xmascard 01: credits

• what a year...
• August 11 we took our nephew Vasken to New York with the Villanova summer NYC bus trip to see the sights, and later learned he was a bit more aware than us about what was going on in the line waiting for the up elevator at the WTC (notice his deliberate pose compared to our moving targets). I often wonder if the young girls who were selling these photos on the observation deck were already up there September 11 when so many things changed.
• like his pre-Desert Storm trip when few cared to fly, bob was out on a transatlantic flight to Rome (this time via London) a few weeks later for a conference, and then we both flew down to St Martin for our Tenth Anniversary vacation at Fall break shortly afterwards. somebody had to keep the airline industry going.
• on our annual Villanova NYC early december saturday bus trip this year we had wonderful weather in the 60s (note the shirtsleeves in the Rockefeller Center Skating Rink photo) and had a lovely lunch at one of the Le Pain Quotidien Belgian deli/bakery locations a few blocks north of bloomies on lexington, having been to one of the original Brussels locations with Jamila and Pascale in May. we then found the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue disturbingly empty of retail stores, but with nice christmas decorations.
• we missed the deadline this year for the first time since 1991 when no edition went out at all. pre-Christmas was just a bit more crazy this year when bob caught the worst sore throat he'd had since Freshman orientation at college in 1970. since the production process usually goes down to the wire in timing, any serious delay can derail it, and this did.
• as usual, putting together a card concept came late to the idea division at dr bob enterprises, but the seasons greetings (year end fundraiser) card from Witness for Peace came with just the right pair of lines to finally tie together preliminary thoughts into something appropriate to the circumstances of this particular season. Plan Columbia is the current US military adventure in South/Central America that this organization is warning about. They included a second quote from Eleanor Roosevelt which was also telling in the degree to which little had changed since she was moved to make it: "If we want a free and peaceful world, if we want to make desserts bloom and humankind grow to a greater dignity, we can do it."