HOW TO PREPARE FOR YOUR HIGH SCHOOL REUNION

On the news recently I heard some dismal new statistics about the rising number of kids who drop out of High School and therefore don’t graduate. Maybe they feel they won’t mind being a statistic, maybe not getting too far in life, having the lowest paying jobs, and being the butt of jokes on Leno, but there’s one thing I’m sure they weren’t thinking about as they made their fateful decision…they are never going to have any High School reunions!! How truly sad that is. Now, I can’t continue with this post until I confess that I have haven’t actually been to a reunion of my H.S. class. Oh, it’s not because I didn’t graduate, or because there haven’t been any. I know for a fact that we had at least one; it was our 15^th. I graduated in 1965, so that would make it 1980 when everyone reunited. That was well before the days of IMs and blackberries and Classmates.com, and unfortunately, I was out of touch (not to mention out of the country) so I just didn’t hear about it. More recently there was talk about having a 40^th in 2005, but that fell through. I fear I may have forever missed that rite of passage, but it’s not too late for younger baby boomers, and others. In aid of that, I am offering some handy advice for all who are planning on attending a High School reunion sometime. Like they say, it’s all about that first impression, so before you walk through the old gymnasium doors one more time…

Guys: In evaluating your style (or lack thereof) you must ask yourself: Does my comb-over really look like I’ve "kept my hair" or more like a daddy longlegs clinging desperately to slippery rock? Go to a really good barber and submit. You’ll be a better (looking) person for it.

And ladies: Does your makeup, hair and wardrobe make you look like a double for Melanie Griffiths and Joan Cusack in "Working Girl” (1988)? Let this be your reunion makeover mantra: BE RUTHLESS! If you have too much ruth, they’ll just be laughing about you in the bathroom all over again.

There! Now you’re looking and feeling good; time to hit the dance floor. Here’s a few reunion-themed oldies I recommend. There's something for every baby boomer decade.

Magic Moments – Perry Como, 1958
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5zarGeHKNU
Nobody wears a cardigan like Perry...

I Remember You – Frank Ifield, 1962
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umVbRIAr818
Hey, I’d know you anywhere, even without your nametag….

Remember Then – The Earls, 1962
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7XFONroD20
Doo-wop Rules!

Still the Same - Bob Seger, 1978
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjDpKeiYxOU
Man, I love this song!! Seger sure can do the vintage nostalgia – this one, and “Night Moves” and “Like A Rock” etc.

Gloria - Laura Branigan, 1982
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBiCWb5r3DI
The late Laura Branigan - from ballads to belt-out numbers like this, there was none better.