Dear Friends and Family,

The beginning of 1998 is only hours away and have been thinking of what a strange year 1997 has been for me. Career has been quick exciting. Personal life has been quite mixed. Financially a mess. And this upcoming year promises many changes as well.

On the home front things seem quiet for the moment. Rowan is beautiful, clever, strong and loving. He is a joy. His new favorite thing is kissing. He greets us with kisses and even kisses his rocking horse. He has the occasional cold, but he is a healthy and strong child. With the help of our parents, we were able to buy some great new toys for Yule. We got Rowan a Brio (wooden) train set, a little scooter, and some wooden puzzles. He loves them. He yells "choo-choo" as he plays with his trains. He loves puzzles and games and gets quite frustrated with new challenges but keeps trying - over and over again - until he figures them out.

Of course, we only have Rowan half the time. (Two evenings and every other weekend.) Tina is still hostile sometimes, but it is erratic and she is civil more often now. At least she is still on her medication and has a job. I hope things get better.

Troy is doing very well. They started him on a new medication last summer and he is now more than six months seizure free. He is heading into his last semester of his BA and expects to complete the Geology degree in May. He is studying for the Graduate Record Examinations and will be applying to Masters programs in Geology in northern California.

Lon is also applying to graduate programs in northern California. He aced the GREs with scores in the 96 percentile. He is applying to Masters in Counseling Psychology. Though his future looks good, his present hasn't been. Besides the stuff with Tina, he lost in job in November. He has yet to find a new one except of a couple days of temp work here and there. That means we are pretty bad off in that area.

Our coven continues to be a source of comfort and inspiration. We renamed ourselves "Cauldron of Dreams." This year for Yule we hosted an all night celebration with a midnight ritual and a singing up the sun. I even made Yule King and Queen costumes for the ritual. It was fun and beautiful. There is such comfort in the symbolism of waiting through the longest night of the year with those you love and celebrating the return of the light.

Over the holidays I also took a break from academic work and did some sewing. I love to make beautiful things for people I love. Although I did make a couple gifts for covenmates, I also finally made some things for myself. (Something I rarely do these days.) Nearly four years ago I bought myself some dark purple velvet and black silk to make a cape - and it sat in a box. I finally made myself the most stunning cape I have ever made. I love it and can't wait to find somewhere to wear it. I also made myself a pair of Indian style pants from some lovely fabric I bought in Amsterdam. I enjoyed the chance to work with my hands and made something fun.

Career wise, I can't keep up but it is all going very well. I presented papers in Sept. at the Lavender Languages conferences and Nov. at the American Anthropological Association meetings - both in Washington DC. My work was very well received and a met a lot of people whose work I admire. I will be organizing panels of papers (with another Ph.D. student doing similar work) for both conferences next year. Meanwhile, I am in different stages on five collections. Looking Queer is in the galley stage and I am doing the last corrections before it goes to print. It is scheduled for release in June. The special edition of the Journal of Lesbian Studies is complete being sent to press. I am receiving the last of the papers from contributors this week for the special edition of the Journal of Homosexuality. Cathy and I will begin reviewing proposals next week for contributions the "Queer and Disabled" issue of the Journal of Lesbian, Bisexual and Gay Identity. And Trans/Formations is nearly done, but Lon and I still need to work on some rewrites with authors and find a few more pieces. Whew! That means that if all goes well I should have five collections printed within the next couple years!

On my individual research, my pilot studies went well this summer and I am in the process of having all the tapes transcribed. (Only a ¼ done so far.) Meanwhile, I have been busy writing grants for the dissertation research phase next year. I have applied for the Wenner-Gren Fellowship (Anthropology), the Social Science Research Council Fellowship in sexuality studies, and the National Science Foundation fellowship for Cultural Anthropology. My last grant went out this week. I also finished my dissertation proposal for my department and will be defending it early this semester. I will also be doing my Comprehensive Evaluations this semester. Which means two treatise on everything I should know about my chosen topic areas "anthropology and the body" and "American culture." Those will probably tie me in knots most of the summer. If all goes well, I hope to complete all coursework, comps and get funding to head off to San Francisco.

So that is our plan. Troy and Lon get accepted to good graduate programs and I get a research grant. Then we all pack up and move back to the Bay Area to live the next two years (at least). Where they will complete their Masters and I will complete my research and write my dissertation. By the next millenium I will hopefully have my Ph.D., the guys Masters degrees and all working in our chosen fields. Wish us luck. We will need it. J

I have appreciated the words of encouragement from some of you. I also enjoy hearing what you have been up do. I hope all your holidays have been wonderful.

Love,
Dawn