the basement cryers

welcome to casey

2006-02-04T14:29:00.000-08:00

prepare to shit yourself.

here.

the original chat room miscreants

2006-02-03T07:56:00.000-08:00

Imagine if someone (a stranger from the future, dressed in a silver mylar pantsuit of course) had stuck their head into AD's room that night and told us that in 15 years, we would be catching up with each other via a blog. We probably would have laughed them out of the room, and then spent several minutes making fun of the word "BLOG."

Isn't it amazing how different the world is, from an information/technology point of view, than it was when we were growing up? I hear about kids texting each other on their cell phones during class, and I wonder if any of them even bother to pass notes anymore. How do they hold on to those messages? I have a whole Pee-Chee folder full of junior high notes in storage somewhere...

Some of you have probably heard this story, but O'rya and I were lying about our identities in online chat rooms back when AOL was still America Online. Our cyber personas were 18 years old, had silly glamorous-sounding names we would make up on the spot, and would get invited by sleazy men (or perhaps 14-year-old boys in a basement in Peoria) to "private rooms." My poor dad probably got a lot of strange e-mail in those days, considering it was his screen name that we used when misbehaving ("Hi. We're not rogerp7, we're his daughter and his daughter's friend.")

So here's a lunchtime poll: What was your first e-mail address? Where was it from?

I think mine was cpeters1@ic3.ithaca.edu, and I sent my first e-mail as a freshman in college. I remember being so amazed at seeing my friends' words appear on a computer screen instead of paper.

Casey Chronicle and the Gulf War

2006-01-28T00:48:00.000-08:00

The Casey Chronicle included contributions from many of the Cryers.

In early 1991, our last semester at Casey, we did our best to continue the legacy of our parent's anti-war generation, which included one of the Chicago Seven and a nurse in Vietnam (interviewed on the front page by fellow Cryer Brandi).

"Dear Senators Brown and Wirth: We, the undersigned students of Casey Jr High in Boulder are against the United States involvement in the Middle East and want the murdering to stop now! Killing is not a good way to solve problems."

This article says almost 200 students signed the petition.

(I am ashamed to admit I did not participate in an earlier school walkout protesting the war because Casey's administration threatened academic sanctions.. hey, my parents predated Vietnam).

There's something about the title that makes me think vintige Jr. High Joey. The article's about a Boulder RTD bus driver who goes to Bagdad with a peace team hoping their presence in Iraq would deter US and allied aggression.

(PS-This'll be my last post in a while since I'm headed to Nepal - of course with a humanitarian organisation - what more would you expect from a guilt-ridden Boulderite who didn't participate in the walkout? Wish me luck guys!)

the receipt

2006-01-27T12:51:00.000-08:00

let us begin by displaying the reciept from our first tear-soaked bawling session.