It was a decisive year, a year of turning points for me. I had settled on the name Emeralda for my game, my life work. Then I happened to read an article in the newspaper about the ship, the SS United States, and how it was going to be sold for scrap metal because its former owner-a Seattle developer-could not pay the moorage fees. That began a long and fascinating saga. What interests me is not only the symbolism of this ship under our country's name (and built in our country, unlike other cruise ships), but the story of the man who designed it from a vision he had as a boy. The stamps and other digital images I made come from a variety of sources, and appear in various sizes. The story is continuing, even as I write this: The SSUS is reported to have been bought by Norwegian Cruise Lines in 2003.