Some may think it grammatically (vs. Martin Grammatica) incorrect to have the title of this page as “Good Ol’ Daze”. They see the word play we have going on there, changing “days” to “daze”. What they don’t realize is that these weren’t “days” that we were talking about. They were epic moments in time, not bounded by mortal conveniences like clocks, sunsets and daily showers. Indeed, these were the daze, the greatest and most talked about snapshots of our existence.
And yes, if you’ve never read this blog before and you don’t know what it’s about, then it’s ok to pity us. But we don’t. We revel in the glory that we’ve produced these past two decades. And it all started one spring night, probably while watching a VHS recording of Season 1 of ER from the previous fall. Two manly men, as awesome beings usually do, came up with a life-changing event.
Quick, off to the IBM computer. Zip, make a copy of that Microsoft Works for DOS document we just made, it’s over on the dot-matrix printer. Whoosh, put those folded copies in the envelopes and get the stamps on them quick so we can have these insanely cool documents in their hands within 8-12 days via U.S. Mail.
Oh, my my, how those were the good ol’ daze.
And the result? More than a party. More than a poker game. A bond. One that’s still growing nearly 18 years later. So take a minute and look back at the sublime beginnings of an awesome legacy we’re leaving to be treasured throughout time and the Interwebs.
Note that, along with my colorful commentary, you will also find the colors to be awesome. That’s original, folks. That’s exactly what we sent out years ago. Click the link for the actual PDF of the document to pop up in another window. Print them, behold them, bow to them.
Year 1 (1995) — Brochure, RSVP — This is where it all started. And it’s still pretty much the same. Love the job titles we gave ourselves and — amazingly — I was able to decipher the “Greek” that my presentation title was written in on first reference.
Year 2 (1996) — Brochure, Poem, Handout –Big Ass Lil will always be welcome at Symposium. Enough said.
Year 3 (1997) — Brochure — All that promise of building an incredible yearly invite thrown down the drain for a woman. How’d that work out for you? Oh, wait.
Year 4 (1998) — Brochure — I love that by Year 4, it’s already high comedy trying to figure out what saying Cliffy is going to get fixated on that weekend.
Year 5 (1999) — Brochure — As Cliffy would say, we’re getting “Crazy” with the fonts and layout.
Year 6 (2000) — Brochure — Bringing the A game, this one turned up the heat on presentation and layout, although I’m not sure it turned up the heat for the women considering Boo and Dwin are pictured everywhere.
Year 7 (2001) — Brochure — “Separated at Birth?” may be the best series or feature we’ve ever had in a brochure. It’s so life-like.
Year 8 (2002) — Brochure — It may have taken until 2002 before it was mentioned, but Carlson drooled for Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders way before this.
Year 9 (2003) — Brochure — Okay, I just pissed myself reading “Jerry on a golf course” for the first time in a few years. Unfortunately, it’s true. (you decide if I’m talking about the golf or the pissing)
Year 10 (2004) — Brochure — A year-by-year look back at the Symposium and the highli — who the hell’s kidding? — the lowlights of our existence … not to mention every reason we love coming back.
Year 11 (2005) — Brochure, Poster, Calendar — “Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.” — Dean Wormer. “Ah, fuck it, yes it is.” — Dwin
Year 12 (2006) — Brochure — We’re a man down this year, but not a man forgotten. LESSON: Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body. Instead, it should be your purpose in life to skid in sideways, pizza in one hand, beer in the other, body thoroughly used up and worn out while screaming, ‘Whooo hoooo, what a fucking ride!’
Year 13 (2007) — Brochure — Pictures from Daisy Dooks (they put them on the web, why wouldn’t we use them?). Again, enough said.
Year 14 (2008) — Brochure, All-Years Photo Collage, Poster — This was my favorite one to make and probably looks the best. Well, except for the pictures of Boo, Dwin, RJ, Cliffy, Aaron, Mark, Adam, Bitch, Doug… you get the drift.
Year 15 (2009) — Brochure — All the news of the day, just like a man likes it.
Year 16 (2010) — Calendar 1, Calendar 2 — The times caught up with us. No more mailed brochure, no more emailed brochure. We just moved to a website for all the information. It wasn’t very good either, but it’s still live.
Year 17 (2011) — We completely switched to an Internet-based mode of communication, and you’re looking at it. This site is what we used last year and will continue to use.
Year 18 (2012) — See 2011. I think pretty soon we’ll just be staring at a screen and watching women take their clothes off while we play poker on another screen. Oh, wait.
The Symposium 