Saturday, January 18, 2003

Norris, if you run into a guy named Justin Bonner or a girl named Heidi Johnson, say hello to them from Tom. They are North Parkers that are spending a semester at Oxford and are both wonderful and intelligent.

Oh, there will be no wedding this summer, I can almost guarantee that. That's all. Oh, and I made the mistake of giving Jessica the url to view the website. Her reactions are as follows 1). She thinks her face is huge on the site and 2). She thinks Aunt Theresa is very funny. also, you might want to keep that in mind if you are about to write something mean or share an embarrassing moment from my childhood.

That's all. Tom.

Norris's Report from Oxford



Hi Y'all.

Oxford is nice. It is bigger than I imagined. It has a quite large shopping district and colleges. Last night we went out to dinner with some of Kate's friends. Tonight she is hosting an engagement party for two Rhodes scholars who got engaged over winter break.

The accommodations she booked me are very cheap and nice. They are in a really old castle like building. It is nice to once again be away from the hustle and bustle that is London. Those are my only feelings.

Plants, anyone?
I just want to say I'm totally up for a summer trip to Arkansas State Park. I hear it's a beautiful place. And if anyone wants to listen to long lectures about endemic wildflowers and germination procedures and plant-hunting and the evolution of mating-system in flowering plants, I would be happy to contribute to that aspect of the trip. Or I'd be happy to camp and just go on hikes (and attend Tom's wedding?). Nice pictures, Tom, she looks very nice and very intelligent.

Ingrid

Friday, January 17, 2003

(note to Tom: Teresa is half German,)
Thanks for finally posting the pictures, Tom (and Peter)--she is very pretty. How about we combine blogging ideas and schedule your wedding for this summer at an Arkansas State Park?

I don't know about that crack about Germans, though. As satirist Tom Lehrer said in one of his songs, "We beat them back in 1918 and they've hardly bothered us since then."
hehe..
Let me say, that I didn't know the pictures would be so large. She, is not a large person.
Well Andersons, the moment you have all waited for has arrived. Peter is posting the pictures right now as we speak, or as I type. So, here they are, this is Jessica- although these pictures are a couple of years old, she is just as pretty as she was then. Norris, I always knew you could keep your own against those pushy European children. I think that it is reflective of a greater spirit of european "pushiness" that we might remember from such things as World War I, World War II (the Germans are especially pushy) and the Colonization of, Africa, Asia and The Americas. You can tell I'm back at school. Do America proud Norris!

Tom
Tom sent me some pictures of his "special friend" Jessica that everyone is so interested in (Tom will post more info about her in a minute). So here they are - isn't she pretty?:



I took this picture yesterday on my way home from work. Beautiful sunset.

Tom, email the pictures to me at onebigswede@hotmail.com and I'll get them up for you.. .
Back in London
...Norris writes:
I am back in London. I got off the tube stop by Emily's. I ran into Emily and her roommates on their way to the airport on their way to Venice. Their flight was so early in the morning, they had to go at night and sleep in the airport as the tube doesn't run after midnight. It was nice, because I had the whole place to myself. I'm still here, using their computer lab. Disney was really fun. It was nice having the train station right at the gates to the parks.

Here are my "feelings:"[NOTE:Teresa asked Norris to relate his feelings about his trip]


-London and Paris are too hectic for me


-Disneyland Paris was very nice, although very cold and wet. Everything seems to get kind of muddy there. Europeans are pushy, so I'm glad I was there when it was slow. There were lots of characters in the parks, but without the queues that they have established in the U.S. parks. I think that in some of my pictures with the characters, I may look a little frazzled, as I was trying to smile, grab the characters attention, and push some pushy European 3 year old into the mud who tried to cut in front of me. Just kidding, but it was crazy.

Thursday, January 16, 2003

Hey Pete. I have pictures of Jessica that I want to put up. How can I post them to the blog?
And now this commercial message:

I have discovered my new favorite snack food! They are Rold Gold Butter Flavored (Land O' Lakes Butter of course) Pretzel Checkers. A co-worker had a bag of them yesterday, and I started munching on them. I am now officially addicted to them! They are so full of buttery goodness! I would definitely recommend trying them.

And oh, one other thing. For those of you on a diet, they're low fat.

Frito Lay

Wednesday, January 15, 2003

If any of you have been thinking about getting a digital camera, now might be a good time. You can get this 2 megapixel HP digital camera for for about $78.00 after tax. This camera is an entry level one, but 2 megapixels will still print a nice looking 8x10 image.

FatWallet Forums - BURNING: HP 320 2.1 MP for $72.90 after $25 coupon at OD

P.S. I've already bought one of these to sell on Ebay!
Happy Martin Luther King's Birthday everyone! In honor of Martin Luther King Jr., here are a few links to information about him and his life! Enjoy!

Martin Luther King Jr. Historic Site
Martin Luther King Online
The King Center
Martin Luther King Jr. Audio Clips

P.S. Next Monday is the actual holiday...

Tuesday, January 14, 2003

Judge Joel
This is (I think) the ninth year I've judged at Murray - ever since Norris was in 7th grade. A good time and good to see the old judges come back, as well as the new ones who have joined us each year. They do pay us with cheese, crackers, and fruit - as well as coffee and punch. But it is hard work - and even more work for the staff and volunteers who organize the thing. This is one of the biggest Science Fairs in the cities, and is mandatory for the 7th and 8th graders in the magnet science program at Murray.


I think I am the least scientific Science Fair judge.... although in talking to my colleagues, I think that many follow the same procedure: 1) look at project, 2) talk to student 3) pick a total score you think they deserve, then 4) fill in the judging form so the total comes out right.

Tonight I judged these projects (and more):

  • Hamster Tunes (how hamsters ran a maze depending on the music they heard)
  • How caffeine affects test taking (subjects drank Pepsi, Mountain Dew or Mineral water and then took math tests)
  • Whether people like spices (with this one I heard - in great detail - how to make egg rolls)
  • Whether boys or girls were better at judging the gender of bare feet. (they're about equally good, or bad, at it)
  • How propellers affect airplane performance ( a lot - and different propellers are good for different things)


It is an exhausting experience - for the old judges like me who have to keep marching back to get the gym and interviewing students, and for the students who keep waiting for their judges. They each have to have three judges - by the end of the evening they are like flowers tracking the sun; as a judge walks past they are all turning to watch him or her, with the (usually forlorn) hope that this is their final judge. Tonight one boy wrote his number on a piece of paper, which he held up high and waved back and forth, hoping his final judge would see it and come.

The most fun is with projects that really interested the kids (like the ones mentioned above). They are eager to tell you what they did, and are usually full of ideas about why they got the results they expected (or didn't).

Thanks to Paul for the interesting "name" info - I remembered some of that, and am glad to have it spelled out.


Tonight I get to judge the Murray Jr. High Science Fair. Always an interesting experience - a gym filled with kids and their projects. As the night goes on the room gets pretty warm, and the kids get more and more desperate (they can't leave until
three of us judge their projects). I try to be kind... but some times it isn't easy... (I'm still steamed over the kid who seemed to think his project, "Picking Landing Spots on Mars," depended solely on writing to NASA and getting the work done by them.) I'll post a report on what I see.

Monday, January 13, 2003

Hey y'all,
I'd like to thank Ingrid for posting the photos of our house. I hope everyone understands that these are not the real "before" photos, but the "during" photos. (We know what you think of our living conditions in the South). We'll be sure to send the "after" shots when we get them. Have fun.

John
Nancy: We still want to know, 1) why someone stole your credit card and only charged $1.00, and, 2) why you cleaned the gasoline off the van but not Stevie's face. No wonder he had trouble driving!
Some Interesting notes from Paul on the origins of the Anderson and Peterson names in our family:

"The Anderson and Peterson names have not been in our family for very long. Your great-grandfather Edwin Peterson was born in 1891. His father's name was Peter Jonasson. He was the "son of Peter" and therefore took Peterson for a surname. The practice of taking the father's name plus "son" as the surname did not change in Sweden until sometime in the early 20th century.

The first "Anderson" ancestor was Gust Anderson, who was born in the 1860's. He emigrated from Sweden in the early 1880's."

Sunday, January 12, 2003

I enjoy everything y'all put on this family page. It'll be fun to see the "after" pics from Georgia.
and to hear about Paris and the science project. Maybe we could do another special music time at the Nile using rainsticks! So many talents in this family! Have a great week everybody.
I don't know if I can complete my story in this tiny space... when I try to get a bigger space it erases everything I have already written. I lost my purse, as it turns out, in my own front yard. Someone found it and stole my stuff. The purse with only driver's license & check carbons was found a block away. In cancelling credit cards I found out they had charged $1. on my mastercard at Amoco. Stevie & I went there to buy gas & I was going to ask about the $1. charge, however when I lifted the lever on the gas pump, gas poured out over the van, some into Stevie's face and the ground ($1.68 worth of gas). We had to go to Park & Lake car wash. Stevie had to pull into the narrow entrance right in front of a police car and almost hit a garbage can. He was quite nervous and so was I! This all took place after a funeral. N.
...and, from London
Norris writes:


Today,I went to Kensington Palace (only the outside, although I may go back next Sunday. After that, I went to the changing of the guard at Buckingham. It was so crowded and not as good a view as Windsor. They had a band too, they played the Austin Powers theme and Jesus Christ Super Star Medley. Funny. Then I went to the National Gallery, had roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding. Later I went to Oxford Street and have spent the evening getting ready for Paris


[this will be the last report from Norris for a while, I'd expect, unless there is a EuroDisney CyberCafe.]

Good advice from my mechanic....
I bought a new "Lite-On" CD burner and installed it yesterday. Works *great*!
I really appreciate all the updates. Thanks, Tom, for the big news.. that you are "officially" dating. Did you have to file something? And thanks for the pictures, Ingrid, John, and Lynda. I remember you pointed out the peeling paint on your siding when I was last there, but I had no idea you were going to rip everything off. Wow! And, yes, Nancy, we want to hear the whole story of your day.

Today is the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus, and I was slated to play the rainstick on a couple water-oriented numbers at church. I only had a small one, bought for 99c at the Goodwill, and when we were at the Mall of America last night decided to look for a better one. We checked the Discovery Channel store (negative) and were on our way out when Liv grabbed my arm and said, "Rainsticks! Spirit of the Red Horse!" I thought she had gone crazy, but she had seen a woman with a Spirit of the Red Horse store bag with a rainstick sticking out of it! We were right near the store, so went in and purchased one. The salesclerk probably didn't understand her sudden run on rainsticks.
Tell us more!!!