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+<meta name="viewport" content="width=80ch, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=no">
+<html>
+<head>
+  <meta charset="utf-8">
+  <title>2016 winter solstice letter</title>
+  <link rel="stylesheet" href="../style.css">
+</head>
+<body>
+
+<h1>2016 winter solstice letter</h1>
+
+<p>
+<a href="..">← back to memories list</a>
+<p>
+
+<hr>
+
+<p>
+Blaise sent this letter to friends and family to celebrate the winter holiday season, 2016.
+In addition to this html version, you can also download the letter as sent: <a href="./letter.pdf">PDF</a>.
+</p>
+
+<h2>Winter Solstice Greetings - 2016</h2>
+
+<p>
+Hello to all my friends and family.
+I hope that you are feeling peaceful, cozy, and happy in these winter months.
+It's snowing hard outside as I write this letter to you.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I'm now in the middle of my 6th year of graduate school.
+I'm still enjoying my time in the Wright group---I hope to be here for a while yet.
+The past year of graduate school has been frustrating in some ways.
+Lots of progress has been made, but I haven't reached the key checkpoints that I hoped to reach.
+I'm looking forward to being a teaching assistant for a graduate-level electronics and instrumentation course next semester.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This summer was busy for me.
+In mid May three college friends (Kate, Nina, and Claire) joined me here in the Midwest.
+We spent a few days exploring Chicago---river tour, museums, food, even a local contradance.
+Pictured below is us outside of Shedd Aquarium.
+We then drove to Madison and spent a few days in Wisconsin.
+Exploring the House on the Rock with Benji was a highlight of the trip for me.
+</p>
+
+<figure>
+  <img src="./IMG_20160517_101306032_HDR.jpg">
+</figure>
+
+<p>
+I was honored to stand as a member of Claire's wedding party on June 24th.
+The wedding took place near Claire's parents in beautiful Napa Valley, California.
+It was a great wedding and I really enjoyed catching up with the Parker, Eckert and Till families.
+It was also great to briefly see the Nielsens---Jim and Tracey were kind enough to loan me a car during my time in California.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After returning home from California I had just 24 hours before flying to Amsterdam for an academic conference.
+Coherent Multidimensional Spectroscopy (CMDS) is a small biennial conference in my narrow subfield.
+My advisor---John C. Wright---was a founding member of the conference and still sits as chair of the organizing committee.
+This year the conference was held in beautiful historic Groningen, the Netherlands.
+The first molecular photon echo was resolved in Groningen (DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.74.674">10.1103/PhysRevLett.74.674</a>).
+At the conference I presented a poster on my work to make CMDS instrumentation more reproducible and robust.
+Afterwards I spent five days exploring Europe, traveling to Brussels and Amsterdam.
+Pictured below is me in the famous Grote Markt.
+I didn't really plan anything about my trip, just stepped out of the hotel and started walking.
+Everywhere I went was filled with great food, people, and artwork. Very enjoyable---but I was ready to return to Wisconsin after five days.
+</p>
+
+<figure>
+  <img src="./IMG_20160703_185954.jpg">
+</figure>
+
+<p>
+This year I've enjoyed learning more about philosophy, rationality, and psychology.
+Daniel Kahneman's book <it>Thinking, Fast and Slow</it> has changed the way I think about human cognition.
+I'm trying to incorporate these ideas more into my personal behavior.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Have a fantastic 2017. Stay in touch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Blaise Jonathan Thompson <br>
+509 N Lake St. Apt 408 <br>
+Madison, Wisconsin 53703 <br>
+<br>
+1-424-225-2493 <br>
+blaise@untzag.com
+</p>
+
+</body>
+</html>