Posted inHome life

Our curved railings by Outdoor Fence Co. turned out well

Our home in rural south Salem has quite a few quirks, most of them desirable. For example, we have tons (literally) of granite rock in our landscaping, courtesy of the Garden Poet redesign not long after we moved here in 1990. My wife and I love the natural look of large rocks and flat stepping stones. But when we contacted Salem's Outdoor Fence Co. for a bid on installing a metal railing along the walkway from our driveway to front door, and another railing along the stepping stones from our carport to the walkway, those rocks became a bit of…
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Posted inEntertainment

RRR is a terrific action movie about India under British domination

I just finished watching RRR -- "Rise Roar Revolt" -- a movie from India on Netflix that's a mind-blowing three-hour combination of action, thriller, romance, dance, superhero, and probably other genres that I could recall if my mind wasn't in such a blown state. (It's got English captioning, and quite a bit of the dialogue is in English.) I loved RRR. India fascinates me. I've visited the country twice and was a devotee of an Indian guru for 35 years, which led to me spending a lot of time around people from India. So when I read about the movie…
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Posted inScience

If you frequently think about sex, you’re likely to be a man

Seemingly the title of this blog post is a good candidate for top honors in the "Well, duh, that's obvious" pantheon of trite statements. But, hey, I learned about this unsurprising finding in the June 2022 issue of Scientific American, so it's decidedly science'y.  The article is called "Men Aren't from Mars, nor are Women from Venus." This, of course, is a mirror image of John Gray's 1992 book, "Men Are from Mars, Women are from Venus." It's based on a study of studies involving the personality traits of more than 15,000 people. Cisgender people. Which means people whose gender…
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Posted inSalem

Salem Art Fair should move to Riverfront Park

Having been unimpressed with the new Salem Art Fair location in Bush Park -- as described in "Salem Art Fair better for trees in new location, but not as pleasant now" -- when I saw Wes Bouche's Facebook post, I thought Great idea! ( I assume last two words were meant to be "same time.") This makes a lot of sense. The World Beat Festival has lots of booths, just as the Art Fair does, and it fits nicely at Riverfront Park. The old amphitheater could be used for daytime entertainment, with the new Rotary Club amphitheater used for the evening…
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Posted inSalem

Salem Art Fair better for trees in new location, but not as pleasant now

After a Covid-caused hiatus, the Salem Art Fair is back in Bush Park this weekend. But not in its usual location under trees, because that was causing damage to the white oaks from soil compaction. So it moved to the large open grassy area adjacent to High Street.  Laurel and I went to the fair this afternoon for our usual Friday visit. It was enjoyable. However, not nearly as enjoyable as in the previous location. Paying for admission was the first shock. Recalling that the previous entrance fee was $5, I handed over a $20 bill for the two of…
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Posted inSalem

My photos and commentary on Salem 2022 Tour of Homes

This year it was easy for Laurel, my wife, and I to visit most of the newly-built Salem houses in the 2022 Tour of Homes, because there were only three. Seven of the eleven homes in the Tour were in Dallas and one was in Monmouth. Here's photos, and my commentary on them, for the two houses in south Salem that we visited. We passed on a house in NE Salem. The Tour of Homes runs from Saturday, July 9 through Sunday, July 17. Hours are noon-6 pm on weekends, 6 pm-9 pm on weeknights. Free admission. This is a…
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Posted inLiving with a catheter

I offer advice to someone new to using a urinary catheter

Today I heard from a woman whose 56 year old husband had his bladder go atonic, dysfunctional, two months ago. Understandably, he's suffering both physically and psychologically given this abrupt change in his life. She had read the essay I wrote for 180 Medical, which supplies my catheters, that had the not-very-cheery title, "My urinary catheter-related depression and anxiety." I was asked if I had any resources, advice, or support I could suggest. Well, here's the thoughts that come immediately to mind. I'll use this blog post as a reply to the woman, copying it into my email reply. I'll…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

I can’t celebrate Independence Day when freedom is under attack

I resonate with this image I saw on Facebook, though it doesn't go far enough. Yes, the horrendous Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade took away the freedom of women in about half the states to choose an abortion. Thankfully, Oregon isn't one of them. But there's plenty of other threats to the values our country was founded on. We're in grave danger of losing them. Democracy. The January 6 committee is doing a great job of revealing the details of how close Trump and his enablers came to overturning the 2020 presidential election won by Joe Biden. What's…
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