1989

For those of you who missed it in Buzzflood, the class of 1989 has our very own jewelry designer to the stars. Sonya Ooten is based in Los Angeles and sells her handmade work around the country. Her clients include stars such as Cameron Diaz, and her jewelry has appeared on shows such as Friends. According to Buzzflood, each piece is "delicately hand-crocheted around thin gold wire and adorned with silk, stones and pearls." Her formal jewelry training began at Dartmouth but she learned Native-American beading and weaving techniques earlier in life when she visited her great-grandmother on a reservation in Washington State. After graduation Sonya worked with a master jeweler in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and costume work on Hollywood films followed. Sonya says, "With self-initiative, networking and a stick-with-it attitude,you can make it happen."

Andy Wells would probably agree. He and his wife, Loey, are selling their house in Portland, Oregon, putting their possessions in storage and taking their 8-year-old daughter Dylan out of school for a year and a half of travel. He writes, "We will start in Japan, travel to South Korea, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, India, Australia, New Zealand, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, then into eastern and western Europe. We've decided that taking a couple of two-week vacations per year won't allow us to put much of a dent in our long list of places we'd love to visit." They'd appreciate any advice or visits from fellow classmates while they're on the road, and you can follow their progress at http://only-planet.blogspot.com.

Ed Barker hit the road in June for his third annual fundraising bike trip for multiple sclerosis. The MS 150 Escape to the Lake is a two-day ride from Pittsburgh to Lake Erie. Ed raised more than $4,000 last year and close to $4,500 this year, despite some misadventures along the way. He writes: "Given the events I'm about to relate, however, I think a better name might have been Mistake at the Lake or perhaps Escapades on the way to the Lake." To make a long, long story a bit shorter, the bike shop didn't ship his bike and his flights into Pittsburgh were plagued by weather problems, delaying his arrival until 1:30 in the morning. Then, of course, his luggage didn't show up. At 6 a.m., after sleeping in a dorm room for a couple of hours, he greets the rest of his bike team and wishes them bon voyage. All of this sounds strangely like college. His luggage eventually surfaced, and Day 2 of the ride is more successful. "We have a beautiful ride through the countryside of northwestern Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. We serve as cheap Sunday entertainment for many Amish and Mennonite families watching from porches and windows on their day of sabbath. Overcast skies shield us from the sun for the first three hours of the ride. We eat lunch at 10:30 at mile 39. (Eventually) Dave's Team Biogen crosses the finish line in grand style. We are all three sunburned, tired and happy. At the end of the race—I got a nice reminder of why we do this ride—one of the women handing out medallions to each of the riders asked me why I did the ride. When I responded that I have four friends with MS and that it's fun to do, she responded, "Well, I have MS—and it makes a big difference to me, too."

Deep thanks to Ed for the extra effort.

5912 Aberdeen Road, Bethesda,MD 20817; jennifer.avellino.89@alum.dartmouth.org