Some more photos

I forgot these in the scanner.

The first one is of my brother and I with some unidentified girl and boy.

The next one is we three sitting at the table for lunch in West Newton (probably after we arrived home from England--1966?)

The next one is of the three of us 1966 or 1967.

Some photos Of Steve, John, Kris, Harold, Tom & Cory, Some With Thompson Grandparents

The first one was taken while my mother was still alive (December 1965), Kris was in my mother's belly about to be born this month or he had just been born.

The next one at our 3rd birthday.

The next one was in May 1970 I was holding a toy train.

The next one is of me and my "cousins."

That's me reading a book at our place in Nebraska City (November '70.)

That's Steve and I in Nebraska City (also November '70.)

That's also me and my "cousins."

Cory (4), Steve (11), Tom (11) and me (11) at our birthday--Aug. 17, 1975 in Auburn, NE.

Oct. 1975, Auburn, NE, Kris (10), Cory (4), Tom (11), me (11), Steve (11), and Harold (13) with my father's parents.

1-27-76, Auburn, NE for Uncle Ed's wedding Steve (11), me (11), Tom (11), Kris (10), Cory (4), and Harold (13).

This photograph was the December after my mother's death with our grandmother Thompson in West Newton, MA (1967.)

The next one is in FL at my grandmother's (and grandfather's) winter home '69?

First day of school 1st grade (Steve and I)

That's the 3 of us behind the gate. I think we were at our grandparent's house in West Newton. We were about 2 then.

Easter 1976. We were with Tracie, my sister, we were proud of out trikes.

That's one of us when we were 2? when my mother was still alive, I think. We were in England at the time, I think. Cute picture.

August 1976, Auburn, NE, Steve (12), Harold (13), Kris (10), Tom (12) & me (12), first day of school.

This was at Christmas in West Newton (1967?) we arrived from England after my mother died.

Lois Ann Thompson (1935-1967)

Happy Mother's Day from all of your children, Tracie (RIP), Steve, John & Kris. We have always loved you!

Maybe some of you have seen me wearing this shirt. I will now try to explain it to you. Btw, I'm simply a fan of H.P. Lovecraft's books.

Miskatonic University

Miskatonic University is a fictional university located in the equally fictitious Arkham, set in the real-world Essex County, Massachusetts. After first appearing in the H. P. Lovecraft 1922 serial "Herbert West—Reanimator", the school appeared in numerous horror stories in the Cthulhu Mythos genre written by Lovecraft and other writers. It also appears in role-playing games based on the mythos.

Miskatonic is named after the fictional Miskatonic River, which flows through Arkham. The school is the most famous institution in the imaginary setting known as Lovecraft Country.

Contents 1 Campus 2 Faculty 3 Reference Guides 4 Other appearances 5 References 5.1 Notes 6 External links

Campus

Miskatonic University is evidently modeled on Ivy League institutions like Harvard, Yale, and especially Brown University, in Lovecraft's native Providence, Rhode Island. In Lovecraft's stories, the university's student body seems to be all-male, much like northeastern universities of Lovecraft's time. The only female student mentioned is Asenath Waite, of Lovecraft's "The Thing on the Doorstep" (1937).^[1]

Miskatonic University is famous for its collection of occult books. The library at the university holds one of the few genuine copies of the Necronomicon. Other tomes held at the library include the Unaussprechlichen Kulten by Friedrich von Junzt and the fragmentary Book of Eibon.

Miskatonic has a medical school, as featured in "Herbert West—Reanimator".

Mythos fiction by other authors as well as fan interpretations of Lovecraft's MU differ in whether mystical and Mythos studies are covert or overt. In the first interpretation, which follows Lovecraftian literary traditions, MU is an ordinary university that also harbors secrets and has an unfortunately frequent number of run-ins with Mythos elements. In the second, more common in comedic and RPG works (and in MU paraphernalia), Mythos and strange elements are overtly displayed at MU and form part of its campus cultural identity.

Faculty

The following table lists the professors of Miskatonic University and their respective departments from Lovecraft's stories.^[2]

Faculty (early 20th century)

Name	Department	Appearances
Dr. Henry Armitage	Chief Librarian	"The Dunwich Horror"
Ferdinand C. Ashley	History	"The Shadow Out of Time"
Professor Atwood	Physics	At the Mountains of Madness
Professor Dexter	Zoology	"The Whisperer in Darkness"
William Dyer	Geology	At the Mountains of Madness "The Shadow Out of Time"
Professor Ellery	Chemistry	"The Dreams in the Witch House"
Tyler M. Freeborn	Anthropology	"The Shadow Out of Time"
Dr. Allen Halsey	Dean of the Medical School	"Herbert West--Reanimator"
Professor Lake	Biology	At the Mountains of Madness
Dr. Francis Morgan	Archaeology	"The Dunwich Horror"
Professor Pabodie	Engineering	At the Mountains of Madness
Nathaniel Wingate Peaslee	Political Economy	"The Shadow Out of Time"
Wingate Peaslee	Psychology	"The Shadow Out of Time"
Professor Warren Rice	Languages	"The Dunwich Horror"
Professor Upham	Mathematics	"The Dreams in the Witch House"
Albert N. Wilmarth	English	At the Mountains of Madness "The Whisperer in Darkness"

Reference Guides

Chaosium Press published several guides to the 1920s Miskatonic University. The first was a lengthy section in 'Arkham Unveiled' (1990) by Keith Herber with others and put a full university setting around existing Lovecraftian Mythos references. The second was a full-length book titled 'Miskatonic University' (1995) by Sandy Antunes. Subtitled 'Where Science Meets the Mythos', this edition tried to merge and reconcile the Chaosium setting of 'Arkham Unveiled', the original Mythos sources, and historical 'period' details derived especially from 1920s Boston University, while also added new items to the setting. A copy of this out-of-print book is in Boston University's "Special Collections", and Chaosium granted rights in 1997 to a fan to reuse some of this material for the website miskatonic-university.org. The third was a new edition of 'Miskatonic University' (2005) by 'Sam Johnson & friends' published in late 2005. This edition reworked the previous book and added more mystical and mythos game elements.

Joan Stanley published a small book, "Ex Libris Miskatonici: A Catalogue of Selected Items from the Special Collections in the Miskatonic University Library", which is a researched historical fiction reference for canonical Mythos book references regarding MU.

Work was started at Chaosium on a sourcebook 'Arkham 1990' including a modern-day Miskatonic University, but that has not (as of 2006) yet been published.

Mottos for MU have ranged from "Ex Ignorantia Ad Sapientiam; E Luce Ad Tenebras" ('From Ignorance to Wisdom; From Light to Darkness') to "A Small Sacrifice for Knowledge", and their mascot has been stated as everything from the Badger to the Fighting Cephalopods.

Other appearances

• The horror movie Re-Animator, directed by Stuart Gordon and based on a Lovecraft story, took place at Miskatonic. As a tribute to Lovecraft, Bill Pullman's character in Brain Dead attended the university, as did a character in the film Dagon.

• Dreams in the Witch House, a short film based on a Lovecraft story and directed by Stuart Gordon for the Showtime series Masters of Horror, focuses on a Miskatonic University student and takes place in and around the university.

• Rod Serling's series Night Gallery had a Professor Peabody who mentions Miskatonic University in a lecture. (His students include a "Mr. Lovecraft", a "Mr. Bloch", and a "Mr. Derleth".)

• The Millennium comics series H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu: The Whisperer in Darkness introduces the Miskatonic Project, a group of investigators who follow up on the loose ends of Lovecraft's original stories, such as "The Whisperer in Darkness".

• The DC Comics character Zatanna, a female magician, uses the alias "Miss Katonic".

• In the third season of Digimon, during a fictional news report, two people being interviewed were identified as professors at Miskatonic University.

• John M. Ford's Star Trek novel How Much for Just the Planet? puts "Princess DeeDee the First" into a Miskatonic U. sweatshirt at one point.

• The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea mentions the university, as does Wilson's Schrödinger's Cat trilogy.

• The science fiction novel The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross, which is full of Lovecraft references, has a character whose backstory involves Miskatonic University.

• The Book of the SubGenius states that the Church's founder J.R. "Bob" Dobbs attended Miskatonic for one semester sometime in the late 1930s before dropping out to join a group of Sufis (p. 28-29). SubGenius avatar Harry S. Robins's character, Nathan Wingate, in the film Kamillions, is associated with Miskatonic University.

• Mike Young's "Misktonic Class Reunion" is a LARP set in MU. It has been run over 20 times across the US.

• Some real-life retailers sell merchandise such as bumper stickers displaying the school's supposed mascot, the Fighting Cephalopods. Such items are often sold at science fiction conventions.

• Martin Greenwood and Martin Weinberg edited a collection of new Lovecraftian stories all set in MU, titled "Miskatonic University", published in 1996 and currently out of print.

• The case studies in the textbook Systems Analysis for Librarians and Information Professionals by Larry N. Osborne and Margaret Nakamura are set in a ficticious library (Fort Memorial Library) at Miskatonic University.

References

• Pearsall, Anthony B. (2005). The Lovecraft Lexicon, 1st ed., Tempe, AZ: New Falcon Pub. ISBN 1-56184-129-3.

Notes

1. ^ Pearsall, "Miskatonic University", The Lovecraft Lexicon, p. 281.
2. ^ Ibid, pp. 281–2. (List of professors.)

External links

• A Miskatonic University website
• A mock Miskatonic University site
• Another mock Miskatonic University site
• The Outsider website, which sells "Fighting Cephalopod" paraphernalia
• Other Miskatonic University websites (Google search)

Stroke – May 2-4 (1st Anniversary)

I was a day ahead with my each of my stroke posts.
They should've been posted May 2-4.

Stroke – May 2-4 (1st Anniversary) Part 3

...this is my final entry for my anniversary. To all the people who visited me in the hospital, all the people who wished me well, sent me cards and flowers or worked on my recovery, before and after my hospital stay, from the bottom of my heart I appreciate it, more than I can express!

Stroke – May 2-4 (1st Anniversary) Part 2

...I first visited with the women who took care of me after I left the hospital at Lancaster General's Health Campus, on Harrisbug Pike (that's in Lancaster–I last saw them about 2 months ago.) I went there for my monthly blood drawing–I hope it was a nice drawing–wish I could draw, hahaha. Then, I visited Lancaster General Hospital (the main hospital.) I visited with the rehab women–on the fifth floor. I was glad to see them! They were glad to see me as well. I last tried to visit them about 2 months ago as well but it was after hours so I got to see a few of them. After that, I had Betsy stop at Manor Beverage to buy Guinness for me (I paid her back of course.) Because of the blood thinners I can only drink 2, but I wanted to celebrate my anniversary, hahaha...(more to come)

Stroke – May 2-4 (1st Anniversary) Part 1

It has been 1 year since I had my stroke. A lot has changed since then. First of all, I'm typing my blog to you and that's amazing on the face of it! My first attempt to contact "you" was September 19, 2006. I've posted 45 entries since then (including this one.) I had posted 33 entries before my stroke (just in case you were wondering.) I celebrated my anniversary by walking to the end of Catalpa Lane and back...(more to come)

I walked around...

...without my Walk-Aide!!!! Although I did have my soft brace (shown left) on. Slowly but surely I'm mastering this stroke!