Seasons Greetings, 2004/2005

On May 1st Joan got on a bus to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Show. She was wearing a t-shirt that said "Retired - if you want to talk to me you'll be charged a consulting fee." It was her first day of her retirement from IBM. A young man working an ice cream booth asked her, at one point, "Will you charge me if I ask you what you want?" Lacking the immediate wit to say "Yes. One free root beer float please," she had to settle for bringing home a large amount of yarn. Several of Joan's designs are at Tess' Designer Yarns website (http://tessyarns.com) or found at Joan's knitting website: http://fyberspace.com. There's a regular knitting group that meets informally (Starbucks).

Joan started learning to play the cello, and has progressed from the "strangled cat sound" to something closer to real cello notes. Piano playing continues (coached quartet at the Lucy Moses school). Her favorite line these days is "I don't know how I ever found time to work."

Davis' year peaked with the arrival of his first granddaughter, Charlotte Foulger, a beautiful baby who resides in Boston with parents Lisa and Devin. Her first big road trip was the Thanksgiving get-together of the Foulger family at Sugarloaf USA in Maine, where she met her great-grandparents, Marcia and Bob, her Uncle Sam, and other family members for the first time.

Davis' has been teaching on an adjunct basis at both Brooklyn College (masters level courses and its senior capstone course in Television and Radio) and Adelphi University (Media Criticism). This has confirmed his love for teaching and given him time to continue his writing and research. His musical activities have included singing with the Choral Arts Society and playing viola in Community Orchestras and small ensembles. Davis is often seen commuting from train or subway to campus on a Trek eight speed folding bike, which has provided incidental exercise and occasionally a way to pedal around mass transit snafus.

Clare, Jack, and Ashley are doing well. We saw Clare, Jimmy, and John as part of a vacation in San Diego and did loads of tourist things there. We returned via New Orleans, where the highlights included museums, the aquarium, and a sunset cruise on a Mississippi Riverboat.

Sam is having a great year at Penn State, where he plays drums with the top Jazz band and participates in a variety of other ensembles while maintaining excellent grades. His Jazz quartet does original compositions (see Sam's web site) and has been featured at several events. He now picks up paying gigs regularly and has several students. The highlight of the year (besides Charlotte) was a music convention at which he interacted with a variety of top musicians and worked for a cymbal company. A joint recital early this year (shared with a flutist) was well received. Rebecca is also doing well, recently moving from suburban Chicago to the downtown area.

Friends Riva and Carl married. We've been to myriad music events, gone out to dinner around town with various friends, gone hiking, and have generally enjoyed each others company. Favorite plays for the year included the "The Frogs", "Guantanamo", and "Avenue Q". We also enjoyed Norm Chaitin's latest offering, "The S.S. Jose Menendez Reunion". Favorite movies included "The Triplets of Belleville" and "The Incredibles". One entertainment highlight was "Tom Otterness on Broadway", a witty sculpture gallery that extended down Broadway from 60th Street ("See no Evil", located in front of the Time Warner building at Columbus Circle), to 168th Street ("DNA Chain" in front of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital). It took two afternoon's of walking to see and appreciate it all. Favorite's included "Frog Prince" (not shown), "The Trial" (presumably of the cat who ate the canary), and "Big Penny" (located up the block at 91st Street and Broadway). We can share some of this via pictures.

Hope you had a great year too.

Joan and Davis