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: December 2014
Christmas Eve shopping
Before Christmas this year, I let our son “buy” one of the gifts I’d gotten for my wife, because he didn’t have the slightest idea what to get her (nor any inclination to go out shopping, not that I can … Continue reading
Posted in culture, Portugal
3 Comments
Cheerful graffiti
Normally I’m not a fan of graffiti, but this one, inked onto a boarded-up house in the historic center of Loulé, made me smile. It reads: When sadness knocks on your door, open it with a smile and say: “Excuse … Continue reading
Posted in life, Portugal
7 Comments
Wallpaper Tuesday
A slight departure from the norm, but this photo is so lovely I had to post it. This is sand…magnified at 250x. And looking at the coral and sea urchin spines, I’d guess sand from a tropical location. What beauty … Continue reading
Posted in wallpaper
6 Comments
Saturday picture show
Here are a couple of videos to make your eyes wet or wide. The first warrants a tissue alert, because even if you’re not a dog lover, you’ll probably get sniffly to see a dog with genetic deformities become fully … Continue reading
Posted in good news, video, weather
11 Comments
Wallpaper Monday
On Thursday, 11 December, the Grand Canyon experienced a “total cloud inversion.” If this sounds like something backwards, that’s because it is. Normally, temperatures are much higher in the canyon than above it (and it is not uncommon to have … Continue reading
Feather art
Every now and then I stumble across an artist who makes me wish I had a metric ton of money. Because if I did, I’d have Chris Maynard’s feather shadow boxes all over my house. His home page states: Feathers … Continue reading
Posted in culture
7 Comments
Wanderers
Ooo. This is a gorgeous film, with imaginative and extremely detailed visions of what future Terrans might see if we ever get out of our gravity well and start living elsewhere in our solar system. The film alone is worth … Continue reading
Posted in astronomy, travel, video
2 Comments
Peer-reviewed as “excellent”
This paper, containing nothing but these seven words (and the address of the main authors), was accepted for publishing by the International Journal of Advanced Computer Technology. It was even peer-reviewed (by an anonymous reviewer, of course) as “excellent.” ***** … Continue reading
Posted in humor, science
4 Comments
Wallpaper Monday
What distant planet is covered with ice and vast liquid oceans, is active enough for the ice to be constantly renewed (thus erasing impact craters and creating a mostly smooth surface), yet has gigantic cracks and ridges that imply convection … Continue reading
Posted in astronomy, wallpaper
7 Comments