Archive for the 'Obligations' Category



Phoenix Gallery

When I was growing up, nobody could explain my grandfather’s job to me. Even when I was an adult, my mom couldn’t really tell me what he did for a living. I knew he was a Shriner, because I saw his hats. I knew he liked to collect restaurant menus, because I saw the blog [...]

Many of my favorite pix from 2008 wound up on a calendar, which I gave out to friends and family last Christmas. There were no actual friends or family in any of the pictures — just the usual collection of abandoned buildings, desert scenes and vacation photos — but people were properly ethusiastic all the [...]

I was all stoked last fall to write this epic post about personal responsibility, goals and leadership, all tied into Mission STS-125, the final repair of the Hubble telescope. I’m sure I would have worked in the presidential election too. But then the Shuttle launch got pushed back, the election passed, and the wreckage of [...]

Say what you will about the convenience of the cloud, there are still some people who prefer the greater perceived permanence of a piece of plastic that they can stick on their shelf, toss in the back seat of their car or stash in the back of their closet. Those folks will relish the following [...]

Last year, the best “new year’s resolution” I could think of was “make better pictures.” I don’t know if I succeeded or not, but I had a new camera last year, so it seemed like the obvious choice. But this year, I’m back to my old tricks. The average person might announce, “I promise to [...]

The Damon Show, Part Six

Over the years, my brother Damon has left a long list of projects behind him — many completed, some not so much. Sometimes, the strain of trying to hold all the pieces together is just too great to sustain for any length of time. People lose focus of his quixotic vision, or he gets fed [...]