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Cloudy With Chance of Asteroids

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Cloudy with Chance of Asteroids. February 8, 2013. Http:/ www.vimeo.com/58731907. NASA has reassured me. Scientists believe there are approximately 500,000 near-Earth asteroids the size of 2012 DA14. Of those, less than one percent have been discovered. As more of those asteroids are discovered and their paths tracked. Maybe the next close shave will be with a giant space rock named “Asteroid Bob.”. Sign in with Twitter. Sign in with Facebook. And the World Will Fall to Pieces. Not Lost in Translation.

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Guns, Gods, and Schoolmarms

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Guns, God, and Schoolmarms. December 15, 2012. I’m trying, unsuccessfully, to imagine my teachers of yesteryear packing heat at school to protect me from crazy people armed with assault rifles. Not that shootings at schools happened in my youth, a comparatively quaint time of many fewer guns and people who killed with them. Now gun zealots of many stripes want to arm teachers. Some even blame. Gun-control advocates (“ blood on their hands. As for my early yesteryear, I loved black-and-white Westerns....

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Fresh-Baked Memories

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November 5, 2012. In an hour or so, fresh home-baked artisan bread will be delivered to our door, courtesy of Bakester. An entrepreneurial venture of Laura Birshan. For $5 a week we get a different flavored, naturally leavened loaf dropped off by bike. (See slide show. Delivered last week, was chipotle-spiced delicata squash. It was moist and delicious with a slight kick. What flavor today? Sign in with Twitter. Sign in with Facebook. And the World Will Fall to Pieces. Not Lost in Translation.

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The branch we share

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The Branch We Share. December 2, 2012. When my wife, Suzame Tong. Told me that she has a new colleague at Jive Software. Who has my last name, I asked if the young woman has ancestral roots in Indiana. My roots run deep in the state, especially on my father’s side. So when the colleague said yes, I set out to learn if we’re related. It didn’t take long, thanks to Ancestry.com. I hope more than Barack Obama and Sarah Palin, who are 10th cousins. Sign in with Twitter. Sign in with Facebook.

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Back in Time, Virtually

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Back in Time, Virtually. December 20, 2012. Can you feel nostalgic about something you don’t remember? There’s surely a clever word for the feeling, but I can’t find it. I’m pondering this, precisely 62 years and 68 minutes after my birth, because I stumbled upon the address of my first home. Thanks to Google Street View. I’ve can see the apartment building. In homage to Street View. The Greek word “nostos” means to return and helped to form “nostalgia.” Or better than. Regardless of the word, what the a...

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Encounters at Death’s Door

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Encounters at Death’s Door. January 13, 2013. I entered the room of a dying woman, my father’s widow, living her final days under hospice care. Her eyes searched through the dim light, settling on my face for a moment then fixing on something, what I couldn’t tell. The proverbial distant shore drawing closer? Or the landscape of a drug-induced waking dream? Sign in with Twitter. Sign in with Facebook. And the World Will Fall to Pieces. Not Lost in Translation. Grief for Lost Places.

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On My Own

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October 16, 2012. This memory never fades: the sound of the cook’s spatula clanging on the spacious griddle, his occasional cry of “Seaboard! 8221; (code for to-go orders), and the smell of sizzling onions. I watched him from a swivel stool at the counter of the Royal Castle. Burger joint in Maitland, Florida. Sign in with Twitter. Sign in with Facebook. And the World Will Fall to Pieces. Not Lost in Translation. Grief for Lost Places. Cloudy with Chance of Asteroids. Words Illuminating the Night.

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Andrew Bird

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July 22, 2008. Being there is everything. Not just attending small venue concerts to hear musicians Iâ m enthralled with but making sure I’m pressed next to the stage. I want to see whatâ s written on their faces, to witness the up-close interplay with their band mates, to judge how they play off the audience. I want to imagine […]. July 17, 2008. May 2, 2008. And the World Will Fall to Pieces. Not Lost in Translation. Grief for Lost Places. Cloudy with Chance of Asteroids. Words Illuminating the Night.

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Pistol-Packing Teacher Math

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December 19, 2012. For arming teachers is getting louder than gunfire. Forget that the tactic would protect students as well as holding dynamite over a chemistry class Bunsen burner. What about the cost in these fiscally fraught times? Here are quick back-of-a-napkin estimates: 7.2 million teachers nationwide multiplied by $500 for the Glock G17 pistol. Preferred by many in law enforcement, equals roughly $3.6 billion. Add another $250 for two training. Concealed holster is $30. Cha-ching!

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Tall in the Saddle

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Tall in the Saddle. March 6, 2010. Few blog posts for many months means I’ve been crushed with work. But that’s a good thing in these trying economic times. The heaviest load has come from serving as guest curator for a just-opened exhibit at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, called “ Tall in the Saddle, the Pendleton Round-Up at 100. Lenders were well-represented at the exhibit’s special opening event. Pendleton Round-Up at 100: Oregon’s Legendary Rodeo. Here’s what I told the crowd:. On Northe...