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: October 2011
Wallpaper Monday
Cassini, the Little Space Probe That Could, has been returning yet more drop dead gorgeous images of the Saturn system. The latest that made a bunch of blogs and news pages was one of four moons all in the same … Continue reading
Posted in wallpaper
3 Comments
London time warp
One of the things I love about living in the Old World is that it’s so easy to step into the past. Especially in rural villages or walled towns, where it often feels as if time has stood still. It’s … Continue reading
Posted in travel
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The ultimate anti-predation weapon
Back when I worked at a public aquarium, one of my favorite fish for the sheer cool factor was the Pacific hagfish, Eptatretus stoutii. So ugly that only a mother (or an aquarist) could love them, hagfish have the added … Continue reading
Posted in science, video
2 Comments
Snails are slow at EVERYTHING
Do you know what else snails are slow at? Sex. There’s a pair on my veranda, tucked beneath the sheltering foliage of a Felicia, and they’ve been copulating all day. I mean that literally — all day, and into the … Continue reading
Posted in life
2 Comments
A Democratic Apostle and a Convert
My mother has been going through old newspaper records, and occasionally sends me little tidbits such as this one. Published on 14 March 1860 (a year before the Civil War began), it appeared on page 1, column 8 of the … Continue reading
Posted in life, USA
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“…the dangers of contraception”
Last March I posted photos of a condom dispenser on the outside wall of a pharmacy in my town and commented that you would never see that in the US. Then I added that according to United Nations data, the … Continue reading
Posted in politics, USA
3 Comments
Wallpaper Monday
Which do you prefer, orange or blue? In East Java, Indonesia, an unusual lake has formed in the crater of a volcano named Kawah Ijen. Unlike most crater lakes, this one is sulfuric acid. When the liquid sulfur at the … Continue reading
Posted in life, wallpaper
2 Comments
Saturday picture show
The BBC and David Attenborough have done it again. Four years in the making, Frozen Planet looks absolutely stunning. Check out this trailer: Whew! Just to whet our appetites, the Beeb has been releasing snippets of the footage. This video … Continue reading
Posted in life, science, video
19 Comments
Is smart security an oxymoron?
The highlight of our trip home from London was when my stepson’s bag was pulled from the lineup for a special screening at the airport. The security guard snapped on his gloves, felt around, and pulled out…. (prepare yourself) …a … Continue reading
Posted in humor, travel
6 Comments
The commercials that stick
Today I was showing my wife one of the classic commercials from my childhood (and yes, I am dating myself here): the 1975 ad for the Chrysler Cordoba, starring the wonderful Ricardo Montalban and his rolling Spanish accent. His reference … Continue reading
Posted in culture, video
9 Comments