From the Bridge

by Becky Norris

I hope everyone had a wonderful time over the holidays - I know I did, hectic though it was. But it was worth it. Here we are in a new year, the first full year for the Fearless, and quite possibly the year of our biggest growth. We have the opportunity in 1995 to become commissioned as a full-fledged starship (and they said it couldn't be done!), and to increase our membership and standing in the community. These are very exciting times for the Fearless, and I am thrilled to be a part of them and equally thrilled that all of you are a part of them as well.

Did you make New Year's resolutions? I always do, and even keep some of them. This year could be a banner year for me. I have pledged to de-clutter my house (I told Rodney and Brianna that they didn't have to help if they didn't want to, but if that's the case, they had better stay the h--- out of my way!), lose the weight I've put on over the last few months, and write a book. The last one is going to be the tricky part, but hopefully I can hang tough and get the job done. I also thought I would try to be kind to furry animals.

I was in WalMart the other day and couldn't help but notice that there are still more Trek toys for all of us collectors. From Generations, there is the Engineering Playset, and the NCC-1701D (parts of it even blow off when you pretend that it's crash-landing on the planet!), not to mention action figures (the small ones and the larger ones called the Command Series), and a Klingon disrupter (almost bought one for resident Klingon Tisha). Paramount must have seen us coming from ten parsecs away--as long as they keep cranking out merchandise, we will keep cranking open our checkbooks. Too bad I don't own any Paramount stock, or maybe Playmates. I also noticed a Borg ship, Deep Space 9, and the runabout Orinoco. And those are only the ones I haven't yet broken down and purchased. So many toys, so little money...

Star Trek: Voyager will be firing up soon, although at this writing, I don't know if it will be broadcast in this market. Channel 9 says that the program is not available to them, and if they don't have it I can't think of any other station that would. But I guess we will all see what happens when it gets down to the wire, like in about 10 days.

By the way, are there any Time Trax fans out there? I was cleaning out the files in my office the other day, and I pulled the file for Trax because the show has been canceled. If anyone is interested in the photos and synopses, you are more than welcome to them. Otherwise, it's into the trash with the whole shebang.

If I am not mistaken, next month is the Fearless fund-raiser. We will be selling cookies, cupcakes, etc. and hot chocolate to cold winter shoppers. Definites will be discussed at the January meeting, but it's not too early to have a recipe in mind. Chocolate chip cookies are always fast movers, but peanut butter cookies, oatmeal cookies, apple-cinnamon muffins, and other fresh-from-the-oven goodies can also do very well. So, all you Betty Crockers, get your oven mitts ready!

I have rambled enough for one month. I think the winter weather must be affecting my brain. I was beginning to think that we were not going to have any cold weather. Wrong, wrong, wrong!

Until next time, then--live long and prosper in the new year.