You know those car commercials where the car is driving through the mountains or somesuch, and to show off its safety features, the commercial usually shows the car swerve gracefully around a fallen tree, or a boulder, or something? You know, to show how the tight steering and antilock brakes and everything make it the… Continue reading The safest car
Author: Jon
Sherman Alexie
Just finished up reading The Toughest Indian in the World, a volume of collected short stories by Sherman Alexie (wish he had a blog). It’s quite good; I’d never read any of Alexie’s work before, and I figured it was time I’d rectified that. …by that I mean that for the four years I spent… Continue reading Sherman Alexie
Design by Simone (we’ll see what she comes up with)
So Simone was telling me that the design here on the blog was getting stale, “too much green,” things like that. Okay, I said. Come up with a new design for me, and I’ll implement it. Her eyes got big. For like, one day? she asked. For as long as I like it, I said… Continue reading Design by Simone (we’ll see what she comes up with)
Self-publishing thoughts
Since Shannon desperately wants me to update the blog so she doesn’t see the freaky mugshot picture right away, I thought I’d just write down some random observations and questions about the business of print-on-demand self-publishing. Of the various on-demand, self-publishing services, the only ones I’ve seen that don’t charge for publishing your books are… Continue reading Self-publishing thoughts
Mugshot
I can’t help it, but this is just so weirdly funny. Bend man robs liquor store: this is not the funny part. The funny part is the guy’s mugshot: This dude looks like the love child of Rodney Dangerfield and Bob Marley or something!
Throwing a party
I haven’t posted anything lately because I’m still recovering from this past weekend. You see, we threw a big party. This is the year both of my parents are turning 60, so myself and my two brothers decided earlier in the year that we were going to invite all their oldest friends and throw a… Continue reading Throwing a party
Copying Starbucks
Boing Boing reports than an Astoria, Oregon woman has been ruled to be in violation of Starbucks trademark, when she opened a coffee shop named after herself: Sambucks. Note to Starbucks: get over it. Anyway, this reminded me of a coffee shop we saw when we were in Vancouver, B.C. earlier this year, that was… Continue reading Copying Starbucks
Digging out
Today was one of those days when you wake up, blink, and there’s eight inches of snow on the ground. That’s pretty rare for Bend. (Lapine and Sunriver, not so much. But for Bend and points east and north, rare.) It’s still coming down. The snow advisory is still on, through at least seven o’clock… Continue reading Digging out
Christmas with the bloggers?
So earlier in the month Shannon floated the idea of a Bend Blogger Christmas party. Not too many people responded, but since then we at least decided on a date if we’re going to do it: Saturday, December 10th. Would there be any interest to this among our local bloggers? I’d emailed a few to… Continue reading Christmas with the bloggers?
Bend snow!
Snow! It’s coming down pretty good, as I’m sure all the Bendites know by now—though I think Rhys will be especially pleased. It’s coming down pretty good; I’m downtown, and looking out the window I’m seeing an inch or so, I think. Driving is pretty awful right now; normally I go home for lunch but… Continue reading Bend snow!