Plastic bits in the ocean and in the food chain have created a big, scary problem. If all of us would take a few small steps to minimize disposable plastic usage, the cumulative effect could make a big difference. Many of us bring our own bags to the store, but we can do more. Here are five… Read More »
In late 2017 I got an email from a Democratic organization venting about the just-passed tax bill that ended with: “We want to give you this anti-Republican bumper sticker!” I think this is a bad approach. I don’t want to perpetuate the us-and-them bullshit that is US politics right now, and I think things like… Read More »
In 2016 and 2017, there was an uproar over a black football player, Colin Kaepernick, quietly kneeling on the field during the national anthem rather than standing with the rest of his team. He was protesting the repeated killing of black men by police in America, and this lead to many months of heated arguing among… Read More »
I was busy working at my desk on a rainy autumn afternoon when Dave came in with a lovely little white plate and said “Try this.” On a whim, he had made this sweet potato and baked apple dish. Amazing! This is a wonderful dessert to satisfy sweet cravings without any added sugar… who needs… Read More »
Walking around in almost every one of us is a wellspring of untapped potential. Some call it inspiration, some call it god — whatever you call it, there exists in us a deep beauty, a spark, that few of us acknowledge, let alone show or attempt to express. The thing about potential is that it… Read More »
I don’t celebrate Xmas at all. I have zero decorations at my house, I don’t do cards, and I don’t do gift exchanges (except that I sometimes send end-of-year chocolates or such stuff to my clients). But though I don’t “celebrate” it, I love the holiday season as an interested bystander. I love how everyone… Read More »
I’ve heard recently from some friends who blog that they are discouraged that they don’t have much engagement with their readers. With no feedback or interaction, they are wondering why they should even bother. This started a conversation that focussed on answering just one simple question: Why do you blog? Because I have something… Read More »
I think it is important that people carve out head space in their mental lives to ponder questions of existence and meaning beyond the mechanics of how it is discussed. It’s what gives us depth and puts us in touch with a reserve of somethingness/nothingness that can be very powerful. Some people use religion to… Read More »
Batch processing of images in Affinity photo is really easy. A perfect use case for this is to change the size of an entire folder of images for use in your blog. You’ve just finished taking pictures of your products and now you want to post them to your blog. You have 50 wonderful, high-res JPG files,… Read More »
Building on my obsession with anything that contains sweet potatoes, Dave has continued experimenting with new dishes. Here I present this hearty sweet potato curry. It is a bit like a stew. It is fantastic on its own, or could be served over rice, faro, barley, or pasta.
The newer the iPad, the better — but as long as you are not having issues, older models are perfectly fine for most users. When the next version of the operating system comes out in Fall 2017, it will be compatible with most of the recent models. But how old is too old? There are some… Read More »
This is a squash soup with a savory sweet flavor. Try it with pear or apple, and don’t forget the cinnamon. This would be great topped with Sweet Potato Hash, but is just fine without it. If you want to make it a bigger meal, add chicken.
Back in the mid 1990s, on a quest for good Thai food, my partner and I happened upon an artistic oasis in Lake Oswego, an upscale suburban burg a bit south of Portland, Oregon. Tucked away in a neglected alley in the center of town, we found a wall covered in art.
Immediately after the 2016 presidential election, I took off for a 10-day trip, first to Los Angeles, and then to Salt Lake City for an international tradeshow on Supercomputing. Wherever I went, almost every taxi driver, theater-goer, restaurant worker, and fellow tradeshow exhibitor and attendee I talked to mentioned the election results. Since this tradeshow of more than 11 thousand attendees… Read More »
Disagree about politics and religion and whatever, but don’t “unfriend” your REAL friends over it.