(For a complete list of all posts, more than 2,900, see Archives, Complete)

• 1,069 robots dance to new Guinness record (8/19/2017) - This video from Guinness World Records announces that these 1,069 robots set a new record for “Most Robots Dancing Simultaneously.” The event was staged by the WL Intelligent Technology Co, Ltd in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, and beat the previous record... Read More ›
• More on the statue controversy (8/17/2017) - *For my considered opinion on this subject, please see my previous post, “Removing statues can’t change history.”
• Removing statues can’t change history (8/15/2017) - The Soldier’s Monument, or Obelisk, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was dedicated in 1867 to Union troops who died in that state during the Civil War and to New Mexicans who died fighting Indians, represented by two different inscriptions on... Read More ›
• Pantone announces new purple to honor Prince (8/15/2017) - The Pantone Color Institute, in collaboration with the estate of the late singer Prince, yesterday announced a new shade of purple called “Love Symbol #2” (the symbol he used for several years instead of a name). Inspired by the purple piano... Read More ›
• Let’s start the week with a smile (8/14/2017) - On Reddit there’s a subreddit called “Better Every Loop.” It features GIFs that readers think are entertaining and get better with every loop or repetition. Tastes vary, but these amused and entertained me. And there’s much more where these came... Read More ›
• Rally Cat, best story of the week (8/13/2017) - Rally Cat was my favorite story this week. Note the score as the video begins. The St. Louis Cardinals trail the Kansas City Royals by one run. And then a stray feline wandered on to the field. The game continued... Read More ›
• Dunes in the mountains (8/11/2017) - This breathtaking image of Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes National Park is from photographer Nate Zeman of Breckenridge, Colo. He was captivated, as am I, by the contrast between the jagged, snowy Sangre de Cristo mountains and the smooth, warm dunes in the... Read More ›
• What, me worry? (8/9/2017) -
• Times gone by: Glen Campbell (8/8/2017) -   R.I.P. Glen Travis Campbell April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017   Nothing makes me feel my advancing years quite as poignantly as losing the musicians who’ve scored my life.  
• One-trick pony (8/8/2017) -
• Miller, phone conversations, grand jury … (8/4/2017) - This morning (Aug 3) I started to write about my dismay at the reappearance of Stephen “Dead Eyes” Miller at a White House press conference yesterday. You remember Miller, don’t you? He’s the awful little senior policy advisor to the... Read More ›
• Be still and know … (8/2/2017) - Estes Park photographer Eric Stensland shot this unidentified trail in Rocky Mountain National Park last week. There’s so much more to our national parks than crowded roads and panoramic views. It’s hard to beat the sweet serenity of a quiet... Read More ›
• Thornton, CO, named America’s safest city (8/2/2017) - I was as surprised as anyone when I saw that my city, Thornton, CO, was recently named America’s safest city. It strikes me as an average suburban bedroom community, large enough to have some very pricey neighborhoods and some older... Read More ›
• News flash: The Mooch is out! (7/31/2017) - ABC just broke in to my daytime tv with a very welcome news flash. Anthony Scaramucci, that foul-mouthed, cringe-inducing goodfella look-alike sent in from central casting, is out as White House communications director. Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving... Read More ›
• A murmuration of sheep (7/26/2017) - Sheep herding, New Zealand style. It takes some well-trained dogs to pull this off, and you have to look closely to even see them in this video from aerial photographer Tim Whittaker. It was posted to YouTube in February 2016... Read More ›
• So 19th Century, and yet … (7/24/2017) -
• Colorado’s ‘Charlie Blackmon kid’ meets Charlie Blackmon (7/21/2017) - Denver TV stations have been airing this delightful video repeatedly for the last three days, and I suspect its appeal is not just local. Two-year-old Tommy Colson was quietly watching the All-Star baseball game when his favorite player, Colorado Rockies... Read More ›
• NOT an Alaskan brown bear* (7/19/2017) - * Brown bears and salmon and seagulls, oh my!  
• Price going up for senior national park pass (7/11/2017) - Seniors, time is running out to buy your lifetime pass to America’s national parks for just $10. On August 28, per Congressional legislation passed last December, the price will jump to $80. Still a bargain when you consider that admission... Read More ›
• Brown bears and salmon and seagulls, oh my! (7/10/2017) - Hard to believe it’s been a year already. But the Katmai (Alaska) National Park bear cam is operating again at Brooks Falls. The salmon are running and the bears are feasting. It’s a live camera (several cameras, actually), with sound,... Read More ›
• Marmots on Niwot Ridge (7/9/2017) - I’ve spent a lot of time using the controllable TundraCam, up on Niwot Ridge near Nederland, CO (17 miles west of Boulder). It’s at 11,600 feet, in the middle of an area of research projects, with great views of surrounding... Read More ›
• Trump at G20 making America great again (7/8/2017) - This morning’s Washington Post newsletter featured this photo with the headline “Growing U.S. isolation on display at G-20 as world aligns against Trump policies.” My reaction was profound sadness. That’s not Donald Trump sitting there alone. That’s the United States.... Read More ›
• Enshrining oxymorons (7/8/2017) -  
• Forget me not, Colorado (7/7/2017) - Estes Park photographer Erik Stensland shot these alpine forget-me-nots, above, in June 2015. But they can be found every summer in Colorado’s high country. Forget-me-nots are my favorite alpine wildflower (tied with columbine), and their intense blue is only part... Read More ›
• Happy Birthday, America! (7/4/2017) -
• Teeniest, tiniest origami cranes (6/23/2017) - David Kawai, a photojournalist in Ottawa, Canada, makes what surely must be the world’s tiniest origami cranes. Unless someone else has extremely tiny hands or uses tweezers, or maybe pins and a microscope. Kawai, however, uses only his bare hands... Read More ›
• Warm thoughts and well wishes to Ronni Bennett today (6/20/2017) - Quietly, soberly, I’m thinking about Ronni Bennett today. Many of you probably know her as author and administrator of the blog Time Goes By. She has, for a number of years (I’m not sure how many) written with humor and insight... Read More ›
• Denver surreality (6/7/2017) - I’ve been AWOL for a while. I realize that. But when you don’t want to see or read another word about the grotesquery in Washington, or the terror attacks overseas, or the endless shootings in the U.S. … there’s not... Read More ›
• Freedom isn’t free (5/29/2017) - ~ REMEMBER ~ All gave some … Some gave all
• A timely reminder (5/28/2017) -
• Thug in Congress (5/26/2017) - Wednesday evening, Greg Gianforte, Montana candidate for a vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, took it upon himself to grab and body slam reporter Ben Jacobs from The Guardian. No cameras were rolling, but the reporter got an audio... Read More ›
• With apologies for my addiction, here’s another Denver webcam (5/23/2017) - I apologize to those readers bored by my addiction to webcams. But I came across another one this morning at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science that is too good not to share. It’s the downtown Denver skyline, but a much... Read More ›
• Oops, we had a little snowstorm (5/20/2017) - A friend sent me this picture a few weeks ago and today I felt a need to edit it for our big storm this week. While my street got off easy and looked a lot like this picture, other parts of the... Read More ›
• Ominous echoes from the past (5/16/2017) -
• TGIF (5/12/2017) -
• Elder outrage (5/9/2017) - I try hard to give people the benefit of the doubt. I try not to be racist. I try not to be unduly suspicious of groups of teenagers. I try to be a good person, a good neighbor, courteous and respectful to... Read More ›
• Gaming Grandmas Guild? (5/4/2017) - I am not, it seems, the only gaming grandma on the internet. Today, quite by accident, I came across Shirley Curry of Rocky Mount, VA. If the information on her YouTube channel is up to date, she’s 81 years old.... Read More ›
• Unconscionable (5/4/2017) -
• Clueless … and then some (5/3/2017) - Both my intellectual and emotional health require that I not spend more than a few minutes a day thinking, talking, or hearing about Donald Trump. I should probably include my physical health as well since any Trump exposure tends to... Read More ›
• An emotional plea for all of us (5/2/2017) - Last night comedian Jimmy Kimmel explained why he was absent from his show last week. His wife gave birth to a son who had a life-threatening heart deformity and underwent immediate open heart surgery. All are home now and doing... Read More ›
• It’s Tajiri (5/1/2017) - It’s official, in case you hadn’t heard. Fans of April the giraffe voted to let handler Allysa name the new calf. She and her fellow handler decided on Tajiri, the Swahili word for hope. The plan is to call him “Taj.”... Read More ›
• How high’s the water, mama? (4/29/2017) - Social media have dubbed this tiny Berlin puddle sculpture “Politicians discussing global warming,” but the sculpture is actually called “Electoral Campaign” and is part of a larger street art installation called “Follow the Leaders.” Spanish street artist Isaac Cordal installs his... Read More ›
• Still time to help name April’s calf (4/28/2017) - For those still following the saga of April the giraffe and her new calf … you have until April 30th to help choose a name for the calf. After several weeks of preliminary submissions/voting, the top ten names, in alphabetical order,... Read More ›
• Earth Day 2017: Keep it wild (4/22/2017) - Although Thomas Jefferson argued that no one generation has the right to encroach upon another generation’s freedom, the future’s right to know the freedom of wilderness is going fast. It need not go at all. A tragic loss could be... Read More ›
• The Blue Trees in Denver (4/19/2017) - There’s a new public art installation in Denver. Work on it started yesterday and continues today. Artist Konstantin Dimopoulos, with the help of volunteers, is creating his Blue Trees project. It entails painting all the trees in the Denver Theatre District blue.... Read More ›
• Easter Sunday (4/16/2017) - Estes Park, Colo., photographer Erik Stensland posted this on his Facebook page on April 12. He didn’t include a desciption, but I’m guessing it’s a recent sunset in Rocky Mountain National Park. Yet somehow it seems appropriate on this Easter Sunday... Read More ›
• It’s a giraffe calf, finally (4/15/2017) - Lots of news today. But perhaps the happiest is that April the giraffe, at Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, NY, finally calved this morning. I managed to miss the whole event (early in NY is really early in Denver) but there... Read More ›
• Tomorrow is Tax March Day (4/14/2017) - Tomorrow, April 15, Tax Day, is also the day for the Tax March. (I confess I only learned about it yesterday.) In Washington DC and in cities across the country, Americans will gather and march to demand Pres. Trump release his... Read More ›
• It’s about priorities (4/13/2017) - This cartoon reminded me of a quotation from Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower. I saw it earlier this week in a comment from Herb Van Fleet on his blog, The Humanist Challenge: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every... Read More ›
• Thinking of flying the friendly skies? (4/11/2017) - (Updated April 13, 2017) If by some remote chance you missed the story today, passengers now risk being physically dragged off United Airlines planes to make room for their own employees: There’s another video and the complete story on CNN. I’m outraged... Read More ›
• Hopeful but not optimistic (4/4/2017) -
• Purrfect for pet owners (video) (4/1/2017) -
• A little sunshine for your day (3/31/2017) - Today’s Google home page features artwork celebrating peace and diversity. A national Doodle 4 Google contest asked student artists to consider the concept “What I see for the future ….” The winner was 15-year old Connecticut high schooler Sarah Harrison, with... Read More ›
• It’s World Meteorological Day … and more (3/23/2017) - It’s World Meteorological Day. How appropriate. The meteorologists around here are excitedly dealing with a typical Colorado weather forecast for the next 24 hours. Typical in that very little about our weather is ever “typical.” Right now, it’s a beautiful... Read More ›
• Congress in the palm of your hand (3/20/2017) - Want to be heard in Washington but not sure where to begin (aside from voting, of course)? Well, you’re in luck. There’s an app for that. I first heard about the app “5 Calls” from Ronni Bennett on her blog... Read More ›
• Happy St. Patrick’s Day (3/17/2017) -
• The intransigence of hate (3/15/2017) - I first wrote about the intransigence of hate in our society back in 2009, and then again in 2010. And I’m sorry to see the topic is just as relevant today. Consider, for example, Iowa congressman Steve King’s comment on Sunday: “We can’t... Read More ›
• GOP healthcare … all hat, no cattle? (3/9/2017) - Call me naïve, but I fully expected that after seven years of threatening to repeal and replace Obamacare, the Republicans would have a plan all polished, fully supported, and ready to launch as soon as a Republican became president. Seven years... Read More ›
• Giraffe born at Denver zoo while world watches NY’s April (3/7/2017) - While the world watched (and continues to watch) April, the New York giraffe expected to give birth at any time, a giraffe was born at the Denver Zoo on February 28. His name is Dobby. Dobby was a surprise to... Read More ›
• Us vs the internet (3/4/2017) - Yesterday on Time Goes By, I read how many internet users get frustrated by all the online annoyances when they are trying to browse or read — pop-up ads, regular ads, autoplay videos with their unwanted sounds, jittery GIFs, cluttered sidebars, etc. There... Read More ›
• Bet you can’t help smiling (3/3/2017) - This video is five years old but it was new to me. And it certainly brightened my day. I hope it will brighten yours, too. The back story on this … a guy named Matt Harding started a video project titled... Read More ›
• Bush sounds a lot smarter now (2/27/2017) - Former President George W. Bush appeared on the Today Show this morning, and he sounded a lot more intelligent than I’ve ever given him credit for. Or perhaps it’s just the comparison to Trump. Among the former president’s observations: “I consider... Read More ›
• Even giraffe cam isn’t above criticism (2/27/2017) - Note: To be sure you’re always seeing the current genuine live feed, click the official link at aprilthegiraffe.com. There are countless fake sites with erroneous information. Going through aprilthegiraffe.com is the only way to be certain you’re seeing the real... Read More ›
• Estes Park webcam information updated (2/22/2017) - This month I’ve made a lot of changes to the post that usually tops my bestseller list, “Live streaming webcams on line in Estes Park.” I had to account for cameras that have gone offline and add a few new ones I’ve... Read More ›
• Lax security in the White House (2/20/2017) - One of the shortest, most succinct reports I’ve seen recently about happenings in the White House comes from an unexpected source — Ars Technica, a computer tech magazine I learned about some years ago. Its Friday report echoes my own concerns... Read More ›
• Tiny Trump, America’s child (2/17/2017) - It started yesterday on Reddit and is now sweeping social media — Tiny Trump! It’s the perfect opportunity for photo manipulators to demonstrate their skills. These representative samples are all from imgur via Reddit, where you can find dozens if not hundreds... Read More ›
• All hail SCROTUS (2/17/2017) - The So-Called Ruler of the United States Additional appellations are welcome. Please share yours in the comments below.
• Daddy’s little girl (2/16/2017) - This isn’t THE origami rose. I don’t even know if THE rose was red or some other color. But my not-quite-11-year-old granddaughter had an unforgettable Valentine’s Day. She discovered her “cubbie,” in a particular classroom I assume, had been filled... Read More ›
• Again with the valentines? (2/14/2017) - Terrific.
• ‘The powers of the president … will not be questioned’ (2/13/2017) - A few hours ago I could not have told you who Stephen Miller is. Now I can tell you he’s the jaw-droppingly officious little jerk who made the above assertion on Face the Nation yesterday. If you prefer not to watch... Read More ›
• Andrew Sullivan and ‘The Madness of King Donald’ (2/13/2017) - Finally! A respected journalist and public figure, columnist Andrew Sullivan, is openly questioning the mental stability and capability of Pres. Donald Trump. It’s about time someone did. In his Friday column for New York magazine titled “The Madness of King Donald”... Read More ›
• DeVos bought herself a cabinet position today (2/7/2017) - I am absolutely sick that Betsy DeVos was confirmed as Donald Trump’s new Secretary of Education. With our public education system in dire need of new, competent leadership, the Republicans nevertheless succeeded in confirming a woman who has never attended a... Read More ›
• It’s called checks and balances (2/6/2017) - Apparently no one told our new president that he is not the boss of everybody.
• What the world needs now (2/3/2017) -
• It’s National Wear Red Day (2/3/2017) - February is American Heart Month and today, the first Friday of the month, is National Wear Red Day, promoted annually by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), HHS Office on Women’s Health, American... Read More ›
• ‘Fire hose’ of lava flows from Kilauea volcano (1/31/2017) - From the US Geological Survey in Hawaii comes this stunning video of lava pouring, not creeping, into the sea on January 28. A view of the “fire hose” at night: Story and more photos at the USGS site and at Big Island... Read More ›
• Once upon a time there was a land called America … (1/30/2017) -
• Snowboarder on fire at X-Games! (1/28/2017) - Frontside grab … truck driver … frontside rodeo … cab double underflip … quad cork 1800 … half cab quadruple backflip … backside triple cork 1620 … Snowboarding tricks, many of them being done today during the 2017 X-Games in... Read More ›
• R.I.P. Mary Tyler Moore (1/26/2017) - MARY TYLER MOORE December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017 Rest in Peace
• Winter wind in the Rockies (1/25/2017) - Estes Park photographer Erik Stensland posted this untitled photo on his Facebook page last month. He spoke of how difficult it can be to capture the wind in a still image. But on this day in December, he did just... Read More ›
• Bad Lip Reading: The Inauguration (1/25/2017) -
• Bull in a gift shop II (1/25/2017) - A few days ago I posted a story and video about a bull elk that wandered into an Estes Park, Colo., gift shop. (He stayed for about 45 minutes.) Here’s another video with a view from the outside as police tried vainly... Read More ›
• Deflection and ‘alternative facts’ (1/23/2017) - As Daniel Patrick Moynihan once put it: “You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.” It’s going to be a long four (or, God forbid, eight) years. But at least the mainstream media... Read More ›
• Roe v Wade, 44 years strong today (1/22/2017) - I almost overlooked this with the Women’s March yesterday. And this is really a part of that. Today is the 44th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that freed women to make personal health choices for themselves. For me... Read More ›
• Worldwide rallies support Women’s March on Washington (1/21/2017) - I didn’t watch the Women’s March on Washington today. I’d hoped it would be a huge success, but I just don’t have the will to watch a lot of live coverage from DC. So imagine my amazement and delight when I finally... Read More ›
• Bull in a gift shop (1/21/2017) - There’s never a dull moment is Estes Park, Colo., thanks to the local wildlife. Today it was a bull elk that wandered into Water Wheel Gift Corner. He hung around in the shop for about 45 minutes, to the great... Read More ›
• Transition (1/20/2017) -
• Gone but not forgotten (1/18/2017) -
• Words banished for 2017 (1/16/2017) - Here it is, the list of words and phrases banished for 2017. No doubt you’ve looked forward to it for a year. Or maybe two, since I neglected to post it last year. Lake Superior State University collects the words,... Read More ›
• Congratulations, Mr. Vice President (1/12/2017) - President Barack Obama today surprised Vice President Joe Biden with the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction. Other recent recipients of Medals of Freedom with Distinction: Pope John Paul II, President Ronald Reagan, and Gen. Colin... Read More ›
• Thank you, Mr. President (1/10/2017) - Thank you … … for all you’ve done and all you’ve tried to do to make this a better country for everyone. … for being a man and a president we could be proud of even if we disagreed with... Read More ›
• Tennis shoes, sneakers, or trainers? (1/10/2017) - Something I read earlier this evening started me thinking about the different words people use when referring to the cushioned rubber-soled shoes worn for athletic activities. In the past I’ve gone off on tangents about soda vs. pop vs. coke usage around the... Read More ›
• Biden: ‘Grow up, Donald’ (1/7/2017) - Despite my current boycott of most Washington news, I read that Vice-President Joe Biden had responded to news of a tweet by President-elect Donald Trump by saying, “Grow up, Donald.” Having seen the headline, I felt compelled to find the video and... Read More ›
• The zen of rock balancing (1/2/2017) - It’s fascinating what this man, Michael Grab, can do. And as it turns out, he lives right up the road in Boulder, a city with a seemingly endless supply of intriguing people and things. My appreciation to Ronni Bennett at Time Goes By... Read More ›
• Wishing you peace and happiness in the new year (12/31/2016) - “I cannot be an optimist but I am a prisoner of hope.” — Cornel West
• Free money for Android apps (12/30/2016) - Thank my son for this tip because I’d never heard of it. There’s a little Android app you can get called Google Opinion Rewards. They occasionally ask you a couple of survey questions and in exchange for your answer(s) they... Read More ›
• If it bleeds, it leads … in the real world (12/29/2016) - In recent months I’ve developed a severe allergy to national news for the obvious reason: “If it bleeds, it leads.” (Try as I might, I cannot confirm the source of that phrase although everyone has heard it and it’s been around... Read More ›
• … and don’t let the door hit you on the way out (12/27/2016) -
• Whew … (12/26/2016) -
• Just an old-fashioned Christmas (12/25/2016) -