Off to my 5th Reunion back at Princeton! ^_^

In one Reunions, I patched things up with one ex-girlfriend, and found my own closure with another. Of course, finding myself hanging out with and having a good time with Sarah was completely unexpected. Singing “I Want You to Want Me” at Nicole with Pat was also unexpected, but it gave me a sense of freedom.

I got the chance to see old friends, get numbers of friends in Seattle I need to hang out with. And I finally felt things being right. Especially at the end of the night.

I had a lot of eye opening conversations. There were quite a few great memories that I reminisced over. And there were new memories, and friends, made.

I was a bit aprehensive about this reunions. I was worried how things would turn out. This was far beyond my wildest dreams. It was pure, unadulterated…awesome.

Let’s go back to Princeton
At commencement time,
Sample each reunion:
That’s the life for mine!
Ramble round the campus,
Full of jollity,
Our location for celebration
Is New Jersee.

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So this past weekend, Nicole and I were down in southern New Jersey for the wedding of our friends Chuck and Rebecca. It was a pretty good time. It did mean there was a lot of driving involved, but hey, it was worth it.

So the trip started Friday afternoon with Nicole picking me up at 4:50. From there, we drove over to Kendal square to pick up two of our friends, Dan and Emily. Once we got moving (Emily was late due to T stupidity), we started to make our way out of Cambridge. Unfortunatly, it would take us about an hour or so to get out of Cambridge/Boston. Traffic was just terrible, but we once we were out of the metro Boston area, things were fine.

The ride down itself was actually pretty nice. I spent a bit of time playing Mario Kart and Tetris on my DS with Dan and Emily. We also talked a lot, and had a good time making our way down. Dan gave us some funny insight into the world of consulting, and we just generally had a pleasant trip. Upon getting to the hotel, we all went to our rooms and passed out.

The next morning Nicole and I got up early so that we could shower and grab some of the free breakfast. While we were down there, we ran into Chuck and the best man. (I realized that I’m probably one of the last people to talk to Chuck as a single man. That’s pretty cool.) After a quick breakfast, we headed back to the elevator and ran into the men’s bridal party as they were getting ready to go. This turns out to be a very fortunate thing, as they colors of the bridal party included maroon, and I was leaning towards wearing a maroon shirt under my suit. (That would have been…awkward)

So Nicole and I headed back up to our room and got ourselves dressed. Well, Nicole got dressed and I tried to iron my shirt. The iron the hotel provided was not very good, and I was having serious issues getting my shirt pressed. (I’m only bringing this up because Nicole likes to get on razz me about my iron, and the two of us along with Pat and Mel were having a good laugh about it) Thankfully, I was able to find a way to overcome this and get myself dressed. Nicole and I got ourselves downstairs and Emily and Dan joined us shortly thereafter.

Soon all four of us found ourselves at the site of the wedding. A rather quaint little ballroom type place. The wedding was outside in a covered area and there were heaters there to thankfully keep us warm. It was a beautiful setting just by a lake, and I was actually very impressed by it. There were quite a few Princetonian’s in attendence, many of them friends from the Band and/or Campus Club, so it was also a bit of a reunions of sorts.

The ceremony itself was a very quick Catholic service. The procession started at just after 11:30 and we were heading to the Cocktail hour at 11:59. I actually joked with Nicole that there must have been some “you’re married in 30 minutes or less or your next one is FREE” deal going on. But it was a very nice ceremony.

After the Ceremony, the guests headed down to the wine cellar for cocktail hour. At first, I thought that it might be a bit…early for a cocktail hour, seeing as how I’m generally against drinking before…oh..say…three in the afternoon. But it turned out that it was really more of a wine and cheese hour, so that was cool. It was actually very nice, I got a chance to catch up with people and eat finger foods, and just generally soak in the moment.

At about one we all went into the Ballroom and awaited the bride and groove to come in and for the reception to really get going. The reception itself was a lot of fun, but for the sake of getting me to bed at a reasonable hour, I’m going to give the highlights in bulletted form:

• The fathers of the couple singing Sunrise, Sunset from Fiddler to the couple as their speach
• The groom showing that he was an excellent dancer, only to have me turn to Pat (who’s getting married next year) “Pat, Chuck’s just thrown down.”
• The groom losing to his mother in a best 2/3 thumb wrestling contest
• All of the band alums, including the bride and groom, lobstering during Rock Lobster
• Wayyyy to many people trying to dance the hora in wayyyy to small a space
• Good food and good dancing with old friends
• Watching our friend, Marc ’02, schmooze with at least…5 (we lost track after that) different women
• The Wildcat alums at the wedding perform the dance routine to I Can’t Dance

So yeah, that was the reception in a nutshell. It was a really good time. After that, Nicole and I headed back to the hotel (Dan and Emily hitched a ride with the maid of honor back to Boston) and just kind of…well..vegged.

The next day, Nicole and I headed back up to Princeton. It was a pretty uneventful trip, except for a quick detour to Princeton for a hoagie. We actually came up with the idea indipendently and decided that it was a sign we had to go. We also called Patrick and he joined us which was really great. But other than that, it was an uneventful trip. back. Overall, the trip was great, and I’m really glad we got to share it with Chuck and Rebecca.

Oh wait, how could I not mention…

The elite strike force Princeton Alumni Band crashing the wedding reception. Or at least, the end of it.

A few weeks before the wedding, I got an email from a band alum saying we should try to get a group to crash the wedding since the Band would be at the Harvard game. Since I was going to be at the wedding I said I was in, as did a lot of other people. So while the wedding was going on, a bunch of us were waiting for a bunch of people to come down from Princeton (they were watching the game). Well, as it turned out, the team decided they didn’t want to blow out the Crimson, or even be winning till the end, so the people brining instruments and jackets didn’t even leave till the reception was about to begin winding down. Even better, they got stuck in traffic, and one of the two cars (the one with all of the extra stuff) for got Rebecca’s flut and decided to turn around and get it.

Needless to say, they didn’t get down till the reception was over. But it worked out, because everyone got together and tuned up just in time to position ourselves outside the space. We waited for the bride and groom to get close before we rolled off into Cannon and proceeded to play a bunch of songs. Besides being late, the whole thing went a lot more smoothly than I thought it would. Rebecca and Chuck joined us in playing, and everyone thought it was pretty cool. We even sounded pretty decent considering we didn’t rehearse and didn’t have all that great of an instrument selection.

But yes, one of the highlights of the day, the Bride, in her wedding dress, donning an orange and black plaid wedding jacket and playing her flute.

So this past weekend, a bunch of us travelled back down to Princeton to Catch the Brown vs. Princeton football game. It was my first time down to Princeton since Reunions, and it was a really great weekend. There was band. There was football. There was a whole bunch of hoagies. There were undergrads. There were alums. There was even time for a little bit of napping. So scratch the “really great” part, I’m going to have to describe the weekend as “Glorious”.

So to begin with, Dan, Josh and I took off from Josh’s house around 5:45, and the drive down was actually really fun. Road tripping with Josh and Dan is great because we just totally geek out. And what’s better, we like to geek out about the same stuff and there isn’t anyone to worry about annoying. It’s pretty sweet. We also made good time, so that was nice.

Upon arriving to Princeton, Josh and I met up with Pat and it was off to the Haven (round 1). The three of us then went to the Friend Center and spent the next hour or so talking. After which, Pat and I walked Josh back to Mackenzie’s room and the two of us headed back to where I was staying. Pat and I went into Zoe’s room (I was staying with an undergrad named Zoe) and figured we’d talk for a bit and then head to bed.

Of course, as often happens when I get together with Pat, never happened. As it turned out, Zoe was home and so the three of us began to talk. At which point our buddy Kevin (who’s kind of involved with Zoe…I think) came over. After about 15 minutes of talking, we decided to head to Kevin’s massive room and talk there. (It was bigger and we didn’t have to be as quiet). Sometime around…four (?), Zoe, Pat and I headed back and went to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up and got moving sometime around…10:30. After a quick trip to the campus center to get some body wash (I left mine in Boston), I got dressed and actually got out around 11:30. I had hoped to talk to my advisor, but he was off at Bell Labs for the day, so i grabbed some Haven and met a bunch of people at Charter for lunch. (Round 2) After that, we all headed over toward Dave Ford’s (class of 2008) “lounge” for a few drinks before heading down to the armory. Well, I didn’t have anything besides water, but it was Mackenzie’s birthday so people wanted to do a bit of celebrating before the game.

Around 2:15, we all began to make our way to the armory for field rehearsal and march around. It was fun getting down to the armory and watching everyone get set up. I waited for a while to find out what I was playing, and once I was told, I quickly moved to the field for rehearsal. As field rehearsal went along, I had a serious lapse in judgement, and decided to get suited up for full march around and the game. Previously, I had considered just following the band and taking pictures, and then playing in the stands. But I made a decision that I’d regret not doing the full thing, so I told Stu (the head manager, class of 07) that I’d need a Uniform.

After field rehearsal, we “marched” up to the armory and I picked up a uniform. From there, we began the march around. Now, I think it is important to note that I had not played drums in a full march around in four years. (I was conductor my senior year, so the march arounds weren’t too hard) In fact, it had been two years since I had a marched a snare for any real length of time. (We didn’t do much of one at the Brown game in 2005) So this was a bit of a…shock…to my system. Especially given that the march around went longer and farther than they ever did when I was an undergrad. BUT, I did manage to play the entire thing and that was pretty cool. Once again, the working out paid off.

After the march around, it was dinner and then the game. The game itself was pretty good. Princeton won 17-3. The pre-game and half-time shows were a lot of fun. Oh yeah, Charles (the conductor) let me conduct Green Onions in the stands. That was actually really awesome. As you can see in the pictures, the band is really big, and it was really fun to hear and watch.

After the game, we headed up to the fountain to play with the Brown Band. Now normally, I’m all about this, but Friday night in Princeton, it was cold. The water in the fountain was freezing. How do I know? I made the mistake of getting in with the band. This was the second time that day I made the comment “I’m too old to be doing this.” Still, the fountain gig was fun. It was a bit Chaotic, but it was still a good time.

After the game, it took a while to get my cloths out of the Armory, but once I did, I went back to Zoe’s, got showered and headed to the Brown Band party. After a quick appearance at the party, I headed to “Dr. Ford’s Lounge” where a bunch of the Alumni and undergrads met to chill and have a good time. I arrived around 1 AM and generally we all hung out till about 3. After a quick stop to the Wa, it was back to Zoe’s room to sleep.

As the post game festivities progressed, I began to feel a weee bit of soreness in my back and shoulders. As the hours ticked by, I began to realize just how much the days festivities may have been a bit much for me. Needless to say, it wouldn’t not be the only time I’d be sore during the weekend.

Saturday morning, I woke up and met my friends Melanie, Pat (a different one) and Jon for lunch. We were going to meet Dan, but he didn’t get up in time. We quickly decided to head to the Haven and enjoyed a good hoagie. (Round 3) After that, I met a bunch of people at Charter and we sat and hung out for a while before people left to get changed (there was a semi-formal at charter). I decided to take a nap on the couches at charter and then meet up with everyone for dinner.

After dinner, Dan and I went back to his parents apartment to watch the Mets/Cardinals’ game, as well as the various football games. After catching the OSU highlights, I hit the sack.

Sunday morning, Dan and I woke up and hit up PJ’s Pancake house. After that, dan went back to his parents to watch the Eagle’s game and I went to Charter to see who was around. There I ran into a bunch of people and we just kind of hung out and headed back towards the dorms. I ended up spending the next few hours with Stuart, his girlfriend Laura, his roommate, Charles, and Charle’s girlfriend, Julia.

Around 3:30 I rounded up Josh and we drove over to get my stuff from Dan’s parents place, along with Dan. After that we headed back home.

Wow, that was long, but it was definitely a good weekend. Sorry the post ran long (and got more sparse as it went along).

So when I saw this in the Prince today. I was pretty excited. I’m not sure if he’ll be writing more,but I certainly hope so. He’s just fun to listen to/read.

But the memories of hanging out with other college bands on Bourbon st. Touring the French Quaurter with the PUB. The Pre-Game concert in front of Super Dome. All of it.

And there is sports back in the Super Dome. Life is good.

Chris Young; he’s tall; he’s well educated; he’s getting it done

Yeah, 8 K’s in the win. Let’s gooooooo tigers!

So to start off with, day two of reunions is always the hardest day for anyone in the band, and definitely for those members who make up the officer core. On the second day of reunions, the band must perform its two most important gigs. This first is the annual P-Rade, a parade involving the alumni of the school and their families. The second (and the most important in many peoples opinions) is the Fred E. Fox Memorial Concert, a concert put on the band in memorial to one Fred E. Fox �39.

The first gig of these two gigs (in chronological order) is the Fred E. Fox �39 Memorial Concert. This concert (it is more important than just a gig) is so incredibly important because of the man for whom it is a memorial to. Fred Fox was a member of the board of trustees and a devout Princetonian. One of his many responsibilities was that he became keeper of all the traditions associated with the school and ensuring that they would live on in the current student body. In terms of the band, Fred Fox was also one of our biggest supporters and one of our champions. Many times in our history, the band faced certain dismantlement by the university, and every time, Fred Fox would speak on our behalf and save our hides. Therefore, this concert is of the greatest importance. And the entire band treats it as such.

So yesterday morning, at 11:30 AM, I conducted the Princeton University Band in the Fred E. Fox �39 Memorial Concert. To say that I was nervous would be an understatement. Sarah, who is by far one of the most awesome people, ever, was following me around as I was preparing for rehearsal, feeding me and reminding me to breathe. I was actually pleading with the band to get things done as quickly as possible as to avoid me having a coronary. I was just a weeee bit nervous. Of course, they say if you aren’t, something is obviously wrong.

So how did the actual concert go? Pretty well, if I must say so myself. The band (as usual) sounded very good and we had a good crowd, which definitely helped. The weather could have been better (it rained at one point during the concert) but it definitely didn’t take anything away from the actual performance. Afterwards, I was told it was the best Fred Fox concert ever. I’m not sure how much of that was just ego boost, or honest truth, but it still felt good to hear. I felt good about it, as did the other officers.

Next after that came the one and only P-Rade. For those of you not in Princeton, the P-rade is a parade (clever, aren’t we) that all the old alums participate. The idea is that during reunions, anyone who has ever graduated from the school can come back and party for a few days with their old friends. And the P-Rade is the biggest event. It’s where all the alums who have gathered march through campus in a parade to celebrate all that is Princeton. What is really cool is that the band leads the parade and also leads through the senior class. It is awesome thing to be a part of.

This year, I had the distinct honor of getting to lead the P-Rade. Being one of the two �white coats,� I get to lead the band, which means, I’m one of the first things through the gates of Princeton for the parade. I don’t think I will ever be able to fully describe what it felt like to walk in and see a couple thousand alums cheering as I lead the band through the gates. It was truly awesome. The parade as a gig went incredibly well. We sounded good; we looked good, and we were cool. And by cool I mean, totally sweet.

Possibly one of the most awesome parts of the day was leading the senior class. For most of the P-Rade, we only play Princeton Songs, but for the seniors we start off playing the �party songs.� These songs are Schools Out, Louie Louie, and Tequila. Nothing in my life prepared me for the feeling of hearing the senior class, many of whom have made fun of the band for existing, go crazy when we kicked off School’s Out. It was definitely�amazing (I am at a loss for words).

So yeah, after that was other stuff that I will talk about later. For now, enjoy. The school year is officially over. To the class of 2003, congrats and best of luck in the real world, I’ll be there in a year. To the rest of Princeton folk, I’ll see you guys in a couple of months, and I can’t. To Sarah, I love you, hon, and I already miss you. Alright, time to go chill. I’ve earned it.