Explaining the Future - Day 100

Today, I posted a photo from 1977 on a reunion page on Facebook. The image contained four classmates on our high school senior trip to the New Hampshire coast. Here is a copy of the post:

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This is Flashback Friday!

Here's a photo with Fred, Carol, and Lori taken on our class trip in 1977. What ever happened to Marty Wiggins?

BTW / Try to imagine how you would have told your 18 year old self to smile because the picture would be shared on something called Facebook when you were 55! LOL

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I was intrigued with the time-traveling aspects of being able to give advice to one's younger self.

"Okay, young Dennis you should take a lot, lot more pictures. Make sure you always take a camera with you, everywhere, so you can take hundreds and hundreds of photographs. Not just pictures of big events but also of everyday things.

I know hundreds sounds like a lot. Film and developing is a little expensive and eventually cameras won't need film ... but ...

Well, because by the time you get old it will be very easy to share them with all the people you know now and also many of the people you will meet over your lifetime.

Um .. that's because in the future cameras will have little screens where you see the picture and then you can copy it to any computer.

Yeah, by then ... you know like the Atari, well, everyone will have one or more but they will do more than let you play games. They are smaller so you can carry them around and fold them up, TV part and all. They will get all sorts of information and stuff from the Internet.

Oh, ... wait. Forgot that wasn't around. The Internet like when every single computer that everybody has will be able to be connect together always, even without wires. So, businesses and people will all run applications like web sites and Facebook and tell each other what they're doing right at the time. And you will be able to Google, I mean ... search for things. Almost anything.

Um, Facebook? It's like, well, it is like your own newspaper where everyone else can see what you type and the pictures you put and the things you like. There will be millions and millions of people from all over the world who join it.

It doesn't really matter where they are because people can be online anytime. Even with their phones.

Oh wait. Telephones will get really small, like a deck of cards, and fit in your pocket and they have a screen just like a television. All computers have really thin little screens too and even TV's get really big but thin.

Anyway, about phones. They'll not just be phones. In fact, most people will do other stuff rather than calling on them. On the screen you will be able to do stuff just like you can do on a computer. No not just words and pictures. You can watch video, but then it will not be on tape, but saved online. Well, computers and the Internet have all sorts of places to save stuff. More stuff than you can imagine. I don't really know where exactly. But like even music will just play from somewhere, like, automatically when you push a button. Well I mean press the button on the screen. People can put things from their phone back to the Internet too.

Oh, and those phones will take most pictures and record video too. But if you take pictures now on paper, they will be able to be scanned someday. I mean you can put them into a machine that will make them so you can save them on the all that extra space on the Internet. After that, a picture can be shown on the screens of phones or computers anywhere.

Okay, never mind all the complicated stuff, just take lots of pictures. Okay?"

Virtual Doesn't Mean 'Instead' - Day 63

I think the word, virtual, has collected some unwarranted emotional baggage. Doesn't it contain a hint of the concept of not being as good as reality? That is clearly not true.

Well okay, I'll grant you that taking a photo on our present balcony is definitely not as good as having you take a chair right here beside me. And it'd be especially hard for me to offer you a glass of wine online.


Yet a lot of what we do virtually helps to promote real living. I am sitting at a table in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico but have been very aware of the past, present, and future today.

I won't take time to discuss how I listened to music, banked, researched, and kept up with friends from far and wide. Today's entry only includes my idea of getting former classmates together for an eventual reunion. Planning for a fortieth class reunion sounds like someone else should be doing it, someone old. Ours, in fact, is still a few years away but it's never too early to start planning.

I was rousing the troops on a Facebook group created years and years ago. This also caused me to remember a different page I made. While the first group is designed to get people together in the future, the latter is just designed for remembering the past. In the process, I discovered this:

A Second Chance at Life

I have always endeavored to keep alive contacts from the place I grew up. I have spent the majority of my life outside the United States but I did spend my first twenty-one years living in New Hampshire. More precisely, Sunapee was home.

Around the time I first got broadband in Canada, I created a website where old classmates might discover the email addresses of others. In 1997 the web was not nearly as social. It took lots of time trying to gather personal information. Most people used the email service of their local Internet providers and frequently changed theirs, making list keeping a real chore! I used to send out 'newsletters' in order to discover abandoned addresses. I'd go back and modify the site directly in HTML. I eventually gave up on that site in November of 2006.



Later, in October of 2008, I started a sort of Facebook version. As of today, it boasts 419 members. The best thing is the lack of maintenance as people manage their own profiles on Facebook. You can visit Version 2.0 by clicking on the image above.

Dusting Off Digital Oldies

Thank you, Facebook. Due to that social networking website, I flipped on an external hard drive where I keep my archives. I searched for my folder containing high school reunion photos. Back in 2002, I went back to New Hampshire for the reunion. Since then, the only other time I visited was after my father's stroke. He's doing well, incidentally.

The reason I uploaded a few more pictures of the event which occurred at Mitch Latva's in Georges Mills, NH is mainly so I could put some up on Facebook. Digital cameras were rarer then and nothing quite like Facebook existed. I didn't create a Facebook group until the end of October in 2008. I called it the Virtual Sunapee Reunion 2, after a prior website for email addresses I had run for years but had abandoned. Just this month, the VSR topped 400 members. Whereas that might not sound like a great deal for an alumni site, one must remember that my high school class was composed of just 34 members. Small is beautiful!

Connections Continued

I first got high-speed Internet via a cable modem in 1998. At about that time, I had a small collection of email addresses from former high school classmates and some from the years surrounding 1977. I created a web site where individuals had a splash page of their own and could send pictures and tell others what they were up to. The folks at Sugar River Net donated free webspace, so The Virtual Sunapee Reunion site was born.

Before the current millennium, people seemed to switch email addresses often. In order to find out which were no longer valid, I'd send out monthly newsletters. When the email bounced, I'd have to delete the individual's page. I donated a fair amount of time but it is the type of work I enjoyed. It was a hobby.

Two years ago this month, I threw in the towel on the project. An eight year run seemed long enough. I documented it's demise here at the blog.

Now strangely, I yearn to re-initiate something similar. This time around it will be a whole lot less of a headache as it can be reborn as a facebook group. Just last week I tried creating a group and inviting a few people whom I know. I found that lots of members of the former website are already on facebook. With very little prompting, sixteen people have jumped into the group. Click the little graphic to take a look.

Back East, Back When

Just like that teetering old bloke in the rocking chair, sometimes I cannot quite recall what I've talked about. I find it difficult to remember whether or not I've said things here. I don't really mind repeating myself, I guess. Sometimes, when I do a search or check by tag labels, I surprise myself by not having written on certain events or topics too. I don't really mind repeating myself, see?

The point that prompted all this babbling today, was I got an unexpected note from an old high school classmate. Crystal Gareau is in Maine. I have had no contact with Crystal for at least six years. The last time I saw many of my classmates from Sunapee, New Hampshire was at a class reunion in 2002.

The event took place a year before I started blogging; therefore, the details I found here were rather vague. The few entries that mentioned it did not include this class photo taken at Mitchell Latva's house in Georges Mills. (Click it to see an alternative, larger image.) Our class only had 33 members when we graduated in 1977. In the picture above we were trying to re-create the placement of individuals from a graduation photo.

By the way, in the photo, Crystal is sitting on the ground, second to the left.

Space in My In-Box

For how many years have we now had email? It hasn't been all that many but the impact can certainly still be strong.

I'm not so much thinking of work-related messages, but those that come in from the Internet from people who were from former aspects one's life. Once in a while, along with those automated reminders that my credit card statement is online or other official-type business, I get real email. Again, most of the crap received from my sister wouldn't count as it contains no new information. Hers tend to be those pass-it-along messages of a supposedly profound nature.



I am trying to highlight the times when a real message comes that provides interesting information from a friend or acquaintance. I got one just this morning from a school pal. Candy, on the left in the photo, started schooling with me when we were in elementary grades. We continued right through high school and eventually both received teaching certificates from the same college. I hadn't heard from her for years but it was easy to catch up. How interesting to hear about the family and their goings on. How great to hear about recent vacations too. Here's a quote that might not be too common in any messages you received today.

"A 100 x 25 foot barn addition of ours collapsed under the heavy snows and ice. Four cows were trapped, but with help managed to escape and are now healing."

I'd not mind getting more messages from others. Even if they're sent out in bulk and have the type of information that yearly Christmas newsletters used to contain. Go ahead, drop me a line.

Shutting Some Virtual Doors

The e-doors are closing on a bit of history.



My decision to stop working on the high school email directory was a bit slow in coming. Sometimes we, as people, continue things merely because we are used to doing them. My volunteer work on the Virtual Sunapee Reunion website lasted over eight years. That is quite a chunk of time. The site was started the year the Monica Lewinsky scandal hit the newspapers. A current senior at the SMHS was in fourth grade. More frighteningly, should I live to be 80 years old, these eight years will represent 10% of my life.

I appreciate all those who've participated over the years. I'm most pleased with those of you who used to update regularly. Lastly, a special word of thanks must go to the free hosting offered by the folks at www.nhvt.net.

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I'd also like to take a moment to add the members who were current as of the final day of operation. They are:

2000-2006 Julie Bradford, Sasha Chait, Ashley T Esclavon, Dan Gonyea, Julie Heath, Kat Hudkins, Jolene Menard, Katrina Taylor

1990-1999 Joseph Abraham, Michael Abraham, Mindy Atwood, Christopher Barrett, Christine Frederick, Jaime W Godin, Matthew Hanson, Craig Heino, Lisa Kelley, Dustin Laro, Michael Murgatroy, Carrie Joaquin-Ocampo, Jennifer Oles, Steven Oles, Jennifer W Peck, Diana Perry, Matthew Simmons, Dan Smith, Pete Stevenson, Kate Sullivan, Megan J Williams

1985-1989 Beth Alstrom, Matt Andrus, Catherine I Ayer, Michele Couitt, Heidi C Currier, Kristi Curtis, Karen C Gates, Rebecca M Goetz, Wendy Lippincott, Dean Miller, Wendy S Sommers, Brette Twardosky, Sandy S Warren, Shelley P Wells

1982-1984 Lynda Lee D Addonizio, Maureen M Brandon, Theresa C Brush, Brenda E Cabral, Kim Cousens, Donnie Duling, Gary Gagnon, Angel G McAllister, Billie L Medoff, Carrie "Bali" Smith, Ellen K Wirta, Michele N Wood

1980- 1981 Michael Ansart, Jim Britton, Wendy Britton, Scott Dickinson, Liz I Hoar, Joseph Internicola, Lee Ann B Maroni, Dale Morrow, Annie C Potash, Kathy B Ross, Andrew Trombley, Mark Wirta

1978-1979 Randy Buswell, Janet G Butler,Cindy M Chaves, Kent Dickinson, Tim Fortier, Carl Gissler, Renee G Lecaroz, Aaron Simpson, Lynne B Thomas, Allison D Touchette, Daniel Trombley, Bob Wagner

1977 Paul Appleby, Marla Binzel, Christopher Ellis, Candy W Fuller, Dennis Hurd, Richard Kelly, Mitch Latva, Joanne N Menard, Marion C Quintas, Sherry Simms, Susan N Stocklan, Joel Thomas, Donna A Timme, Bret Wirta, Cindy B Yeager

1970-1976 William Boyce, Steven Butler, Charlotte S Clay, Robert C Ferguson, April W Freeman, David Fuller, Will Odell, Leslie Powers, Gail H Raymond, Susan Sargent,
Joanne A Stevens,

1940-1969 Bob Buswell, Chester Cheney, Charlie Colcord, Jim Cooke, Jerry Hackett, Patricia P Kosowicz, Linda C Nutting, Arthur Partridge, David Rich, Ellsworth Ruggles, David Tompkins

FACULTY Laura Davis, Anna Duke, Bill Gauthier, Karen Gosselin, Ken Greenbaum, Frank Hammond, Daniel Hudkins, Richard C Leone, Wendy Nolin, Alan Peterson, Patricia Rude.

Thank you all!

Young and Hip

Mr. Ken Greenbaum went to Sunapee, NH with a freshly minted teaching degree. At a mere 22 years old, he ended up teaching 5th grade. I was a student in his 5th-grade class in 1969/70. Now the 11 years between our ages aren't nearly as much . . . at least as a percentage. (If that's not mathematically correct, then blame him for my weak skills.)


I met Ken and his wife in Vancouver yesterday. They had come to town a few nights early. At 5:00 pm they departed on a Princess cruise ship bound for Alaska. Although they had seen much of the city because of a whirlwind tour on Sunday, we walked to Gastown. I'd like to thank the Greenbaums for picking up the cheque for lunch at 'The Spaghetti Factory'. The next time they're in town, it'll be my treat.

The Vanity Press

Q) What's something that we all do but seldom publicly admit?

A) Type in our own names and do Internet searches.

I still remember when Yahoo first started pointing to web pages with my name around ten years ago. A whole decade later, I'm still listed and there's much more of me (literally too.)

That's neither here nor there though. What is important is that if I continue to add people from my past to this blog, then eventually they'll show up as visitors. (This has happened to a number of you and you know who you are!)


WHO'S IN THIS HIGH SCHOOL ERA SHOT?

Back row, left to right: Richard Kelly, Christopher Ellis, Joel Thomas, and Candy Winn Fuller.
Center: Gifford Swanson.
Bottom row: Catherine Harold, and yours truly (Is mouth always open?)
Half Hidden: Marla Binzel (Sorry, this was Bret Wirta's camera work.)

Clever Promotion

There are all sorts of tricks that can help to drive guests to a blog. Some I avoid. Yet, I find that Google and MSN Search keep pretty accurate tabs on my site. This accounts for many strangers who visit.

And I discovered, quite by accident, another way to increase traffic. Last week, I blogged a list of ex-colleagues and . . . voila . . . a fair number showed up because they had googled themselves!

So, here is another list. These are people who graduated with me from high school in Sunapee, New Hampshire. It's true; there aren't many names because my town was very small. This little list is the whole kit and kaboodle. I copied all names from a reunion planning document mentioned in last Saturday's eJournal entry.

Ann Spear Pillsbury, Bernice Ross, Bret Wirta, Candy Winn Fuller, Carol Abbott, Catherine Harold, Christopher Ellis, Cindy Beal, Cindy Nichols Walker, Crystal Gareau, Dennis Hurd, Donna Ashford Timme, Fred Gallup, Gifford Swanson, Joanne Nutting Menard, Joel Thomas, Kathy Touchette Balch, Kim Seale Chartier, Kris Englestad Kayser, Laura Carroll, Lori Collins Preston, Marion Collins Quintas, Marla Binzel, Marty Wiggins, Mitchell Latva, Paul Appleby, Richard Kelly, Ricky Morse, Sandy Hale Bailey, Sharlene Doxter, Sherry Simms, Stephen Buswell, Susan Nielsen Stocklan.

The Ben Mere at Sunapee Harbor

The breadth of the Internet continues to rapidly expand as historical text and photos are added to online collections.

Places from my pre-Net past seem to be slowly coming online. This morning, I was thinking about the town of my childhood. It's a place I've not visited since the summer of 2002 when I returned for my 25th high school reunion. Yet, I can still remember marching in the town's bicentennial parade as a Cub Scout. The east coast of North America has twice as much recorded history as life out west.

I was trying to locate specific information dealing with the history of Sunapee, New Hampshire. The town boasts a lake which was a tourist destination from the late 1800's. Well-heeled New Yorkers and Bostonians used to come up by train and then shuttle around the 9-mile lake in steamships. The era extended well into the 1930's until the Great Depression hastened the end of the big hotels.

The accompanying top photo was from a postcard of the Ben Mere. This property is in the premier location perfectly aligned for a view of Sunapee Harbor. Today, as you can see, the land has green grass, a bandstand, and parking lots.

I am trying to find out when the old, Ben Mere was torn down. Additionally, I'd be interested in learning any details about it. This blog gets quite a lot of traffic from Internet searches, so I'm hoping that someone will write to me about this topic. I think it is important to have some of this data online as well as in the Abbott Library!

Down I-5

I will be travelling to Seattle today. It is time to catch up with friends. Bret and Joel were high school friends from the other side of the continent. The three of us ran, The Harbor Gameroom, an arcade at Sunapee Harbor, New Hampshire in the early 1980's. The last time we were together was at our 25th High School Reunion in 2002.

I am sure that I'll be able to blog from there. Bret is in the midst of adding computers for the kids, a wide-sreen notebook book for his lovely wife, and enough wireless networking to tie it all together.

Salmon Swim to Source

Last night, I sent out the regular monthly newsletters. They are related to the alumni from my high school and the site that I created and maintain. The names on the email reminded me of last summer when I returned to Sunapee, NH and attended our 25th reunion. Thankfully, the Internet had provided a means for getting hold of many of the former classmates.


Hey, Lori would NEVER make rabbit ears in a photo, right?