Virtual Wroxton Reunion

Wroxton Postcards

2006-05-25T22:17:00.000+01:00

These were a recent little purchase on a whim, and I thought I'd share a picture of them. They're all about a hundred years old. Some are used and so are postmarked with dates, but not all. I tried to order them, guessing based on the progression of the ivy!

There are some lovely messages: the middle on the left was sent to Miss M. Wells, 191 Hayley Road, Birmingham, postmarked 23 October 1909, and reads "Am pleased to say that the affair mentioned to you the other night passed off splendidly. Best wishes from yours sincerely H."

Deliciously, delicately cryptic.

It's That Time Again

2006-02-24T13:41:00.000Z

The glorious NDJB will be Stateside for a week and a half in March for his semi-annual pilgrimage.

If you would like to get together for dinner between the 15th and 26th, drop me an email and I'll schedule something up.

Dinner: now way cheaper than those official FDU Wroxton Reunions, with lots more NDJB!

The Soon to Be Mr. and Mrs. N.D.J.B.

2005-11-22T02:41:00.000Z

I don't know if it's entirely my place to make an announcement like this, cause it ain't none of my business in particular, but heck, it's official, neither of them post here, and I guess I'm a busybody, so here goes:

Dr. Baldwin and Vanessa Shields will be getting married in October.

In what I'm sure will be an absolutely lovely ceremony.

With particularly stunning musical selections chosen by a by-then-newly-married DJ.

The happy couple are registered at the E.U., the U.N., both houses of Parliament and the North Arms.

Just kidding about that last bit.

But in all seriousness, all kinds of happiness to them both for ever and ever.

London + 2 Weeks

2005-07-21T14:33:00.000+01:00

Everyone at Wroxton is okay today, as well, thank goodness. Although I'd rather not have to keep saying that.

London Train Bombings

2005-07-07T16:29:00.000+01:00

Everyone at Wroxton - Dr. B., staff, students - is okay.

Nobody was in London at the time.

Reunion in NYC

2005-04-25T16:09:00.000+01:00

The FDU Alumni Relations office is holding a Wroxton alumni reunion.

It's Friday, May 20, from 6-8 p.m.

It's at the Telephone Bar & Grill on 2nd Avenue between 9th and 10th.

** NDJB will be there! **

It's $35 apiece, but that includes food and drinks.

If you haven't gotten the cute little postcard, call Karen Lewis at (201) 692-7013.

And I quote...

2005-03-07T04:34:00.000Z

Hey all. I don't know if anyone reads this thing, but I've had a lot of requests for the quote list, so here it is. I've tried to attribute the quotes accurately to the right people. If I've got anything wrong or you have anything to add, let me know. Enjoy. Hope all are well.

Walk like an Egyptian
Pour some sugar on me
Drunken break dancing
Asshole
Mrs. Miniver
Quiz night
Martin owes me a drink
Driving me spare
Driving on the left in Japan
Martin’s car
Strange woman Brenda
Lost in London
Egyptians and Romans
I am a tree
Martin smells like poo
Slumber parties
Ghost stries
“It’s the one with the sun shining through it.” - Karen
Red Dwarf
“Don’t mention the war!”
“Who needs reality? I’ve got Reed Diamond.” - Brenda
Flirting with Julian
Manchester United
Ugly, Plain, Pretty, Hooker
Pepper’s Superman hat
The Blinking Poets’ Society
“Don’t step on the snails.” - Sue
“Don’t call me Francis.” - Frank
Sarah’s miniature sink
“You win some, you kill um, I mean lose some.” - Frank
“Here’s the loop, here’s me.”
Joe’s painted face
Billy Dee Williams to Warwick Davis to Val Kilmer to Robert DeNiro to Billy Crystal
Mambo #5
“Is this a movie?” “No this is Nine Inch Nails.”
“I don’t want Joe, I just want A Joe.” - Karen
“Tony’s a fuckin’ Obajohn.” - Jeanette
Catching a sheep with Pepper
Draco Al Dragon
Fucking with my tranquility
“I’d just like to warn everyone not to bang your head on the ashtray.” - Frank
Come On Eileen
Drunken ping pong
Frank’s white boy dance
“Turn your card and your card only.” - NDJB
“I’m all about…”
“;;;like it’s my job.”
Dr. Nicholas David James Baldwin
“Brussels looks like Pittsburgh.” – Sarah
“There’s a wall.” – Kelly
Snarky Goddesses of le Metro
Sulking at the Big Ugly Pyramid
Hugging a French ninja at Sacre Coeur
“I’ll be under this tree with the vine.”
“JOSH!!!!!!!!!” – Frank
“Did I mention we got Nine Inch Nails tickets?” – Karen
“I feel like I’m at the chiropractor.” – Jess
“Brenda, where’s Shawn?”
Phrase of the day: I’m all about anal sex.
Being a king and considerate staff we do out best to ensure that you stay warm throughout the day, so shut the &^%#ing door.
“I knew I forgot something.”
“Life is good, shoot my llama.” – Brenda
“We’re gonna die and you’re laughing?!” – Sarah
“Now that’s good crotch.” – Frank
“How does one practice pole dancing?” – Sarah
“Would you like a Coke?” – Random woman on the street in Banbury
“If you were a big tall tower, where would you be?” - Karen
“I wish. I had. A gun.”
“0:00 and all is well.” – Frank
“Silence is goldfish.” – Brenda
“Things just don’t flow in my head the same way they do in reality.” – Jeanette
“You’re not the droid I’m looking for.” – Frank
“What’s that Lassie? Sarah fell down the well?”
“Oh no…I spelled genitalia wrong, but I fixed it.” – Brenda
The Scarf of Happiness
The Magic Scarf
Shawn’s exploding cider
“The past is dead, except on the History Channel where the past comes alive.”
“If you were a big round building, where would you be?” – Karen
“Now that’s what I call a pope!”
“It looked like you lost your wedding ring down his throat.” – Karen
“Now I’m going to explain to you why our bathroom is flooded.” – Brenda
“It’s a sign.”
“That was romantic.”
“I would never do that to you…in public.” – Frank
“Ow! There’s a step there.” – Brenda
An eggplant in uniform
Low flying mud ducks
“Joe’s not around, try Frank.”
The One Touch Flush
“Kill him again!” – Brenda
Joseph and his fuckin’ gay pride coat
The Atooooooooooooooomium
Bambi sex
“It’s not about winning, it’s about going to sleep.” – Tomer
“I wish my ass would stop itching.” – Kristin
“I only hate you for a little while.”
“Suck my four!” – Tomer
“In my utopia, I would live in Disney World with sheep that carry guns.” – Brenda
“I’m a sheep.” - Oh, guess.
“I’m a bum.” – Brenda
“I’m a conch.” – Shawn
“I am a M-O-L-L-U-S-C” – Shawn
“Stick it deeper and ride me all afternoon.” – Frank
“Duncan Sheik.” – Frank
“Lady Bitch, get on the ball!” – Frank
Insert whack.
“Hmmmm, this is a good distance for handcuffs.” – Karen
“There’s no I in team. But there is an eat me if you’re willing to use the e twice.” – Matt
Riding on the floor of the bus to Scotland
“SHEEP!” – Guess again.
Will the real Pepper please stand up?
“Is my key in there?” “Jeanette, you’re holding your key.” – Brenda
Resolved face
“You’re going to fall through the toilet.”
“Maybe it’s…THE PLAGUE!” – Brenda
“These people hate us and our pets.” – Gina Gargone
“Guys? I got some bad news. We just went the wrong way.” – Karen
“Dude, why do we hang out with her if she’s not a soda machine?” – Gina Gargone
“Then we’d have to explain how a random third person fell out of our window.” – Jeanette
“I feel instantaneous death coursing through the room.” – Gina Gargone
Moat shark
THE PLAGUE
“I feel a little goaty.” – Frank
“If anyone wants to shave me, I’ll be in the shower.” – Frank
“The truth is made of Spandex.”
“You don’t care because you’re not invited.”
“Get yourself some millennium booty.”
“Carpe Credit Card. Seize the Visa.” – Sarah
“Beat him with the phone!” – Brenda
“He looks like that AND his name is Crispin?”- Sarah
Delusions of ram-deur
“Frank, what time are we hittin’ the tree?”
“Why don’t you go outside and play a nice game of hide and go fuck yourself?” - Anthony

This That and the Other

2004-11-22T21:36:00.000Z

Congrats to Sarah and Frank!

Any thoughts on the election?

Happy Thanksgiving Week to All! I start my holiday this Wednesday while I celebrate "Family Day" at my son's school. He will walk in a parade with other 3 and 4 years olds, holding a banner made by himself, me & dad. The banner has family photos including the one with junior wearing the spagetti. I am looking foward to the weekend-- and resting some. Perhaps I may go see the 3-D Imax of Polar Express up in the Palisades Mall...

Cheers!

Engaged!

2004-10-18T19:17:00.000+01:00

He said "will you?" and I said "yes"... but if you want to know a bit more:

He said....

She said....

Psst: If You Want In....

2004-10-15T15:28:00.000+01:00

Ask any of the people listed above to walk you through signing up for a Blogger account. (It is really easy.)

Give me your email address and tell me to send you another invitation.

Or, if you don't want to do that (although it really IS easy), you can add comments to any post just by clicking the link under the post.

Lots of Stuff

2004-10-11T20:00:00.000+01:00

Well for those of that didn't now - I began a job today - ok well not really today - more like tomorrow. Which is great. The reason I bring it all up is cuz when I lost my job last year the one thing I said I was going to do was clean up all the shit I had. and I have a lot of shit. So while cleaning up (a year after I said I was going to) I found all my old wroxton stuff. Everything, I mean everything. I have post it notes from when people borrowed cds to cards from home for my birthday to Drako the dragon (the little paper dragon I bought in Brighton). So after throwing away piles of papers on the EU and whatever we went to Brussels for, I still have tons of stuff. I found the little note cards that had the wroxton rap on them, postcards from everywhere, a run down of travel break, and even a business card from the hotel in Scotland.

So as we all miss wroxton and that great fall of 99 - a little look back at all this stuff 5 years later. Maybe I'll post bits and pieces of stuff every so often to remind ourselves of some bizarre event from those few months.

Frank
www.djfrankmanzo.com

Short & Sweet

2004-09-28T17:56:00.000+01:00

My lunch break is almost over and I finally figured that blog thing out. Cool. Will write soon!

Make New Friends But Keep The Old

2004-09-24T13:48:00.000+01:00

Man, I'm glad I finally figured out how to use this thing. I think it's a great idea and I'm glad Sarah started it.

Hi everybody! Hope you're all doing well. I think of our semester together often. So what have I been up to...

I'm working for a publishing company in their educational division as an Editorial Assistant and have been for about a year and a half now. I actually don't love this job, but I'm not planning on staying too much longer, hopefully.

I've done a ton of acting since you all saw me last, but lately have been more into filmmaking. This summer I participated in the NYC Midnight Movie Making Madness Short Film Competition. Basically they give you a topic and a genre and two weeks to write shoot and edit a 10 minute film. The finalists from the 2 week round go on to do it all over again, this time in 24 hours. I had a blast doing it. I didn't place, but I did win an honorary award for Best Guerilla Short in my genre and my film is going to be shown at a screening of selected entries during the final weekend. So I'm pretty psyched about that. I've also just started an evening workshop at New York Film Academy in digital filmmaking.

So that's really what's going on in my life lately. I'd love to hear what's going on with you guys!

In Memory

2004-09-10T13:50:00.000+01:00

If you are interested in making a donation in memory of Shirley (in lieu of flowers), Dave and her family request donations to Katherine House hospice, near Banbury. They accept cheques in any currency sent to: Katherine House Hospice, East End, Adderbury, Oxfordshire, OX17 3NL.

Shirley's funeral will be held Tuesday, the 14th, at Wroxton church. As Angela said, it will be a difficult day for everyone.

From Angela

2004-09-07T14:30:00.000+01:00

Shirley died this morning, September 7, at Katherine House hospice, near Banbury. As you probably all know, she had been ill for some time but had put up a pretty good fight right until the end. Dave and Shirley's children have been with her round the clock over the past week as her condition deteriorated. I'm really going to miss her and realise that lots of former Wroxton students/regular visitors/etc. will do too and I'd be really grateful if you would pass on this terribly sad news to anyone who you think might wish to know.

With every best wish, Angela

Cards can be sent to:

Dave Williams
The Lodge
Wroxton College
Wroxton nr. Banbury
Oxon.
OX15 6PX
England

On a Serious Note

2004-08-30T15:19:00.000+01:00

Shirley Williams at Wroxton (Dave's wife) has had cancer for some time and is doing extremely poorly.

Casting the First Stone

2004-08-26T15:09:00.000+01:00

I guess it's kind of my job to go first, so I'll make it short with lots of things to click, and maybe it will be at least mildly entertaining.

I've been working at a healthcare public relations agency for over a year now, and I mostly like it very much. (It's just been a long week this week.)

I've been house-sitting since September, which has been a Good Learning Experience and has allowed me to live on my own with no rent (albeit with plenty of utility bills). It ends in October.

Altogether the summer's been a lot of fun - especially earlier this month, when The Boy and I went to Belize and had an amazing time full of jungles and spiders and other adventures.

I took the summer off from classes, but I'm in grad school part-time, which means I should get a master's degree in oh, thirty or forty years. And I'll soon be starting my fourth year of art class.

Altogether, life is good and busy and sometimes frightening or overwhelming or stressful, but very rarely boring, and that's how I like it. So okay, I told you mine. What about you?

It's Not Better; It's Not Worse

2004-08-24T18:08:00.000+01:00

It's just a new way to try to keep in touch, since it's just too hard to do it in person sometimes.

If you've got something going on - drop a note. If you're curious about someone else - drop a note.

If you think this is an unbelievably bad idea and I'm a great huge idiot for suggesting it - well, then just keep your mouth shut, because you'll hurt my feelings.