Melyssa's Home Page


Hi! My name is Melyssa.  This is a picture of me and my brothers, sister-in-law and niece (she wasn't very happy just then) at Sea World in San Diego, in November '06.

NOTE: This website is not updated very often... if you want to know about me, read my blog!

Pictures are being posted to my Flickr account.

ALSO:

bullet Vegas Vacation 2005! Couldn't miss Auntie M's birthday.
bulletThe Fratkins invaded Australia! (April 2004)
bulletBackstory: Samantha Huan Lian Fratkin, born June 23, 2003!
Adopted by Allyn & Teri Fratkin in May 2004!
bulletAmee's Baby Shower
bulletOk, I made it through another year, and turned back the clock so I could be 29 AGAIN!
bulletStill the crochet queen, I have continued making 'duckies' for my friends who are having babies.

 

See more "Old News" at the bottom of the page.

Real life: I am the Corporate and Government Relations Coordinator for the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC)..

My family is very important to me. My brother and sister-in-law, Allyn (aka Jae) and his wife Teri live in San Diego, CA. (They're geeks too) They have a cat named Naboo, for Queen Amidala's planet in SW:Episode I . Naboo is very cute but he's noisy in the middle of the night!  Here's Bryan with Naboo. Jae & Teri adopted a little girl from China, her name is Samantha. See the Fratkin baby page for more info and pictures of her! 

What I do for fun:  I'm an amateur photographer.  I got a digital camera for my MBA graduation (thanks, Jae & Teri!) , but I still love the feel of an old SLR, and the satisfying feeling of snapping a real picture. Check out my pictures from Spain! (which were taken digitally - the only drawback to my cool 35mm camera is that it's too big to lug around) :( 

I am also a member of the American Political Items Collectors, and the National Chapter Coordinator.  APIC is a group of history buffs who collect campaign materials and display them in high schools, museums, etc.  I collect the moving-picture buttons called "flashers."  I have the largest collection of flasher-buttons in the USA!  I was featured in the Washington Post on February 1, 2002 in an article entitled, "The Call to Collect".   And my collection of political flasher-buttons was displayed on March 23, 2002 at the Holiday Inn Tyson's Corner! Check out the pictures! 

Old News (but fun pictures, anyway):  

bulletI have a "niece"! Hannah Elizabeth Diehl was born on July 2, 2003! She's so cute! :)
bulletI was in another wedding! Amy & Rob, July 19, 2003 
bulletJudy & Josh's Wedding, April 26, 2003
bulletGigi and I toured Spain! :)
bulletI turned 30! Oh my GAWD!!
bulletI spent Thanksgiving 2002 in Seattle with my two aunties! what fun!
bulletGiselle and I went to the Smithsonian Young Benefactors Gala, September 21, 2002 at the Natural History Museum
bulletI spent three days in Panama on a business trip, and I took a few pictures.
bulletThe whole family went to CA for a week, for the APIC show, and Allyn's birthday.  (Pictures eventually....)
bulletLatha had a baby girl! here are the pictures from the baby shower.
bulletThe Fratkins (sans your truly) went to the British Embassy in Washington, DC to meet the Ambassador himself!
bulletIn March 2002, I went on a business trip to Valdivia, Chile (approx 500km south of Santiago). 
bulletIn December 2001, I learned how to crochet, and made an American Flag blanket as a gift! 
bulletIt's 2002! Can you believe it? Well, I had to spend a New Year's in New York City one of these days, why not now?  Here are the semi-incriminating pictures! :) 
bullet I did it! I got my MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland on Wednesday, May 23rd.  It was a great experience -- I have met some of the coolest people! 
bullet

Over Spring Break, the school sent a group of students to Chile, to study the technology sector there.
Here are some of my pictures from the trip.
 

bullet In January 2001, we joined thousands of other geeks in Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show. You could look at the official web site (www.ces.org), but my CES page is more fun!

 

MY  PAGES:

Mel's Fun Stuff! ] Mel's Movie Stuff ] Mel's Music ] Melyssa's Flashers! ] Mel's Family ]

If you have any comments or opinions on my page, I'd love to hear them! Send me email!