Life After Connecticut College

Well it's been another hectic few weeks for ol' C-Rei, but thankfully there's also been plenty of fun thrown in the mix, so my stress level is definitely manageable (Mitch's nightly shoulder rubs also help a lot (eww)). Plus, I'm taking a day off on Friday so it's almost the weekend for me already! Woop woop!

As frequent blog readers can probably guess, a lot of my time has been spent driving to, rehearsing for, playing, and afterpartying Welcome to Florida concerts (I liken the afterparty of a show to the follow-through on a golf swing: with either one you [OBSCENE BALL JOKE DELETED]). Since the other three members of the band don't currently have what I like to call "jobs," they all have plenty of spare time to book new gigs and network with club managers and other bands, which is great. We've also begun work on our next album, which is very exciting (most of our time in the studio thus far has been spent doing impressions of Star Wars characters into expensive microphones).

The WTF summer saga continues this weekend....

Continue reading "Welcome to Tourida (Or, The Fall of Summer)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow, I haven't blogged in a month, simply because the last four weeks of my life have been probably the busiest of my life (the winter break I spent interning as a fact checker for Outrageous Claims That May or May Not Be True Magazine is a close runner-up). I finally have a chance to catch my breath and update y'all on my recent goings-on.

I'll flash all the way back to my last blog posting, which occurred right before SailFest. For those who don't know, SailFest is the biggest annual event in New London (though it really only holds that title because Chris n' Mitch's Beers, Babes, Buoys, and Bratwurst Barbecue Beach Bloated Blowout is only semi-annual). Each year, over 50,000 people come to the Whaling City from all over the world the weekend after July 4th to check out classic cars, dozens of bands (including Welcome to Florida), street vendors, amusement park rides on the pier, painstakingly-restored tall ships, and of course, the main attraction, Saturday night's fireworks display, which rivals any in the nation. This year's crowd was definitely the biggest I've seen, no doubt due largely to the fact that the weather was simply unbeatable (plus Mitch had his shirt off for a while, so that was probably a pretty big draw as well). Our apartment was definitely party HQ for all our friends since we're right in the middle of downtown and we have the best deck on the planet. It was a great situation because when things got a little too crowded out on the streets we were able to just relax for a while (also, our bathroom is a lot roomier than a Porta-Potty, which was nice)....

Continue reading "All Hail SailFest! (Or, The Big Easy Is a Bit Greasy)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 03:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mamacita, I haven't posted a real blog entry in a month! As you may have guessed, things at Conn have been CRAZY trying to get as many gifts in the door as possible before we close the books on Fiscal Year 2008 (cue 612-hour slow-motion montage of every gift I've gotten this year). We're actually still open for a few more days, so if you haven't done so already, go online to http://giving.conncoll.edu and make your gift. We only need 6 more donors from the Class of 2007 in order to be the first class ever to break 50% participation our first year after graduating. We can do it!

Much like Marissa, I've also been quite busy during the weekends, mostly because of all the Welcome to Florida shows this summer. They've certainly been fun, but it was nice yesterday to finally have a chance just to chill out (I spent the day out on the deck naked to the waist in a kiddie pool full of tapioca pudding; it does wonders for my skin, not to mention my tastebuds!). There are probably too many stories to mention from the past month, so I'll just pick a few highlights....

Continue reading "Fork of July (Or, No Flash Photography, Please)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 01:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hey Guys,

We've made some very nice progress with our giving drive since my last post! We're up to 41.6% and only need gifts from 40 more people in order to become the first class EVER to break 50% participation our first year after graduating! Don't forget to visit http://giving.conncoll.edu by June 30 in order to be a part of the success. Just like last year, even a dollar will do it, and this goes for all the alums out there, not just Class of 2007!

New Class of 2007 donors since my last update:

Eve Bertin-Lang
Nate Borgelt
Jessie Cheitlin
Christine Cruz
Vickie Curtis
Justin Eddings
Emily Gagen
Sam Garner
Rose Golder-Novick
Sara Jayanthi
Daniel Layfield
Jenny Madden
Neil McGowan
Jon McManus
Alexis Meisels
David Owyang
Tyler Pace
Jaime Pepper
Caeli Rubens
Melissa Skolnick
Zach Smith
Elaine Weisman

Posted by Chris Reilly at 09:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey Everyone,

It's that time of year! Conn's fiscal year is closing in about 3 weeks, and I want every member of the Class of 2007 to visit http://giving.conncoll.edu and make a gift before that time so that we can show the College that we're serious about creating a new tradition of consistent young alumni giving. Fortunately, we're still all about the participation, so keep those $1, $5, and $20 gifts coming in! Currently we're at about 37% participation, which is good, but we can DEFINITELY hit at least 50%!!! Here's a list of everybody in the class who's already made a gift:

Keith Anthony-Brown
George Arab
Sarah Armstrong
Lucy Arnold
Leah Barison
Emily Barry
Meghan Barry
Peter Baum
Laura Bernardi
Jessica Bethoney
Michelle Blankenship
Avery Block
Meredith Block
Chris Bothur
Katherine Brant
Caitlin Bresnahan
Laura Brown
Sarah Butler
Indy Buttenwieser
Kathleen Callaghan
Jason Carey
Kristin Chapman
Elizabeth Charpie
Solomon Choge
Ben Clopper
Katie Coats
Tes Cohen
Jess Comras
Chrissy Cooper-Vince
Caley Corsello
Liz Cryan
Rachel D'Agostino
Sophia Day
Zumara De la Cruz
Daniel De Sousa
Jed Dederick
Andy Deitz
Dani DeLaurentis
Adam Deligianis
Maria Dewees
Tina Dietrich
Jennifer Dillon
Kip Doble
Connor Donohue
Scott Faber
Brittany Fallon
Alex Feinstein
Sarah Felch
Bailey Fidler
Kevin Finefrock
Amber Fitch
Sophie Fitzgerald
Soren Gabrielsen
Rachel Gallitto
Henry Gaud
Joanna Gillia
Christiana Glas
Ally Glassman
Megan Glendon
Molly Goettsche
Art Gould
Lindsay Graff
David Greenidge
Liz Greenman
Marissa Grey
Jess Grossi
Ga-Nesha Hamilton
Cornelius Hardenbergh
Emma Haritos
Pat Heffernan
Sara Helstowski
Jake Henry
Yeslan Hernandez
Nate Hinman
Kristin Hocevar
Tana Hoffman
Grant Hogan
Emily Honstein
Dana Hoyt
Laura Irizarry-Garcia
Vassi Ivanova
Hans Jensen
Ross Jordan
Ryan Kelley
Fred Kemper
James Knurek
Bob Kyne
Donna Lanphear
Alex Lanstein
Amanda Laramie
Michele Lefkowitz
Robbie Logan
Whitney Longworth
Matt Magida
David Markham-Gessner
Amy Martin
Mike Materasso
Alex Maybury
Craig McCarrick
Megan McCarthy
Andrew McCullough
Meg McLaughlin
Justine Miller
Alissa Minot
Justin Morrow
Brenna Muller
Rysia Murphy
Visna Ngov
Micki Oliva
Kyle Olson
Mike O'Neill
Matt Ostrach
Andrea Packard
Soraya Palmer
Elizabeth Parillo
Natalie Paris
Ellen Paul
Beth Pearson
Teresa Pereira
Cammie Phelps
Adam Phillips
Evan Piekara
Jon Pisarski
Amanda Poe
Alex Rehnberg
Chris Reilly
Allison Reynolds
Mollie Reznick
Kimberly Richards
Alyson Ricker
Nick Rivera
Adam Robbins
Melanie Roberts
Beth Rodgers
Adam Romanow
Justin Rosenberg
Alexander Rotolo
Amanda Rowell
Nick Roybal
Rosemary Rutan
Amy Samuel
Meaghan Seelaus
Benjamin Sheldon
Ilya Simakov
T.J. Sliker
Allie Smith
Nicholas Socha
Seth Solway
Greg Sowa
Christopher St. John
Peter Sterling
Alex Stillson
Steven Strauss
Charley Struse
Brenna Sulat
Erin Sullivan
Cait Sweet
Jesse Szafarz
Alyssa Tartaglione
Sasha Terris-Maes
Will Thayer
Katie Tripple
Marissa Velarde
Amanda Wallas
Lisa Warren
Alice Watson
Alan Weene
Stefanie Weiss
Ingrid Wenzler
Katy Whitney
Katie Williams
Gerald Wols
Bradley Wray
Laz Yiannos
Tyler Youngblood
Allison Zelman
Jessica Zhao

Thanks for your support, everybody! If you're not on this list, BREAK OUT THAT CREDIT CARD AND GO ONLINE TO http://giving.conncoll.edu TODAY!!!

Posted by Chris Reilly at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After an entire year of preparation, countless conference calls, endless planning sessions, and an innumerable number of hiccups and obstacles, Reunion 2008 has finally come and gone! It took place this past Friday through Sunday, and it was even more hectic and busy than I remember from last year (it could also be that I was actually getting work done this time around). I somehow managed to put in 41 hours over the course of the three days, and in fact I was so busy that I didn't get a chance to have even a single drink with any of the alumni!

Despite my complaining, there were many more positive things about the weekend than there were negatives....

Continue reading "Reunion Recap (Or, Inaugural Cookout Countdown: 3 Days)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 01:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It hasn't been too long since my last post, but already there's plenty of new developments to talk about (spoiler alert: most of these anecdotes involve cameos from one or more members of the New Kids on the Block).

Last week I played my last two Conn-affiliated concerts of the year, the first being the Student Composers' concert on Wednesday and the Connecticut College Orchestra concert on Thursday. Both were quite nice, and I'm pretty sure I can pin the success of each on the participation of Anthea Kreston and Jason Duckles, who are the College's violin and cello teachers, respectively. Anthea and Jason played many of the students' compositions on Wednesday night, and I had the pleasure and privilege of joining them on the performance of a piece for violin, viola, cello, and double bass. The following night, both of them were joined by Rieko Aizawa, who together comprise the Amelia Piano Trio, to perform Beethoven's Triple Concerto (contrary to what you might expect, a triple concerto is not, in fact, a mysterious and much-whispered-about high dive maneuver whose grace and difficulty is matched only by its deadliness). I can say without risk of overstatement that the performance was one of the most fulfilling I have ever played on double bass! At the same time, however, it will be nice to have fewer rehearsal for the next three months....

Continue reading "Age of Aquarium (Or, I Love You, Mama!)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 01:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Howdy gang! I haven't blogged in a while, so there's plenty to gab about (I just got through re-re-reading all my dog-eared copies of the entire series of The Babysitters' Club, so I'm feeling pretty talkative today).

On Monday morning I actually got out of bed with more than a half hour until I had to leave for work (very unusual), so I decided to check out some TV while eating breakfast. I flipped on the tube, saw that it was tuned to VH1, read in the lower left corner that the video that was about to start was "Beat It" by Fallout Boy featuring John Mayer, and immediately turned off the television and ate in silence. I've been developing a new theory that Monday morning sets the tone for the entire week ahead, so I wasn't about to risk screwing myself over for five days just for a little distraction while noshing on an eggwhite omelet (some people think I'm an egg racist for only eating the whites, but really I'm just trying to avoid the cholesterol)....

Continue reading "Welcome to Floralida (Or, Movin' On Up)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 03:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Okay, I know I just posted on Tuesday, and I hate to have two consecutive Chris's posts up on the main page, but there will be riots in the streets if the general public doesn't have access to my every thought, word, and action (when my autobiography Curled Domination: My Hopes, My Heroes, My Hair, My Story was released back in '02, dozens of people were left in critical condition after throngs of eager readers bum-rushed every bookstore from coast to coast, although most of the injuries sustained were actually just paper cuts).

Today is, without a doubt, the absolute nicest day in New London for at least the last 7 months. Coming back from lunch (Mitch and I went to the Dutch and then strolled over to Michael's for ice cream because we are now officially dating), it was very difficult to not kick off my work shoes and frolic with the students out on the green, but alas duty calls so I came back to the office (plus that old football injury from high school makes frolicking a pretty painful proposition). Fortunately, I had a very productive morning, so I'm not facing a mountain of work to do before the weekend like I often am on Friday afternoons. It is, however, a little bit hard to focus when I know that it's such a beautiful day outside. To counteract this phenomenon, I've changed the desktop picture on my computer a shot of a drizzly, gray afternoon at the New Jersey shore (in case you don't know, my distaste for the Garden State is matched only my desire to see it snap off the coastline and sink into the Atlantic never to return).

Continue reading "Higher Rents and Providence (Or, Scratching At the Windows to Get Out of Here)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 01:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm finally back in my regular work groove after a dizzying couple of weeks (I mean that literally; I've been moonlighting as a merry-go-round quality tester for a few local amusement parks who are making sure their rides are up to code before they open for the season). The 5th Annual Connecticut College Film Festival took place all last week, which occupied a significant portion of my time. It was worth it, however, because there were some really great films that alumni had worked on, the most notable of which was, in my opinion, No End in Sight, produced by Jessie Vogelson '96. The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary at this year's awards, and I can definitely see why: it was an informative, well-made, and moving account of the first few years of the war in Iraq. I highly recommend it regardless of how you feel about the war. The best part was that Jessie came to campus to share her experience working on the film and to take questions from the audience; some people even stayed for more than an hour after the film was over! Also on hand was my good buddy and classmate Keith "SteadyCam" Anthony-Brown '07, who was there to talk about the various film projects that he's been working on since graduation (he also filled in to host the CC Film Trivia Challenge for original emcee and Conn grad Forest Whitaker '83, who became unavailable at the last minute because he had to fly out to LA to promote his new movie Street Kings). All in all, it was a great week of films!

Continue reading "Lights, Camels, Action! (Or, Solo Burrito)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Spring has sprung at Connecticut College! It's still a little chilly out, but the sun is def getting it's shine on like whoa (I'm too lazy to un-street that sentence). People around here are in a festive mood, as evidenced by the success of our big Senior Soiree this past Friday. Though I seldom get nervous or anxious (it's hard to do so after you've been accidentally naked on national television as many times as I have), I was a little worried that no one would show up to the event. Fortunately, about 300 seniors were there! The purpose of the evening was primarily to get more gifts for the Senior Giving program, with a secondary goal of helping the seniors build class unity; I'm happy to report that both were accomplished! We passed the 50% participation mark, and everybody had a great time (the last fundraiser I planned that was this successful was the 2nd Annual Rock the Smocks Festival back in '03, which was a two-day concert to help raise money to support and promote fingerpainting throughout North America)....

Continue reading "Springspan (Or, I Miss You, Free Time)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 08:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mama mia! Sorry I haven't posted in so long, but I was on Spring Break last week and had nary an opportunity to access my computer (in case of future incidences in which I don't post for a week or more, all readers are advised to listen to Welcome to Florida CDs on repeat and read my old blog entries in order to avoid potentially dangerous withdrawals). I was out of the office for over a week for the first time since I've been working here, and accordingly I scheduled as much friend visitation time as possible (I haven't had to actually schedule visitation time since I did six months in the Kingston General Penitentiary for calling Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding a bumbaclot).

Things kicked off the Thursday before last when I headed down to New York to attend a gathering for alumni of my high school, Lawrence Academy (Spartan shout-out). Interestingly, event host Tim Armstrong '93 is an alum and trustee of both of Lawrence and Conn, so he and I had plenty to talk about! Since he's a VP at Google, the event took place at Google's NYC HQ (FYI, there isn't an actual search "engine" anywhere in the office; turns out they just use a bunch of servers, not the 80-foot-tall mountain of piston-pumping, smoke-spewing, churning, turning, undulating metal that I had expected). Simply put, it was a great event, except that now I've been lassoed into being an alumni volunteer for Lawrence, which means that during the free time I have outside of work not raising money or planning events for Conn, I'll be raising money and planning events for Lawrence. Fun! I don't really mind, but if someone at Lawrence asks me to start blogging for their website I'll probably have to draw the line there....

Continue reading "Spring Broke (Or, Say "Cheese")" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well this was certainly a weekend to remember! I had a Welcome to Florida show on Saturday night in New York, so on Friday, Mitch, Nate Staub '05, and I headed down a day early to hang out with various peeps whom we hadn't see in a while. Since Nate was staying with Winslow Porter '05, we decided to drive straight from New London to the Brooklyn bowling alley at which Winslow was hanging out. We got the cross streets for the alley from 'Slow, plugged them into the GPS, and saddled up. 95 was a little bit of a mess because of the heavy rain, but we only saw one minor accident on the whole trip, so most of the drivers out there were taking it slow and driving safe, which was good. That having been said, it was a little irritating to spend 3.5 hours to go about 130 miles, but at least that gave us plenty of time to gab about hair products and The O.C. (uhh, never mind)....

Continue reading "Setting the World Record for Most Conn Alumni Seen in One Weekend (Or, I Know People!)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Happy Friday everybody! Man, it is a beautiful day here in New London; I can't wait for it to be springtime at Conn!

This should be a pretty bumpin' weekend for ol' Baby White Tiger (that's my rap handle in case you didn't know). Things got off to a bit of rocky start yesterday when I woke up suffering from gastrointestinal symptoms that are a little too graphic for the blog, so I'll just refer to them as "nausea" (a little discretion goes a long way, I find)....

Continue reading "Peaceful Queasy Feeling (Or, Wry Cleaners)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

What a week it has been! Everyone in my office is gearing up for Insights, which is basically two days (tonight and tomorrow) for alumni volunteers who will celebrate a reunion either in 2009 or 2010 to come together to start planning their reunions (if that seems like planning things way too far ahead of time, just keep in mind that Reunion 2009 will have a tropical theme, and it takes longer than you might think roll all of a fully-grown camel's hair into dreadlocks). Compounding the chaos is the fact that the Board of Trustees and the Alumni Board of Directors are both here and that this week we're holding the annual Dinners with 12 Strangers for students, alumni, faculty, and staff, so the sheer number of VIPs, VVIPs, and NNVIBSPIPs (Not Necessarily Very Important But Still Pretty Important People) that are around is a little staggering. However, it's a great opportunity to really energize all three groups, so I'm glad that everyone is here at the same time....

Continue reading "Preunion (Or, There Will Be Babies)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 04:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This is the 50th post on the Class of 2007 Blog! Congratulations to all the writers and readers who have made this e-xperiment a success (I, personally, want to thank the little people). Ah yes, it seems like only yesterday that I made my first mildly entertaining pun....

Right now I'm gearing up for a brief but (fingers-crossed) effective trip to Boston tomorrow. I only have two meetings, which will be nice because I'll have plenty of time to focus on just these two alumni on the train ride up. The only problem is that I'm not sure what I'll be doing about watching Lost tomorrow night! Hopefully I'll be able to meet up with fellow '07er Kerri "The Things They Kerried" Casey (she's a bit of a 'Nam buff) and a few other Camels to catch what will undoubtedly be another top-notch episode....

Continue reading "Milestones Are Much Easier to Pass than Kidney Stones (Or, I Look Great in Black in White!)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Phew, I am back safe and sound in New London after my trip to Boston (total burrito count: only 1, but it was good), where I spent Sunday through yesterday morning attending a development conference and visiting alumni on behalf of the College. The trip was definitely successful, but since I worked on Saturday and Sunday and got back to the office around noon yesterday, my internal calendar is completely thrown off (you don't even want to know what condition my inner child is in). Last night I went to sleep around 8:00 (not on purpose) because I had been up until 2:00 the night before waiting in vain for a T ride that never came (wow, that would be a great song lyric). Fortunately, Conn put me up in a nice hotel, so I managed to rack up some solid rest in a limited amount of time....

Continue reading "Refried Beantown (Or, Sleeping Beauty)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 09:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Whew, I am glad it's Friday! I've got quite a busy weekend ahead of me, though, so I won't be able to get in as much couch time as I would like. It all kicks off at 4:00, when the entire Becker House staff will get together for a wine tasting courtesy of Scott Hafner '80, who runs a great vineyard out in California; thanks Scott! Later tonight, Mitch and I will probably go see There Will Be Blood, which, contrary to my previous understanding, is not the film adaptation of my post from last week about donating to the Red Cross (but then who did I option those production rights to?). I'm excited that the movie is finally playing around here because southeastern Connecticut is typically pretty bad about getting flicks that aren't in the mainstreamiest echelon of film (how many Dane Cook movies can a man see?).

The rest of the weekend will be pretty much entirely Conn-centric (see what I did there?).....

Continue reading "No Sweat (Or, Wine All You Want, You're Still at Work Until 5:00)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 02:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's my pleasure to introduce our three new bloggers! I'm very excited to have each of these people on board, and I hope you'll check in frequently to hear about their lives. Also, I encourage everyone to post comments in response to what they say.

Sophie "Blond, Platinum Blond" Fitzgerald was an English major while at Conn and now writes for Men's Health magazine in Pennsylvania. She is actually a seasoned blogger, meaning that there is a lot of pressure on her to be extremely fascinating, funny, and insightful (no pressure (yes there is)).

Ross "The Boss" Jordan (nickname not my own) is an accomplished artist and currently works at Trinity College's Art department. In his free time, Ross enjoys being The Boss (Springstein be damned).

Finally, Marissa "Explains It All" Velarde (yes, I am aware that I used that joke in a previous post) is putting her experience as a Biology major to good use at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where she works as a Research Assistant in Emergency Medicine. She is a big fan of the blog and considers it a dream come true to be a part of it (that may or may not be true).

Without any further ado, I'll let these guys start blogging!

Posted by Chris Reilly at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh man, the season premiere of Lost was last night, and it did not disappoint in the least! Anyone out there who is a fan definitely knows what I'm talking about, and anyone out there who isn't a fan should probably quit their job, rent the first three seasons on DVD, and catch up on last night's episode before this bullet train I like to call Season 4 gets away from them (I might be using a lot of locomotive metaphors in this post because I currently have "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum stuck in my head). Also, my friends and loved ones should be advised that should they suffer a serious physical injury or emotional trauma during the hours of 9:00pm and 10:00pm Eastern Standard Time on any Thursday in the next few months, I will be unavailable to offer a ride to hospital or a shoulder to cry on (not that anyone who knows me would be dumb enough to seek me out in a time of crisis).

On to the big news I mentioned in the last post: I am very pleased to announce that we'll be adding three new writers to the Class of 2007 Blog! Rest assured that I have hand-selected the cream of the best (huh?), so be sure to check back in next week when they have their debut posts (barring any complications associated with the Writers' Guild strike)....

Continue reading "Love "Lost" (Or, Eww, There's Blog All Over My Friends!)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 09:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ATTENTION CLASS OF 2007: We're having a One Year Out Reunion on Saturday, May 17 from 8:00pm-12:30am in the campus bar, and you are all invited! There's a Facebook event for it; check that out for more info. I hope to see everyone there!

The Senior Giving bar night on Tuesday was a success; who would have thought that a bunch of 21-year-olds who haven't seen each in other in a month would want to come together to drink cheap beer and eat free pizza? I guess there are still some mysteries in life (another great mystery: who let the dogs out?). As of right now, the seniors are at about 25% participation, which is definitely a good start, but now it's time to shift things into high gear. The Big Hig wants at least 50% by Spring Break, and I'm not inclined to disappoint him! Speaking of our giving progress, it's pretty exciting to be in the Advancement office these days; this is by far the College's best year ever for fundraising, and I definitely encourage all the alumni, parents, and students out there to be a part of it.

I actually got to see a really exciting example of the fruits of our fundraising efforts last night when I went down to the Athletic Center to use the gym....

Continue reading "Pumping Stellite Bichromium Carbon Alloy (Or, Working for the Weekend)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 08:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yet again, I am back at work after a busy weekend and very much need a few more days off. As I mentioned previously, I was in New York on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to meet with young alumni. The meetings were good, but what can get tiring is trying to kill time between meetings, especially since they are sometimes 2-3 hours apart. Since I seldom stay at hotels while on the road, I have to find cafes where I can sit and type on my computer; this usually works out fine, but sometimes baristas get a little steamed (pun intended) when you sit in their establishments drinking a small coffee for an hour and a half.

On this particular expedition, I stayed with my fellow blogger, former roommate, and feminine-looking sidekick Nathaniel "Nate out of Ten" Borgelt. I didn't get to spend as much time with him as I had hoped, but we did get to have lunch together on Friday at a new Mexican place near his building. For those of you that aren't acquainted with my pabular preferences, burritos are by far my favorite food (so much so that Mitch and I are thinking about opening a late-night Mexican food delivery place in New London called Vaya Con Burritos). That was actually my second burrito of the trip; I had eaten lunch the previous day at Chipotle, so needless to say I was muy satisfacado by the end of the trip....

Continue reading "If I Can Waste Time There, I Can Waste Time Anywhere (Or, The Road-Ready Reillys)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First order of bidness: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MITCH! He turned 25 yesterday (gross). On Saturday we had a really fun party for him, and a lot of our fellow Conn staff members came over to celebrate. One of my coworkers, Liz, is married to one of Mitch's coworkers, Tim, so they were there and even brought their 5-year-old twins along. Dan, another one of Mitch's coworkers brought his 3-year-old, so there was a quite a contingent of people under 4 feet tall. I was actually a little nervous about having the kids there, not because I thought they would break anything (the net value of everything in our living room is about $11) but rather because people under 17 seldom find me funny (once you strip away the humor from my personality, there really isn't a lot of substance left). I ended up watching the kids for most of the party, which was a lot of fun! I even got several compliments on my child-handling ability (I'm very nurturing).

All told, the weekend was a good one....

Continue reading "25 Years Ago Today.... (Or, A Camel's Jump)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well if nobody else is going to blog, then I guess I'll just have to do it! Just kidding, this time of year is hectic for everybody, so I'm sure the rest of the bloggers are just busy with their daily lives. I know, for example, that Nate's New Year's resolution was to lose his gut by rollerblading 10 miles everyday, so that's got to take up a lot of time (plus there's the 2-3 hours a day he spends on haircare, not to mention all the karaoke practice).

Things are actually kinda quiet on the ol' Conn College campus since students are on break for another two weeks. A few kids are around, however, most of whom are athletes. Mitch and I supported the Camels twice last week, though not with our usual cheering and elaborate post-scoring celebration choreography (we're really quite graceful) but rather in the form of driving the women's ice hockey team to and from the airport for their trip to Minnesota (that sounds like the setup to a really funny joke, but it's actually true). In order to drop them off on time for their departure flight, I had to get up at 4:15am; before that day, I didn't even know there was a 4:15am! Needless to say, that is slightly earlier than I usually wake up. It was definitely worth the lost sleep, however; the players were very appreciative, and they had a great time on their trip...

Continue reading "Rise and Shine and Drive to Hartford Before the Sun Comes Up (Or, The Lonesome Song of a Development Officer)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY!!!! Wow, it's been a while since I've blogged! I apologize to anyone out there who's been experiencing withdrawal.

Today is my first day back on campus since December 21, and I'm having trouble remembering how to work (I've deduced from staring at my business card for an hour that my job has something to do with alumni). Granted, after having ten days off I should be well-rested, but this break was definitely the kind that you need a few more days off to recover from....

Continue reading "RIP, 2007 (Or, If You're On Break, Don't Fix It)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 08:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First off, let me tell everyone to check out the photos from the Class of 2007 Half-Year Reunion, which you can view by clicking the link under the pictures of the seven bloggers on the main page. There are some pretty cool shots!

On to more pressing issues! So Mitch and I had our much-anticipated ugly holiday sweater party on Tuesday, and I'm proud to say that I took the prize for most heinous specimen (the sweater, not me). It was a tight contest (it was literally tight; I was wearing a women's size medium), and there were some good contenders, but it's tough to beat a lime green cardigan with ice skating reindeer, mirthful snowmen (sorry, snowpeople) and a dancing Santa. Despite the fact that this God-awful green garment guided me to victory like a tacky neon lighthouse, I did not hesitate to return it to Sears after work yesterday [Editor's note: I swear to the Ghost of Christmas Past that this is the exact sweater I wore to the party; thanks to Ben from College Relations for the Photoshopping]....

Continue reading "Ain't Nothin' Better Than a Man in a Sweater (or, Show Mo' Photos Fo' '07)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 01:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Well this was a weekend for the record books! As you may recall from my last post, I headed up to Boston for a holiday party at the home of Jaime "The Ferocious Five-Footer" Pepper and for a Welcome to Florida/Rustic Overtones double bill at Harper's Ferry (Boston's premier Civil War-themed rock venue). Along for the ride was, of course, my roomie Mitch "Nebraska?!? I hardly know her!" Herz as well as our friend Laurel "Rude, Crude, and Tattooed" Mitchell (she's actually only tattooed, but I thought she could use a more substantial nickname). Compounding the fun factor of the weekend was the fact that Laurel's 21st birthday was on Saturday. Not surprisingly, it was quite an adventure....

Continue reading "Where Elf Am I Gonna Go on a Friday Night? (or, Rock 'n' Role Models)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 08:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Well, December is upon us, meaning that 'tis the season of wintry weather, wassailing, wonderment, and weight gain (in that order). I've actually been pretty good thus far about keeping my merriment maximized (okay, now the alliteration is approaching an absolutely excessive echelon JUST STOP IT, REILLY!).

On Friday, I attended an ugly holiday sweater party in New York with a few of my friends, including fellow bloggitarian Nathaniel "Mister Mistletoe" Borgelt as well as Class of '07 members Ali "AliCat" Filippelli (yes, I am in fact too lazy to look up the correct spelling of her last name), Sophie "SophFitzticated" Fitzgerald, and Alyssa "Explains It All" Tartaglione. The prize for ugliest and holidayiest sweater went easily to Alyssa, who had her sweater brought in from another state. It was well worth the effort; the hideousness of this garment quite simply eludes description.

The holiday party streak continues this Friday...

Continue reading "Holidaze (or, Christmas Spirits)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I really do enjoy being on the road for Conn. Meeting with alums is great, but the time between my meetings is often even more interesting (boring introductory statement complete).

On Monday I was strolling the streets of Washington, DC, a.k.a. "A Windy City" (they make no claim to be the only windy city, unlike a certain other presumptuous blusterous metropolis), and I was flagged down from about 50 feet away by a young woman whom I thought was former fellow Conn College Class of '07 Camel Julia Kwolyk, but who, upon closer examination, turned out to be a Greenpeace worker. Since I had already made eye contact and walked towards her, I felt obliged to stand out in the beastly breeze for a minute and speak with her. As someone relatively new to the field of fundraising, I was also interested to see what her solicitation strategy was like...

Continue reading "50 = 1500 (or, Greenpiece)" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 10:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So Friday was our big kick-off party for this year's Senior Giving drive. I'm in charge of the program this year and have the task of more than 95% of the seniors to make a gift (could be tricky because no group of people could ever do anything better than the Class of 2007 does anything (that was confusingly written (sorry))). Anyway, the party was a lot of fun, and we're already at about 20% participation! One of the best things about it was that the turnout was great despite the absence of alcohol. As usual, President Higdon said all of the right things; he really makes my job easier in that regard.

Right now I'm in DC doing some alumni visits, which is nice. I've met 14 new people just in the last two days and have yet to get anyone's name wrong (knock on wood). Yes, I actually did just knock on a piece of wood when I typed that (assuming that this end table in Starbucks is made out of actually wood and not just compressed, bleached coffee grounds). I've had to drink a lot of coffee this week because I need to use the free wireless in cafes. I guess buying a Blackberry would probably rectify this situation, but frankly I'm not sure if I'm ready for that kind of lifestyle change; fellow bloggist and former Chris Reilly roommate Nate "Flaxen, Waxen Locks" Borgelt got an iPhone a few weeks ago and has not been the same since. The last time I saw him, he was standing in front of a 10'x10' black cloth backdrop on a street corner and rambling about how incredible it is to have so much functionality in one device. Actually now that I think about it, that might have just been a TV commercial.

It's almost meeting time, but I'll add more updates from the road later.

Posted by Chris Reilly at 03:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Whew, what a Thanksgiving weekend! I spent my four days off with my roommate and fellow Conn staff member Mitch "Put My Thang Down Mitch It and Reverse It" Herz. Since his family lives in Nebraska (apparently they are indeed human, though I was previously unaware that there were any non-corn species living anywhere in the state), it would be a major expenditure of time and money for him to travel home. So, he came to my parents house with me! Our journey began on Wednesday afternoon...

Continue reading "Bird is the Word" »

Posted by Chris Reilly at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Howdy gang,

Let me say welcome to all of you who are visiting for the first time! Today, the College Relations department (housed in the same building as the Chris Reilly department) sent out the latest e-newsletter, which contains a story about this very blog. We're also planning on including a mention in the CC magazine, the Conntact, the website, and the Voice. Additionally, tomorrow night I'm getting "lifeafter.conncoll.edu" tattooed on my stomach in the same font that Tupac had "Thug Life" tattooed on his stomach; I might also get Tupac's six pack inked on me while I'm there.

I encourage all visitors to comment on the posts that people have written. Just click on "Comments" at the bottom of whichever post you want to respond to. The more you comment, the more our bloggers will want to post!

Posted by Chris Reilly at 03:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hey writers and readers,

The Life After Connecticut College blog has officially launched, so it's time for the posts to begin! We'll be making an announcement in the upcoming e-newsletter that goes to all alumni, and hopefully we'll have links from the Conn website and the alumni online community up soon.

Interestingly, the blog shares a birthday with our own Nate Borgelt, who turns 23 today. Happy Birthday, Nate! Make sure you check in soon to read about what he wishes for while blowing out the candles on his cake tonight (my guess: more photos of himself on the blog).

Posted by Chris Reilly at 04:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I began working at Conn about a week after graduation, which gave me just enough time to lie on the beach for a couple days and to attend a few graduation parties. Five months after starting, I still very much enjoy being at the College and helping accomplish its goals. As the Graduate Assistant for Advancement, I get to work with young alumni and students, travel around the country, organize and attend alumni events, and raise money for the Annual Fund. My favorite part about the job is connecting with other alumni and hearing their stories about the College and their hopes for its future. In my spare time, I still play with the orchestra on campus, and my band Welcome to Florida just released our fifth album. Check us out at welcometofloridamusic.com.

Posted by Chris Reilly at 05:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)