Soffen Fund

The NASA Academy Alumni Association is going through a fundraising drive for the Dr. Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Fund for the Advancement of Space Science Education. The various NASA Academy classes are competing to see which group will donate more money to the fund. I have made my donation, but there is no real hope of my NASA Academy class (MSFC 1996) gathering the most money.

In lieu of "winning" I thought I would help spread the word about the Soffen Fund and its mission. From the website:

"Throughout his life, Gerald Soffen dedicated himself to fostering the growth of young space scientists and engineers. The Dr. Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Fund for the Advancement of Space Science Education was established to continue Jerry's commitment to the future of space by supporting motivated students in the fields of space science and engineering.

Since the fall of 2002, the Soffen Fund has provided students pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees in space-related sciences and engineering with Travel Grants. The Travel Grants enable awardees to attend a professional conference at which they present their research.

Over the next several years, the Fund intends to offer its first set of $25,000 Astrobiology Graduate Fellowships."

If you wish to support this worthy cause, tax-deductable donations can be made at the donation site.

May Day

Today was beautiful, it is nice to see the onset of Spring. Happy May Day.

Sorry for no updates, but I have been working some long hours and I have my last final exam on Thursday. Soon it will be over!

For anyone who is interested, I now have a Facebook profile. Facebook is a social networking web site. It seems pretty popular as I set up the account about 24 hours ago and I already have about 70 legitimate friends. 30 of my fellow 2007 ISU SSP Classmates are networked there.

My friend Ronnie, has started a new blog to share his share his fiction. Please check out O'Toole's Pub.

More Soon.

Down and Out in California

Greetings from California.

I am out here for business, but I have lots of friends out on this coast. Unfortunately, I am holed up in my hotel room trying to get things done. I have work, homework, and NASA Academy work, all which needs to be done ASAP.

I am here until Wednesday night, at which point I am taking the red-eye back to the East Coast to participate in an all-day NASA Academy meeting.

I can't wait until things slow down, so I can breathe and have some fun and relax.

On the 24 February, we have made a commitment to go to our favorite game store, the Family Game Store in Savage Mill, Savage, MD. They have open gaming every Saturday night. Everyone is welcome, drop me a line if you can come, the more the merrier. If you can't... play a game in our honor.

Quick Update

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I have been a bit flooded recently. The NASA Academy selection process is well underway, and I am busy coordinating over 50 people across the country along with several other time sensitive projects.

The news on my friend Joe isn't great. Please send him your prayers and good thoughts. He has a very difficult fight ahead of him.

As may be evidenced by the fact that I am talking about my workload, my health has been improving. With the new medicine, my coughing is much better... but it got worse before it got better. Very early Saturday morning I almost ended up in the hospital. We avoided the trip when I finally drifted off to sleep after coughing for about 4 hours incessantly. With all that coughing, I now have a pulled muscles in my sides.

Last night I was having a bit of trouble sleeping so I finished "The Bonesetter's Daughter" by Amy Tan. I really liked it. In some ways, it was two different stories, but weaved together well.

This weekend will be spent getting caught up on all the homework that has been languishing since I have been sick.

Stay warm, and if you are somewhere where there is snow... throw a snowball at someone you love.

Hack, Hack, Hack

Still coughing, over and over and over. Last night I finished my "I am exhausted but I can't sleep so I will read this book for a bit." It was Storm Front by Jim Butcher. The first Harry Dresden book. I liked it a lot.

Tonight I am up late working on some NASA Academy work that needs to get done. It drives me crazy, but I am often most alert between 11:00 PM and 2:00 AM. It is obnoxious when you want to have anything approaching a "normal job" or a "normal life". It also doesn't work well when your husband wakes up at 6:00 AM.

Oddly enough... I am starting to feel worse... so I am going to bed.