Dr. SETI's 2005 Family Holiday Letter

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2005 Family Holiday Letter

New Year's Eve

Dear extended family,

It's that time of year again. Here is our annual update on our activities, and those of our assorted offspring.

In addition to her teaching and administrative duties at New College, Erika and her dance troupe are Artists In Residence at San Francisco's Intersection for the Arts. Their new SETI-inspired show, now in development, is called Orbits: Notes from the Edge of Forever. It opens next Autumn, and we hope to be there for the premiere.

Andrew is still living in Berlin, where this year his building went condo and he purchased his Kreutzburg flat, so I guess he's putting down roots. He continues to tour all over Europe, and his latest musical project, Long Lost Relative, is making quite a splash. You can read (and hear) more about it on his long-lost-relative.com website.

Bryn is now a Junior at Mansfield University, where he continues as a Computer Science major. His grades, however, remain marginal. He professes a love of scuba diving, but can't find a way to fit that interest into his academic pursuits.

Aubrey is a Sophomore at Rochester Institute of Technology, successfully pursuing a degree in bioinformatics. He has been offered an internship for the coming summer, and is already talking about graduate school. University of Chicago presently tops his list, but he is also considering a new five-year BS/MS option at RIT.

Devin is in his last year at Williamsport Area High School, where this year he discovered a love of drama. He has been in one school play, and has already started rehearsals for a second. He has not yet narrowed down his choices for college, and is torn between Education and Engineering as possible majors. He is strong in math, and loves working with kids, but is still weighing his options.

Curran is also at Williamsport Area High School, as a Freshman in learning support classes. Academics continues to be a struggle for him. His mother and I long tried to motivate him with threats of his ending up in a group home, if he does not take control of his life. Since that didn't work, we now have a new tactic. We tell him that if he does not work harder, he'll end up having to live with us for the rest of his life. That seems to be getting his attention!

Erin, in seventh grade at Lycoming Valley Middle School, has yet to find his niche. He's uncommonly bright, but unmotivated (not at all an uncommon trait in this family!) Aubrey has been telling him that it's time for him to get serious about his studies -- we hope he'll listen to his older brother, because he doesn't seem inclined to listen to us!

Over the summer, Muriel took another course toward her Masters in Special Education. At this rate, she should finish grad school in time for retirement. She continues to substitute teach from time to time. This year, her most enjoyable stint was a week teaching the Gifted kids at Loyalsock Middle School. When she's not teaching, studying, or raising her kids, Muriel still pursues her interest in online fantasy/adventure gaming.

Paul's NASA research project through QorTek is drawing to a close next week, so, with no follow-on contracts in sight, he is transitioning toward semi-retirement in late January. He hopes this will give him time to continue his SETI efforts, and to go out on lecture tour from time to time (this year, he spoke twice in Italy, and made it to Japan, as well as his usual handful of Stateside speaking engagements). Paul continues as president of his Temple, is now vice-president of the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers, a director of AMSAT and The SETI League, and Principal Investigator for the Invitation to ETI initiative, so he will not be lacking in productive pursuits during his retirement years.

We are distressed by the ongoing US occupation of Iraq, but even more by the willingness of many Americans to give their government carte-blanche. We are perplexed by our tendency as a nation to give up our own civil liberties in the name of defending freedom. We continue to hope that our nation will come to its collective senses in 2006.

Wishing you all a year filled with peace, love and joy,

Paul, Muriel, and the kids

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