Just flew back from a Space Station...




... and are my arms tired? Well, no - though it was a white-knuckle "flight" out to the Imax theater at the Minnesota Zoo since we just got around 6 inches of snow.

Our neighbor Lisa got free tickets to the Space Station 3D Imax show, and Liv and I went with her and her daughter. It is a great show - incredible use of 3D, letting you tour the station and watch its first pieces get put together. A very impressive show. It included a VERY close up launch of a Russian piece of the station, and shots of Soyuz and Shuttle launches.

It was inspiring to see this international effort of cooperation, and to look down on the earth and see (as one of the cosmonauts noted) that there are no borders when you look at our world from space. Might make you want to take off today

Hi Everybody!
Yes, it's John posting. I wanted to tell everyone to look for Mae on Sat. Night Live tomorrow. She's an extra and may appear in a crowd scene involving a WNBA game. Now if I can just figure out how to program the VCR....

John

Mae: Thanks for sending us the link to your work. We are trying to get Norris to blog, but he is kind of anti-computer (and busy). So, we'll see if he responds to a Disney reference.
Ingrid: I didn't know being able to spell one's own name made one a "spelling whiz"!?
Maria: Thanks for your updates.
Matt: Good to see you posting. I'm sure Janelle did a great job, but we missed her frantic editing at work.
Nancy: We haven't heard about your exploits at the 'U' lately... have you adjusted or dropped out? What shall we do for your birthday?
Tom (Thom): Norris and I are going to be in Chicago from the evening of the 16th through the 20th for the National Immunization Conference. We'll be at the Sheraton downtown.

I have been busy investigating a number of "vaccine critics" and writing an expose, so if I "am disappeared" you'll know why.

I just wanted to let everyone know that Janelle did a great job presenting her paper Japanese War Bride - Race, Desire, and Post-Classical Hollywood at this year's Society For Cinema and Media Studies Conference. By the way, the unofficial theme for this year's conference is Mary Tyler Moore. Next year the conference will be in Atlanta!

This is a cool website: Lost Highways.

That's too bad Thom that you arent going to be home for spring break. We will just have to have a total blast on our game night without you then.

This weekend Pete and I are going on a retreat with our Bible Study Small Group through Evergreen Church and we have to give our testimonies. I am a little nervous about it since I have never formally given my life story. It should be a wonderful time though and I am anxious to hear everyone else's. We are also planning on telling eachother how our spouses proposed to each of us. We have grown really close as a group, but have never had time to talk about "the proposal." I am excited to hear those stories as well. We are going to this retreat center called Linisfarne. We get the entire center to ourselves, which will be nice. I guess it's only an hour or so away.

As I am sure most of you who live in Minnesota heard about Chris Jenkins, the boy who went missing on Halloween night and was found a couple days ago floating in the river. I am still in disbelief since I graduated with him and grew up with him since first grade. I just want to request that everyone pray for his family and friends. It's so scary when it hits so close. I really hope that they find out the cause of his death and punish whoever could have done such a horrible thing. He will always be remembered in my heart.

Here's a touching story about Mr. Rogers. We truly have lost a wonderful man..

More than a neighbor

Share your own Mr. Rogers thoughts/stories/etc at this address:

Mr. Rogers Memories

Did you know...
in the Qu'ran there is a book named after the Virgin Mary and that she is the epitome of women?
----Livvi'i

Hey, Tom, when is your spring break and when are you going to the Monastery? I have spring break coming up too and thought it might be fun to go to Chicago, and it would be fun if we could hang out. Did I spell Monastery right, all of you spelling whizzes? If you want to email me about Chicago (or anyone else about spelling), I'm at ingiaa@hotmail.com.

Some news from Atlanta (since I don't have any of my own)--Dad's giving a talk at Emory University this month and Mom recorded a medieval music CD this week. Go, 'rents!


Ingrid

OK, you are forgiven, Tom. I can see if you're always trying to remember which saint I most resemble, you could get confused! ("... now is she the famous mystic or the 'little flower'?...") Just remember it's spelled the same as Mother Teresa, whom I resemble in compassion and charity (or more likely in looks).

Tonight it is our turn to bring treats to choir practice, and since we're not going to have any during the weeks of Lent, we were advised to make it good. I stopped at my favorite Bosa Donuts on University Avenue this morning and picked up a douple dozen. Mardi Gras!

My saint's name is Teresa, like Teresa of Avila. So technically in the Catholic Church I was confirmed as Teresa Anderson...
---Livvi'i

Teresa, I have always been aware that I need to be careful and spell your name right, it is just that I am always confused as to which way was the most correct. For some reason, I got the Th spelling stuck in my mind as the correct one. I remember now, because your name is spelled the same way as St. Teresa de Avila, the Spanish mystic. (The Interior Castle- also a good book) I just forgot how SHE spelled her name. Anyway, I apologize again and ask your forgiveness. Well

Then,
That's all
Thank you.
Thom. (I was called Thom for a short time after a lab group of mine turned in a paper with that spelling in my freshmen year biology class)

I have been your aunt for 22 years, Tom, and you still continue to misspell my name! I will start calling you 'Thom.' Your retreat sounds interesting (I looked at the website even though the URL was wrong as you had also misspelled St. Augustine's name (so I guess I'm in good company)). Have you ever read "The Seven Story Mountain" by Thomas Merton? I would recommend it.

Mae, I saw that article in the NYTimes today. It's pretty bizarre isn't it? All the news that's fit to print.
Well, Pete, as far as the 20 page thing, I haven't written any. What I'm going to do is write one 40 pager and one 20 pager instead of three 20 pagers. Same thing basically.

Looks like your having fun in France, Theresa.

Tom

hey tom, how many of those 20 page papers do you have done already? 2? 1? Sorry I don't have any info on Egypt that i can send your way, we didn't buy the book that went along with the exhibit..:)Guess you'll actually have to do your own research.. hehe.. jk.

Hey Pete,

If there is any good information you get about Egypt send it my way. I will write a 20 page paper to write about it before the end of the semester...

Tom

Joel has helped me put up a few of my Annecy pictures. If you click on this picture, you will be brought to a page with a representational sample.

Maria and I went to the Eternal Egypt exhibit yesterday. Our many thanks to Norris to getting us into the show and giving us the audio guide. It really was a great show. The Egyptian art really took you back and made you wonder who it was that carved the piece, who had done the painting, what they looked like, when they died, etc. And that spooky music on the audio guide just made it that much better! My favorite piece was that of Mentuhotep II, who reunited Egypt under a strong central government. There was a sculpture of his head that was so lifelike, I could almost see him talking and breathing...

So thanks again Norris, we had a great time!