My friend Andy Beaton in Robarts Library, about 20 years ago.
He sometimes posts as "aiabx" in Blatherchat.
Today's Blatherpics are all about twenty years old: some friends from university. We used to be a pretty close-knit crowd back then. Hung out in the basement Robarts library, doing homework together, going out for dinner on "Suicide Row": fast food chain area in the area, obviously geared toward students. Every boy I ever went out with (all four of the them including Jeff) is listed on this page.
Michelle Sagara, now an sf/fantasy author.
I'm seeing her later today to work on our short story.
Like most close groups of friends, the big "let's all do everything as one mass group" started breaking down into closer individual friendships over the years. Some of us still see each other on a regular basis.
Mark Thompson. Jeff goes gaming with Mark every Friday.
The name of electricpenguin.com came from those days. I used to be editor of
The Electric Penguin, a print publication of short articles, movie reviews (mainly by Andy Beaton), cartoons (mainly by me, my sister, Reid Ellis), all kinds of wonderful silly stuff. I may post some excerpts in future Blatherings. Reid and Luisa helped produce the publication, even years after we graduated.
David Brake, now a UK-based academic and journalist.
Has a very cool blog.
From time to time I toy occasionally with the idea of producing an electronic version. It might be fun, but part of me is hesitant about committing to another potential Inkspot-type project. Too many interesting things to do... I am very jealous of my time these days, mainly because there seems to be less and less of it over the years.
Reid Ellis (ex-boyfriend), now married to Luisa.
My brother's in the background; he really liked Reid.
Jeff and I were talking about this on the weekend, how we seemed to have so much more free time back in university days. Time to play d&d several days every week, for example. Time to spend hours scribbling on paper message boards, play video games (my friend John Chew even had a special glove for playing Robotron), talking about everything and nothing. Somewhere in between, we managed to find the time for homework and studying for exams.
Luisa Perrella. Having lunch with her tomorrow! Heh, she just posted
one of my REALLY old cartoons in her blog.
There is a certain magic in the lifetime of every close-knit group of friends, a time of near-perfect personal chemistry between every member, when you're all like a big family: a family with its shares of occasional infighting and personality clashes, yes, but with an emotional bond nonetheless.
William Rucklidge. Was supposed to visit with him in California
before I sprained my elbow. :-(
The magic can't last, of course, or at least for the group entity. People change, members leave or new ones are introduced, individuals within the group form closer friendships. You all intend to keep in close touch, but some people move away, develop other interests, form other friendships.
Kaarel Truuvert. Married my sister.
The change is a healthy one, in my opinion. I get a tremendous satisfaction out of the one-on-one friendships that survived the transition. And it's still a lot of fun to get together with some of the old group from time to time, getting reacquainted with their kids and partners, pets and computers.
Jeff Ridpath. Married me. :-)
We've all changed and some of us may not see each other that often anymore, but history still binds us together, as does a certain spark that was the original core personality of our gang of friends. It's still cool to hear that Bruce Macintosh (you can see the back of his head in the photo above) was in an article on finding extrasolar planets in April's
Sky and Telescope magazine, for example. Or when we get news of John's and Kristen's new baby, or that Andrew and Jenny are co-habiting.
Tom West (ex-boyfriend). Married Michelle.
Since university, I've been lucky enough to experience another close-knit group friendship, this time in the filk community. We went through a very similar process, with the group eventually evolving into subgroups and closer individual friendships (my friendship with Rand, for instance).
Jeff Kesner, sometimes posts as "jok" in Blatherchat.
And so I raise a virtual glass of plum wine (or club soda, or your beverage of choice) and toast group friendships, current and past, not in the sense of "gosh, I miss the old days" but rather a toast of affectionate remembrance, to old friends and new.
Andrew Platzer, now works at Apple. I was supposed
to visit with him and Jenny in California, too.
John Chew (ex-boyfriend). Married, new dad, Scrabble champ,
does work for the Math Dept at the University of Toronto.
Craig White, now editor of MapArt.
To those whose pictures are on this page: yes, I know some are missing! Please see my "lack of time" paragraph earlier in this Blathering.
:-)
John Swain, does experimental high-energy physics stuff, is a
physics prof at Boston University. Luisa got him a gig doing regular segments on The Daily Planet on CTV.
Friday, April 30, 2004 at 4:40PM 
