welcome to the new and improved home of

w w w . v i r t u a l m a n d a l a . c o m

(My little way of staying in touch ...)





12/05. Merry Christmas from Alaska! Hard to believe we've been back here for less than 6 months. It's been a busy time, but lots of fun. We're both staying busy and enjoying the Alaska winter. I've been working a lot, but on really interesting cases and with great people. My shoulder has kept me from doing any of the typical Alaska winter activities, so Terry has been doing enough of that for both of us. Who knew he'd grow as addicted to skiing as he is to kayaking. Indeed, who could have possibly imagined...? But life is good here on the last frontier. I've posted a new link (see 9/05 entry, below) to photos from a camping trip this fall in Denali National Park. How can you not want to come visit now? More photos, etc. as we take them, and for more day-to-day news, drop me a line or check me out on my blog.

10/05: Check it out -- I'm a published author!

9/05: boy has it been a long time since i updated my website! so much has happened! for starters ... terry and i are back in Alaska! we moved up in June, and are loving it! I'm working for a private lawfirm -- small by CA standards, but one of the larger AK firms -- that specializes in union-side labor law and representing municipal entities. Interesting work and it's keeping me busy. Unfortunately, I've also been kept busy by 2 major surgeries in 4 months. Both were shoulder surgeries ... first a more routine rotator cuff surgery, in which they found severe bone disease, leading to surgery # 2. It's been a wild experience. But fewer than 3 weeks after the third surgery, I feel great and like this procedure (relatively experimental ... known as an "interpositional arthroplasty" ... implanting cadavar tissue to replace my missing cartilage) may actually do the trick. "The trick," at this point, is avoiding shoulder replacement surgery, so I'm really hoping this works. Thus far it's been incredible. So that's been some unexpected upheaval. But life is good.

I went to Denali Nat'l Park last weekend and took lots of wildlife photos, now online at ofoto! But here's a taste:









1/04 : Alright ... since I started my blog I've given up trying to post any kind of regular updates on this site. Maybe someday I'll find the time to start keeping up with both. (Time? Suddenly I have very little of it. I'm working, spinning, dyeing, knitting and now (occasionallY) teaching knitting. Plus trying to rehab my shoulder to avoid a second surgery. And occasionally I spend time with Terry. I'm having a blast, but also running myself a little ragged....) All of which is to say that if you want to know what's new with me, check the blog. Or drop me a line. If you're looking for photos, check the links below. Here's a little photo of our xmas card, though.


Huzzah!
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visitors have stopped by!




Since you're here, why not BROWSE THROUGH MY DIGITAL PHOTO ALBUM:

Our O'Foto Wedding album -- REMINISCE!
Pics from our fabulous honeymoon in romantic canada
Building Santa's Little Helper in our old apartment.
kayaking in Baja (a.k.a Cheryl's encounters with deadly desert creatures.
Brooke's Weddingin Minneapolis.
Nan's Wedding
And, for the nostalgic, ... here are:
Alaska winter pictures -- see my pet moose, the big snowstorm, and more!
pictures from my big trans-Alaska camping trip in summer '01 - and (my favorite)
pictures from our drive from San Francisco to Anchorage!
Random pictures of Terry and me on some of our earliest adventures:
our trip to Hawaii! (See the NaPali coast, the waterfall from fantasy island, the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific," and Terry's floppy hat....);
MORE Hawaii Pics!; and
my very first outing with Team Adventure -- camping on Angel Island.
And don't forget to see my gallery o' knitting wonders!




Other goodies: A while ago I added a page of my favorite quotations from all kinds of sources. Check it out. Maybe you'll see something you like. (Or something that makes you go, Hmmm.)



Finally ... some links. Here are some of my favorite places and folks on the web:

social policy and activism information/resources misc. people and places
The Innocence Project -- a nationwide network of amazing lawyers and law students working to free the wrongfully convicted. Public Agenda -- "a nonpartisan, nonprofit public opinion research and citizen education organization;" lots of helpful information and resources on any policy topic you can think of. Macalester College -- a small but lively liberal arts school in the midwest
national center on poverty law -- browse 30 years of case reports by topic
christian science monitor the northfield mt hermon school
The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) Through education, policy research and advocacy, CLASP seeks to improve the economic security of low-income families with children and secure access for low-income persons to our civil justice system. Education Week -- American Education's Online Newspaper of Record The Onion: "America's Finest News Source."
Best election headline thusfar: "Hundreds of Republicans Injured in Rush to Discredit Kerry"
The Children's Defense Fund Slate Magazine
The Center for School Change at the University of Minnesota's Humphrey Institute -- working with educators, parents, business people, students, policy-makers and other concerned people throughout the United States to increase student achievement; raise graduation rates; improve student attitudes toward learning, their schools, and their communities; and strengthen communities through building stronger working relationships among educators, parents, students and other community members. National Public Radio -- thank God for noncommercial news, talk, and entertainment programming.... The Brunching Shuttlecocks! -- home to such informative diversions as "Impotence Drug or Italian Sportscar?"; "Christian Heavy Metal Band or Star Trek Episode?"; and "Are you smarter than Miss America?"
The National Center for Youth Law The Anchorage Daily News epicurious an amazing resource for cooks (read: you, too, can make molten chocolate cake!)
The Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice at the Humphrey Institute -- undertaking research to guide and empower policy makers and community leaders in promoting solutions to the problems of racism and racial and ethnic inequality.   harper's index food tv -- another good foodie resource (and home to KITCHEN STADIUM!)


If you want to get in touch with me, I'm at cheryl [at] virtualmandala.com