My oldest son Matt graduated from SUNY Stony Brook this weekend. The family gathered to celebrate, and spent some time in NYC, too.


Obligatory Family Shot at Matt's Place (From L to R: Doug, Me, Matt, Tim)



Matt with Departmental Administrator: "Yes, Matt, you're really on the list!"



Matt With His Mentor, Gary



Matt's Work on Display: "Dad, seriously, rein her in or I'll kill her."


What I Was Pointing At


The Artist and His Art


The Proud Grandparents (My folks, Win and Thelma White, Matt, Doug's Mom Frances Flewelling)



The Picture His Grandmother Insisted Upon. Matt, thinking either "OK, now what?" or "I'm going to kill everyone if they take one more posed picture!" Probably both.


Tim: "Yeah, he has an art degree, but I shall rule the world!"


Men In Stripes In New York


Tim & Aunt Sue (my kid sister)


On The Prowl In NYC


"That's right, man. I got a BA in Studio Art. I am better than you and the world is my oyster." (Just kidding. He's very modest)


So that's one, but keep buying those books, folks. Tim has two years to go and grad school is being considered. Help!

Flew into Islip yesterday for oldest son Matt's graduation from Stony Brook. Spent much of today collecting other assort relatives from assorted modes of transportation. Toured the art building where Matt has been living--literally-- right down to the couch in the lounge he's slept on more often than in his apartment.

He's a very good photographer, specializing in industrial landscapes and nudes, the latter he tries to give the various series a twist , an edge. He also likes printmaking, and did some nice work there, and with mezzotints. Some neat stuff! He was dismissive of his oil painting class, saying he had not talent for it, but I nagged him into showing us the studio and then demanded to see the work he was planning to throw in the dumpster. Granted, I see them with the eyes of a mother, but there were several pieces that I really like, including some self portraits, that will soon hang in Casa Flewelling. Grandmothers doing battle over some of the other pieces.

Both sets of grandparents here, and younger son Tim. My sister "Aunt Sue" coming in on Saturday for the Matt Flewelling Tour of NYC.

So far we've spent hours collecting everyone, played a round of cribbage (my father-in-law and I got trounced by Mom and Matt, who gloat) and toured the SB campus. Having some down time to rest up. Jet lag's a bitch.

Airplane story. Flew Southwest Airlines, our current favorite. The flight from Ontario, CA to Vegas was bumpy. On the Vegas leg we snagged some good seats at the front, but the take off was held up because a mom and her little girl couldn't find two seats together. The stewardess announced that she needed some volunteers to change seats with them. No one spoke up, so Doug and I offered and ended up split up, and me in a middle seat, which I don't really care for, but that was ok. We dozed most of the way, anyway. I ended up sitting between some Long Islanders on their way home. The guy on the aisle was pleasant, and so was his wife who changed seats with him midflight so he could sit with their teenage daughters. They'd just been in San Francisco, and loved it as much as I did, so we traded travel stories.

The business man guy in the window seat was a sf, fantasy fan, and so I gave him one of my bookmarks with the titles, then we both passed out. Later, as we were getting ready to leave the plane, he thanked me again for the bookmark and said he was looking forward to finding my books. I grinned and said, "Well, when you're standing there with them in the bookstore, you can tell people you slept with the author." He looked like he thought he couldn't have heard me right. I winked, and then he cracked up.

;-)

For those of you who know my husband:

I am delighted to announce that, subsequent to his two year review, Doug received glowing recommendations and recognition at every level, and has been promoted to Associate Professor! He will also be taking on the departmental directorship this summer.

Hooray!

Lynn :-)

Re: Icon Futurama's Prof. Farnsworth is Doug's alter ego.


Farnsworth/Doug: "Bad news, everyone! You're not good enough to go on your next mission/schedule your defense date."

Leela/Grad students: "Why? Says who?"

Farnsworth/Doug: "Because. And says me!"

Or:

Professor Bubblegum Tate (senior lecturer of physics at Globetrotter U)/Graduate student presenting GIS project proposal: "Now look here, Prof. [He draws some diagrams on a board.] I think we got ourselves an excess of Chronitons in the subatomic interstices."

Farnsworth/Doug, after listening to said student GIS project proposal: "Something involving that many big words could easily destabilize Time itself!"

Hi all and Happy 2008!

Left right after Christmas for a family trip to San Francisco and Monterey. Had a fantastic time, including jaunts to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, the SF Museum of Modern Art, and--at long last--the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Saw not one but two kinds of otters, and they were all awake for a change. We're all aquarium enthusiasts and MB is one of the best in the US. Also had dinner with dear friend abearius and his friend Bill the Writer. Abearius and I have been friends since high school, but since then lived at great distances from each other. He finally got to meet my sons, who he's been hearing about all these years, and they fianally got to meet the friend they've been hearing about all these years. It was a great evening.

As we waited for our home plane last night however, I began to feel less than good, and am prostrate with a bad virus today. Y'know, you never appreciate how many joints you have in your hands and feet until they all hurt. Ick.

Dateline: Fredonia, NY

It's been really great being back east in the fall. Saratoga is a beautiful town, and dangerously good to shop in. The color has long since peaked, but there's still enough to be pretty, and the cold air is nicely bracing. For once, I brought the right coat.

The convention was a mix of stress and success. Lots of good friends found (thanks for dinner and a great conversation, Becca, Lissa, and Jill :-) and hung out with. Good meetings with agent and editor. Got some edits done on Shadows Return. Most excellent room mate surri a pleasure as always, and more.

The crowd seemed a bit smaller this year, and the dealer's rooms and art show continue to dwindle. Which is sad, as I came in at the end of the Glory Days. Publishing has been in a long decline since I joined the business (not my fault, mind you) and things get tighter every year. Once again, I count my blessings that I have survived, and that all my books are still in print and still selling, when most of the people I started out with are gone. Everybody left has plenty to bitch about, but hey, we're still here, when careers are often measured in months, or even weeks.

On Saturday I found b'day presents for son #2, then successfully navigated from Saratoga to the Fredonia/Dunkirk area, where said son is in university. Along the way I drove through lovely rolling, wooded countryside, saw hawks and deer, and road signs for such curious places as "Petrified Sea Garden Road" and "Boy Haven Road".

Reaching my destination around 9 pm, I went first to the motel I'd found on line and made a two night reservation at.

Calling it a run down double for the Bates Motel (from "Psycho") would be a compliment, although the Hindi manager was very nice. Wait--- so was Norman. It was in a very sketchy section of Dunkirk where police cruisers glide by every ten minutes or so with the search light probing. My room's doors and windows didn't look very secure, the interior was clean but incredibly dingy, beat up, tacky, dank, and smelled funny. The bathroom still had 50's pink tile on the walls and a crackly flourescent rod over the sink that buzzed in the most depressing way. I spent some moments considering how to position luggage so that any thieves or rapists would fall over them and alert me to their presence. Seriously.

Son who knows the area arrived, took one look around, and declared that I was not staying. Paid for the night anyway, then fled to the Best Western. Slept soundly and gratefully.

Spent this afternoon being shown around the countryside. Beautiful views of Lake Erie and Chatauqua Lake, Amish countryside, and walked in some state parks. Chilly and overcast, which is a nice change for me. Some rain and hail, too. Ahhhhhh, nice to be back east.

Resting up now for taking Son 2 and his friends out to dinner. Off to Buffalo tomorrow to drop off rental car and have breakfast with a good friend, then winging off to SoCal. Loved it here. Anxious to get home. It's a nice balance.