a peek inside the fishbowl

02 Aug, 2005

In case someone is Googling

Posted by andrea in: Misc. life

Attention potential Googlers: This blog belongs to the girl formerly known as Andrea Bartunek. I grew up in Bramalea and went to Dorset Drive PS (grades K – 6), followed by W.G. Davis (7-8) and then J.A.Turner SS (grades 9 – 13) in Brampton.

Last night I had one of those long Googlefests. You know the kind. I’m not the only one who’s done it. I looked up every friend and boyfriend I could remember having during my early school years.

I don’t want to bud into these people’s lives, but I’m curious to know what they’re up to. And don’t go talking to me about Classmates.com. It’s such a rip off. [Edited to add: please note this post was written pre-Facebook!]

I would love to know what the following people are up to:

Petra Schultz – one of my best friends in elementary school. A freckle-faced girl with straight red hair. I loved her mom. She always had great birthday parties. I remember buying her strange and wonderful gifts and wrapping them in layers of paper. She had a hamster and her mom always put coins in the birthday cake. She would have made make a perfect teacher. [ETA: she’s a teacher at our old elementary school! Wow!]

Megan Ellis and Francesca Wong – The three of us hung around for most of our elementary school years. They discovered boys before I did, but I remember singing along to Abba and playing foot hockey. Francesca moved to Edmonton. I called her one Christmas and, not realizing the huge time difference, woke up her entire family.

Steven Cecchetto/Ceccetto/Checetto/Cecceto (sp?) and his sister Cathy. They lived down the street. I had a mad crush on Steven starting from grade one onward. We mostly expressed our love by pummeling one another. Steven was dark haired like his father. (I remember his dad mowing the lawn with no shirt on, he was pretty hairy.) Cathy was blonde like her mom. Cathy is a couple of years younger than me. When I was in grade two we played school so often that I ended up teaching her everything I knew. She skipped kindergarten. [ETA: Steven is in pharma sales. Cathy is a teacher… !]

Chris S. – High school boyfriend for about a year. It wasn’t a good match, and frankly I’m not even sure how it all came about. I was the smart quiet girl, he was the loud guy who hung around the auto shop. He took me to his grad, a boat cruise in the Toronto harbour. He got drunk and the captain of the boat wasn’t going to let him on board. Oh man.

Walter Macri – Ah. Walter. When it was my 16th birthday you showed up at my work with a pink plush bunny rabbit. I was dead embarrassed to be seen in my blue polyester cashier uniform, but I got over myself long enough to enjoy the moment. We went to see the Nutcracker at Christmas. We dined up top in the C.N. tower restaurant and almost didn’t make it home because we ran out of money. Had a voice like honey and loved to sing. I wonder what you’re doing. I bet you are a doctor.

Why do these memories seem like a disconnected dream?

Ross Taggart – Redheaded and smart as a whip. And was not afraid to speak up. Alas, his heart always belonged to another. Besides, he was totally out of my league. Ross is probably a lawyer. [ETA: So Ross married his HS sweetheart. I was so thrilled to hear it. Clearly they were destined to be together :) ]

The girls who all went on a road trip to Florida:

Martine Mackenzie – Martine was my best friend, and as I sit here and think about it I realize that in many ways she shaped who I am today. She was the daughter of a French teacher. She wrote poetry. She was an artist. Was smart and sassy. We were in French immersion together. I remember her and I speaking our own language: a type of franglais (French/English mix) that probably sounded ridiculous, but somehow … it made me feel less awkward. I’ve heard that Martine is a French teacher. Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.

Bettina Carius, Karin Mueller, and Tiffany Cameron [FOUND! She works at a pharmaceutical company as a sales coordinator/meeting planner.] Tiffany was a bubbly high-school friend and lovely girl all around. Tiffany was always smiling. She had really cool parents who hosted the breakfast after grad night.

There are more: Reshma Brahspat [found!], Shelley Holseth, Ande Smith, Jared Spice, Jinelle Webb (HI!), Eric and Roisin Peters (HI!), Kristina Barr [Found! She’s an actress!], Roopin Hanspal [found!}]…. there are more but I’m forgetting.

If you are any of these people and happen to come across this site, please leave a comment and let me know what you’ve been up to. :)


17 Responses to "In case someone is Googling"

1 | Walter Macri

August 17th, 2005 at 5:38 pm

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No not a doctor, a pilot.Hopefully moving to Europe soon. I cant tell you what joy it gave me to find your site.Congratulations on your success and family.
xxxoooWalt

2 | Jinelle Webb

August 26th, 2005 at 11:04 am

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Working in Toronto as a specialist in veterinary internal medicine, just got married in Acapulco. Glad to hear that things are going well for you! I still keep in touch with Andrea Bonneville, she is in Brampton and doing well. Great to find your site!
Jinelle

3 | Anne Marie

September 22nd, 2005 at 11:43 am

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Hello,

Stumbled across this while looking for Bettina Carius – I recognize the other names : Martine, Karin, Tiffany. The last time I saw Bettina she was getting married to Jeremy Sales and I have no idea where she ended up and what happened to her – would love to hear from/about her.

4 | Anthony Checetto

October 7th, 2005 at 6:08 pm

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Hi, im anthony checetto and I have an uncle steven. He is my father’s brother and grew up in NJ….There aren’t many checetto’s around so I’m interested myself to know who Steven Checetto is if he is not my uncle.

5 | Joe Wong

August 3rd, 2006 at 2:02 pm

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We were recently at Ross’ place and came across your site. What a pleasant surprise to see in text and to say out loud so many names from years gone by. Your memories of Ross, however, betray a nostalgic haze (though you did cause him to gloat the rest of the evening). I’m now living in Toronto after spending several years in the US, a prof at U of T, marvelling at my recently born son and realizing daily the hard work that is parenting. Your blog — and your writing in particular — makes the world seem cozier.

6 | Kevin Kruse

August 10th, 2006 at 3:35 pm

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You are so right, Ross is everything you remember and so much more…..

7 | Julianne Cameron

September 13th, 2007 at 10:30 pm

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Hi Andrea,
It was a pleasant surprise to find this blog – both artful and inspiring. Thank you. I’ve transplanted to the west coast with my family. I have two children, and I teach leadership/drama at a local school. I love your trust experiment – wonder how it went… Great to see some of the other familiar names here too: Kevin, Janelle, Joe, Anne Marie.
Warmly,
Julianne

8 | Jared Spice

January 11th, 2008 at 4:23 pm

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Wierd typing in my name and actually getting a real link. Living in Brampton. Working at big Mutual Fund company.

9 | andrea 'andee' bartunek

July 18th, 2008 at 12:55 pm

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I also do a lil of ‘googling’ and came across your blog. I am also Andrea (andee) Bartunek. such an unusual lastname so I had to check it out. kind of fun. email if u r curious as well.

10 | Zuzana Kulhankova

April 21st, 2009 at 11:55 pm

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Hello, Andrejko, sorry not to have contacted you earlier. I have a lot to tell you. Please do write back with your current e-mail address.

11 | Kyle W

December 9th, 2009 at 7:03 am

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I was lying in bed, and some voice I recognized was on the radio telling me how to do an advent calendar… And here I am on this site and I haven’t even finished my coffee yet.

Andrea! we’ll always have the grade 8 junior prom! lol

Hope all is well!

Kyle

12 | Kari Bennett

June 7th, 2010 at 1:27 am

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Hi Andrea,

I, like most others who have commented, came across this site while searching for someone, I was looking for Jared Spice. What a surprise to see comments from so many school mates. Wishing you and the others well!

Cheers!

Kari

13 | Kristin Theriault (nee Hunter)

July 18th, 2010 at 6:57 am

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Hi Andrea:
I was looking for Martine and this- your fishbowl piece- popped up. Not sure if you remember me: went to Davis and Turner. Left in Grade 12 and moved to Sudbury, which at the time, I thought, signalled the end of my life as I knew it, but thankfully, it didn’t, well, not really anyway.
I am living in St. Catharines–teaching Grade 7 and 8–some may say that my chosen profession is a total Karma bitch slap (I owe Martine’s mom a serious apology for putting her through hell)but I say, bring it…I love this age group. I have three boys: Gabe 12, Soren 8, Owen 6. Life is grand. Busy, but grand.
Great to read this post. I think often of all of you: Martine, of course, which brought me to this blog in the first place, Bea, Dan Badiere, Ande Scott, Jared Spice, and the list goes on. Been in touch and fallen out of touch with so many of them. I am so grateful that a huge part of my youth was navigated with the help of such terrific folk such as yourself.
All the best!
Kristin

14 | Dave Hogan

January 1st, 2013 at 7:56 pm

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Apparently I am a slower googler than others… Thank you for listing all those names, as that’s what hit. I was bussed in for grade 8 French immersion with Jared, Daniel and others. I much enjoyed that trip to St. Donat. Glad to read you’re all doing well.

15 | Roisin Pieters

January 18th, 2014 at 4:24 pm

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Hi Andrea, how are you? We are doing well, I am an RN living in Oshawa. My mother moved in with my husband and 2 kids about 3 years ago. Eric is doing well, single and still lives in brampton. I still remember you trying to teach me to rollar skate on your parents driveway! Nice to find your site.

16 | film bioskop

February 19th, 2016 at 1:23 am

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Yes! Finally someone writes about warung bioskop.

17 | Keith Shergold

October 12th, 2016 at 4:39 am

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I was looking for my old friends Dan Badiere and Jared Spice- was google-ing all their known accomplices and came across this. I’m a pilot too. But probably not the same kind as Walter. I live in Yellowknife with my wife Jacqueline. No kids. I’m happy. I hope you are too.

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My name is Andrea and I live in the Westboro area of Ottawa with my husband Mark and our dog Piper who is kind of a big deal on Instagram. We also have two human offspring: Emma (24) and Sarah (22). During the day I work as a writer at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. I am a longtime Ottawa blogger and I've occupied this little corner of the WWW since 1999. The Fishbowl is my whiteboard, water cooler, and journal, all rolled into one. I'm passionate about healthy living, arts and culture, travel, great gear, good food, and sharing the best of Ottawa. I also love vegetables, photography, gadgets, and great design.

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