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, and grammar geek, so the posts in this blog tend to be eclectic.
Click the "About" tab if that wasn't quite enough detail.
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Recent Posts
- Gecko tail update
- Nat Geo on the veranda
- Three minutes of art
- Portugal wildfire (we’re okay)
- Alien: Covenant review
- A must read: “My Family’s Slave”
- Curmudgeons
- Dia da Liberdade (Freedom Day)
- Nat Geo moment
- Song of Saturday
- Innovative teachers (subtitle: Ryanair is the Scrooge McDuck of airlines)
- Strange weather
- No good deed goes unpunished
- Raise your hand if you remember the modem dial-up tone
- Rogue One review
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Monthly Archives: June 2015
Wallpaper Monday
Beverly Houwing took this impeccably timed sunset photo in Namibia. In her caption for the National Geographic Photography contest, she wrote: The dead trees at Dead Vlei, in Sossusvlei, Namibia, create stark silhouettes against the intense orange color of the … Continue reading
Posted in wallpaper
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The Adorable Octopus
One of the things scientists and naturalists are often loathe to admit in public is that they find all sorts of things cute. For instance, when I worked at a public aquarium, one of my favorite creatures in the whole … Continue reading
Posted in biology, video
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Wallpaper Wednesday
I love the symmetry of this photo: Mt. Fuji at dusk, taken by Kenichi Sunata. (Click the image to fujify.)
It’s a great week for font geeks
For those who love to geek out on the alchemy of designing fonts, this is a week of plentitude. First, Frere-Jones has just published “Typeface Mechanics: 002,” which picks up where 001 left off. This time the discussion centers on … Continue reading
Posted in Apple, tech, video
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The one we didn’t see and the one we did: Jurassic World and Sense8
My wife and I recently saw the Jurassic World trailer in the cinema, and at its end we turned to each other and said, “Nope.” It was wall-to-wall character clichés. There was the stiff-necked, over-groomed, cold career woman; the brilliant … Continue reading
Posted in culture, video
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Dotty
Winner of the Best Short Film at the Nantucket Film Festival, “Dotty” will make you laugh — and then it will break your heart. Vimeo link. Hat tip to Inge.
Posted in culture, life, video
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Wallpaper Wednesday
Photographer Dan Atkinson captured this shot of a wave crashing over the Warrnambool Breakwater (Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia) on 24 July 2014. He titled the photo “Smashing” and made the finals of the National Geographic Photo Contest. (Click the image to … Continue reading
Posted in wallpaper
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Scarce swallowtail
On my walk the other day, I came across a gorgeous swallowtail butterfly perched on a summer-dead thistle. She had the kind of flawless, shining perfection that only comes from a newly-emerged butterfly. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with … Continue reading
Posted in wildlife
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Wallpaper Wednesday
Photographer Paul Zizkas has created a portfolio of the ultimate selfies. In this one, he is boulder hopping on the Snowbird Trail in Mount Robson Provincial Park, British Columbia, Canada. I wonder how many times he made that leap to … Continue reading
Posted in wallpaper
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