All my various activities...
So much going on despite the pandemic.
TOASTMASTERS: At our last meeting (May 5) it was my turn to lead the Table Topics. Since it was the 60th anniversary of Alan Shepard's historic suborbital flight, I didn't think twice about the theme. I just had to make the questions a bit wordier than "normal" because I wasn't sure how much the members of my audience might know about the Mercury program. Here are my questions:
1. Alan Shepard was born in the small town of Derry, NH. Around the time that he became the first U.S. astronaut in space, some people in Derry wanted to rename the town “Spacetown” to honor Shepard. My question to you is: If you were to change the name of a community where you’ve lived, either now or where you grew up or where you lived sometime in the past, what would you change it to and why?
2. Sometimes Alan Shepard liked to pull off stunts that were not quite allowed, like buzzing the Bay Bridge and Ocean City while stationed at Pax River and hitting two golf balls on the lunar surface. My question to you is: Have you ever done something that you weren’t supposed to do, but you did it anyway and nothing bad happened as a result?
3. NASA carefully managed the public image of the original Mercury Seven astronauts, including Alan Shepard. The astronauts also had an exclusive contract with Life magazine for access to their private lives and home lives, to make them seem like nice, proper All-American heroes. My question is: Should today’s celebrities keep as tight a lid on their private lives as the NASA astronauts did?
4. In the not too distant future, ordinary people might be able to go into space as “space tourists.” Some of these space tourists might be treated to a suborbital ride, something like Alan Shepard’s, that takes people up into space for a few minutes of weightlessness and then splashes down in the ocean. My question is: If money were no object, would you go on a short space trip like that? Why or why not?
CHURCH: I've been recruited to join the board of trustees once again. I served as a trustee back in the 2010-2011 (I think) church year, but that was to fill the last year of an unexpired term after somebody had resigned. Now it looks as if I'm in for a full three-year term. I'm a bit nervous about it, but 22 years after signing the congregational membership book, I really *should* do my part to keep the church running.
SCA: I worked on a linen camicia (Italian underdress) and entered it in the Virtual Highland River Melees competition for Italian undergarments. It wasn't quite finished, but mine was declared one of three winners and I'm getting a small gift in the mail (a goblet cover, I believe). I am also trying to get back into inkle weaving, although my early attempts don't look that polished. I really want to learn Baltic-style weaving, which is more complicated, so I really need to nail the basics before pushing into advanced topics.
HOME LIFE: The boy toy got his second Pfizer shot on May 4th, and after a day of feeling achy all over, he's recovered. To celebrate, we day-tripped to Winterthur on Friday. Lovely place indeed, and the gardens were at Peak Azalea. Before going to the mansion, we had lunch at a place called Johnnie's Dog House and Chicken Shack, which turned out to be right across the (wide and busy) street from the First Unitarian Church of Wilmington. The clouds started to roll in during our trip, but the rain held off until the drive home. This entry was originally posted at https://luscious-purple.dreamwidth.org/272450.html. Please feel free to comment either here or there.
TOASTMASTERS: At our last meeting (May 5) it was my turn to lead the Table Topics. Since it was the 60th anniversary of Alan Shepard's historic suborbital flight, I didn't think twice about the theme. I just had to make the questions a bit wordier than "normal" because I wasn't sure how much the members of my audience might know about the Mercury program. Here are my questions:
1. Alan Shepard was born in the small town of Derry, NH. Around the time that he became the first U.S. astronaut in space, some people in Derry wanted to rename the town “Spacetown” to honor Shepard. My question to you is: If you were to change the name of a community where you’ve lived, either now or where you grew up or where you lived sometime in the past, what would you change it to and why?
2. Sometimes Alan Shepard liked to pull off stunts that were not quite allowed, like buzzing the Bay Bridge and Ocean City while stationed at Pax River and hitting two golf balls on the lunar surface. My question to you is: Have you ever done something that you weren’t supposed to do, but you did it anyway and nothing bad happened as a result?
3. NASA carefully managed the public image of the original Mercury Seven astronauts, including Alan Shepard. The astronauts also had an exclusive contract with Life magazine for access to their private lives and home lives, to make them seem like nice, proper All-American heroes. My question is: Should today’s celebrities keep as tight a lid on their private lives as the NASA astronauts did?
4. In the not too distant future, ordinary people might be able to go into space as “space tourists.” Some of these space tourists might be treated to a suborbital ride, something like Alan Shepard’s, that takes people up into space for a few minutes of weightlessness and then splashes down in the ocean. My question is: If money were no object, would you go on a short space trip like that? Why or why not?
CHURCH: I've been recruited to join the board of trustees once again. I served as a trustee back in the 2010-2011 (I think) church year, but that was to fill the last year of an unexpired term after somebody had resigned. Now it looks as if I'm in for a full three-year term. I'm a bit nervous about it, but 22 years after signing the congregational membership book, I really *should* do my part to keep the church running.
SCA: I worked on a linen camicia (Italian underdress) and entered it in the Virtual Highland River Melees competition for Italian undergarments. It wasn't quite finished, but mine was declared one of three winners and I'm getting a small gift in the mail (a goblet cover, I believe). I am also trying to get back into inkle weaving, although my early attempts don't look that polished. I really want to learn Baltic-style weaving, which is more complicated, so I really need to nail the basics before pushing into advanced topics.
HOME LIFE: The boy toy got his second Pfizer shot on May 4th, and after a day of feeling achy all over, he's recovered. To celebrate, we day-tripped to Winterthur on Friday. Lovely place indeed, and the gardens were at Peak Azalea. Before going to the mansion, we had lunch at a place called Johnnie's Dog House and Chicken Shack, which turned out to be right across the (wide and busy) street from the First Unitarian Church of Wilmington. The clouds started to roll in during our trip, but the rain held off until the drive home. This entry was originally posted at https://luscious-purple.dreamwidth.org/272450.html. Please feel free to comment either here or there.