Here's how the ND thing started:
In 2003, Steve O'Shea's love of Neil Diamond was established, and much-derided. Towards the end of that year, his student Kat Bolstad (now a PhD), fed-up with being forced to listen to ND at work, stole a newspaper clipping from Steve's ND shrine. Steve was quite upset by that, and also upset by other things going on around him, and seemed to want cheering-up. Inspired by the "wandering gnome" meme, in which gnomes and other garden ornaments were stolen, shipped around the globe, photographed in picturesque locales and the photos sent to the mystified owners, I suggested to Kat that we give the ND clipping the gnome treatment. It was first sent to Rusty, an early TONMO member in Illinois, who laminated the clipping, and then to me. I first photographed it washing ashore after a storm on Cape Cod, accompanied by the lyrics to ND's "Coming to America." Mayhem ensued. After shepherding the clipping for a while, taking it to New York City and so on, I sent it on with a fellow traveler who took Neil to Rio and diving in the Keys. After he'd finished with it, I sent it on to another TONMO member, and it's been traveling ever since. Computing the milegae on the thing would be fun. What's the endgame? Getting it into Neil Diamond's hands. I'm sure that Steve would like to have it back. I'm also sure that he got a big kick out of the whole thing.
Welcome to TONMO.
Clem