The election is decided. Now “Fiscal Cliff” is on deck as the media obsession du jour, pushing aside the Eurozone crisis ( Read more... )

An embarrassment of musical riches lately ( Read more... )

Las Vegas - Epic Parody ( Read more... )

1. Fighter pilot / surgeon / teenager turns sixty, discovers own mortality.

2. I finally realized that we don’t operate in the real world. We operate in a mental model of the real world. Things mostly go according to plan but due to the mismatch by and by “shit happens.”

3. I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my ( Read more... )

*Tomatoes ( Read more... )

Thoughts from vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan about the “collectivist” system known as Social Security. From a 2005 speech he made to an Ayn Rand fanclub, The Atlas Society ( Read more... )

“I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.” - Mitt Romney, talking about the bottom 47% of American society by income ( Read more... )

Quiet weekend in the local area. Sunday afternoon with cousin Jenny and her family, post Susan G Koman “Race for the Cure.” It is Jenny’s family tradition they started in support of their mom who was a cancer survivor for over a decade. Now Aunt Marilyn is gone, and kids are growing, and the tradition is waning. But many happy memories remain of ( Read more... )

Monday we did Sunday’s road trip in reverse, from the north, and got lost again. But persevering we got to Grouse Vista trailhead #180F duly noted the day before, just that finding it again is problematic, and started up toward Silver Star Mountain. This was a hard hike 7.5 miles roundtrip and 2000 feet elevation gain. At least the trail is ( Read more... )

Sunday was to be Art in the Pearl, the juried Portland outdoor art show that draws rock concert sized crowds to the shady Park Blocks, but we bailed out of the line of cars extending back from the I-5 interchange past Fort Vancouver. Turns out a major hotel burned to the ground on the other side of the I-5 bridge at Jantzen Beach and traffic was ( Read more... )