Paula Tomkiel

Oh Paula Tomkiel...yet another one of the amazing Polish women that I have had the chance to know in my life. I got to know Paula pretty well when we were working on the drama club production of The Odd Couple and from the first time I talked to her, I knew she was a character.  She was always saying or doing something funny and she was usually more entertaining than the play itself.  There was this one time when she was telling me a story about someone I know who she was at odds with a little bit and my lord, was it a classic.  Paula would act out each of the parts of the story with over the top dramatics.  You want hand movements to go along with faces of teenage distress?  She could do them.  You want to hear a "woe is me" tone of voice that will make you feel like you were actually there?  She could make it.  I'm telling you, if you have a chance to hear Paula tell a story and you turn it down, you're an idiot because this girl is crazy good.

I haven't seen Paula since high school and that's quite a shame, because she can bring a lot of joy to one's life.  I have, however, seen her pop up on my Facebook news feed every once in a while and...wow.  Paula has always been gorgeous, but the first time I saw a recent picture of her it wasn't even fair, my jaw had no choice but to drop.  I'm not sure what she's up to, but if she's anything like the girl I knew then, there's little doubt in my mind that she's living her life to the fullest, breaking hearts, and making people laugh as hard as ever.

Na zdrowie,

Andrew

Joel Wickizer

Joel was another of the neighborhood kids that I grew up with.  Joel is an eccentric cat, to say the least.  He's also a great, naturally talented artist.  I remember when everyone was really into Dragon Ball Z he would always draw the characters from that show with such ease he may as well have been working on the show himself, and this before most of us even had pubes.  One of things that I remember most about Joel is the little phrases he would throw out like "You're such a Martin" as a go to insult or saying "Buu Saga" which I still have no idea what it meant.  My favorite quote that he did though has to be of Towelie from South Park.  This kid would do a spot on impression of that character that would have me in stitches. 

Last I heard he was out of Michigan, no idea what he's up to these days but hopefully he's putting his skills to good use and making people laugh their asses off.

Cheers,

Andrew

Bryan Lockwood

Bryan is one of the neighborhood dudes that I grew up with.  When we were younger, he, Jonathan, and I would hang out quite often, playing street hockey, be retarded grade school kids and whatnot.  One memory that I have with Bryan is when all of us were really into that Cartoon Network show Ed, Edd, N Eddy.  We would always do stupid shit where we would pretend being those characters, if I remember correctly I was usually Double D (Edd), ha.  Oh the good ol' days...

We kind of lost touch after elementary school and I haven't seen Bryan in ages, but he's a nice guy and I hope life is going well for him.

Cheers,

Andrew

Kristen Bell

In 2007, my mother and father wanted to celebrate their upcoming 20th anniversary with the whole family, and better place to plan the family trip of a lifetime than Hawaii?  That trip was incredible, and part of the reason for that being one of the most beautiful memories of my life is that hotel we stayed at was called Turtle Bay which, for those of you who enjoy comedy as much as I, is where Forgetting Sarah Marshall was filmed.  And wouldn't you know it?  The week we were there was also the week when they were prepping to start shooting.

I saw Kristen Bell while I was in the breakfast buffet line and if you think she’s gorgeous on screen, you should see her in person...breathtaking.  One moment I’m putting some crazy looking, potentially poisonous yet delicious fruit on my plate the next I look over and see freaking Veronica Mars with her long blonde hair in a gorgeous dress looking incredible without the slightest effort.  And she smiled at me.  And I melted.  After seeing her on some late night shows doing some interviews and stuff I now know that she is from Michigan (her hometown has the same name as the subdivision my parents live in, Huntington Woods) but she is also a Red Wings fan.  If only I was a funny, handsome twenty-something instead of a 17 year old, star struck goof ball, maybe I could’ve competed with Dax for a week, haha. Probably not though.  

I expected Kristen to impress me in the movie, what I didn't expect was for her to impress me in real life.  And that she did, with little more than some courteous and a smile.

Michiganian's for life,

Andrew Thom

Alyssa Pajakowski

I first got to know Alyssa when I was working on the drama club production of A Midsummer Night's Dream my junior year of high school.  I liked her from the start, she's absolutely adorable yet has a bit of fire to her as well.  She was one of those people who I remember as always being sweet but also had the ability to put someone in their place if need be, and there's something incredibly hot about that.  Thinking about Alyssa though, the one thing that immediately pops into my mind is her voice.  God, that voice...I remember the first time I saw her sing, I think it was for a choir recital.  Seeing this petite girl walk on stage I didn't know what to expect, then she opened her mouth and all my thoughts disappeared.  I got lost in the power and beauty of her voice, the charisma that she displayed standing in the spotlight...it blew me away. 

With a beautiful voice in a woman equally as beautiful, it's no surprise that I can't recall a time when Alyssa wasn't a taken woman.  And while I'm sure that's as big a bummer to me as countless other men who's ears have been graced with the sound of her voice, I have faith that Alyssa is picking only the best for herself.  I haven't seen Alyssa since high school, but I did type in her name on Youtube to see if I could find any recent videos, what I found was her performing in a vocal Broadway contest about a year ago.  Seeing her perform even in video was just as great if not better than I remember, she was radiating confidence in a way that left me with a smile of adoration on my face not only for the entire length of the 3+ minute video.  I hope with all my heart that she continues working with her passion for her entire life and that someday, perhaps when I visit New York, I will go see a Broadway musical on a whim and when I take my seat, the first thing I seen is a beautiful woman walking on stage, a spotlight on her, and it's Alyssa.  Now that, would be a dream come true.

Never stop singing darlin,

-Andrew

Garett Nelson

Garett is a dude that I knew in elementary school.  I lived like fifteen minutes away from the school I was zoned in so my bus usually contained kids from all over the place, and for a few years Garett was one of those kids.  Since most memories tend to fade after a decade + passes, unfortunately I don’t have all that interesting of a story to tell you.  What I can say is this: the kid I remember was a goofy, funny, just generally nice guy who could talk to anyone and make just about anyone feel comfortable.  We were never great friends or anything, but Garett was always a cool dude and I’m glad I got to know him.

These days Garett is somewhat of a social networking legend and has over a million followers on Twitter.  Let me repeat that; a MILLION followers on Twitter.  I don’t know how the hell he managed to pull that shit off (Steve motherfucking Carell’s official account only has 750,000) but he did.  Congrats man, if you can do that before you’re 25 I’m sure you’ll be doing be things for years to come.

Cheers,

Andrew

Kermit Knuppenburg

Kermit lived about a quarter mile away from me for like half of my childhood, but we never really became good friends, which is unfortunate because he's a really cool dude.  I actual have a pretty good memory with Kermit though that took place some time during middle school I think when a group of guys went over to his house and shot each other with air soft guns on his yard, ha.  It was just a bunch of neighborhood kids doing stupid shit but hey, its memories like that that make me glad I had a cool neighborhood.  In high school I remember Kermit doing some great work on the student news.  Unfortunately his segment and mine aired on opposite weeks so we didn't get to collaborate, which is a bummer because our segments together probably would have been pretty good.  Kermit also wrote a song about Nick Emming after he moved away, Where Are You Nick Emming? I think was the name of it, which was pretty damn good.  Kermit writing a song about his friend who he missed was just proof of how good a guy Kermit was.

I'm not sure what he's up to today, but there's little doubt he's doing well. 

Cheers,

Andrew

Nick Emming

I met Nick in middle school and we were buddies for a while before he moved out of state for a few years.  I remember hanging around with him and Eric Davis from time to time and cracking up, they're both hilarious.  Nick was such a good dude, which is why looking back at middle school me and how once in a while I would gut check him, I feel like a dick nose.  I'm sorry dude, I'm gonna have to blame it on pubic testosterone overload and a sense of humor that still found things like nut shots to be hilarious.  When Nick moved away for a few years, I think I'm with most people who knew him when I say that he was missed, even if he wasn't someone you were close with.  Thus when he returned a few years later, everyone was stoked.

A memory that sticks out for me about Nick is this one time I had an extra ticket to a Taking Back Sunday concert and, at random, called him up to ask him if he wanted to go.  He'd just gotten back to Michigan not long before this, so he didn't have my number when I called him, which is probably part of the reason why I said I had an extra ticket to a show that was like a day away he responded with "fuck you" then hung up.  I laughed pretty hard for a minute, then called him again and once he realized I was serious he was totally down and all apologetic about the last call.  Nick, Dominic, Andrea, and I ended up going to show and having a great time.  But his response to me offering him a ticket on an unknown number was definitely the most memorable part.

It's been years since I've seen Nick, much to my dismay.  He's a really cool dude who is hilarious to be around, but other than hanging out occasionally, we weren't super close or anything so I guess it's not too surprising that I've lost touch with him over the years.  I hope he's doing well though, because Nick is as good a dude as any to deserve good things coming to him. If I don't see him around anytime soon maybe I'll catch him onstage for a Bunnies in Fields reunion tour, there's always hope right?

Cheers,
Andrew

Brittni Rasche

Brittni is one of the many awesome people that I met when I decided to fill up a void in my schedule with theater, a choice which was probably one of the best I made in high school.  It's probably a little shallow, but also honest when I say that the first time I met Brittni the first thing that crossed my mind was how mind blowingly hot she was.  I would not be the slightest bit surprised if "damn" was the first thing I thought when I met her.  As it turns out though, Brittni was far more than just a pretty face, she was also pretty awesome.  I never really hung out with her individually, but I remember her always being a sweetheart and making me laugh on numerous occasions, so she was always a fun person to be around.

For a little while after high school, when I came home to visit my parents and stuff we would often go out to this restaurant close by our house.  One day I went in there and Brittni was working there, which was a pleasant surprise.  It was always nice to see her; she always looked wonderfully even in a work uniform and there was never time she didn't have a smile and a kind greeting for me.  She's at GVSU now if I recall correctly, so I haven't seen her in a few years.  I'm sure she's on her way to doing good things and being her beautiful self on a daily basis.

Cheers,

Andrew

Crystal Meram

Crystal is a girl I met in middle school and from the first time I met her I thought she was just adorable.  She had welcoming smile, kind eyes, and a general sweetness whenever I spoke to her that made me like her almost immediately.  I had a class with her, I’m pretty sure it was a biology class, where I got to know her a little bit and like I said before, she was just a sweet girl.  I remember in middle school we would have these dances and at this one in particular and song that was big at the time was Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot.”  For some reason while I was on the dance floor I decided to make up a series of moves to go along with the chorus, and I must have looked like such a buffoon, but I think it entertained a few people.  Crystal actually left me a really sweet note in my yearbook that year, and wouldn’t you know what she chose to flatter me with?  A few words about my dance moves.  

I haven’t seen Crystal in years, but I hope her life is going wonderfully and she found someone who appreciates all the sweetness that she has to give.

Cheers,

Andrew   

Sarah Nutt

Sarah is one of the people I most regret not getting to know better, she’s amazing.  I met her through the Fasse family and when I hung out with them is pretty much the only time I got to see her, that’s my fault obviously because I should’ve taken initiative and gotten her number or tried to like walk her to her locker which was always a good move in high school, but whatever.  No need to dwell on the past I guess.  She is pretty dang awesome though.

I didn’t see Sarah enough to create some great memory with her, but there is one memory of her that I have which pretty much just reminded me why I’ve always liked her.  I was at a Fasse graduation party with my family and, since she’s good friends with Ericka, Sarah is there too.  The party was fun, a lot of party games like flip cup were played and what not, but amidst the good times being had there was this one moment which I wouldn’t be surprised she can’t remember, a moment that I won’t forget.  A small group of us were in the kitchen, chatting and what not, when Sarah walks in, her beautiful smile on her face, but underneath it she looks sad.  I asked her if everything was okay, she said it was, but I could tell she was just saying that to keep her troubles to herself.  Maybe it was the booze, maybe I just wanted to make a sad girl smile even if it was only for a moment, I don’t know but I decided that I had to do something.  I smiled at her, took in her beauty, and said “You look amazing.”  I’d been thinking it all night, it had been the first time I’d seen her in a while and she just looked stunning.  I don’t think she expected that, because the next thing I knew she was hugging me…

I probably can’t do this memory justice, it may sound lame to anyone reading this, but there are people who I have had in my life for years who I haven’t had that sincere of a moment with.  It may be one of my shortest, but my memory with Sarah is also one of my favorites.

Writing this just made me miss her, let’s be honest.  It has been too long since I’ve seen her, and I don’t really know what her life is like at all right now, but I hope she’s happy.  She’s going to do great things in her life, and whoever ends up with her is going to be amongst the luckiest of men.

Cheers,

Andrew

Lauren Kaiser

Lauren Kaiser is a beautiful woman.  She's tall, has great skin, a pretty smile...just lovely. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been envious of my MSU roommate sophomore year, Theo’s, relationship with Lauren.  Don’t tell her I told you this, but she’s actually one of the first people I remember having a dirty dream about *gasp.   Who the hell knows why it was her, perhaps it was just all that times I saw and thought she was super hot, but one night I went to sleep and amongst the hundreds of people I’ve met in my life, it was her that I saw.

Freshman year (I think) at state I took this university biology class that I was required to take, and Lauren was in it.  We had this big Indian guy who was our professor and he would always tell us wild stories like about how when he was in grad school him and his buddies would take the 200 proof liquor in their lab, put it in punch for parties, and just get hammered.  I remember talking to her about that class one time at a party at the end of the semester I think and talking about how it was quite possibly the biggest blow off of a course imaginable.  This memory is kind of lame I guess, but I remember it because when Lauren was talking about it she was just so excited, she had so much energy and that compared with her smile always leave a lasting impression.

The most recent time that I’ve seen Lauren is actually the night that I started writing this.  She looked lovely as always, she even had a beautiful friend who I should have introduced myself to, but didn’t because I’m an occasional idiot.  Regardless; seeing her that night just reminded me that she has infinite possibilities in life, possibilities that could only come to people who demonstrate such natural charisma as a woman like Lauren.  Maybe one day I'll be reading through a Forbes magazine and she'll be in there amongst the most powerful women in the world or something and I'll get to teach her to a group of kids.  For a girl like her to do something like that, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest.

Cheers,

Andrew

Jenna Pearson

I met Jenna in middle school and almost immediately developed a bit of a crush on her.  That in itself isn’t much to write home about, I honestly can’t remember what the criteria was for me to swoon over a girl in my early stages of puberty, it could have simply been the existence of breasts, but Jenna stands out for a couple reasons.  The first being that she was that she was always a nice enough person to acknowledge my existence, which is a plus.  That may sound like a lame thing to say, but I think it is severely underrated how much the impact of even a fraction of the attention of the “popular group” can have on a teenager’s self-esteem.  The second is that I came up with a name for her, a name which is the basis of this memory.

A memory that always comes to my mind when I think of Jenna is a day when me, Theo, and her were at Gabrielle’s house which is like a block away from mine.  It was that day in her pool that I came up with this nickname with which I would describe Jenna with for months to come:  Delicious Abs.  It’s ridiculous, I know this, but it just felt like the perfect way to describe her that day.  I remember her being in her bikini and me just thinking, “Damn, those are some of the most delicious abs I’ve ever seen.”   Theo and I would joke about that for a while.

I actually saw Jenna the night that I’m writing this in my not quite sober state, she looked lovely.  I didn’t get to catch up with her, but she seemed happy, so I hope everything is going swell for her.

To an ab-mazing lady,

Andrew

Ellen Daniels

Ellen was my piano teacher for a semester during my junior year at MSU.  She was a California girl, and everything from her 60’s hairstyle and West Coast style of dress to the way she talked with words like “groovy” affirmed that.  She moved to Michigan that summer because she was a graduate student at MSU, going into music, obviously, and was doing piano lessons on the side for some extra cash, I found her ad on craigslist and thought it would be the perfect chance to learn how to play some music.  Ellen was an awesome teacher.  Incredibly talented, but unlike many talented people, Ellen also had the ability to actual teach people.  She was incredibly easy to work with: kind, encouraging, funny, and, wouldn’t you guess?  Beautiful.  Unfortunately for me and my adoration of women who live near the ocean, especially those who love music, she’s also married.  Drag, right?  Despite the heartbreak of her unavailability, the months that I went to her for lessons were pretty great.  I may have gone independent, but I hope she’s still playing beautifully, doing well, and living life to the fullest.

Cheers,

Andrew

Annie Melcher

Annie is this really cool girl who I met through my roommate Brett.  There are countless things which make her cool, but the thing that anyone who knows her could probably tell you is that she’s really easy to talk to.  She’s got a great sense of humor, she’s kind, likes to laugh, and all those things make you feel comfortable around her.  A good memory I have of Annie is actual the last time I saw her.  She came over our apartment and we were all just hanging out, shooting the shit, having some drinks, when somehow Parks and Recreation came up.  Parks and Rec is one of my favorite shows, and it just so happened Annie loves it too.  It may sound simple, but the memory of she and I talking about that show and how underappreciated it is was the perfect example of that girl’s coolness.  

It’s been a while since we’ve hung out, but I’d like to again soon because she always a lot of fun and I could always use some more people who appreciate some top notch comedy.

Cheers,

Andrew

Shayna Dwojakowski

I’m gonna be honest with you, it took a minute for me to warm up to Shayna, but once I did, she quickly became one of those people who I would always look forward to seeing again.  I’m sharing this because it was actually that “warming up period” on a trip we took that is my fondest memory of her.

The Fasse family and mine have been close my entire life, and for several years when I was younger our families would go on annual ski trips.  They were always a blast, and one year Ericka brought her friend Shayna with her.  It’s been so long that I can’t give exact details of the trip, but gosh do I remember having a lot of fun, with much of that fun being a product of Shayna.  The things she would say…they would crack me up!  She was just a funny, fun girl to be around.  I have a couple blurred memories of her on that trip, the main one being that I’m like 65% sure that there was a time when we were trying to fit three people on a small ski lift and she pushed me off of it.  All I remember for certain is that I got pushed off a chairlift right as it was lifting off and that there was a roar of laughter from the girl who was on the chairlift with me.  Between you and me, I think after the whole day taking in the glorious view of me on a snowboard, she was just too intimidated to share a chair lift with me.  What a great trip… 

It’s been a while since I’ve seen Shayna, but the last time we saw each other, she looked fantastic.  She was at a graduation party I was attending and I almost didn’t recognize her, I would feel bad about that if it wasn’t for the fact that my lack of recognition resulted from her becoming a freaking bombshell.  It was fun seeing her again, chatting a little bit, catching up and what not.  I haven’t seen her again since then which is a bummer because although I didn’t see her all that often before college and everything, she always seemed around enough to just be herself and bring a smile to my face…I miss that.

Cheers,

Andrew

Andrea Blohm

I met Andrea my junior year when she lived in co-op that was across the street from my apartment.  She was friends with my roommate Steve, so we would see her pretty regularly and as the year went on we started seeing her more often and even partied with her every now and then.  Andrea is quite hippie.  That year she was growing her long, blonde, dreads, she often wore the kind of longer, light dresses that one will often see girls wear at music festivals, and just the whole way she carried herself gave her a "free."  I remember one time she came over to our apartment having just gotten a tattoo of the outline of Michigan on her torso because she "loves Michigan."  You gotta love that, right?  I let her borrow the lotion I got when I got my own tattoo.

A fun memory I have with Andrea is one in which we went to see a little show together at Mac's Bar in Lansing.  I can't remember the name of the band, but it was a lot of fun.  We danced, played some pool, she ordered us a pair of Hairy Nipple shots...those were interesting, and all in all it was just a fun time.  We ended the night at Theios, which is a shitty 24/7 diner where we got some grub until one of my buddies came to pick us up and give us a ride back.  It was a good night.

Since I essentially moved to the other kind of campus last year, it has been a while since I've seen Andrea.  We've tried to meet up a few times this past year but conflicting schedules have made it a little difficult.  I hope she's doing well though, living her life like only she can.

Cheers,

Andrew

Jon Klein

Jon is a kid that I took driver's training with and because of that, I can't even tell you much class time I probably missed laughing.  Gosh, it's been probably six or seven years since I was in that class, but I still remember being at the table with him, Bryant, Ryan, and Jonathan and laughing so damn hard that a few times I was literally crying.  I couldn't tell you one conversation I remember having there, it was probably something really stupid that only a few fifteen-year-old dudes would find amusing, but just the sheer amount of laughter that took place there is enough to make me remember it even now.

I don't know what Jon is doing now, but where ever he is I wouldn't be surprised to hear people laughing with him just as I did.

Cheers,

Andrew

Tom Thornburg

Tom, another one of the TE crew that I hung out with on Thursday nights, is yet guy who was always a good time to hang out with.  A particularly great memory I have with Tom is a night when we went to the Pub and a few of his friends were there along with most of the regular crew, they were a couple who he worked with at Kroger I think.  It was the end of the year and we were all getting pretty trashed at the bar already, but when people started heading home for the night Tom, his friends, and I decided that we weren't quite ready to let this night come to a close, so they invited us over to their place which was almost right above The Riv (if you've been to East Lansing, you know it) to have a few more drinks.  We ended up going over to their place, already quite tipsy, and proceeded to drink tequila for like an hour and a half while chatting and listening to music.  It was a pretty damn good time.

Tom, like most of my teacher brethren, starts up his internship this fall so I probably won't be seeing all that much of him any more.  Hopefully we can organize a big Pub reunion with the TE crew at some point though because it's always a blast hanging out with Mr. Thornburg.  And if there's a jukebox I'll put on Rod Stewart and Primus for old time's sake.

Cheers,

Andrew

Chris Foldesi

Chris is one of the many awesome people that I met in my TE class senior year at MSU.  We became pretty good buds the second semester of that when a small group of people from the class would go out to the Roadhouse Pub just about every Thursday night for half-off drinks and some darts.  We've had a lot of good nights at the Pub, most of them admittedly a little hazy so I don't so much remember all of them minute by minute, but when I think of Chris I definitely think of the way he talks.  He's one of those people who can be really smart and philosophical about something then see a hot chick and the next sentence be like "I'd go fuckin' crazy on her, baaaaaaam!"  The whole "baaam" thing is from this show he and a few other guys from our class got really into called Trailer Park boys, and while I've seen the show a few times and know where they got it from, it's way funnier when Chris does it with a hand motion that devolved until it eventually just became him fingering the air.

Chris went out of state to work on a farm for summer for a while, so unfortunately we haven't hung out in a while.  But when he gets back to Michigan we'll have to arrange a night for a group of us to get together and have a couple beers because he's a great guy to hang out it.

Cheers,

Andrew

Tyler Bisel

In sixth grade, Tyler was listening to his CD player at the end of the day, which our teacher was not having.  So our teacher, Mr. M., came over and took away the CD player but made the mistake of leaving the headphones with Tyler.  Instead of putting the headphones away, Tyler proceeded to keep them on and bump his head.  He said he was listening to "The Bustin' Mimes."  It was freakin' hilarious, and pretty damn clever for a sixth grader I'd say.

The last time I saw Tyler was a couple years ago when I was at a gas station in Shelby Twp. and he came over to say hello, I barely recognized him and I don't know how he recognized me because it'd been so long since the last time I had seen him and we were never really all that great of friends or anything, but that was pretty cool of him.  I don't really know, but judging on that alone, I'd say Tyler is a pretty good guy.

-Andrew