Update 11-15-05

Hi,

Couple of reminders, couple of announcements, and a couple of other things.  First, the reminders:

From Paul DeMartino:  The next semi-regular, informal South alumni get-together will be on Sunday, November 20th, around 1:00 PM.  The exact place has not yet been determined, and it will depend upon how many people respond.  All alumni are invited and can contact me at:  pdem070@msn.com

From Emily Kleinman Schreiber:  Two things.  1.  The American Education Week program at South is on this Friday, November 18th, from 9:00 to 10:30 AM.  2.  The South High Alumni Association planning meeting will be at South on Wednesday, November 30th at 7:00 PM.  For questions about either, please contact me at: Cre8em@aol.com.

An early Thanksgiving greeting from RoseMarie Cassillo:  Happy Thanksgiving.  http://www.countrywhispers.com/twreath

From Marc Jonas:  My new e-mail address is:  mjonas2@yahoo.com  The old one was attracting too much spam.

An update from Florida, from Barbara Blitfield Pech:  Terri Donohue Calamari and I are getting together on the east coast of Florida to plan the Martin Luther King weekend party.  We'd like to ask anyone who is, might be, or can be prodded into going to the party to let us know so we can plan the day or days.  Also, if you know people from graduating years close to ours, please let them know about the gathering so they can network with brothers, sisters, or friends.  So far, Terri and I have chatted about brunch, and she's mentioned dinner the night before, so it could become quite a lovely weekend.  As I once suggested, if we could have a few regional parties over the next few years, on a "We'll be here.  Come if you can," basis, it could be cool.  We all take, want, and need quick weekends away from familiar things.  How much better it is when you just happen to share it with your lifelong friends?  Count me in for the long haul.  Also, as you might know, I can assure you that I  am seldom at a loss for words.  But that's exactly how I felt on the phone with Bea Massa Brown when I called to thank her for my surprise birthday gift.  It's the quiet ones we have to keep an extra eye on.  This dear friend, who I have known since forever, used an amazing amount of creative thought to make and send me a beautiful, pink bubble gum birthday corsage.  It was an exact replica of the birthday corsages that were so popular when we were in junior high and high school, but better made through experience.  I Googled "birthday corsages," and if anyone is interested, I have the list of candies and gums that represent each of the teen years.  Or we can have a contest to see who remembers.  P.S. There were only twenty-one pieces of bubble gum on my corsage.  All fifty-eight would have left me walking a bit top-heavy.
[Rich -- I didn't know there were different gums 'n' things for each year of school.  That somehow wasn't on my mind.  But I did wish Barbara a happy birthday from all of us.]

A reassurance from Georgia, from Bernie Scheidt:  I think I have almost of the old newsletters on my home computer.  I could probably copy them all and mail the CD to you.

[Rich -- I don't need to tell you how happy I was to hear that.  And I'll try to be more careful this time.]

And the announcements, first from Donald Faber:  I've just had a very interesting turn of events in my checkered career.  I had meeting last week with a group of investment bankers regarding a merchandising idea that my partner and I have been working on for the last year.  Raising financing is always a tricky process, but we got through the first stage with very positive feedback.  The group has a solid track record with investments and a wealth of experience.  It's now time to proceed to next step, but my partner and I, having worked within the entertainment industry virtually our entire lives, are somewhat removed from the reality of real business.  As extensive as our personal Rolodexes are, our personal contacts within manufacturing/merchandising are limited.  And so I thought of the class website.  Drawing on the Six Degrees of Separation opportunities that our website offers, I thought I'd see if anyone out there knows anyone with hands-on manufacturing/inventory experience who may also be interested in my little venture.  The person could be retired or approaching retirement, in-between jobs, unemployed, or just looking for an interesting business opportunity.  I'd be very interested in talking with one and all.  The good news here is that if financing comes together, it must happen within next six months.  My partner is a British woman with amazing background in public relations/promotion.  Our business concept is original, fun, and considered potentially very lucrative by our bankers (I don't wish to tease here, but at this point I'm just not in position to go into actual details).  So if anyone knows someone with a manufacturing background (ideally in the New York metropolitan area), we'd love to talk to them!  It's best to reach me via e-mail at dpfaber@optonline.net.   And I promise to back to anyone as soon as possible.

Next, from a college friend, Bonni Banyard:  Most people go on a Caribbean vacation and bring back a nice tan.  I went to St. Martin the first week in October, had a wonderful time, learned to snorkel, and on my flight home noticed my right ankle was swollen.  I wrote it off to partying and margaritas.  Monday, I woke up at 5:00 AM with shooting pains in my leg.  By nine, my foot, ankle, and calf were red, and they were swollen to twice their size.  I also had a red spot on my outer calf about 3 inches in diameter.  My podiatrist sent me for an ultrasound to rule out a blood clot and put me on an antibiotic.  Tuesday morning, I developed a nasty red welt beneath my ankle bone.  Tuesday afternoon, I raised the leg of my pants and found several quarter-sized blisters on my shin and ankle.  Wednesday morning, the podiatrist sent me to the emergency room.  They put me on an intravenous antibiotic for a couple of hours and sent me home with another antibiotic.  I spent Thursday lying with my foot propped up.  Friday morning, I reported back to the hospital.  My leg was the same red, and several of the blisters had broken, which shredded my ankle.  I was checked into a room.  I grew accustomed to hospital life, sleeping pills, and hours of restless sleep.  I could stand up after only a few minutes of excruciating pain.  On the eighth day, my ankle looked like a chunk of gristled meat.  The infection had stopped ascending, but the doctors decided the ankle needed to be abraded so that healing could begin.  Thursday, I went into surgery.  Friday, they upped my pain meds and even gave me a shot of morphine.  Late Monday afternoon, October 24th, I was released.  Yesterday, I went to the doctor, who said it was okay to remove the dressings for good.  My foot and ankle are shades of emerging pink, still shedding layers of skin, though the scabs are nearly gone.  I’ve finished the antibiotics, and now only take a pain pill at bedtime and first thing in the morning.  Despite a series of cultures and a biopsy, the culprit was never identified.  They are calling it cellulitis (not cellulite) caused by a waterborne bacterial infection.  They suspect something called vibrio.  There’s a lesson to be learned in here.  It’s not about snorkeling and not about fearing vacations.  But I know it's a warning.

Finally, an online ad running on yesterday's Los Angeles Craig's List:  Biographer Needed -- a ghost-written autobiography of one man’s shocking discover that Americans are eating their dead pets.  For two years, he has waged a campaign informing tens of thousands of people, but the media won’t touch the story because they say it will affect their ratings/readership.  Much has been spent on undercover detective work, more than one lawsuit has been filed, insidious retaliation by Los Angeles County has been fought, and death threats have been weathered.  But this animal welfare activist won’t stop fighting to get the word out.  Plans are to sell an ebook, and until it is completed (resolution may take years), perhaps to sell installments.  When completed, this ebook will also be published. Writer must live in Los Angeles and be an experienced biographer.