook, and his peanut butter and jelly is to die for. He also makes an excellent, albeit strong, Margarita.

Blogs involving Jason