1988

We live in stimulating times. Since February, I've opened up Facebook, Twitter and Last_FM accounts and am making great connections with old friends. We'll have to look for each other there.

I chatted with David Garrity while back online and you can find a lot of his TV interviews on YouTube. So on that note, if you have some interesting items you've posted on YouTube, send me the link, and I'll feature it next time. I'm so 2008, you're so 2000 and great. Seriously folks, try it. Otherwise, I'll look you up and grab the ones you're not proud of. There — after 20-plus years, I'm getting tough.

David Blaszkowsky was named one of the "100 most influential in finance" by Treasury and Risk magazine and was on Accounting Today's list of top 100 people. David is the director of the office of interactive disclosure at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

I also wanted you to know about Brent Koehler. After a bout with cancer (squamous cell carcinoma, confined to the left lymph nodes and left tonsil), Brent survived and is now preparing to get on with thriving. He discovered this March 6. By March 24, he had an operation and received radiation and chemo afterward. Did I mention the appendectomy he required a few months later? We visited Brent and family and saw the challenges that he faced, including swallowing and eating, as well as setbacks like the emergency appendectomy. I invite all of you to read his story at caringbridge.org/visit/brentkoehler. Brent has some great insights and reflections on the ordeal in his most recent journal entries. In September, he was working part time and said he was 90 percent off of most of his medications.

Our daughter Jamie started college at the University of Minnesota. She has a few majors/minors in mind and should have a great chance to pursue her desires. Rosemary and I are doing our thing, with the additional duty of missing Jamie.

Ok, so these notes were a bit silly and serious. Keep those cards and letters coming. Does anyone send those anymore? Don't forget to send me your holiday letters via e-mail. Don't worry about taking out the part about Aunt Edna's hemorrhoids if you don't have time to edit. How many times over 20-plus years have I used the word hemorrhoid in my class notes? I'll think of a prize.