Sorry it's been so long since I updated this site. Lots of news.

It's Dr. Williams to you!

It's true. I officially defended my dissertation and was awarded my Ph.D. in November. A long and grueling battle that I'm glad to have behind me.

Holiday Plans

We leave today for 10 days in Italy, then 10 days in MD with my family. It should be a blast. We're really looking forward to getting away for a while. One of the perks of academia.

Thanksgiving

Jerry and Lupe joined us this year for Thanksgiving. We had a terrific time seeing the sites in LA and relaxing around the house.

Star Watch

• Dean Cain (aka Superman)- at dinner last night at a sushi place in teh Bu. He was with a guy that looked like his brother and two semi-beautiful gals.



• Kenny G. - At Matthew's basketball game last Saturday. He is a very pretty man.



• Pam Anderson - Also at Matthew's basketball game. I'm sure she used to be a cheerleader. She's got the moves and the funny wave of the hand.



• Ellen DeGeneres - Also at Matthew's basketball game. She is actually quite beautiful.



• Mel Gibson - At several of Madison's soccer games.

Star Watch Update

• Madison played soccer this morning against a team that included the daughter of the guy from McGyver and Stargate. I can't remember his name exactly...Richard Dean Anderson? I don't know. But if you're my age you think of him as McGyver...unless you're a geek, then you think of him as the guy from Stargate (Wheeler!)



• Mel Gibson and his family were also at the game today. One of his sons was playing on the field next to Madison.

Our first earthquake

It was almost too small to feel. But when I came back from lunch today I sat down at my keyboard and thought "Hmmm I have the jitters." My arms and finger seemed be be shaking on the keybaord. I looked over at my water on the table and it was slightly shaking also. I couldn't feel it anywhere else. I looked at the California Earthquake Data Center's site and there was a 1.9 earthquake in Ventura at the same time I felt the shaking. I called Michelle but she hadn't felt anything. Sort of wierd. I'm not really looking forward to the first big one. :(



In other news... Matthew and Madison had their first boogie-board experience last night. We bought a new board last week and I took the kids out last night. Madison went first and had a good time, but lost interest after about a dozen trips in. Matthew continued to ride the tides for about 30 minutes. We really had a blast. It's pretty fun living close enough to the beach that you can go for an hour before bed.



Also, both big kids started their soccer season on Saturday. I've posted some pictures on Ofoto. If you've not seen them, let me know and I'll send you an invite. Madison is TOO cute in her pink uniform, and Matthew was the best 7-year old goalie ever. :)

Star Watch Update

• Fox Mulder! That's right! Yesterday when dropping the kids off at school I saw a familiar face. I thought "that looks like..." but when I heard his voice I knew it was David Duchovny.



• After school today I nearly ran over Pamela Anderson. I was looking backward and talking to Matthew when we came to a corner and I wasn't watching. I looked up and stopped before running into her. Two comments... she does have a tattoo, and she really does look like that.

Star Watch Update

• Happy Gilmore himself... Adam Sandler offered to help Michelle carry her groceries out to the car today at the drug store. Michelle and Matthew were buying some batteries and odds and ends. Adam was there with a friend picking up three box fans (it was 100 in Malibu today). Adam was very nice. He interacted briefly with Matthew and offered to help Michelle with her stuff. Of course, if Michelle weren't such a hottie he may not have been so kind. :)

Star watch update

• The one and only... Britney Spears We were pulling out of the campus tonight to go get something to eat. At the light in front of the University was a white convertable Jag with the top down. When the light turned red, a photographer jumped out of the back seat and ran to the intersection taking lots of photos of the driver. We looked and it was Britney with a friend. She was having a great time laughing and fixing her hair.
  
  

We have HEALTH INSURANCE!!!! After three long years without health insurance, we finally have it! We are all so relieved to be able to freely get sick without financial worries. I'm thinking of getting hospitalized just for the fun of it. I imaging we'll get tired of it eventually, but in the meanwhile we're scheduling a full slate of doctor's visits, dental checkups, and vision exams. Isn't it great to be employed. :)

Star Watch Update

• Dick van Dyke! True! We took Marcus to the Dr. yesterday and Dr. Harris stepped out for a minute to grab something and he said, "Hello, Dick." Then we heard a very familiar humming. We stepped out and Dick van Dyke was sitting in the lobby waiting. Too cool. I wanted to introduce the kids to him as "the guy from Mary Poppins" but I figured he deserved to be at the Dr.'s in peace.
  
  

Star Watch Update

• Cindy Crawford and her family sat right next to us and the Olivers last night at Malibu Seafood. Our kids got down and went over there to talk with their kids. It was great. For those of you who are wondering about this...she drives a Volvo SUV. :)

STAR WATCH

Here we will list the stars we've seen so far, and where we saw them.

• Clint Eastwood at a bar in Marina Del Ray. Having a drink with some young business looking guy and an incredible looking Amazon-gal.



• Pamela Anderson at school picking up her two kids, and at a newsstand in Malibu Colony.



• Rod Stewart getting groceries at the local grocery store here in the Bu.



• The "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" guy leaving the grocery store and getting in his very nice Mercedes AMG SUV.



• The one that got away--Arnold and Maria Shriver were seen by my neighbor at Malibu Lumber picking out some paint for their new place here in Malibu.
  
  
• Scott Hamilton is a member of our church. I sat down next to him one Sunday and thought "he looks familiar, I must have met him before". So I said, "Oh, hi. Mike Williams." He said, "Hi, Scott Hamilton". Then I realized why he looked familiar. :) Marcus kept crawling all over him during church. He was truly a saint!



• Ken Starr lives behind us and we've see him regularly. Did you know he was "not kicked out of Harding College" his freshman year? He and President Ganus simply reached an agreement that he would be happier elsewhere. That's the story he repeated at a new faculty orientation last weekend. He's got a great sense of humor (for a lawyer!).

Great Surprise! Our dear friends (whom we've not seen in ten years!), the Olivers are in town dropping their oldest son off at Pepperdine. Can you believe it! Amazing. When we left Abilene to start NLC Kline was only seven. Now he's a freshman at Pepperdine. Wow, before you know it Matthew will be starting at Harvard. :)



I'll take photos tonight at dinner and post them up here.

Wow! Today is the clearest day we've had so far. I'm right now on the front porch wirelessly surfing the web while I look at the lights of the airport and Long Beach about 30 miles across the water. Amazingly cool.



Two interesting fireperson stories:

• Last week after church we were at a potluck out in the courtyard on campus. During the blessing prayer for the new Children's Minister, Madison got stung by a bee! As you know, she's quite the drama queen. We'll, she threw such a fit that before we knew it there were 2 police, five firepeople, and about a dozen adults all rushing to treat her with ice. Seriously. There were firemen at the helm to help her bee sting. Welcome to Pepperdine!



• Tonight, while I got Marcus down to bed Michelle took the big kids for a walk at the track. Despite repeated warnings to not lock the keys in the car, Matthew locked the car. :( So, they started to walk home. However, there's about a 800 ft difference between our house and the track. So Madison got plum wore out before they even started up the big hill. Who came to the rescue, you ask? Pepperdine's Bravest! That's right. Michelle and the kids got a ride in a firetruck! They came home to get the keys then went back down to get the car. I took some pictures and I'll post them later. Pretty funny.

Well, those were the big events this week. Additionally, the fam went to the LA Zoo one day, and we took a shopping day in Canoga Park. Lots of fun so far. The highlight this week was that Michelle and her new friend Stephanie were able to spend a night out getting coffee, and got together a few other times too. Very fun.

Here are some

photos of us settling into our new digs here in Malibu. It's really beautiful here. Wow.

We've moved!  We're officially residents of CA now.  We arrived last week and are getting unpacked now.  It will take a while.  :(



We love it here though.  The weather is incredible, the view of the ocean from our dining room is GREAT, and our condo is TOO cute.  I'll post some photos soon.

MISQE Volume 3, Issue 1 is out. It's taken way too much time the past few weeks, but Vol3, Iss1 is finally out. Check it out. There are a few very interesting articles in this issue.

Big news! Last week I accepted a position as Assistant Professor at the Graziadio School of Business at Pepperdine University. It's in sunny Malibu, CA, my dream destination! The whole family is really looking forward to the move. Just a few little things (Dissertaiton, ELWC project, selling the house. . . ) to wrap up before we go.

Here are some cool pics of PU.

Not too much has happened recently. Just working on the ELWC project, my dissertation, searching for a job, and enjoying my family. I hope to have some leads on a job within the next month or two.

Also, I put password on the photos section of my website. So, feel free to email me if you want to know how to access it.

I did start teaching a course this semester. It's calle "Organizational Informatics" and it's at the School of Informatics here at IU.