Blog / 2016

nov

Miracles

2016-11-13

So there was this enormous flood. Bob heard news broadcasts telling everyone in his neighborhood to evacuate before the end of the day. Bob said:...

Foggy view to the west from Council Crest park toward Mt. Hood

Anxieties

2016-11-10

As an exercise I'm breaking down my anxieties into a handy list, from approximately least to most stressful. Maybe I will expound more on these...

aug
View south along a foggy Oregon beach in the late morning. A narrow strip of sandy beach extends to the horizon, with steep forested headlands marching into the distance. The sky overhead and above the ocean is sunny but fog clings to the forest inland.

The first time I saw the ocean

2016-08-25

Somehow I let pass a small but significant anniversary. It was 30 years ago earlier this month that I first saw the ocean. To the...

Vanilla bike at Council Crest

Vanilla + Sugar

2016-08-11

After two years in dry dock, I finally got my Vanilla roadworthy again. Aktch finished wrapping the bars on Monday, just in time for rain!...

jul

Black Lives Matter

2016-07-07

Dear Mayor Hales and Respected Commissioners, I am disturbed by the recent deaths of Black citizens at the hands of the police elsewhere in America....

jun
Closeup of a large dandelion head

Glowing Boxes vs. Real Reality

2016-06-01

So for three weeks now I’ve mostly been off social media. Originally this was to focus more on work while I am in the office....

may
Closeup of a yellow “Lion of Flanders” stencil spray-painted onto road asphalt

Ride Report: La Doyenne

2016-05-02

I rode the eastside RondePDX ride today. A week late you will note. (Hey I am always late to the party. For example I only...

apr
Panorama of downtown/inner portland taken from Pittock Mansion

“Cars are the worst…”

2016-04-19

So here’s an interaction I had this morning. This kind of thing happens maybe 5x/yr to me so I seldom even remember it by the...

mar
Young child facing the camera on a stormy (but clear) Oregon beach in winter. The sunset is blocked by a headland and sea stack; objects in the foreground are barely discernible as dark lumpy objects

Zulu Time

2016-03-13

Once upon a time it took a year to travel halfway around the world on a boat and so it made sense that “noon” always...

feb
Photo of the old (1960s era) sign: “Staff Jennings / Bayliner Trophy / Jetcraft.” Photo manipulated to resemble a faded Polaroid from the 1970s

The Sellwood Bridge

2016-02-27

I'm not gonna miss the old Sellwood Bridge at all. It looked like a train trestle and was approximately as safe to cross. The nicest...

A Productive Commute

2016-02-26

According to this article I have a “megacommute.” I average 11hrs/wk commuting. I hardly consider it “wasted.” This morning on my commute (ie. bike ride...

Hawthorne bridge in silhouette against a dark, windy, cloudy, morning sky

My commute is so Portland it hurts

2016-02-03

So my commute this morning looked like this: Ride with my kids on our bikes …from our tiny house in the trendy pedestrian-friendly neighborhood …past...

jan
Closeup of a number placard on a tree in the Temple of Heaven, Beijing

An intuitive statistics exercise

2016-01-20

Most people are lousy at statistics and probabilities. The math behind it is counterintuitive. But here’s a fun thought experiment that requires NO MATH and...

Artily smeared photo of colorful neon lights

Mobile UX is not like Web UX

2016-01-18

It is, in fact, kind of exactly the opposite. Working through the UX for an iOS app today I had an epiphany. 20 years of...

Finn, Rey, and narrative agency

2016-01-07

Hey let’s SPOILER TALK about the new Big Space Battle Movie! It's interesting to compare Rey with Finn. They are clearly the hero duo and...