1994

I’m pleased to report some cool news from Mike Houston, whom I got curious about after I saw the Facebook group “I want Mike Houston to join Facebook” (which I’m happy to report he has now done); good timing, because he’s been up to an awful lot! For the past 12 years Houston has been working as an artist and a cabinetmaker in N.Y.C. In 1999 he co-founded Cannonball Press (http://cannonballpress.com), which he still co-runs. Based in Brooklyn, Cannonball Press publishes small black-and-white woodcuts as well as giant woodcut installations and performances. In December Houston and his business partner were named United States Artist Ford Fellows and were also featured in Juxtapoz magazine and were in The Washington Post this past January. “We presently have shows up at the Taubman Museum in Roanoke, Virginia, and the Northern Illinois University Museum of Art in Dekalb, Illinois. This past weekend we were printing our own version of the Bounding Billow, a ship’s newspaper, on board the USS Olympia in Philadelphia as part of Philahgrafika 2010—a printmaking triennial. Yes, we were pulling prints on board a ship built in 1892 on a press from about the same time in a blizzard. We’re heading to Copenhagen tomorrow for a show at Mohs exhibition space. But more important than all that—I’m getting married in May to a wonderful woman by the name of Alison Hart, whom I love dearly.”

http://cannonballpress.com

Also on the happiness front, Dr. Christine Carter, a happiness expert best known for her science-based parenting advice, has a new parenting book out, Raising Happiness: 10 Simple Steps for More Joyful Kids and Happier Parents. A sociologist and executive director of UC Berkeley’s Great Good Science Center, Christine also writes the blog Half Full: Science for Raising Happy Kids, (greatergoodparents.org). Christine strives to be a counterpoint to some of the more opinion-based parenting advice platforms out there; however, her newest book is as much about her personal life and her children as it is about science. A parent-to-parent tone and humorous, tell-all approach also make the science accessible and fun for parents. Christine is also a columnist for The Huffington Post and also has a private consulting practice near San Francisco helping families and schools structure children’s lives for happiness.

And now more happy news! I’ve been chatting with Lynn Webster on Facebook and was so intrigued by her status updates out on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, I contacted her to see what she was up to, and here it is:

“I was teaching kindergarten and first grade in Worcester, Massachusetts, when I met my wonderful husband, Jason Ben David. He is a hunter and a farmer and a carpenter. We have two daughters, Maple (6) and Ivy (4). I have been staying home with them on the farm we created here on our two acres, The Little Pond Farm. We have Boer goats, ducks, pigs, chickens, quail, pheasant, sheep and rabbits. Our kids have participated in every aspect of farm life. They’ve watched baby goats get born, seen eggs hatch, planted seeds, picked their own lunch from the back yard, built nest boxes, caught loose chickens. We raise almost all of our own organic meat year round and all of our organic vegetables over the summer. Every year we get a little closer to becoming self-sustained. This summer we have a booth at the farmer’s market so we have increased the size of our garden tenfold.” With her oldest entering kindergarten last fall Lynn also returned to teaching pre-K, so she has now taught every grade in early childhood.

And once again, don’t forget to mark your calendars for our upcoming reunion this June 18-20. Our reunion committee has been hard at work planning an amazing weekend and it is going to be a great get-together. For more information or to register online, visit www.dartmouth94.org.

dartmouth94.org

26 Irving Ave., Tarrytown, NY 10591; suzanne.fromer@alum.dartmouth.org

REUNION June 18-20