-
Book: The Omnivore’s Dilemma / Michael Pollan
This book represents one of two epiphanies I’ve experienced this year. Both involve discovering something I’ve been ignorant of most of my life, but relied on heavily nonetheless. In this case the discovery is an entity crucial to my daily survival – the food chain that sustains me. It’s very revealing of our powers of…
-
Movie: Unknown White Male (2005)
A real story of extreme amnesia debunks some of the Hollywood amnesia mythology, leaving the piercing philosophical questions exposed. Our good fortune is that the amnesia struck a financially independent man with a video camera, who previously had a nosey friend with a video camera. So we’re able to see what might happen to a…
-
The Palace – Poudre Wall
A bright, warm Fall day introduces Sean, Ann, and I to Mark and Kate, and the Poudre Wall at The Palace. A little later cousin Doug and Liz show up. It’s a great group, reminding me of the many fun group outings I took part in in the Eastern Sierra Nevada with the Ridgecrest social…
-
OK, maybe we do need a truck
We have joked that we’ll just pull our fifth wheel behind our subaru if we need to in a pinch. Ok, maybe not.
-
Movie: Somersault (2006)
This Australian coming-of-age film follows the struggles of a 16-year-old girl who runs away from home to a small ski town. It does a pretty amazing job of exposing some of the difficulties of establishing relationships as a teenager, and just surviving, that shows how some painful lessons might change a person and yet leave…
-
Movie: Eight Below (2006)
You know from the second the soundtrack starts that this is a Disney movie, and as such is going to manipulate you mercilessly. Resistance is futile. Just drink some water beforehand so you don’t get dehydrated by the tear extraction process. Despite my resentment of the emotional manhandling, the movie is redeemed to a large…
-
Movie: Off The Map (2003)
A fine expression of the New Mexico hippy mystique. The landscapes are spellbinding, and the characters are duly enchanted by them. Fond sentiments for my broke and happy days in Dixon and Chimayo soon flooded me. Cheers to any of my arroyo copilots from those days who may drop by here and see this! Referred…
-
We visit the farm
The pickup for last batch of locally grown organic veggies in our community shared agriculture program is on the farm north of town. We meet Marcus & Esther to go check it out. It’s the first time I’ve ever witnessed the source of a significant portion of my diet. It becomes instantly obvious to me…
-
Book: God’s Prisoner of War / Linda Ansel
This is a self-published book that tells the story of Marjorie Harrison, a missionary and somewhat distant relative of mine. A major part of her story is her internment in China during World War II. I knew that this began at the missionary school at Chefoo on the northeast coast of China, but I never…
-
25 peeps – am I as interesting as bondage and nudity?
Actually, I hope not. But if you’re already here, the picture was taken on a 1700 mile hike on the Pacific Crest Trail in 1996. You can see the whole trip in less than a minute in the flipbook. That’s about as interesting as I get. For those who already know this, the reason for…