round the world

Birds are one of those animals that you’ll find everywhere you go. In Africa, there are tropical birds. In Antarctica, there are penguins. In urban areas, there are pigeons. In rural areas, there are—well, I’m not exactly sure, really.
But that doesn’t mean they aren’t in trouble. Several bird species… Read the rest

Summer is almost over and soon autumn will be here soon. Which means, for some of us anyway, that the seasons for surfing and kiteboarding is on its way out. But for the rest of you—you know who you are–the change of the seasons is only an opportunity to take… Read the rest

Clouds. They’re everywhere. Even on nice, sunny days when “there’s not a cloud in the sky,” you can likely spot the whisper of one off in the distance. Whether they are just wispy and appear painted across the sky, they are large and foreboding cumulonimbus or they are flat and… Read the rest

Here in the States, bicycling as a method of transportation is becoming more and more popular. What with the health benefits (who couldn’t use a little exercise?) and the money cyclists save on gas to get from place to place, there are a lot of great reasons to get on… Read the rest

It’s July and it’s hot. Maybe you were one of the many that set up camp to cool off  last weekend for the holiday, but chances are, even if you were, you’ll be heading to the local watering hole again this summer.
Whether you ski, knee board, tube or just… Read the rest

Call me a sap, but I’m one of those people that, when traveling, finds calm in the fact that I at least know one thing about the place: the sun will rise in the morning and set in the evening (that is, unless it’s one of those polar places that… Read the rest

Earlier this week, the Oregonian … Read the restposted a short article revealing a strange site in downtown Portland. A swarm of bees had followed their queen to a cherry tree. Within minutes, the cluster grew 2 feet long. They hung so low, apparently, that a skateboarder narrowly missed getting a “face full

Rope is: a 1929 British play by Patrick Hamilton; a 1948 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the 1929 play; a song from the Foo Fighters 2011 album Wasting Light… Read the rest; a data structure used in computer science; a rhythmic gymnastics apparatus; a civil parish in Cheshire; (the Ropes)

I’ll admit it, the inspiration for this post is that it’s supposed to be upwards of 80 degrees in Portland today and I’m starving for some sunshine. Since I won’t be able to make it to the beach anytime in the foreseeable future, this seemed like a good release.
Whatever… Read the rest

There’s something sublime about that moment you finally reach the summit of a mountain. You walk around and survey the world below from every possible angle. And you realize just how far (and how high) you’ve hiked. It’s like you’re on top of the world.
This week’s roundup of photos… Read the rest

Plastic bags are the poster child for mass one-use consumption. Because they are not easily recyclable, they make us more guilty than PET bottles, grocery containers and other items produced to have a very short lifetime. Bag ban legislation—successful and not—has been sparked in cities and states across the country,… Read the rest

Alleyways are mysterious. Be they thoroughly lit, dark, empty or full, there is always a sense that something—though you may not always be quite sure what—is going down. Sometimes they feel dangerous and you might find yourself constantly looking back over your shoulder in paranoia because you feel as if… Read the rest

It’s hard to think about reflections without getting metaphorical and sort of, for lack of a better word, gooey. And that’s because reflections are rarely just reflections. In films, when a character is shown in the same frame as his or her reflection it generally means that he or she… Read the rest

Recently, Time, Wired, The Daily Mail… Read the rest and several other publications wrote about a bizarre phenomenon caused by last year’s unprecedented flooding in Pakistan. The monsoon, which began in July 2010, didn’t only disrupt the lives of over 20 million people, but also caused millions of arachnids to take

According to the Oregonian… Read the rest, yesterday was the first clear day in the Portland area since February 25, and unfortunately the sun isn’t supposed to last. We will again be showered in rain tomorrow.
From what I hear, we’re not the only ones wishing for more sunshine in the forecast.