Our son Luke arrived at Gatwick Airport, England, this morning. He’s staying a month at King’s College, London, on a study abroad program run by a consortium of smaller American colleges. He’ll earn…

Anthropologist Margaret Mead famously said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” If I hear that quote one…

Thanks to the wonder of digital cameras, Steve returned home with over 2,000 photographs from our trip. Don’t worry, I remember this is a Portland blog, so I won’t be posting them all.…

Scott Moore writes a fine article in today’s Portland Mercury regarding controversy over siting a biodiesel refinery in Linnton. In my opinion, it nails the “fair and balanced” line, giving both sides of…

Last year’s festivities, in the street outside our home. I’ve allowed only legal fireworks for our family celebration of pyrotechnic patriotism, so it could be known as the Annual Pathetic Fireworks Show. Except…

There are only about 100 family names (last names or surnames) for China’s 1.3b residents. The most common last name, Wang, is shared by some 93 million people. As Monty Python noted in…

I took this illustrative snap on my camera phone, at an intersection in Seal Rock, Orange County – next to a seasonal fruit stand in a parking lot. Apparently it’s never too early…