Who would have thought we’d make 2 Christmases — with me in charge and total control ??? Certainly not me — I’m a starter and an implementer — take an idea from concept to implementation then I’m off and ready for the next challenge or adventure — only drawback is someone else "who always knows better" will generally utilize their superior intellect and screw up everything I started losing site of the grand vision et al… Course we have been had a few close calls along the way for THS 88 on the Web:
- I almost killed this thing 2 or 3 times with blogs trying to provoke / encourage participation…
- Times in both April and October where I just about threw in the towel and shut the whole thing down.
- and don’t forget (what am I saying ??? No one even noticed or asked when it happened) about the MSN shutdown of THS 88 on the Web just prior to the 1 Year Anniversary — THIS SITE WAS GONE — and all its content, the blogs, the E-List — that was one year’s worth of work — thanks to both of you who noticed post-restoration !!! Actually 3, but I told the 3rd when the crisis began…
Wish I had my Christmas e-mail from last year — it was good, and could have easily been modified and posted here and most of you would be none the wiser — only thing I have is the closing thought from that message — kinda Jerry Springer-esque — but we’ll close with that later… In the meantime, always remember not to take anything you read here too seriously…
For those members joining our festivities in 2006 celebrating your first Christmas here at THS 88 on the Web:
Welcome… We’re glad you’re here…
Why another Holiday Blog you ask — why not ??? As far as I’m concerned, it’s an honor to wish Happiest of Holidays to all… After all, who would have thought or imagined that, I, "Mr. Nobody", Kevin Brunson, with my 3 votes for Senior Class President ( I actually have no idea how many votes there were — maybe I got 4 ), would have created this monstrosity that has brought so many together in such a short time…
My vision for this Holiday Blog is to provide the open canvas of a virtual giant Christmas Card per se for the entire group to express holiday sentiments… Unlike a traditional Christmas Card being passed around with its limited space for 70 signatures plus one or two brief thoughts, we have unlimited space to express these Holiday well wishes, sentiments, etc., in the Comments…
Now for few moments of reflection and site examination…
This time last year we had maybe 33 confirmed members as part of the festivities here at THS 88 on the Web… Today that number is 70 confirmed shared contact… I have a few others, but I have not either not received a response granting authorization to post an e-address or even if it is a valid e-address… Others in the group have been in contact with some of our LOST mates but have chosen not to share e-addresses or an invite to the site. As I have stated in the past, there are many ways to invite the LOST to THS 88 on the Web — send them a copy of a THS 88: Brief, use the Invite a Friend option here, refer them to TiogaHigh1988.com, have them e-mail me, or send me their e-address for an official invite at least then they can be checked off as being aware of these venues…
In the coming year we need to move beyond HS pettiness and work toward The Vision (March 2006) of this endeavor… I have, how about you ??? For privacy’s sake I will not name names — some of you might be surprised — my opinions of the past were either wrong or have changed… I will say however, that I’ve had my best communications with members I never would have guessed and virtually none or none at all with some of those I was sure to be excited and willing to embrace this project.
Do you realize that this is the school year of the Class of ’07 ??? That makes 19 years come May — does not seem that long ago — what have we accomplished ??? Where did we think we’d be at this point ??? I provided an avenue for that question with BITD: In 1988 I Wanted to Be a… We have read from many with their Where I’ve Been… Where I Am… post-grad stories here and at the other sites, some members have provided me summaries via e-mail and those are most appreciated, while others have chosen to remain silent or just be horses’ @#$#!…
I really had no intention of getting into the Birthday Notification thing but sorta fell into it, when Suzy told me last year in an e-mail she was busy with work, related holiday stuff, and her birthday — and knowing Jason‘s Birthday was the next week the announcements began along with the friendly and humorous e-card… Then Steph King… err… Steph Mattison, sent me something for a birthday registry, then THS 88 @ Yahoo Groups was created and I set up the THS 88 Birthday Calendar @ Yahoo Groups beginning with birthdays I knew as well as those listed @ Reunion.com (back when you could actually get some information there). Suffice to say, it has received positive response (haven’t received any negative) and so this will continue…
What sense of purpose do I get from all of this ??? I don’t know… Tried figuring it out, but the best I can come up with is it was an idea whose time had come and that free Classmates.com trial offer of November 2005 was an opportunity that could not be allowed to go to waste, and thankfully, my taking advantage of it complete with the 12 or so E-mails I had already collected grew from a simple quest for an e-list to THS 88 on the Web…
I never meant or intended for this site to be about me, nor was the intent in choosing the blog format for this venue to have the opening 3 blogs and let that be the site until 20n08 plans got into high gear with only the E-list updated until then… Blog format was chosen to allow members to express thoughts and memories on various subjects in an organized and structured setting that is easy navigate and use. At least the mechanics of the project have been successful…
I guess you could say my outlook for this site has become that of an Optimistic-Realist… Optimistic in that a majority of members would get excited and participate freely at this venue; and a Realist, in knowing that for whatever reason, valid or not, that people will do and use only what they want to use, aka the e-list for communication with their preferred group, and just glean the blogs and briefs for information therein, and not give a second thought to the overall purpose of the site… Remember The Vision…
Some time ago I gave up hounding people to post to blogs — no more arm twisting, threatening to take the site private, etc. — besides being meaningless, what would it accomplish ??? Would opinion of me in the eyes of those not participating be improved ??? Most likely not… If their opinion of me was a measuring stick of their participation… you figure it out…
I will, however, occasionally ask for blog submissions from the group — I’ve gotten 2 and would like to see more — all this is voluntary — no coercion used — everyone is free to ignore me as is so often the case (I sent out over 30 getting to Re-know you e-mails and got 4 responses — 26+ without even a "drop dead" or "leave me alone" — I can handle and respect that)… If there is a blog topic that I feel is relevant (family related, class leadership related, or something along the line of what i consider a touchy feely subject — which I don’t do well — AND you know that !!!) and I believe a particular individual would be the perfect author providing the insight needed for such a piece, I will offer the opportunity to write this blog on the suggested topic via personal E-mail (and I won’t tell anyone I asked you)– you can say "NO" — and I’ll either come up with something myself, come back to it later, or move on… All contributions to this site are voluntary (and don’t bring up e-mails posted in the early days as those are part of the record and way in the past — so displeasure in regards to those postings is not considered relevant )…
Back to the Holiday stuff…
For those traveling this Holiday season I wish you safe travel and good times… For our 2 members stationed overseas, James Coleman in Portugal, and Stephen Higuera on one of our Navy’s floating cities in the Med or Persian Gulf, stay safe and we hope to hear and read from you soon; and if all goes well see you at the 20n08 — and thanks for doing what you do…
For the rest of us on the home front — Have a Happy, Safe, and Enjoyable Holiday Season…
And now we close with that Jerry Springer-esque "Final Thought" (modified slightly for a second running)
May the continued gift of this Web Site and e-list in its second year and beyond, reunite old friends and bring us all closer together as we make our way to 20n08.
Merry Christmas 
THS 88
** Don’t forget this is a Giant On-Line Christmas card…
2007 
THS 88 on the Web 