Friday, July 17, 2009

Whirlwind of Activity

Last night I went to see Ellen Goodman speak in Lindsborg. She was there as part of the Women's Attorneys in Kansas Group. I would have completely missed it if Kris hadn't mentioned it to me.

Her speech was mostly about the role of women and how it has changed over the years. She writes about that extensively.

My favorite of her books is "I know just what you mean" about her relationship with her best friend. I wish I had thought to take my copy and have her sign it but I didn't. Pity because there was plenty of time to do that.

I saw Trish there but just visited with her briefly. Obviously, when you're in a group like that you want to visit with the folks you don't get to see but once a year, so I didn't want to monopolize her time.

The last week or so has been busy.

Last Friday, astronaut and moonwalker, Charlie Duke was at the Cosmosphere for a presentation. He was supposed to be there for a 4:15 press conference, and then do the evening events. But, his flight was delayed.

Yes, I know, ironic that an astronaut was waiting on a flight. NASA can get him to the moon and back safely, and the airlines can't get him from Dallas to Wichita on time.

But, the press conference went on anyway.



We had a good turn out and I was thankful because I had spent most of my time working on those sorts of things.


He was at a reception and then spoke to a large group. Afterwards he signed books and other items for folks.




It was a good day/night, but a long one for me. I went to work about 7:30 that morning and by the time the day was done and a few of us had gotten some food it was after midnight.But a lot was accomplished.

Yesterday morning was Coffee at the Cosmosphere. Chris does this every month on the third Thursday. There's a different topic each time, and they show artifacts that illustrate the story. People get a chance to come up afterwards and look at them up close.

Yesterday's topic was the Apollo 11 Moon Landing, because the 40th anniversary of them landing is on Monday. They launched on the 16th, so it was perfect timing for the regular Thursday event.


 

Chris is very comfortable talking to groups and the media, and is very articulate off the cuff - in short he's a PR person's dream. Yesterday he did the coffee. Today he did a TV interview. Monday he'll do a radio interview. I love it that he's so willing to jump right in.

I haven't gotten around to sharing photos of space journalist Andrew Chaikin or astronuat Joe Engle, who were here earlier.

Andrew Chaikin has authored multiple books about the space program. He was a really personable guy, and you could tell he truly loves his work.



I enjoyed meeting him a great deal.

Just a few days later, we hosted Astronaut Joe Engle. He was the grand marshal in the Fourth of July parade, and the night before he spoke to a very large crowd. It was great to see so many folks who came out to enjoy his presentation.



I, unfortunately, did not get to hear a word he said. There were lots of folks and not another square inch of space for me to stand in. Plus, we were busy preparing for the signing afterwards. But it was great to see so many folks out.  Greg took this photo, as well as the one of Chaikin.

Meanwhile, life away from work and events is going on and has its up and downs. I guess it's that way for everyone.
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