When Kris and I moved to Oak Grove in 2004, we were surprised by the neighborhood. We’d just come from Canby, which seemed like a proto-typical small town. Yet we barely knew our neighbors there. We smiled at them and waved hello and helped each other with small tasks, but we were never what I’d …
Via Andy B, here’s an masterfully-made, mesmerizing video of people dropping their cameras: oops from Chris Beckman on Vimeo. I know it sounds dumb, but I promise it’s not. It’s fascinating.
Nicole — who knows I love stories about animal intelligence — wrote in to share the tale of Chaser, the smartest dog in the world. Or at least the dog with the largest vocabulary. Here’s the story, as reported by Animal Planet: As part of a three year training course at Wofford College taught by …
On February January 24th, Kris and I will have been together for 22 years. Here’s a photo from right around our one-year anniversary: This was taken on approximately 14 February 1990 (my guess is the 10th 3rd) at Willamette‘s “Black Tie Affair”, a formal dance held in Portland. Man, we’re a couple of geeks.
So, I’m just as worried as everyone else that Jared Loughner, the man who attacked a political gathering in Arizona today, is some sort of politically-motivated rightwing nutjob. However, after a little research, I’m not convinced that’s actually the case. Jared Loughner may have spouted conservative anti-government rhetoric, but if you watch his YouTube videos, …
While emptying my camera’s memory card the other day, I found a photo I’d forgotten I took. It’s funny. My family generally celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve. We get together for a pizza dinner before exchanging gifts. This year, Kris and I hosted. We bought several take-n-bake crusts and provided toppings so people could customize …
I’ve been reading a lot of old comic books lately. Since I love comics, this probably doesn’t sound unusual. But it is. I mean I’ve been reading actual comics (instead of compilations) from the 1950s and 1960s. I find these books entertaining, even though their stories are often dull and repetitive. (The DC comics of …
Oh, how I look forward to the new year. Not because of resolutions or a fresh start or anything like that, but because that’s when DJ Earworm releases his annual mash-up of the year’s top 25 pop songs. I love it! This year’s remix isn’t as good as the 2009 version (which was simply amazing), …
When Kris and I were in Venice in late September, I had the best run of my life. On the morning we left, I woke early to run through the dark and empty cobblestone streets, over bridges and through narrow alleys. It was awesome. That run also rekindled my love for the activity. Running is …
When I was a boy, I loved nature films. We saw a lot of these in school, of course, but once in a while, Dad would actually take me to see one in the theater. My favorite nature film was Born Free, about Elsa, the lioness who was raised from a cub by humans in …