2000

Let me apologize for spending a lot of column inches poking fun at our classmates in San Francisco. It's just that my threshold for hearing about 70 degrees, sunny, and two-hour jogs along the Bay has hit an all-time low. Until I get staffed on the Red Stripe account in Jamaica (the country, not Queens), I reserve the right to be arbitrary and capricious in my gratuitous pontification. Good. Let's get started.

I have to give props to someone who is a bonafide all-star: Anthony Elarth. Anthony flew in from San Francisco to be my date for the Deloitte Consulting "Prom" (you know, the black-tie affair where everyone dresses up, dances and drinks, and just like high school, invariably, some girl -- not me -- ends up crying in the bathroom). Few people know that Anthony and I actually started dating through a dating loophole back the salad days of Fin I. At any rate, it was a magical night. Anthony, you are the best.

Propagating the species

Stephanie and Paul Judy welcomed William Page Judy on Oct. 20. Everyone is healthy and doing fine. Paul reports that he and Steph can't take their eyes off their son. I am told through anonymous sources that "Uncle" Burton Roberts keeps asking the new parents when he can take little William Page to the Mark III (the San Francisco annex of the Deuce), but so far they have managed to keep Burton at bay and the baby on formula.

Stephanie and Paul Judy '00 with new baby William Page

Dragana and Jason Laky are thrilled to announce the birth of Natalie Olivia Laky, born on Dec. 29. She weighed in at 7lbs., 12oz and 20 inches long. Not only is she adorable, but she had the presence of mind to appear just in time for the close of the 2000 tax year!

Rank Speculation Dept.

Mal Hebblewhite has been missing Australia so much that he tried out for Survivor II -- Australian Outback. Executive producer Mark Burnett, who dinged Mal, stated that Mal's accent sounded fake and that rugby-playing business school graduates are a cliché these days. "Give me something I can use!" Burnett cried. Mal has since been spotted running on the beaches of San Diego, hoping to land a spot on Return to Temptation Island.

Speaking of Survivor, John Rakowski was voted out of the Treehouse, for unspecified acts. Apparently the cagey, gay, consultant guy, Roland Jarquio, masterminded the Alliance that took Rakowski down. Adam Koopersmith wasn't available for comment on that matter, but he did manage to dish some good dirt on fellow Treehouse alum, Matt Fortuin. Adam writes, "Matt got to use his BabyCenter rap for the last time on New Years Eve in Tahoe. His execution was flawless, resulting in a New Years moment that Big Red could have used in their Œkiss a little longer' campaign."

Andy Fleigl has been spreading rumors about a certain member of my family and I'd like to tell everyone to send Andy a potato for being such a bingo-head.

Gettin' Hitched

Jennifer Scheff married David Ransburg '98 on Dec. 10. Class of 2000 Kelloggians who were there included Dorit and Gilad Sokolov, Niraj Singh, Beth Pierson, Charlie Sultan, and Emmanuel Hemmerle. Rounding out an all-star guest list were Dean and Mrs. Ed Wilson, Professor and Mrs. Phil Kotler and Professor and Mrs. Mitch Petersen. By all accounts, it was a wonderful, warm, and beautiful celebration.

Keiko Seki was married to Mamoru Yanase on Oct. 28. Kellogg friends including Ken Keen, Masato Kubota, and Nantiya (Annie) Witwutisak attended the nuptials in Washington, D.C.

Cecilia and Pedro Gonzalez '00 were married in Mexico last November. Many Kellogg friends joined them for the ceremony.

Peter Tirana married Claudia Rodriguez on Nov. 11, in Bogata, Columbia.

Cecilia and Pedro Gonzalez were married Nov. 25 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Kellogg friends came to celebrate the nuptials. Those in attendance included: Ricardo Santos, Ivan Espinoza de los Monteros, Sudhanshu Chhabra, Francisco Osores, Paco Aguilera, Tom Wineger, Julian Portway, Homero Gonzalez, Erick Baca, Santosh Anoo, Jose Luis Villanueva, and Tony Defrancheschi.

 

Jennifer Scheff married David Ransburg '98 on Dec. 10.

Mark Stuhlreyer moved to Cincinnati in October.

Linda Chval writes: "My husband, Keith and I welcomed twins -- a boy and a girl -- on Jan. 3. The twins' older brothers, Kevin (7), Brian (5) and Daniel (18 months) are very proud. Needless to say, Linda is taking a sabbatical from consulting for a short time, probably until fall 2001.

Where in the world?

You know that feeling you get when you walk into the atrium and you see Frank Ballabio for, like, the 500th time that day? You know how sometimes you just wanted to do one thing in the world that did not involve a TG-esque social situation? So you decide that you are going to go somewhere really far away from Evanston, like Africa. You also decide that you are not going to go to the African equivalent of Tommy Nevins. So you decide to hike Mount Kilimanajaro because you are sure that most of your classmates, whose exercise for the past two years has consisted of moving their TG cups from one hand to the other, are not going to be anywhere near the top of Africa's highest free-standing mountain. You would think this would be a solid idea.

You would be wrong.

As Tanya Dragan, Joon-Soo Kim, Greg Zariphopoulos, and Adam Koontz found out this summer, even if you are traveling separately, not coordinating at all, and you each hike up the mountain a different route, you will still run into people you know from Kellogg. (Although, as Tanya pointed out, "no one can actually run at the top of Kili because there is not enough oxygen!") Anyway, they all arrived on top of the mountain at almost exactly the same time. Amazing! Congratulations all around. (Their story, of course, gives me hope that I will bump into Will Stokes again someday.)

 

Tanya Dragan, Joon-Soo Kim, Greg Zariphopoulos and Adam Koontz (all '00) scaled Uhuru Peak in Tanzania, Africa's highest point.

Anyway, let's talk about where people in our class have been and where they have landed: Donna and Phil Furse just bought a house in Boston. And word is that, even though Boston is still under two feet of snow and sub-degree weather, Phil sits in the garage, wistfully revving the engine of his new John Deere Industrial Size Ride-a-Long Lawnmower (license plates: HARVARD). One can only imagine what Donna will do with him when the snow melts.

Manthos Kallios landed in New York. All I have to say is that if you think Hillary Clinton transplanting herself to New York caused a stir, just wait for the brouhaha over the arrival of the blue-blazered legend. The Big Apple may never be the same.

Masato Kubato moved to Phoenix. Something about a $50 million contract as starting forward for the Suns.

Matt Lyons and family are in Korea. One only hopes that the people of Seoul are prepared for the man whose voice, Frank Sinatra notwithstanding, has been referred to as "liquid gold."

Ariane Gorin and Alexa Salzman found a three-bedroom house in the Inner Sunset of San Francisco. I am told that the extra bedroom is for the "holy ghost of Beth Palmer" who hasn't, technically, seen the place. Chicago beat out Denver and San Francisco in a hotly contested battle over free agent, Tom Behan.

Doug Kilponen has finally reunited with his one true love: the Bay Area. Appropriate gifts for the couple are listed on overpricedrealestate.com, reallybadtraffic.com, and underwateroptions.com. Look for an evite to the reunion party!

One wonders whether Siri Eklund ever made her way over the pond to London. Siri apparently had problems getting the appropriate work visa for London. The "party line" is that she did not have the requisite number of consecutive years of work experience. But I believe the real reason is that officials are trying to stem the influx of illegal Missourians into the U.K. and they had to make an example of somebody.

Laurie Iannuzzi, however, did not seem to have any problem getting there. Perhaps a GMA prez is connected in ways that, frankly, a NCAA Division I Athlete of the Year is just not. (Actually, both women are in London and reportedly having a blast!)

Danielle Dold finally dragged Bob's ass out of the suburbs and moved into Mitch Kern and Amy Walsh's old apartment in Old Town, Chicago. However, at the time, Mitch and Amy hadn't actually moved to Minneapolis yet, which has sort of made the two couples like a 21st century answer to Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. The Kern/Walsh duo is now settled in Minnesota and doing quite well.

Finally, I'll tell you one of the perks of this job (aside from toiling for hours at a thankless job for no ducats and enduring a endless barrage of column "suggestions" from Shawn Makhijani): people invite me places. Invitations, real, implied, and wishful, include: Sanjib Kalita and Freeman Hall in New York; Pat Brubaker, Missy McCready, and Laurie (Burkland) Waller in Boston; Derek Braddock, Susan Moseley, and Jennie Tsai in San Francisco; Matt Prevost and Melisa Olsen in Savannah, Ga.; Andy Ford and Emily Hazlett in West Virginia; Angela Smith and Darryl Cobb in South Bend, Ind.; Federico Papa in Uruguay; Josh Gellert in Maui (the lucky bastard is staffed in Hawaii. Are you kidding me? I have given my blood, sweat, and tears to Deloitte Consulting for five years and am staffed in Detroit. Josh leads such a charmed life that, if he were a contestant on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, the million-dollar question would be "Which of the following is the correct spelling of ŒBeth Palmer'?"); Andy Jacobson in Detroit, even though he is actually in Chicago every week; finally, although she does not, technically, live there, Cassandra Tryon at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas because I know she'll get there eventually.

People I am not visiting in New Orleans: Ole Obermann and Eric Brown and they know damn well why.

Justifying the Paycheck

David Geyer has moved to Asia and started work as a senior marketing consultant for SK Group, a $40 billion Korean conglomerate. He bailed on his e-Business Consulting firm. "Are you surprised?" he asks. "Choosing the e-Business consulting firm was a great decision -- but leaving was a better one!" Cassandra Tryon broke free from the shackles of her indentured-servitude to her former employer and has landed a job at Listen.com. (by the way, Makhijani says that I use "com" where I shouldn't (e.g. he works at Tellme, not Tellme.com. Whatever.) Anyway, Cassandra's roommate Jennie Tsai reports that Cassandra is so happy about her new job that she even smiles in her sleep.

KC Kim has had two jobs since graduating from Kellogg. KC was one of very few who actually had a second internship with Commerce One. After the summer stint, KC is now working for SDG.

Uh-oh. Ted Kasten is mad at me. I am told that there are several things on the "Serious Injury List," including: I mentioned a couple of his roommates from Foster.com in my last column, but not him; I forgot to send him a card on Groundhog Day; and I took Anthony Elarth to my Deloitte Consulting Prom instead of him. Ted, please let me publicly apologize for hurting your feelings. Let me make it up to you with a little free publicity for your new venture. Everybody, Ted has started his own business and you should all go check it out: www.netplenitude.com.

The Big Three ­ Oh

I have a pet theory that 30 is the new 21, the difference being that when you turned the old 21 your body was actually 21 and thus had the ability to recover like any self-respecting 21-year-old would. It seems that several of our classmates have found this out the hard way. Pat Brubaker (aka "John Perkins -- East") spent his 30th birthday being demolished by an evil demon named Andy West who is apparently testing out his mixology skills, should the whole McKinsey thing head south. John Perkins (aka "Pat Brubaker -- West") spent a similar night to his Boston buddyŠ I don't want to mention the "YMCA" spectacle, but suffice it to say, nobody had more fun that night than John (although Jeff Bennett sure tried). Erin Kenny and Bill Feinberg also turned 30 in an SF blowout like you read about. Given the fact that the venue was called the Make-out Room, I don't think I need to justify my theory further.

So maybe you hit this milestone too and I didn't mention your name. Well, maybe you didn't invite me to your birthday party.

Parting shots

Has anyone seen Will Hawthorne?

All my best wishes.