Monday, May 08, 2006

Best Buddies (avec art!!)

We can't go any further on this blog without talking about the best friends a girl could have....my high school buddies! (OK, this is where some of the boys get embarassed :)).

I met Tiffany in Theater One our freshman year--alphabetical seating (DeArdo, Dulmage...you get the drift). Branden was in class with us, too. At first I think I scared Tiff because I would talk a mile a minute and she didn't know my from Eve, but after we did a few scenes together (and were in Freshman choir together) she became one of my best friends and is, still, today. I love Tiffany--one of her best qualities ins her inability to be (or stay) mad at anyone, and she has the patience of a saint. Really. If she were Catholic I'dput her up for canonization after death just because she is so darn patient. And she has always been there for me. She was a clarinet performance/ music therapy major at Baldwin-Wallace and is going to IU in the fall to get her MFA in Clarinet Performance. She is the best clarinetist ever and will be fantastic!! Hey Tiff, they really were purple, you did say it, and I have witnesses!! :-D (If you don't get it, don't ask)

Amilia Elsea (Milia to us) I also met freshman year, in choir and in bio B. She, like Tiff, was a wee bit scared at first, but once we dissected our frog, "Hercules", and did the infamous Mousetrap Project in Physics the next year, we were buddies for life. She lives near St. Louis now, working in a law firm, so I miss her like mad. Her backyard pool was the site of many a good conversation, as we would paddle around at night looking up at the stars and think Big Important Thoughts. Milia was (is) always good for that. Milia went to college in the Hinterland (OK, Concordia University--WI) and majored in History.

And to both of them: "Zazu, why am I not...loved?"

Andrea is the freaking smartest person I have ever met. Seriously. She's a genius. She's currently doing a Fulbright Scholarship in Germany (something about MRIs, I think....) and is going to IU Indianapolis to do med school and a Ph.D. program in biomedical engineering. Yes, she is a brain. She is also incredibly nice and smart and fun and loves froggies. She is also the author of such immortal statements as "Maybe they [The Muppets] were illegal immigrants!" and "Pregnancy just doesn't jump out at you from the bushes!" And I'm sorry about saying MRIs are the worst test ever, but come on....

Lindsay is currently at Notre Dame doing her Master's in Geology (I think...everyone's advanced degrees mix me all up!) and is, possibly, the second smartest person I know...I hang out with all the brainy types. :) She was a band groupie like me--we didn't play instruments but we were friends with those who did, hence "band groupie." :)

And The Boys. Anyone who knows me has heard me speak of them as a collective--THE BOYS. It's never just one of the other. But here they'll be seperate.

Branden I've actually known since childhood; we were pre-school classmates. But I didn't know that until we were in high school. Branden is fantastically detail oriented, a great political guy, and my in to the political world. We had a lot of good times traipsing around D.C. on CPAC trips and on the campaign trail...even when we got pulled over by the VA highway patrol by the Pentagon....he and his four college roomates senior year at Cap made me laugh and were awesome, especially when it came to threatening revenge on a particularly Evil Roommate (more on her later). Branden is also a Julie Andrews nut. :-D

Tom and I were in French I together freshman year and became friends later on, especially in college. He's at Capital's law school now and is a lot of fun, especially the night we went to Cheesecake Factory and dared him to order a starwberry cheesecake in our favorite accent. :) that was great!! Tom graduated from Notre Dame and was a member of their band.

Sean is also at Cap's law school and we became friends in college, although I knew him in high school. He went to OSU (was he in the band? I don't remember) and is my arch-nemesis during football season because he is a Bungles fan. :)

Troy is another one of "The Boys", but he lives in Sandusky now (booo!) and drives an awesome Acura RSX that I want . :) He was an Engineering Major at OSU and is going back in a year or so to get his Master's. He's the only one of us that grew up on a farm, so we'd go over to his place and usually it would involve picking corn from the fields, if it was summer (and it is the best corn ever!!) or checking out the animals in the barns. It was always fun going to his house. Troy is also the only guy I know who can a) beat me in Monopoly b) cook better than I can (or at least equal to what I can) and c) debate on my level about anything :)

So those are the buddies that I hang out with--they are an incredible support system and we've had some awesome times. :)

Pictures:



The boys: L-R, Tom, Sean, Branden and Troy in Tom's basement after we celebrated Branden's 24th birthday



Tiff, me and Milia celebrating Easter 2006 (the day before) at B.D.'s Mongolian BBQ up at Easton.

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