Geckos are Cool

Know what I mean? This one was on the window screen in Houston.

Portland, Oregon

OK, here is a parting shot of Portland. I've also posted a small slide show from the trip. Note the sakura (cherry trees) in bloom along the river and also in the slide show. There are nice Chinese and Japanese gardens, it was green, and it is very obvious that things grow well here in the summer.

Old Town

It is raining in Portland. There are lots of things things Portland has going for it and some not so great. I know some people don't like the clouds, rain, and such but that doesn't really bother me. There seems to be a surprisingly large homeless population. I wonder why? There were two beggars rotating and using the same sign outside the coffee shop yesterday. Just a shift change I suppose.

There was something that struck me when we flew in and that was how developed the land is - all under plow or with streets and buildings it seemed.

Lewis and Clark made their expedition between 1803 to 1806. By 1850, Portland was a pretty good sized town. By the late 1800' s, the railroads had tamed the West and the American Indians were all on reservations. Within a few more years a lot of the rivers had been dammed and a substantial amount of the forest logged. The entire area had been wilderness and now only remnants remain.

Two hundred years later it is all drastically different. I have always thought that change has accelerated in my lifetime but I am not so sure. At least you didn't see that much of a change to the landscape when the semiconductor was invented or the internet was invented (not by Al Gore as sometimes thought). To take a place from wilderness to tamed in 100 years is pretty dramatic. One hundred years doesn't seem as long anymore since I have lived more than 50 myself. I wish they had left a little more of it pristine.

I think I wrote once that the rain forest seems to go on forever in PNG. It must have seemed the same to the pioneers.

Portland, Oregon

Here we are in Portland, Oregon. I am not entirely sure what to make of it. I like it, but it is not all that it could be I think. There is a river running through it, but it hasn't been developed very well. The city has interesting architecture, a mix of old and new. There are restaurants, bars, hotels, and some apartments downtown. There seems to be a good art scene and the public transportation is good. The fashion seems to be predominately grunge and lumberjack. There is a huge bookstore, and inside was an engineer giving a lecture with old fashioned slides on bridges. The photograph shows an old draw bridge with modern sculpture beside it that I could not quite decipher.

Commemorative 5th Anniversary Blog

About five years ago I started blogging for the first time. I know that you are jumping up and down to hear the story so I interviewed myself. Here is the transcript:

Q: So, how did you get started with this blogging anyway?
A: Well, it started when I went to Japan five years ago to start work on a new project and my Mother asked me to make sure and write at least once a week so she would know I was OK. I did, and just to let others know I was OK, I copied them on the emails I wrote. Tried to make them interesting too… One day, my niece Erica suggested my stories were interesting enough that maybe I could put them into one of those new fangled blogs. That was the first I ever heard of a blog but I tried it. Since then I have made over 500 entries had over 13,000 visits.

Q: That is interesting. What made you name it Lost in Japan?
A: The hardest part about starting the blog was giving it a name. But there was a movie out back then called Lost in Translation (starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson) and it was filmed in and around where I was living. At the end of the movie you can see the apartment building I lived in. Anyway, I kind of ripped off the title and it seemed to fit because sometimes I felt a bit lost over there.

Q: What a great story. But you don’t live in Japan any more, why don’t you change the title?
A: Like I said, coming up with a blog title is hard. Anyway, sometimes I get lost in Kingwood, Texas but not so much anymore because I bought a GPS that speaks and gives directions.

Q: Fascinating. What about the pictures you post in your blog?
A: At first I didn’t put pictures in. In fact, I just copied my emails into the blog. But at some point I found you could put pictures in and I bought a little 3 M pixel Canon point and shoot and started sticking them in when I had an interesting one. Japan is interesting visually so usually I could find something during the week and I always carried the camera with me.

Q: This really is delightful. So, do you consider yourself a photographer or a journalist?
A: Actually, neither. I am an engineer. But I like both writing and photography. Lately I’ve tended a bit more towards photography. I like techie gadgets. Maybe I am a photojournalist who does both. I really like a good picture but it has to tell a story. But a lot of the time you don’t get the story from my pictures without a few words.

Q: You are just as interesting in person as you are on the printed page. And your pictures really are of a professional quality. I just love your pictures of Australia.
A: Thank you.

Q: Let’s talk about your favorite postings in the blog. What would those be?
A: I like it best when I’m able to elicit a response from my readers. So anytime I get a comment or an email response I am encouraged to keep blogging.

Q: Who generally responds? I would have thought anyone reading your poetry and seeing the artistic visions you capture would be compelled to write back to you.
A: I’ve had comments from all over the world but most of the comments seem to come from a guy named Stu Monkey and Megan. I heard that Stu Monkey had a facebook page but he hasn’t invited me to be his friend even though he invited Megan.

Q: I wouldn't worry about Stu Monkey if I were you but I have noticed that you have fans from all over the world. In what countries are you most popular?
A: Outside of the United States, I get the most hits from Indonesia followed by a tie between Thailand and Australia. I don’t know why Thailand or Indonesia. Interestingly, I’ve had two visits from the Islamic Republic of Iran but only one from Latvia.

Q: Where do you get your topics?
A: I try to see something everyday that interests me visually or something that I would like to learn more about. There is enough reporting of bad news in the world and the blogophere is full of whiners, so to distinguish myself I write about good things.

Q: I see. Why don't you write about your work. That must be really interesting too.
A: You have to have a life outside work. If you are going to bring work up, I'll have to end this interview right now...

Q: OK, OK, don't get your knickers in a twist. Thanks for taking the time to share your insights on blogging with us.
A: No worries mate. Hasta la vista. Mata ato de.

btw, the picture at the top is an iris blooming in the pond in the little park across the street. It has nothing to do with the story, but I had to stick a picture in...

Children Dancing, Papa Village

These children are dancing a welcoming dance in Papa village up the coast from Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. Dances are done to commemorate events, celebrate, prepare for war, prepare for marriage (more or less the same dance for the last two), and such. Some dances are very elaborate, masks are frequently used, and story telling aids might be carried. You really know you aren't back in Kansas when the dancing starts....

Dance to Commemorate Hail Storm in Kingwood, Texas

To commemorate the hail storm in Kingwood I have made up a dance which I do in my garage from time to time whenever I feel the story is worth retelling. The snowman reminds me of the cold hail and the dour mask with me falling to my knees shows the pain of being hit in the shins by ricochet'd ice.

Hail Storm in Kingwood, Texas

Friday, the 27th of March, we had a good hail storm and I went out on our tiny little porch to watch it. The porch is so small there was hail bouncing in and hitting me. There was some good sized hail - up to the size of a quarter. I picked some up, put it in my pocket, and after a while went back inside and photographed it on the kitchen counter. Of course it had melted but you can see it was good sized...