·
Alexis
·
Theodore Yancy Bott
·
Maggie
Bott
·
Blythe Brown
·
Chris
Brown (née
Blackstone)
·
Garth
Brown
·
Grandpa
Brown
·
Grant
Brown
·
J.K.
Brown
·
Lew Brown
·
Linda
Brown
·
Maggie
Bush
·
Stacey
Cholakian
·
Chris
Coen
·
Eseme
·
Gypsie
Gies
·
Trey
Haddad
·
Jamie Heckert
·
Hannah
·
Ben Horowitz
·
Steve Houghton
·
Tammy & Olaf
Johnson
·
Barbara
Johnson-Haddad
·
Aunt
Ginnie
·
Troy Kellogg
·
Grandma
Ann
·
Barbara & Jerry
Korn
·
Anne
Kreag
·
Judi
Landry
·
Eric
Larson
·
Pat
Larson
·
Mark
Lawton
·
Judy Liebman
·
Rebecca Machin
·
Aunt
Muffy
·
Arrrr
·
Janet Reightler
·
Joyce
& Melvin
Soderstrom
·
Lisa Soderstrom
·
Louise Soderstrom
·
Tom Soderstrom
·
Rob
Sparks
·
Ben Stallings
·
Alice Swanberg
·
Andrew Todd Thomas
·
Alice Walkley
Alexis spent
Christmas
of
2006 in the hospital,
sick with a respiratory illness again. She's doing much better and this year should be skipping her own personal Christmas tradition in favor of spending Christmas playing with boxes and destroying wrapping paper.
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top
Theodore
Yancy
Bott was bemused this year to hear himself referred to as 'bicoastal.' That's taking the long view. His main place of residence was certainly once on the coast of a sea. During the Pennsylvanian Era the Pennsylvanian Sea grew to cover it and then retreated, passing his place along the way.
The sea may one day wash in again. But one shouldn't base one's retirement funds on such a long term investment.
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Maggie
Bott is technology resistant and
unable to
email her gossip in or see the results if she had. You know
that
never stops us from gossiping about someone, but in this case we're
going to let it stand as the gossip. She's always been very
nice
about sending us Christmas cards and getting them to us in a timely
manner. Ah-
hem.
We
are, of course, shamed into silence.
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list
· ^top
Blythe
Brown has a celebrity sponsor for the family weight loss contest. Asked what the celebrity is like,
Blythe responded "nice."
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list
· ^top
Chris
Brown (née Blackstone) married
Grant, honeymooned in Thailand, went hiking in Europe with her mom, and according to rumor managed to pry
Grant away from the big family gatherings for a little one-on-one Xmas action.
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Garth Brown had another year. He's almost certain of it. Most of it was quite a bit like the year before. He could get used to this.
But unlike previous years, he toasted his brother
Grant as best man at
Grant's wedding. He even managed to include in his toast the phrases "umbilical cord" and "sliding gizzard."
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Grandpa
Brown can still cut a rug, as he demonstrated at
Grant and
Chris' wedding this spring, and still makes an awe-inspiring applesauce cake.
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Grant
Brown had a busy year, with a wedding to Chris Blackstone, a honeymoon in Thailand, and the company he worked for being bought by Virgin. Not everyone gets married and gains his Virginity in the same year.
Grant writes: "I'm Grant Brown, and I approved this message."
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J.K.
Brown, somewhere along the line, became a very boring person. The purchase of a Miata utterly failed to change that.
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Lew
Brown has faced power struggles and political complications on the job this last year. At least he still has a job; not one of his fellow West Point graduates from his class year was able to say the same, as
Lew found out at a recent reunion.
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Linda
Brown is as enthusiastically helpful and involved in her children's lives as she has ever been. This past year she has been looking into housing on the East Coast so that she can be closer to her daughter, Blythe.
Keeping busy is obviously beneficial to Linda, as she's suddenly acquired a more youthful look. Her jawline has become better defined and the skin around her eyes has tightened considerably.
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Maggie
Bush is still winding down towards retirement. Next academic year she plans to be teaching only one class per semester. Meanwhile, she just celebrated her 70th birthday in August.
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list
· ^top
Stacey
Cholakian did not pay us a large enough bribe to be left out of this year's Plastic Tinsel Joy.
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Chris
Coen makes shortbread. Yum.
We have no idea why you'd wish to do so (Chris makes shortbread. Yum.), but rumor has it that Chris can be kept at bay by Umbellularia californica.
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Eseme
received her Masters and moved to Maine where she is working at L.L. Bean and plotting to overthrow the world, or at least find a library job where she can use her post-graduate education.
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Gypsie
Gies recently moved, but her blog is still at
http://blog.myspace.com/gypsygies. Does the prophecy really say that one day she will rule over the strange place known as IKEA? No.
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list
· ^top
Trey
Haddad reported on January 8th, 2007 that he
had
learned to be cautious about telling newsletter writers to "just make
something up."
‹back to list · ^top
Hannah is not speaking to the press at this time and could not be reached for comment on the rumor that she is, in fact, a darling little thing.
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Jamie
Heckert has been very busy with his move, as he and
Paul have just relocated to
Bournemouth in the south of England.
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list
· ^top
Ben Horowitz has been cleaning up after
Judy's forays into the realm of mad confectionery and, despite rumors that he is a giant, veggie-munching rabbit, eating his way through many of the results of her fiendish endeavors.
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list
· ^top
Steve Houghton fears
he is losing his will to game.
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list
· ^top
Fnord.
Tammy
& Olaf Johnson did not really make it into
PTJ this year. Fnord.
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Barbara
Johnson-Haddad knows the importance of taking Cheeses as your Personal Savory.
She is also acting as a private therapist for her kitty, helping poor kitty in her efforts to overcome bulimia.
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to list
· ^top
Aunt
Ginnie is
doing yoga down at
the senior center with people she's known most of her life, baking up a
storm, and reading voraciously -- particularly the mysteries
of
Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb.
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list
· ^top
Troy Kellogg will not be bested by any mere tile surface. This year he felt called upon to prove it. He emerged triumphant!
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list
· ^top
Grandma
Ann is still charming and lovely and, from the expression on
Grandpa Brown's face, a delightful dance partner.
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list
· ^top
Barbara
& Jerry Korn have been spending a good deal of their year cozied away together.
Barbara writes:
"In Maine on December 6th we are in deep freeze. We consider it a
good day to get up, get out, get the New York Times, and read "The Night
Before Christmas" to four year olds who haven't heard it. Proselytizing for
the kids to ask for books. Haven't heard "what are they?" yet but feel a
time is coming. Oddly, the old tales still arrest attention - of a sort.
"Current tree is a frame of green coat hangers 2 feet tall, stuffed
with pieces of evergreen, surrounded with four strings of small lights. Easy
up, easy down, no tree lost."
‹back to list · ^top
Anne
Kreag desperately needs to be kidnapped by someone who will sit her down with a newspaper in front of an overpriced cappuccino in a pretentious café (not St*rbucks) and keep her there for several hours. Anyone who lives in the East Lansing area and is interested in the job should apply to the editor for an interview. No morning people need apply.
‹back to list · ^top
Judi
Landry was lively,
stubborn, and determined
to enjoy her life on her own terms. She was
always eager to try new things, go new places, and enjoy her
independence to the greatest extent possible, whether it was in her
Thunderbird in her
younger days or her motorized wheelchair more recently.
She
was also more than willing to help
others, dedicating
her time and energy whenever she could lend a hand.
Fortunately
for
Garth,
that included child
care. She had considered him "family" since
the days when she was changing his diapers, taking care of him while
his mother
was overwhelmed with the new, hectic challenges of caring for a child
with
disabilities.
Unfortunately,
her stubborn independence and
desire to
always be giving rather than receiving kept her isolated when she was
ill. She just
wanted
to be alone when she wasn't at her best. So when we didn’t hear from
her in the fall of 2006, we were sure that she wasn’t doing as well as
she could
be. But we took comfort in knowing that
she was
with family members who loved her, who were caring for her.
It
turns out that in
August of 2006
Judi
had
hit a
curb at
the wrong angle and fell from her chair, breaking her hip.
Since
then,
Judi's
niece had been asking her
for her friends' contact
information,
but
Judi
had remained adamant that she
would
contact people when she felt better.
She never
recovered.
The injury set off a series of medical difficulties
resulting in her death on Christmas Eve of 2006. We
are told that she was determined to make
it to Christmas Day. She
almost did.
Her
niece was able to eventually track us down after
she received the
Christmas present we’d sent. Apparently towards the end Judi was not coherent enough to give contact information.
We would
like
to encourage
people to keep an updated address book accessible to loved
ones in case of unforeseen circumstances.
Judi is survived by a wide variety of people who loved her and stray cats she loved.
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list
· ^top
Eric
Larson is being a remarkably good sport about once again being used as the basis for a Santa Claus picture. He thinks it's his build. Really, it's his eyebrows and the twinkle in his eyes. Oh, and the outfit. Mustn't forget the outfit.
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list
· ^top
Pat
Larson has relatives just about everywhere California had fires this year, but the ones who were evacuated all found their homes standing when they went back.
She wishes you all the very merriest and best.
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Mark
Lawton has
learned
about posing with other people's babies and cats to "cute up" his photos. Next we expect him
to track down
some puppies and perhaps even rainbows. Ladies, he's once
again
on the market.
(Cat and
baby not included. Offer good only while supplies
last.
Click thumbnail to see larger photo.)
Without the living props, of course, he has to rely on his fantastic taste in hats.
(Click thumbnail to see larger photo.)
Photos of Mark are the property of Mark Lawton, © 2007, all rights reserved.
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list
· ^top
Judy Liebman recently took up wreaking havoc with sugar. No confectionery complication has been beyond her reach, as she's ruthlessly produced chocolates and caramel, decorated cakes, and nearly overwhelmed her kitchen with a mountain of fudge. Gingerbread men are said to run screaming at the sight of the gleam in her eyes.
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Rebecca
Machin is taking some time to produce beautiful things and sharpen her weapons skills. Never let the shy smile fool you into thinking that she is not as potentially deadly as she is lovely.
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Aunt
Muffy is an expert Christmas newsletter writer. Is she secretly the voice behind
Plastic Tinsel Joy? Our sources say she is simply the inspiration for it.
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Arrrr
has discovered
the concept of personal property, but has yet to extend that concept to
the notion that other people may have personal property as well.
It is, we are told, developmentally common for a child of her
age.
And
people laughed when we said that with a name like 'Arrrr,' she'd be a
perfect pirate.
She is said to be bright in her classes and learning to spell despite our help.
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Janet
Reightler's oldest daughter,
Tara, is getting married on the Isle of Wight.
Janet is driving herself into a frenzied panic over it.
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to list
· ^top
Joyce
& Melvin Soderstrom have embraced some
changes. Melvin
shaved off his combover. Joyce found a pair of shoes that she
believes are as comfortable as going barefoot.
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to list
· ^top
Lisa
Soderstrom quit smoking in February. And she writes:
"My hubby re-built a beautiful home for me with a fire place. Now we can snuggle, if I can just get him away from the computer long enough to get him in front of the fire place with a glass of wine.
"I have added to the family with a cute little blue parakeet named Percy and a cat named Sally, second generation from her mother Gracie, which we still have. Tom really doesn't notice anything new for at least a few weeks, but then he can't say 'no.' I go around rescuing animals from those who abandon their pets. Tom at least understands that.
"About the smoking, I can actually breath again. Yeah!!!! I'm glad I quit. Now I can have more fun with Tom and our granddaughters."
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to list
· ^top
Louise
Soderstrom
passed away shortly after midnight on
New Year's Day. She was in her mid seventies. Her
cause of
death, as she would tell you if she were here, was nobody's business
but her own.
Her loved ones take
comfort in
the knowledge
that she is no longer suffering. They are certain that she is in a
better place.
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to list
· ^top
Tom
Soderstrom is plotting ways to lash his home on top of a raft made of empty barrels and take it through the Northwest Passage so that he can move to California.
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list
· ^top
Rob
Sparks continues
to
travel and to plot to take over the... retirement condo where his dad
lives in Florida, if his dad can wait for the next 16 years to sell it
so
Rob will
be old enough to buy. As
Rob noted, that's assuming it's not blown away by a hurricane or washed away by rising sea levels due to global warming.
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Ben Stallings writes that he "spent the year hoping to build a hostel at Abundance
Ecovillage in Fairfield, Iowa, which everyone in town seems to agree is
a great idea, but if wishes were horses he would have to build a stable
instead. More to the point, if wishes were $1,000 donations the hostel
would have been built. As it is, the project is on hold, at least for
the winter, as
Ben earns some money and wrests his work ethic back from
the lotus-eating Fairfield lifestyle. He developed a number of software
tools this year in PHP and MySQL which were as exciting as they weren't
lucrative.
"Ben spent a good deal of time traveling this year in anticipation of
spending most of next year behind a desk. He went to weddings on both
coasts, accompanied his parents on a business trip to Singapore, and
visited a number of women he had met online. One of these prospects has
turned into a full-blown romance, and he now jumps at every opportunity
to visit Omaha. It seems love is not only blind, but geographically
challenged."
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list
· ^top
Alice
Swanberg is said to be at the center of a maelstrom of mystery, intrigue, and a host of other words.
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list
· ^top
Andrew
Todd Thomas reads
Evil Inc. every day. He's also been reading up on MS SQL Server 2005. Is there a theme?
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list
· ^top
Alice
Walkley lost her husband this year. It has not been an easy year for her. Anyone who knows how to contact her is encouraged to get that info to
Plastic Tinsel Joy.
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list
· ^top
