The Great Salt Lake

On August 4th, I flew to Salt Lake City to attend the Outdoor Retailer trade show. After three days of walking around the convention center, I was more than ready to be outside. In my friend’s borrowed car, I drove the wrong way and ended up at Saltair, where I turned off on to the …


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Elsewhere

You know I’m a somewhat irregular contributor over at Gadling, right? They let me stray from my usual topic (gear) this month, and I wrote two things that might have ended up here, otherwise. One is about the Austrian School of Fantastic Realism — it’s an art thing — and how I think that stuff …


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Strass Chapel, Austria

Maria Brettfall, a pilgrimage church above the village of Strass im Zillertal,Tirol.

Goodnight, Ladies

The old girl was gimpy, you could see it in her walk. When the farmer let her out of the barn, she deferred to the grassy places along the outbuildings, avoiding the gravel drive and maybe stopping for a mouthful of grass along the way. Her two little ones were springy like puppies, black and …


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Rant: On Bloggy Entitlement and Such

 More webby criticism. I’ve had quite a bit of thinky free time. Not interested in my opinionated bloviating on blogging? How’s about an odd little museum in Auburn, Washington, instead?

I’ve read a significant number of posts by bloggers saying, essentially, here’s a bunch of stuff I need if you’re going to invite me on your trip. Or, alternatively, here are a bunch of tactics you, blogger, can follow to get a free trip. And often, that stuff irritates the daylights out of me. No, truthfully, every time that stuff irritates the daylights out of me. Rarely, do I see anything saying “Do good, honest work. Strive to write well and love your readers. Everything else will follow.”

Honestly, when I get an invitation to travel somewhere I think:

ARE YOU SURE?! YOU WANT TO SPEND MONEY FOR ME TO DO WHAT, NOW? BECAUSE YOU WANT ME TO WRITE ABOUT IT ON MY BLOG? WHAT? ARE YOU SURE?

Yes, I do I think these thoughts in all caps.


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