For whatever reason, my @uiuc.edu email address still works; normally the university shuts it down a few months after graduation, but not mine. I don't know why. It still works for me.

That allows me to get gems such as the following email from the Mars Society:

MARS IS UNDER ATTACK! IT IS TIME FOR THE MARS SOCIETY TO MOBILIZE TO SAVE HUMAN MISSIONS TO MARS!

Agh! Loud noises! The person that sent this email clearly subscribes to the school of ALL CAPS MEANS THAT I AM REALLY REALLY SAYING SOMETHING IMPORTANT LISTEN TO ME.

Memo: Mars is not under attack.

I joined the Mars Society for one year (2003) as a university student. I'm not sure what's been going on in Mars Society lately, but they've been sending out emails about current/past members registering for the Mars Society Yahoo Group. Probably they're out of money, and the best way to get more is to suddenly act interested in people. These three emails are probably equal to the total number that I received as a member that year.

Not everyone from the Mars Society is totally nuts. I have some "normal" friends that are stationed at the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station (FMARS) in northern nowhere, Canada. OK, maybe I'm taking the liberty of calling someone from Quebec--my fellow ISU SSP06 classmate Simon--normal. Also good to see Ryan and Mel up there--met them in Toronto at the 2005 International Lunar Conference where they were reviving SEDS Canada, thanks, as always, to Bob Richards.