One e-mail, covering a lot of ground (or, sky):

Kathryn, I’m a regular reader and a member of the Int’l Dark Sky Association. If you read into it, you’ll find the goal is simply to promote better designed lighting to shine where it’s needed without shining up into the sky and into neighbors’ bedroom windows. So you’ll still be able to safely buy your shampoo at 2 AM! :-) Speaking of events in the sky, have you been following the space adventure of Anousheh Ansari ? She’s inspiring people everywhere and especially in Iran.
Space tourist Anousheh Ansari, who began her journey into space Monday aboard a Soyuz TMA-9 capsule from Baikonur, Kazakhastan, has become an inspiration to women in male-dominated Iran. Space enthusiasts gathered Saturday at the Zaferanieh Observatory in Tehran were rapt as they followed the progress of the craft, visible to the naked eye for about two minutes, as it streaked across the sky. “Anousheh is my hope,” said teenager Delagah Dadbeh, watching the spacecraft as tears of joy rolled down her cheek. “She will shine in Iranian history as a woman who broke barriers and succeeded in conquering space with her endeavor,” Dadbeh said. “Ansari has shown Iranian women the road to progress. We only need to believe in ourselves,” Dadbeh said, as another woman, Homa Parvaei nodded in agreement. I’m signed up for the Oct. 11 event in DC , so I look forward to seeing you there.