-- I am teaching the Tolkien class again, and am looking forward to meeting another great crew of freshmen.

-- My mother's getting married!

-- I will have an essay out in December in BenBella Books' SmartPop book on the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton.

-- I will have four articles in the inaugural online edition of 21st Century Family.

-- No big trips planned, but we went to Florida earlier this year, and will be going to Kentucky and LA.

-- Several new rats have joined our family, including Taffy, Gabby, Sadie, Samiya, and Sarita.

-- A new cat has also joined us. Tom Jones was a stray who kept hanging around our deck, because clearly he could scent a sucker a mile away.  He's now cat #4 around this place and appears content to remain inside forever.

-- Todd and I continue to work with stained glass and photography as hobbies.  The photo to the left was taken in Truman Park in Hazelwood, Missouri, last winter.  It was a beautiful sunny day and the path was very inviting!

-- And I'm now on Facebook.  According to their silly little quizzes, I am culturally British, ethnically Indian, 100% Jewish, and a master Catholic theologian whose aura is orange.  OK, so who doesn't love the occasional Facebook quiz?

-- I have started a Facebook group for anyone connected with the Hazelwood TB Sanatorium, where my father was a patient between 1946-48 (or so).  If you or a relative were there, I have pictures to share and would be happy to hear your stories.

-- I have also started a group on Facebook for those who lived at The Stone Kingdom of French Equatorial Africa (aka The Honors House) at the University of Tulsa in the mid-80s.  If you were part of the madness, join us!