Stonechat

Volume 1 | Issue 2 | May/June 1998

Family News

• Alex has been diagnosed with a rare inflammatory disorder called Henoch-Scholein Purpura. Mark and Maria are holding up pretty well and feel the doctors caught it early enough. Mark says, "In fact, Alex is doing really well. He should be back in daycare before long, probably some time next week at the latest, and most of the symptoms have cleared up. We'll have to monitor his condition with urine tests for a while longer, but he should make a full recovery with no long-term consequences. We have benefited from excellent treatment thanks to the Stanford Med School and from sheer luck that his case has been fairly mild." We're all thnking about you, Alex.
• Mark says he'll put our pictures on his web site so everyone who's on-line can see them in color -- great idea! However, we'll have to wait until next issue for the pictures and web address.
• Leonie turned 42 in April, but thinks she'll probably live through it!
• Clarence requested that someone calculate the geographical center of the Stone family for reunion purposes. The editorial offices of Stonechat are nothing if not responsive, so here it is! We wanted to be thorough in our analysis by considering a couple of variables:
  1. Do we say Valerie's in Cambridge or anticipate her being in Denver which would probably be more accurate for the time at which we might be meeting at this geographical center?
  2. Do we weigh calculations by total households or number of persons in the household?
  Anyway, the short version is: By working with the longitudes and latitudes of everyone's current and/or anticipated residences and evaluating them under the scenarios described, we come up with 12 locations (mostly in Illinois and Oklahoma) and the average of all the scenarios, Springfield, Missouri (the long version is available upon request). Clarence decided we should go to Aruba.

• Carolyn will be graduating from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on May 16, with her masters in civil engineering. Way to go, Carolyn!
• Andrea sent in copies of her business cards for distribution to everyone; they're enclosed. She and Chuck also report that they "got juried into one of the most prestigious guilds in the country... Piedmont Craftsmen Inc." Andrea started teaching again in April, she's preparing for a show in July, she just sent work to Finland for an exhibition at the University of Helsinki, and she has a one-man show set for November in Lausanne at the Decorative Arts Museum.
• Suzanne and Tim are expecting... kittens, that is! They're due in early May.
• Valerie reports that she's been in England since early October and that it's been a really good year. She really likes the professor she's working with -- "he's brilliant and productive AND nice and humble (a rare combination in academia)!" Valerie is working on trying to understand why people who damage their frontal lobes in head injuries have so many social behavior problems afterwards. Valerie reports that "Cambridge is a nice old city with lots of green space and the River Cam flowing through the middle." She and Melissa went to Ireland for St. Patrick's Day; a two-week stay in Scotland is scheduled for the end of June. Then back to the States and San Francisco for part of the summer and onto an assistant professorship at the University of Denver in August. Valerie actually sent in about a page of information, which as been "edited" due to space limitations, but she did mention something about watching Star Trek (so did Mary in her profile). The editorial offices suspect that the Trekkie-per-capita ratio in the Stone family is pretty high and would like everyone to please note their Trekkie status (I am a Trekkie; I am not a Trekkie) in their next news submissions.
• Al and Sandy have a new post office box number (see the mailing list).
• Colin called Leonie from school and told her he was suspended for destroying school property playing a joke on someone. Leonie was, of course, astounded as Colin gave her all the details. Then the Headmaster got on the phone and said, "April Fools!"
• Leslie's softball team has lost its last four games...
• David says he misses everyone.
• Margie and Bill departed on April 24 for eight days on the Delta Queen Cruise -- Memphis, Louisville, Cincinnati. On June 1, they depart for Bucharest, Romania. The cruise goes down the Danube to the Black Sea and back to Vienna; they end the trip with five days in Prague.

Meet the Family

Mark Alan Stone was born on December 1, 1959; his and Maria's wedding anniversary is March 17. Mark is an editor at O'Reilly & Associates; he received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Rochester in 1986. The family has one cat named Sonya (age 6). Mark likes backpacking, travel, and medieval history. His collections include "too many" books (science fiction, history, computer) and 3000+ hand-painted toy soldiers. His favorite book is Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny, his favorite movie is The Great Waldo Pepper starring Robert Redford, and his favorite historical figure is Ludwig Wittgenstein. Mark, Maria, and Alex think we should all come visit them because "the San Francisco Bay Area offers a stunning combination of cultural and natural attractions and the weather is great when we are not being tormented by El Nino." Mark is "undecided" about whether the universe is a friendly place.

Maria V. Stone was born on November 22, 1960; she is a psychologist at NASA Ames Research Center. Maria received her Ph.D. in psychology from UC Berkeley in 1992. She also likes backpacking and travel. Her favorite book is The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera; her favorite movie is The Decline of the American Empire.

Alex Leonard Stone was born May 15, 1993 and he loves anything related to trains! Alex's favorite book is Winnie the Pooh; his favorite move is Babe.

Mark adds, "We have finally graduated from an apartment to a house (rented, not owned, alas) and we do have room for visitors. And I really want Alex to know his extended family. Having Leonie's family visit last summer was great. We welcome more visitors."

Editor's Notes: Thank you for all the pictures you sent in; they will be returned with the next issue after they've been scanned. Also, one set of individual address labels has been enclosed which you may use for whatever purpose you'd like...
Your next news update is due June 25.