11/05/04 - NNHS Newsletter - Big Girls Don't Cry


Dear Friends and Schoolmates,

   Normally, I wouldn't send a Newsletter every day, but there's an important announcement at the end of this one from the Class of 1965..


From Jean Poole Burton ('64) of RI - 11/04/04:

Send me anything...anytime...Hi Carol, what a fun newsletter. I loved your Winnie the Pooh stuff. Brought back fond memories
of having to watch that on TV every day with my Becky (who is now 26!). I babysat on Tuesday for my friend's three children
(who are 6, 9, and 10). We played with stamps and stamp pads for an hour, played a board game, made turkey pins and
Christmas tree pins with sculpey clay, decorated stuffed dogs, made yeast rolls, and watched a movie. I was a little tired when
I got home but it was great fun. I help their parents out from time to time. I had a wonderful note from Dyanne Pritchett ('64),
who was at the reunion. So much fun to be there and talk with so many former classmates. Still looking at the photos, still
enjoying all of it.
Jean

   I passed your thoughts on to Richard this morning in class  He was pleased that you enjoyed his Winnie the Pooh theme.

   You babysat three pre-teen children, hmm?  You're a brave woman, Jean!

   I'm so glad you enjoy the Newsletters.  I have a bit of fun with them myself!  Thanks!


From Ron Miller ('59) of NC - 11/04/04:

I can't believe your 2 or 3 emails per week are "clogging" someone's inbox! They must have very empty, lonely
inboxes (and apparently for good reason!). I guess the "Delete" button is not on their keyboard -- or they don't
know how to use it!
I for one appreciate the hard work you put into the NNHS website and newsletter. Please don't let the negative
jerks get you down.
Just remind yourself of the old Latin saying:  ILLEGITIMATI NON CARBORUNDUM. (If you need a translation,
ask your hubby -- I'm sure he's run across it before. If he hasn't, ask me! :-o))
Keep up the great work!
Ron

   Thanks, Ron!  I appreciate your kind words and good advice.

   The negativity as often as not amuses me now.  Had it come four years ago when I first opened the site, it might have caused
me to stop everything entirely, because I was totally aghast myself at my own presumption.  I was extremely concerned then that
I simply took it upon myself out of the clear blue to attempt such a thing.  As time passed I became more comfortable with the
concept, and if I'm filling no one else's need but my own, I enjoy having the material archived on the site, and I delight in hearing
from old friends and making new ones.  If anyone else wants to join in that fun, I'm happy.  If they don't, that's too bad, but it doesn't
hurt me any.  It's not as though I receive a stipend for each individual subscriber.  At any rate, I'll shed no tears on that account
anyway, 'cause
Big Girls Don't Cry!

   I thought I was translating your Latin phrase fairly accurately, though I was unfamiliar with it.  Amidst my chuckles, I checked the
Online Etymology Dictionary  (
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=i&p=1), and found this:

illegitimate 
1536, "born out of wedlock," formed in Eng., modeled on L. illegitimus "not legitimate." Sense of "unauthorized, unwarranted" is from 1645.
Phrase illegitimati non carborundum, usually "translated" as "don't let the bastards grind you down," is fake Latin from c.1939. Carborundum
was a brand of abrasives (reg. trademark U.S. June 21, 1892, by Carborundum Co. of Monongahela City, Pa.). The compound was made
from carbon and silicon; the word from carbon + corundum.

   Thanks again for the laugh, Ronnie!


"In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced nor cried aloud: Under the bludgeoning of chance my head
is
bloody, but unbowed."

- William Ernest Henley (1849 - 1903)


From Wayne Stokes ('65) of VA - 11/04/04:

I noticed that the ones listed in your last letter as wanting to be removed, had "Yahoo" addresses. And also were grads. from the
50's and did not get to enjoy, as high school students, the "enlightenment" of the 60's!! Yes, there are exceptions - no nasty mail,
Madagan!!

 
Five Hundred years ago when I first learned of "free" email accounts through "Yahoo", I established an email address with them...
it still lives, I believe? Unfortunately, however, I also learned what "spam" really was via that address!!! Not only that, but "legitimate"
mailings would come from others in "tens" it seemed!!! "Yahoo" would deposit the same mail in my account, seriously, 4 or 5 times.
Then "tell" me that I was nearly out of space! How's that again? You make the mistake (Yahoo) and I pay the price? Sounds like
real life!! As you can probably guess, I have not used "Yahoo" for many moons!
 
Now, instead of the un-necessary discourse and length of the last paragraph, I could have simply said that the problem is not you,
but "Yahoo". However, it is well known that brevity is not one of my strengths!! However, at times it IS one of my biggest assets!!
Figure that one out!?
 
I threw the "Honey" part in my statement based on a lunch Linda and I had at Angelo's (a Sammy & Steve's "knock-off") after her
follow-up appointment the 2nd, election day, regarding her recent surgery. The waitress "Honeyed" this and "Honeyed" that so much
that I was nearly at the point of asking her had she mistaken me for someone that was having an affair with her!!:-) "Is everything OK,
Honey?";," Need more drink, Honey?"; "Can I get you anything else, Honey?", etc. I know, I know, they don't mean anything by it and
are trying to be nice, but... .

Regarding "election day", and all offices up for "grabs", every time there is an election I can't help but hear in the dark chambers
of my weird mind, "Mrs. Robinson"! "...every which way you choose, you lose!". Amen. My "choices" did alright, but I know I didn't win!
You never do.

Well that's enough unimportant information for now. I must save some unimportant information for later. If I don't, I won't have anything
with which to "trouble" anyone!

Take Care!
R. Wayne Stokes

   Thanks, Wayne!  I loved your Yahoo stories!

   I can't comment but so much on the "Honeys", Wayne.  I tend to be inordinately guilty of that myself, though I generally prefer "Sweetie"
and "Babe".  And I usually (but admittedly not always) know someone at least vaguely before calling them such pet names. 

   Sociopath that I am, I'll steer clear of any political comment once more.  HA-HA-HA!!!

   Chime in with your comments anytime, Wayne.  I'm always glad to hear from you!


"Crying is the refuge of plain women but the ruin of pretty ones."

- Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)


From Joe Madagan ('57) of FL - 11/04/04:

Hi, Carol:
Thanks for the Newsletter! I am glad I use MSN for my e-mail, for they have not complained about the number of e-mails
I send and receive, at least not yet.
Hope you are doing OK and enjoying the two year old.
Always,
Adonis

   Thanks, Adonis!  I appreciate my Road Runner Accounts.  My personal and school accounts combined now contain 19,915 emails. 
It may take me a while to find something, but I know it's there.  And no one tells me that I must empty it, either.

   Ah, yes, the adorable two-year old......Yes, I always enjoy Ben, and have since he was a tiny little fresh thing.  There was that incident
yesterday where he ran down the hall to my bedroom and locked himself inside, while I struggled for thirty minutes trying to pick the
lock with a nut pick while he cried bitterly out of reach....   There are those who will tell you that the most difficult stage of development
is that of teenagers, because they tend to be a bit rebellious.  There are some strange few who think that newborns are the most difficult, because they're so totally dependant upon you.  My money has ever and always been on the two-year olds.  A two-year old is incapable
of the amount of reasoning and communicative skills necessary to keep pace with their tremendous speed, energy and dexterity.

   There's a very good reason why women don't have children when they're old enough to be their great-grandmothers.  (My own two
youngest were born when I was old enough to be their grandmother, so I can't milk that subject but so very much.)  Let's just say that
after chasing Ben for eight hours yesterday, I cancelled my plans last night to go see my friend and his wife in a recital at Methodist
College due to extreme exhaustion.



From Evelyn Vretos ('55) of VA - 11/04/04:

Dear Carol,

Keep the NNHS newsletters coming!! Don't know how you do it - do you ever sleep?
It's an awesome website - I look forward to every newsletter!!

Love, Evelyn

   Thanks so much, Evelyn!  I'm so glad you enjoy them. 

   Sleep and reality are vastly overrated.  A little of each goes a long way.


"My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage
to accept the love in return."

- Maya Angelou (b. 1928)


From Jim Dossett ('66) of FL - 10/29/04:

I suppose that it is a good thing that I’ve just recently moved to Florida and was unable to attend the “all class reunion”.  I don’t know if my old heart
could have taken seeing so many “heroes and crushes” all at once. DeBerry, Mueller, Henderson, Ellis, Anspach ….  how many times did I see
those names in
the sports section of the Daily Press.  And the girls I worshipped from afar … Angie Ray, Judy Phillips, and Mary Lou ..  WOW … 
Mary Lou still looks great.  One of my strangest memories goes back to about the 3rd or 4th  grade at JW Daniel when I joined the preteen choir
at First Baptist Church just so I could be around
Brenda Clark, Sandra Tilles and Mary Lou Staton.

As for James Wilson …  not a hero of mine at the time and certainly no love lost between us …  nor probably any other drummer he ever directed. 
However, he did insist on a standard of excellence that was unmatched in
the 60’s and I have yet to see a HS band that could come close to his
NNHS TYPHOON MARCHING SENOR BAND
.  When I reflect on things I learned from him …  not a single note, rudiment nor cadence
comes to mind (Ms Shockley taught me how to play) …  but Mr. Wilson taught me about setting a goal and achieving it,  about insisting on extraordinary
as being your ordinary, about discipline, dedication and PRIDE.

Carol, thanks for all your work  …  it is obvious that it is a work of love and we all love you for helping us to remember …

“who we are …
where we come from …
we’re from
NEWPORT
MIGHTY, MIGHTY NEWPORT

Jim

   Hi, Jim - thanks for your note!  I've been trying to reach you all week using your new address, but my mail keeps being returned
to me.  I hope you didn't mind my publishing this in toto.  I had quite a kick from it myself.

  I remember how angry Mr. Wilson would become with the whole percussion section from time to time.  He'd throw his baton
across the room and yell, "You're not percussionists; you're just a bunch of drummers!"  Of course, his constantly raising the bar
meant that the Typhoon Band had the best percussion section anywhere.

   All seven of my children participated in band at least for a time.  So often I remember thinking how Mr. Wilson would never have
tolerated the  lack of discipline, the shoddy appearances, the almost intentional mediocrity which sometimes prevailed among
some (but blessedly not all) of their directors, due to lack of attention to detail.  I would see those bands in concert, and they would
not snap their instruments to attention, they would wiggle and squirm in their chairs, they would even (gasp!) talk to each other.  I
watched them in parades and their ranks were crooked, they would be out of step, and their shoes didn't even match.  And I would
hear their lame drum cadences and think, "Oh, why don't they just play the Gil-Walk?!?"  And then I'd remember.  The Gil-Walk
wasn't a nationally known cadence.  It was composed by Bill Gilbert and John Walker, both of the Class of 1964, probably while
they were still freshmen.  Bill even taught me how to play the snare drum part myself, back in '63.  I remember it still, just as surely
as I can still play "Fanfare and Giant" on my flute.  It may not have been famous; it was simply the best. 

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/faculty.html

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/teachers.html

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/teachers.html

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/teach-JPW.html


"I quickly laugh at everything for fear of having to cry."

- Pierre De Beaumarchais (1732-1799)


From Ron Smith ('65) of VA - 11/04/04:

Carol,
I have assumed the responsibilities of treasurer for the Class of '65 Reunion Committee. We are in the planning
stages, but there will be expenses prior to the actual reunion. If anyone one would like to DONATE to the fund,
please send your check to Class of '65 Reunion Committee, % Ron Smith, 815 Lancaster Lane, Newport News,
VA. 23602. The more we can get prior to the actual event will mean the less each person attending will have to pay.
Thanks, Ron

   Wonderful, Ron!

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/reunion-page.html

http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com/reunion2005-65.html


 
Y'all take care of each other.

                                   Love to all, Carol
 

==============================================

NNHS CLASS OF '65 WEB SITE: http://www.nnhs65.00freehost.com
PERSONAL WEB SITE: http://www.angelfire.com/weird2/cluckmeat

"I only have two kinds of days: happy and hysterically happy."

==============================================



Big Girls Don't Cry Lyrics

(Frankie Valli)


Big girls don't cry, big girls don't cry

Big girls don't cry (they don't cry)
Big girls don't cry (who said they don't cry)
My girl said good-bye (my oh my)
My girl didn't cry (I wonder why)

(Silly boy) Told my girl we had to break up
(Silly boy) Thought that she would call my bluff
(Silly boy) But she said to my surprise
Big girls don't cry

Big girls don't cry (they don't cry)
Big girls don't cry (who said they don't cry)

Baby I was cruel (I was cruel)
Baby I'm a fool (I'm such a fool)

(Silly girl) Shame on you your Mama said
(Silly girl) Shame on you, you cried in bed
(Silly girl) Shame on you, you told a lie
Big girls do cry

Big girls don't cry (they don't cry)
Big girls don't cry (that's just an alibi)

repeat to fade Big girls don't cry
 


"Big Girls Don't Cry" midi courtesy of http://www.wtv-zone.com/rokpile/rokcaverns.html - 11/04/04

"Big Girls Don't Cry" lyrics courtesy of http://www.lyricsdomain.com/6/frankie_valli/big_girls_dont_cry.html - 11/04/04

Roy Lichtenstein's "Crying Gil" images courtesy of http://www.artbrokerage.com/retail/lichtenstein/licht_cryinggirlpg254.htm  and http://www.mam.org/collections/contemporaryart_detail_lichtenstein.htm - 11/04/04

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