Mastodon Mastodon

End of an era: why “The Simpsons” no longer matters

Salon recently published an interview with author John Ortved about The Simpsons entitled “Why ‘The Simpsons’ no longer matters.” It’s a short but good interview and worth the quick read. Like many people my age, I grew up on The Simpsons. I remember watching it while it was still an odd series of shorts on … Read more

Celebrate the Conservation System in Arizona

It’s been nearly 10 years since the creation of the National Landscape Conservation System – America’s newest system of protected lands managed by the US Bureau of Land Management. That’s all a mouthful to say that it’s been a decade (and sometimes two) since some of the most interesting, most wild, and mostly-unknown special places in … Read more

People in Yosemite: A TimeLapse Study

Below is a fabulous timelapse video of Yosemite National Park, with a special focus on people. I’m a sucker for timelapse videos, but this one is beautifully shot and intriguing. As you know, I’m a big fan of the National Park System and wholeheartedly agree that it’s in serious contention as America’s Best Idea. And … Read more

Our winter National Parks roadtrip: LA, MS, AL

It’s nearly the holidays, and that means that Kim and I are planning another roadtrip. Usually, this trip is half-planned for us: it’s often centered around which bowl game ASU will be playing in. Sadly, that hasn’t been the case the last couple of years. Last year, we took advantage of the planning freedom afforded … Read more

Online to offline relationships: My 10 in 3 challenge

I’m creating a personal goal of proactively reaching out to 10 people I know only online and establishing an offline relationship with them in the next 3 months. I’m going to call it my #10N3 challenge. A little bit of background I’ve been hovering around the edges of a few social media communities for awhile … Read more

Hitting the hockey rink

I’m not a big hockey fan, but I do enjoy watching the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I discovered the sport while living in Detroit during second and third grades, which meant that I was destined to be a Red Wings fan. It’s a fast-paced sport that’s one of the best to … Read more

Free admission days at metro Phoenix museums

If you haven’t already checked out a Culture Pass, you need to. They’re available for “check-out” from your local Phoenix-area library and will admit four adults for free to one of several museums: Arizona Historical Society Arizona Museum of Natural History Arizona Museum for Youth Arizona Science Center The Bead Museum which is now closed … Read more

Finding a Dublin Dr Pepper in Denver

I received an interesting email a couple of days ago from some guy named Jason. It read: I know this is a random question, but I have a friend in Denver that has been looking everywhere for Dublin Dr. Pepper and I found a photo on your flickr stream of a Dublin Dr. Pepper on tap … Read more

Fumbling along on the roadtripping blog

Last fall, I decided that I was going to start blogging about roadtripping the National Parks. Kim and I were fresh off a long summer roadtrip that covered 8700 in 17 states. We had completed a fall trip to Canyonlands National Park – long on our to-do list – and were planning on completing all … Read more

red rock canyon

Returning to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area

It’s been far too long since I’ve been to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, a unit of BLM’s National Landscape Conservation System just west of Las Vegas, Nevada. It holds a special place in my heart as it was one of the first out-of-state destinations that Kim and I went to together. Back in … Read more