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

• Space Force? Seriously? (8/14/2018) - My grasp of reality is sometimes in doubt, but is our president serious about establishing a Space Force? Really? Space Force? Did no one tell him about Reagan’s defunct Star Wars proposal? I laughed when I first heard him announce... Read More ›
• Blue birds singing a song (8/7/2018) - Blue birds singing a song, Nothing but blue birds all day long …
• Me and my lyin’ eyes (8/6/2018) - You say you don’t believe in climate change. You don’t believe the ice packs are melting and the seas are rising. You say it’s all a hoax, that scientists are lying. Well, I don’t know about you, but I can’t... Read More ›
• California burns, Colorado coughs (8/2/2018) - This is a screenshot from a Denver webcam in Cheesman Park on an average day: This is a screenshot from the same camera this afternoon: We’re being told the haze is smoke from the fires in California, with a minor... Read More ›
• Pardon my schadenfreude … (7/30/2018) - … But I just can’t help it. As I’ve said before: Facebook lack of privacy is old, old news Censorship on Facebook Facebook screw up Facebook: Still not your friend FTC slaps Facebook Further Facebook folly I should stop knocking Facebook, but …... Read More ›
• This, too, is America (7/27/2018) - The Angel City Chorale won a Golden Buzzer* this week on “America’s Got Talent” with their performance of “Baba Yetu.” The song’s composer, Christopher Tin, earned a Grammy for his work in 2005, making Civilization IV the first video game... Read More ›
• I confess (7/26/2018) - I confess. I was one of those confused, per the cartoon. I’m not into a lot of special diets or health foods or anything and I haven’t been a milk drinker since I was a kid. I only buy it... Read More ›
• TRUMP TWEETS AGAIN (7/24/2018) - SOMEONE PLEASE TAKE AWAY HIS PHONE BEFORE HE STARTS A WAR THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR HIS DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH.
• Kennel Club announces winning dog photographers for 2018 (7/23/2018) - The Kennel Club (in the UK) has announced the winners of its 2018 Dog Photographer of the Year competition. Dogs. Photography. What’s not to love? I found these photos on The Guardian, but there are many more from this year... Read More ›
• You can’t play fetch without a smart dog (7/22/2018) - I saw this on the local news this evening and although the little boy is adorable, my props go to the dog who knows how to keep the game going.
• We will break this night (7/22/2018) - In March of last year, I posted this old “Where the Hell is Matt?” video from 2012. A few days ago I came across it again, and I heard it in a whole new way. The chorus became an earworm... Read More ›
• Silence is acquiescence (7/19/2018) - Come on, Congress. Grow a pair! How much longer will you endure Trump’s lies, near-treasonous behavior, and muddled “double negative” explanations? Surely you can’t not understand that he’s throwing all of you, and the country, under the bus. He doesn’t... Read More ›
• Forever chasing webcams (7/18/2018) - It’s said the only constant in life is change. And that includes webcams. They come and go, fail and reappear. As a result, I have to constantly police my Colorado webcam page, trying to keep everything up to date. I... Read More ›
• Hey, it’s Friday the 13th (7/13/2018) - I rarely even notice when a Friday the 13th rolls around. But some people do, and it makes them very anxious. They have paraskevidekatriaphobia. There are a lot of reasons, explanations, suppositions, and theories about why and how Friday the... Read More ›
• Thai soccer team and coach safely out of cave (7/11/2018) - Twelve members of Thailand’s Wild Boars youth soccer team and their assistant coach were trapped deep in a cave for two weeks when monsoon rains began and water in the cave rose. But today, the last four boys and their... Read More ›
• Gamers are great!! (7/10/2018) - This is Mercy, a healer in the video game “Overwatch,” which I played quite a bit last winter. However, the story here is that the pink skin/outfit she’s wearing was a special fundraiser for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Players... Read More ›
• Teddy bear picnic (7/6/2018) - If you go down in the woods today You’re sure of a big surprise If you go down in the woods today You’d better go in disguise! For every bear that ever there was Will gather there for certain Because... Read More ›
• Good riddance, Scott Pruitt (7/5/2018) - I couldn’t help smiling this evening when I came across this fortuitous placement of elements on a news site. Best of NBC news indeed. Best for any network … except maybe Fox. Pruitt’s resignation today was some of the best... Read More ›
• Survived another Fourth, no thanks to neighbors (7/5/2018) - Last night while I was busily cursing (mostly silently) at neighbors shooting off illegal fireworks and terrifying my already sedated dog, I kept one eye on a live streaming webcam with a view of greater Denver. It was fun watching... Read More ›
• Wishing everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July (7/4/2018) -
• All of you, go to your rooms (7/3/2018) -    
• Never stop learning (6/30/2018) - There’s always something new to learn in Rocky Mountain National Park. Even the locals know that.    
• Just three more years, Justice Kennedy, please! (6/29/2018) - Please, please, please, Justice Kennedy! You’re only 81. Can’t you wait just three more years before retiring? RBG is 85 and hanging in there. If she can, so can you. We need you. American women need you to make sure... Read More ›
• It’s getting ugly out there (6/27/2018) - The title, “This is Just the Beginning,” appears above a photo of a burning limousine. The opening paragraph reads: “Do you think that being asked to leave a restaurant, or having your meal interrupted, or being called by the public... Read More ›
• Term limits, you betcha! (6/26/2018) - I’m posting a lot more cartoons these days because so many of them say exactly what I want to say, without all my blather. Term limits? I’ve been saying that for years. The only problem is, it needs to be... Read More ›
• The bear cam is back (6/22/2018) - They’re back. The Alaskan brown bears at Brooks Falls, Katmai National Park, Alaska. More accurately, the bear cam is live again. There’s a note that the bears appear mostly in July and August, but there was one there when I... Read More ›
• So you think you could outrun a lava flow (6/22/2018) - Photographer Ken Boyer captured this unbelievable scene as lava gushed from Kilauea’s Fissure 8 on June 15, 2018. If you were thinking you could easily outrun those creeping flows we’ve been seeing in the news, you’ve another think coming. And... Read More ›
• Free the children, lock up Sessions (6/20/2018) - I’ve never condoned illegal immigration. But trying to discourage it by separating children from their parents is unconscionable. Those children are guilty only of having parents. When I first heard about this practice, I was immediately reminded of Nazis breaking... Read More ›
• Father’s Day 2018 (6/17/2018) - Best wishes to all the dads out there!
• Teen stuns ‘America’s Got Talent’ judges (6/13/2018) - Do you remember back in 2009 when Susan Boyle blew the lid off “Britain’s Got Talent”? She sang “I Dreamed a Dream” and the judges jaws dropped. Well, last night on “America’s Got Talent,” a painfully awkward 13-year-old girl named Courtney... Read More ›
• ‘I’ve seen it rainin’ fire in the sky’ (6/10/2018) - I came across this photo recently on Erik Stensland’s website. His gallery is in Estes Park, Colo., and he specializes in photographing Rocky Mountain National Park. There are many more equally spectacular photos on his website, Images of RMNP, and... Read More ›
• My thoughts exactly (6/8/2018) - Seriously, this is exactly what I first thought after hearing about the Supreme Court’s recent decision (the one allowing an evangelical Christian baker to refuse to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple). I took it as permission for... Read More ›
• A browser called Brave (6/7/2018) - We’ve all struggled with browsers, ad blockers, cookies, caches, etc. in an effort to protect our privacy on the internet. And some of us are more concerned than others. I, for example, boycott Facebook and Twitter except for my blog... Read More ›
• Pied Type, WordPress, and the GDPR (6/3/2018) - In recent months we’ve heard a lot about internet privacy and privacy violations. Most notable, perhaps, was the Facebook data “leak” and related Congressional hearings. Then late last month came Europe’s GDPR — General Data Protection Regulation. It protects the... Read More ›
• ‘Batboy’ Jake a big hit at the ballpark (6/2/2018) - Here’s a burst of sunshine for your weekend: Jake the Diamond Dog. No politics here, unless maybe you don’t like dogs. (I don’t trust people who don’t like dogs.) Come on now, everybody smile! I borrowed this from Ronni Bennett’s Time... Read More ›
• Schadenfreude and Roseanne Barr (5/31/2018) - Yep, too much schadenfreude. On my part, that is. And I feel a bit guilty about it. But only a little bit. I was appalled last fall by ABC’s decision to bring back the “Roseanne” show. I’ve never liked Roseanne... Read More ›
• Memorial Day 2018 (5/28/2018) - ~ REMEMBER ~ All gave some … Some gave all
• And the games continue (5/27/2018) - Friday the Memorial Day “games” began at the entrances to Rocky Mountain National Park. Cars lined up bumper to bumper waiting to get through the toll plazas. So today I looked somewhat farther south (160 miles or so) … and... Read More ›
• Denver men claim world’s tallest waffle stack (5/27/2018) - A group of Denver men calling themselves the Denver Collective Assembly have claimed the Guinness Book of Records title for world’s tallest waffle stack. Yesterday their 67-centimeter stack beat the previous record of 51 centimeters. Official certification from Guinness is... Read More ›
• Let the games begin (5/25/2018) - It’s a brilliant sunny day, with the high temperature in Denver to be in the 80s, and a three-day holiday weekend lies ahead. I’m delighted to be here at home with my air conditioning and not out trying to get... Read More ›
• There’s action on Trail Ridge Road (5/22/2018) - Trail Ridge Road, which reaches elevations above 12,000 feet as it crosses through Rocky Mountain National Park, traditionally opens on Memorial Day Weekend. But in the mountains Nature always has the last word, and although the road crews are hard... Read More ›
• Another school shooting, more thoughts and prayers (5/22/2018) -   If America’s leaders won’t act for the good of the country, it’s time to elect new leaders!  
• Estes Park webcam collection grows by four (5/21/2018) - Yesterday I added four new Estes Park, Colo., webcams to my collection. All four are live streaming, although you have to look closely at the tips of branches or the clouds to tell. (The “live” tag in the upper left... Read More ›
• The latest internet ‘dress’ is yanny vs laurel (5/16/2018) - A few years ago the internet blew up with What color is this dress? White and gold or blue and black? Now the question is What do you hear? “Yanny” or “laurel”? Apparently it depends on what frequencies you hear... Read More ›
• Hope springs … (5/14/2018) -   … however briefly
• Yes, of course Grandma is still gaming (5/11/2018) - Hard to believe it’s been a year since I bored you with my adventures as the Gaming Grandma. But I’ve been too busy gaming to bother writing about it for the two or three readers who might be interested. I... Read More ›
• Will issues verbal thrashing of Mike Pence (5/10/2018) - For a lesson in how to wield the English language, check out George Will’s column in the Washington Post. You needn’t agree that “Trump is no longer the worst person in government” to enjoy — or choke on — Will’s use... Read More ›
• ‘Be Best’? (5/9/2018) - I’m among those who don’t understand what Melania Trump means with her “Be Best” campaign. My first thought was that since English is her second language, maybe she just missed the mark and means “Be the Best” or “Be Your... Read More ›
• A tiny typographic tantrum (5/5/2018) - An item in the Washington Post yesterday caught my attention … and annoyed me on several counts. It’s a discussion of single spacing vs. double spacing at the end of a sentence. All the emphasis seems to be on readability,... Read More ›
• I learned a new word today (4/30/2018) - (Yes, it’s a real word. I looked it up. And not surprisingly, it’s been discussed more than once in the last year. But I’d managed to remain ignorant until I saw this cartoon this morning.)  
• Just another fish/shark/osprey story (4/27/2018) - Florida photographer Doc Jon thought he’d photographed an osprey in flight some 400 feet above the beach. He had. And having tried to pick birds from the sky with my own camera lens, I know how difficult that can be.... Read More ›
• Osprey catches koi in Colorado (4/24/2018) - (Updated April 25) A local newscast just showed an osprey nest in Boulder, Colo., and noted there is a webcam there. I didn’t realize there were ospreys in the area, much less a webcam watching their activities. So I looked... Read More ›
• Spring in Colorado (4/24/2018) - Yesterday it was sunny and warm. About 70°. I took the dog for a walk. This morning it is cloudy with a snow/rain mix. Temp is 35°. The yard man cancelled my first mowing. Yea, Spring.
• Hey there, it’s Earth Day (4/22/2018) - Earth Day is important, you know. Me and all my amphibian cousins will be among the first to disappear if you humans don’t clean up your act and protect our planet. So do your part, okay? … ribbit … Thanks for... Read More ›
• Sony announces winners from 2018 photo competition (4/21/2018) - Winners of the Sony World Photography Contest were announced last month and finalists this month. Several publications have assembled extensive galleries of the top photographs in a variety of categories. These two appealed to me immediately, but there are many... Read More ›
• Comey: Trump ‘morally unfit to be president’ (4/16/2018) - Last night, on live TV, George Stephanopoulos interviewed former FBI Director James Comey. And despite my personal boycott of most political news, I watched. Although my opinion of Comey has shifted several times, I generally like and trust both men... Read More ›
• Yoga with a friend (4/11/2018) - It’s a video. Click the picture.
• Respite (4/5/2018) - This is an untitled photograph from Erik Stensland’s Facebook page. Stensland is a professional photographer based in Estes Park, Colorado, and his photos of Rocky Mountain National Park are favorites of mine. In order not to contribute to a concentration... Read More ›
• Sinclair Broadcast Group responds to criticism (4/4/2018) - The Sinclair Broadcast Group responded to its critics (see “Sinclair Broadcast group shoots self in foot“) with this press release. Frankly, I think they missed the point. Or more likely, they chose to step gingerly around it. PR people are... Read More ›
• Sinclair Broadcast Group shoots self in foot (4/3/2018) - You might have heard this weekend that Sinclair Broadcast Group required all of its local news anchors to read a script about biased and fake news. That meant almost 200 tv stations across the country issued the same statement. I... Read More ›
• Monday morning chuckle (4/2/2018) -  
• Hmm … (3/27/2018) -
• March for Our Lives offers hope for the future (3/24/2018) -   From out of the darkness Our future will come If we leave the past behind We’ll fly beyond the sun From “Hope for the Future” by Paul McCartney   I’m so proud of these young people!     More... Read More ›
• Facebook lack of privacy is old, old news (3/21/2018) -   I hate to be an “I told you so,” so I won’t be. I’ll just reprint something I wrote back in 2011: ____________________ The Federal Trade Commission has finally taken Facebook to task. Now, because of previous violations of... Read More ›
• Webcam page gets new look (3/18/2018) - Just a note for those readers who visit my webcam page. I’ve redesigned it to make it, I hope, more user-friendly. It still needs some work, but that will have to come another day.
• Happy St. Patrick’s Day (3/17/2018) -
• Another beautiful wind map (3/16/2018) - Several weeks ago I published an item about my favorite wind map — live wind currents swirling across a map of the United States in an endless, ever-changing piece of abstract art. In searching for its URL, I found another wind... Read More ›
• #Enough won’t be enough (3/15/2018) - The media yesterday were full of pictures and stories about students across the country walking out of class in remembrance of the seventeen killed in Parkland, Fla., two weeks ago. There were marches, prayer vigils, moments of silence, gatherings at... Read More ›
• Ad astra, Stephen Hawking (3/14/2018) -   Stephen William Hawking January 8, 1942 – March 14, 2018 There is little more I can say about this man about whom so much has been said. One of Earth’s most brilliant minds now belongs to the Universe. May he... Read More ›
• My Heart Soars (3/13/2018) -   The beauty of the trees, the softness of the air, the fragrance of the grass, speaks to me. The summit of the mountain, the thunder of the sky, the rhythm of the sea, speaks to me. The faintness of... Read More ›
• Happy International Women’s Day (3/8/2018) -
• Yup, it’s windy (3/5/2018) - Ho hum, just another early spring day in Denver. The sun is shining brightly, but the wind is howling around the house at 30-40 mph. A temperature of 36° makes it decidedly unpleasant outside. I’ve posted this wind map before... Read More ›
• Rare yellow cardinal living in Alabama (2/26/2018) - Charlie Stephenson, in Alabaster, Alabama, first noticed this yellow cardinal at her backyard feeder in January. To keep crowds of curious people from gathering around her home, she is not revealing her exact address. Researchers say the unusual coloring on... Read More ›
• GOP supports (their own) gun-free zones (2/24/2018) - A number of Republicans, while denouncing gun-free zones for others, enforce a few for themselves. An article on Alternet notes five places that Republicans, for their own personal safety, maintain and enjoy the protection of gun-free zones: 1. The White House.... Read More ›
• Unexpected sources (2/20/2018) - It was cold and snowing yesterday, and I spent the afternoon playing video games. Some Assassin’s Creed: Origins, a bit of Warframe, but mostly Civilization VI. The latter is full of historical references and quotations. With real-world headlines in the back... Read More ›
• Stoic (2/18/2018) - Estes Park, CO, photographer Erik Stensland published this untitled photo on his Facebook page on February 10. A study of strength, winter beauty, solitude. Certainly as arresting as any sweeping landscape and perhaps even more thought-provoking … As it happened,... Read More ›
• Holy halfpipe, Batman! (2/14/2018) - Hope everyone was watching last night when Shaun White won Olympic gold in the men’s halfpipe. He was crying, I was crying. Seemed like everyone was crying. I’m not going into all the details about what it took for him... Read More ›
• At last, something to cheer about (2/9/2018) - This week Elon Musk’s company SpaceX successfully launched the world’s most powerful rocket and put his personal Tesla roadster into space, complete with the dummy “Starman” at the wheel. Shades of P.T. Barnum. But, WOW! Just like the old days... Read More ›
• Samoas and Thin Mints and Trefoils, oh my! (2/8/2018) - An enterprising San Diego Girl Scout recently sold more than 300 boxes of her cookies in six hours by positioning herself outside a marijuana dispensary. While the Scouts and authorities discuss the legality and propriety of her action, I can’t... Read More ›
• Fly Eagles fly! (2/2/2018) - The Pats remind me of a guy I knew in high school. He cheated his way through everything and everybody knew it. I kept thinking it would catch up with him some day, but it never did.   Feb. 4... Read More ›
• Today is the 45th anniversary of Roe v. Wade (1/22/2018) - Every woman’s right to choose was guaranteed by the Roe v. Wade decision 45 years ago. Celebrate your freedom to choose. Respect the right of others to choose.
• Time to march again! (1/16/2018) - Remember the Women’s March on Washington a year ago? Millions of men and women around the world marched in a show of unity for women and against Donald Trump. Photos poured in from events across the US and Europe and... Read More ›
• Weeping for America (1/13/2018) - Speaking for me yesterday: Philip Kennicott of the Washington Post. In “What did the men with Donald Trump do when he spoke of ‘shithole countries’?” Kennicott tells of weeping, first when he read about the woman in Baltimore who was put out... Read More ›
• Oprah for president? No. Just no. (1/10/2018) - All the talk about Oprah running for president is … distressing. It’s exactly the sort of thing I’ve been fearing — the idea that if Trump can be president, so can any other wealthy celebrity. Both Oprah and Dwayne “The... Read More ›
• Welcome 2018 (1/1/2018) - I’m not superstitious … … but it can’t hurt
• Goodbye 2017 (12/31/2017) - “I cannot be an optimist but I am a prisoner of hope.” — Cornel West
• Nature’s finest moments … or not (12/30/2017) - The winners of the 2017 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards have been announced and these are just a few of my favorites. Don’t miss the rest of them, and all the finalists, on the CWPA website. The overall winner was that... Read More ›
• Retrospection (12/28/2017) -
• Wishing you happiness and peace (12/25/2017) - Wherever this finds you today, I wish you and your loved ones all the peace and happiness of this holiday season. Merry Christmas! 🎄  
• Dreaming of a white christmas (12/24/2017) - We got about two inches of snow last night. And it’s supposed to stay really cold today — it’s only 18° right now. Trouble is, it’s also bright and sunny. Here in Denver that means even if it stays well... Read More ›
• Peril and patriotism (12/22/2017) - This time of year the media like to post galleries of “the year in pictures” — their collections of the best photojournalism from throughout the year. I always enjoy the great photography, but after going through several galleries, the photos... Read More ›
• New streaming webcam for Estes Park fans (12/21/2017) - Yesterday I stumbled across a new (to me, anyway) webcam in Estes Park. It’s so typical of Estes, with mountains, rustic cabins, etc. But the best part by far is that it’s live and streaming. I watched and enjoyed birds... Read More ›
• My fight against robocallers and telemarketers (12/19/2017) - (Note: If you use an iPhone, this probably won’t help you.) I doubt there’s a single person among my readers who hasn’t been annoyed by robocallers, telemarketers, scammers, etc., who use our own phones (that we pay for) against us.... Read More ›
• ‘Gutterman’ decoration fools passersby (12/18/2017) - This story cames from Nampa, Idaho.
• Pai ridicules the effort to preserve net neutrality (12/15/2017) - This is a video that FCC Chairman Ajit Pai put out yesterday before the agency voted today to remove net neutrality rules. I don’t know what his intent was, but it seems to me he’s ridiculing those who’ve been fighting... Read More ›
• Thank you, Alabama (12/13/2017) - Normally I wouldn’t care one iota about the results of a senatorial race in another state. But I cared a great deal about the race in Alabama between Republican Roy Moore, an accused child molester whose long record of impropriety... Read More ›
• Another Word of the Year: ‘feminism’ (12/12/2017) - Two weeks ago, Dictionary.com announced that its Word of the Year was complicit. Today another dictionary, Merriam-Webster, announced its Word of the Year: feminism. As with complicit, the selection of feminism was based on the number of people who looked up... Read More ›
• My new hero (12/8/2017) - In Ventura County, Calif., with the Thomas Fire raging just feet away, a man pulled over to rescue a frightened wild rabbit. Remarkably, he succeeded. Wish I could give him a hug.  
• Why I wouldn’t live in Los Angeles (12/7/2017) - Today was the first time I’d seen this video of Thanksgiving traffic on “the 405” in Los Angeles. (I’ve never lived anyplace where people preface a highway number with “the.” Me and mine would say “I-405.”) Traffic like this would... Read More ›
• All I want for Christmas (12/6/2017) - I can hardly stand the wait Please Christmas, don’t be late