John Bryce Rumbles:  

Life Since April 2008 I've lived with my girlfriend in Middle River, Maryland, and have been looking for a job. Been trying to get up here from miserable Florida since meeting and falling in love with her more than 18 months ago, but finalluy decided to say The heck with it all and just move, without benefit of a job (yet) -- but that's sorting itself out too, apparently. I have reason to believe I'll be gainfully employed again before I next look in at Classmates.com. From September 2005 to late March 2008 I lived in Plantation, Florida, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, where I worked as a reference librarian at the Broward County [Main] Library, an 8-story architectural wonder. (Or was when it was built, but 25 years later, it's looking pretty sad.) Never liked the weather there -- too damn hot too much of the time -- but (mostly) loved my job! My co-workers were cool -- but nary a native southerner to be found! I have two kids, a daughter, Hailey, and a son, Jacob, who started life as my sister Lisa's son. My ex- and I are raising him while she's dead, since 2002. They're both ten, and in fifth grade (he just got skipped so now they're in the same grade, just in time for their move to Colorado), happening on May 1st. Aside from the failed marriage, things are great -- the girlfriend and I are adapting to living with another adult person again after three years for me and almost two for her. I'm finding all kinds of old friends through classmates.com (this is an unpaid endorsement -- maybe they're let me skip a few monthly payments?) and my own Internet searching savvy. School Biggest crush? At Dana Jr. High, definitely Janie Taylor. Then I was in a Kristy Mutschler craze, and I remember admiring Tricia Thompson and Allison Ash. ("Admiring" is a good euphemism, I think!) At Arcadia HS, I really don't remember any one person I lusted after more than another. If you were a girl, I probably "admired" you at one time or another! Teachers? Loved Kent Barney. He helped me learn to love Shakespeare. Jim O'Brien helped me regain confidence in my writing ability after I f'd up the Opinion page of the Pow Wow for a semester. Ed Burke inspired me to get into some of the nittier, grittier aspects of history (although I was pretty much into it my that time already). Silverstein exposed me to George Carlin and the National Lampoon -- I bet if he did Comic Lit the same way now, he'd be in big trouble! If I could do it again, I'd put a lot more effort into interfacing with the opposite sex. High School is no time to be a loner. I wa...Expand for more