Happy New Year! It’s sort of getting colder in California, but not like back East, where I see pictures of the leaves turning in Hanover and Dan Parish splitting wood with his dad for what must be a wood-burning stove.

I caught up briefly with Libby Carrier Doran, who saw one of the many Facebook ads our company has out there (our user acquisition maven is quite good) and got to catch up with her. From Libby: “Life in Minneapolis is terrific. We relish the four seasons, and fall this year has been incredible—70s and sunny until this week. It’s unheard of. Hockey season is firing up, which makes me smile. Our baby—first grade, total surprise caboose—will march to a different drummer. His sport this year is hip-hop dance.”

Kris Moller Henley has been in England for 25 years now—she lives in Guildford. Kris writes, “How refreshing to be only one time zone away from one of my oldest friends, Rob Lasser, who now lives in Basle, Switzerland. My daughters and I spent Thanksgiving 2014 with him and his family, and Rob returned the favor by making sangria and pigs in blankets at my July 4th bash this summer here in Guildford. The party ended up being the kind of melting pot that evokes our great nation itself: four Americans, two Brits, a Swede, an Indian and a host of dual-nationality children running amok through the flowerbeds. I rounded off the summer with a rooftop reunion with Dick Manuel ’88 on the roof terrace of the Hilton Trafalgar Square, watching the sun set over the London skyline—like the final scene in Skyfall, but with pink clouds, space heaters, tomato juice and a tragic lack of Daniel Craig.”

David Foulke just became a published author! His book, DIY Financial Advisor: A Simple Solution to Build and Protect Your Wealth, is out on Amazon, both in hardcover and Kindle editions. Congrats, and who couldn’t use a little sage financial advice from a fellow ’89?

I’m about one-quarter of the way through Yanna Yannakakis’ latest book, Indigenous Intellectuals: Knowledge, Power, and Colonial Culture in Mexico and the Andes, available on Amazon. It’s very well written—no surprise—and it’s great to delve into a culture I know little about, but is explained incredibly well.

Quick movie plug: Rent or watch Sicario to see our own Hank Rogerson! It’s still in theaters as I write this, but by the time you read this, it will be on Netflix or video on demand or HBO, etc.

I want to hear from more of you: how you’re doing, what you’re doing and if you’ve met up with other ’89s, either ones you see every weekend or someone you haven’t connected with in years. It’s always great to get emails, Facebook messages, texts—heck, I’ll take Tweets and Instagram messages (nedorama for both)—send me your news! Even mailed letters work. Just no Snapchat, thanks.

—Ned Ward, 2104 Graham Ave., #B, Redondo Beach, CA 90278; ned@nedorama.com