About Oregon Expat
Sometimes the best view is from the outside, and an American expatriate living in Portugal is, in many ways, outside of both nations. The views can be spectacular. I’m also a science nerd, Mac dweeb, grammar geek, and science fiction author, so the posts in this blog tend to be eclectic.
Click the “About” tab if that wasn’t quite enough detail — or go to my official author website.
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Recent Posts
- Hope, an unfamiliar emotion
- Pompeii takeout and American assumption
- Far Enough
- I have an issue with Netflix’s “Away”
- Now, about *that* topic
- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
- Alsea Rising: The Seventh Star is in the wild
- Alsea Rising is out and #1!
- Coming soon: Alsea Rising
- On his terms
- Beyoncé: Homecoming
- UPRISING and balance
- The brain radio
- Alsea lovers: This is the one you’ve been waiting for
- The chicken church
Recent Comments
- Fletcher DeLancey on Porto’s most famous bookstore
- pablohaake on Porto’s most famous bookstore
- Alberto on Throwing flowers
- Rael on Portuguese idiom of the day: Lança perfume
- Rael on Portuguese idiom of the day: Lança perfume
- Fletcher DeLancey on Hope, an unfamiliar emotion
- Miriam English on Hope, an unfamiliar emotion
Categories
Monthly Archives: January 2011
Wallpaper Monday
In honor of the Egyptian protesters, today’s wallpaper is of Cairo. Photographer Wael Saad writes: Nowhere in the Muslim world can you find such a profusion of domes and minarets as in Cairo. Rising from the haze of crowded, crumbling … Continue reading
Posted in wallpaper
2 Comments
Saving our history
One of the greatest stains on my nation is the 2003 looting of the Iraqi National Museum, which lost 170,000 artifacts to thieves because the US Army would not protect it. Thousands of years of history — not Iraqi history, … Continue reading
Posted in good news
2 Comments
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
I remember way back when I first got my hands on a book of the original Brothers Grimm stories, and how shocked I was that they weren’t the sweet, unicorn-and-rainbows versions that Disney had taught me. The short film below … Continue reading
Posted in humor, video
2 Comments
The Portuguese elect morons, too
I sometimes get a little too embroiled in the towering idiocy of US politics, and forget that other countries have their own idiots, incompetents and outright crooks as well. Portugal just elected its president on Sunday, or perhaps I should … Continue reading
Posted in politics, Portugal
9 Comments
A state gun?
There are two debate topics which have special heat among my European friends: the death penalty, and gun ownership. In general I have defended gun ownership, because I’m a western American who was taught proper gun handling, safety and ethics … Continue reading
Posted in politics, USA
8 Comments
Life imitates art
In my January 10 post about Duck football and the fans shaking Autzen Stadium, I indulged my imagination and wrote: If the crowd can shake an apartment half a mile away during a regular season game, just think what it … Continue reading
Posted in life
2 Comments
Wallpaper Monday
It has suddenly come to my attention, now that an 11-inch MacBook Air lives in our house, that grand scenic wallpapers don’t do very well on small screens. So I’ll be mixing it up with photos on a different scale, … Continue reading
Posted in wallpaper
4 Comments
Saturday picture show: Eight bioluminescent sea creatures
Ctenophores, or comb jellies, are gelatinous organisms that cruise the oceans using the rows of cilia which line their bodies. They’re simple in design, and very beautiful to watch as the cilia produce shifting rainbows of color. We occasionally had … Continue reading
Posted in life, science
7 Comments
The new baby
At approximately 3:30 this afternoon, all productive activity in our home came to a halt due to a delivery. Yes, after all the research and anticipation and waiting, the stork brought us a brand new baby, 11.8 inches long and … Continue reading
Posted in tech
7 Comments
Kill the drill
A few days ago, I was sitting in a dentist’s chair getting a broken molar fixed. This necessitated what felt like twelve hours of drilling, all of which was spent with the drill motor — and that awful, high-pitched whine … Continue reading
Posted in science
7 Comments