Settling Down for the Night

Hello Troops,

It's 12:03 A.M.
Midnight was the start of the second day of our EdVenture and Ultimate Camp. The campers arrived at 7:00 P.M. The EdVenture Campers go home Friday afternoon. The Ultimate Campers go home Saturday morning.

We've spent the last hour working with a young camper struggling with home sickness and a fear of aliens. His mother says he was fine with sci fi and aliens until he and his younger brother watched the movie Signs ten days ago. Since then he's had nightmares and has developed a fear of space and aliens.

He started crying before the first rotation started. I talked him into staying and let him watch the Magellan mission from the Control Room. I knew our real struggle would come at bedtime.

I've got to hand it to the boy. He is a real trooper. He called his mother and consented to stay one night. He starts to cry then pulls himself out of it and settles down. He has never slept away from family before so this is a big step for a ten year old.

Right now I've got him settled on the Voyager Bridge. Jon and Adam will keep an eye on him. If there are problem they'll come and get me.

We've got a great bunch of excited campers this week. I'm expecting great things.

The one drawback to our camp and this weekend's private missions will be Pleasant Grove's Strawberry Days. This camp ends at 10:00 A.M. Saturday which is the same time the parade will be moving through town. The streets around the school will be closed. Our camper's families will have a tough time finding their way to the school to pick up their kids. I'm expected many frustrated phone calls.

Time for bed.

Mr. W.

Marvin Can't go to the Space Center

Marvin Maplethorp is one very upset boy this morning. His mother shattered his dreams during breakfast when she told him that he was too young to go to his older brother's birthday party at the Space Education Center. His mood didn't change even after she broke her own rule and brought out his Wolfman mug. Such a thing would normally be strictly forbidden at the breakfast table but there are times even mothers break their own rules.

Marvin would have none of it. He saw his mother's weakness and pulled out the next trick in his arsenal. He threatened never to eat again and pounded his forehead on the table.

"You'll be too scared. There are aliens that attack you and stuff," his older brother said as he shoveled spoonfuls of Cheerios into his mouth in a mad rush to finish quickly and get ready.

"I'm not afraid of aliens," Marvin shot back in his own defense.

"Not these kind of aliens." His brother sat back in his chair, thought for a moment and continued. "On my last overnight camp our ship was taken over by these really tall and skinny aliens. We all ran and hid. I crawled under a desk. I heard security shooting at the alien. The workers called security down, that means they got shot. It was only me and this alien. I heard the door open. It was dark. I looked up from under the desk and saw the most hideous creature I'd ever seen coming after me."

Marvin's eyes grew as large as quarters. "Did it get you?" he asked.

His brother described the alien in detail. He told how he fought bravely for his ship and crew. He described how it nearly got him but the revived security guards were able to get to him first.

"Them aliens like small kids like you 'cause you can't fight back like us bigger kids. If you went to my party you'd be taken for sure. Then what's mom suppose to do? She'll cry all day and night. All because you are acting like a baby and threw a fit about coming to my party?" His brother looked at his mom and smiled. His over exaggerated story telling was having its desired effect.

Marvin thought for a moment, then said that maybe he was a too small. "But when I get older I'll get them aliens," he declared as he reached for his Wolfman mug filled with Donald Duck Orange Juice.

Marvin and his mother spent some time at WalMart while his brother and his friends were at the Space Center. Mother shopped for groceries and Marvin looked for laser guns and other useful items to defend himself from alien attack.

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And now, a few items from the Imaginarium offered to shore up your imagination.

VanGogh's Mordor and the Starry Night, for sale only in the Imgainarium's Gift Shop.

Junior attempts to move a few objects using the dark side of the force while he waits for his Happy Meal.

Steam Punked R2D2

And so, Tuesday is upon us.

Mr. W.

The Start to a New Week.

Antonio Rigamortii waits for the call to collect dead imaginations from his shop near the Wonderland Station.
His is the saddest job at the Imaginarium.
Pray you never find Antonio on your doorstep.
Exercise your imagination daily. Put the Extra in the Ordinary.

Hello Troops,
After taking everything into account I'll venture far enough to say that we all enjoyed a good first week in the trenches of the summer season's first camp. Monday night was the first Overnight Camp of the season. All the ships except the Voyager told their new summer missions. The reviews were flattering and the campers generous with praise. I regret not sending regular updates from the Imaginarium. There was always some kind of emergency that needed my attention every time I'd sit down to write.

This week starts with a series of private missions followed on Wednesday with an EdVenture Camp and Overnight Camp. When put together the two separate camps become our first Ultimate Camp. Its a clever way of making a long four day camp by stitching together two regular camps. An original idea from yours truly. I blush in your admiration.

I'm thinking I'll use one of the portals to Wonderland and the Imaginarium tomorrow. I'm not in the mood for an underground subway trek. Saturday's mad rush and the foul temperament of the departing crowd was enough for one week.


This portal into the Imaginarium is handy and nearby. If you're lucky, you'll find a hobbit or two. A friendly "Hello" usually results in an invitation to join them for first and second breakfasts, only if you arrive early enough in the morning.

Here are a few other items showing great imagination.


The receipe for epic tales....... Now the challenge. Write a new Space Center mission using the formula below. Remember the key word is Epic.

Do you join me in this dream of an ideal world?
It begins with you. Never ask that question again.

Ah, the things you see on any given day in the Imaginarium. Just step outside to stretch your legs and in an instant your perceptions of the here and now are challenged.



There are times in life when it's necessary to walk away and take the path less traveled. Such decisions should be made carefully because they can be life changing.

Do you feel the urge to step out of matrix and forge ahead into the Unknown Desert? Changing your way of thinking and questioning what others claim is concrete can, at times, lead to loneliness. It disturbs the status quo, which in turn upsets those that follow the cycle religiously. Stepping away to gain a better understanding of our world and universe is how the mental processes evolve. This evolution takes us one step closer toward learning how to live peacefully with ourselves and with each other. It is raw courage at its best.

If it were only that easy.

A Confession.
One of my true weaknesses.

Finally, an admonition and advice for today only. Tomorrow will take care of itself.


And to the Space Education Center's awesome staff and volunteers,
I'll see you in the trenches.

And to our kind readers. We hope to see you soon at the place where imagination and dreams collide into a practically perfect blend of education and adventure.

Mr. W.