The Marinara Murders and The Saints Go Dying … now in paperback!

Posted on

I'm happy to say that both The Marinara Murders and The Saints Go Dying are now available from Amazon.com in paperback. They're both $9.99. Even at that price I make less per sale than I do on the Kindle versions of the book (which is kind of crazy when you realize that the Kindle versions about a 1/3 of the cost.) But I just couldn't justify pricing them above $10. So $9.99 it is! At least two independent bookstores have offered to carry the books, so soon they will be available locally. But until then, if you don't want to read Read more…

Vashon Day

Posted on

We spent today on Vashon, checking out beaches, lighthouses, and their cute little shopping area. Mostly it’s just a nice half-day trip. I got some good photos, which Instagram’s filters made a little better. Lighthouse at Point Robinson Park Dramatic cloud cover with a sun break on the beach Shelter on the beach The KIRO AM transmitter (love the old type) Always a classic. The treed bicycle.

March 9th is the South Sound Technology Conference

Posted on

I'm on the Steering Committee for the South Sound Technology Conference and will be speaking on a panel as well. It should be a great day next Friday!   Join us for the 2012 South Sound Technology Conference! Friday, March 9, 2012William W. Philip HallCheck in at 8:30 a.m. Don't miss… Steve Jarvis, VP Product Development Expedia-Mobile Application Development Howard Schmidt, White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Leaders from many community and technology organizations  As the technology showcase for Tacoma and the South Puget Sound, this conference brings together leaders from industry, education, and government to discuss and demonstrate innovations and their Read more…

Impressive stats for Metro Park volunteerism

Posted on

Metro Parks has been trying to better capture the number of volunteer hours spent in the park district through the Chip-in program, coaching, teen volunteering, event volunteering and all the many other volunteer opportunities. The stats are incredible. Total Hours volunteered 2009: 121,013 2010: 156,147 2011: 176,298 That's right. Last year more than 176,000 hours were donated to the park district. Let me put that another way: in 1 year, volunteers donated 20 years worth of their time to Metro Parks. We estimate the value of the time donated as $3.7 million. I think there a lot of takeaways from Read more…

“Look, Ma, Look! A Brand New Bike”

Posted on

"For me, for me, for me you say? I'm going to ride it, right a way!" I probably have "The Bike Lesson" memorized for as often as I read it as a kid, and my parents read it to me. I post it here in remembrance of Jan Berenstain, who passed away over the weekend.

Next steps for the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

Posted on

I would encourage you to check out the Tribune article from last week about plans for the Zoo. The North Pacific Aquarium is almost 50 years old, and it's time we start planning ahead, either to build a new aquarium, or to close the one we have. The concrete building has held salt water for that whole time, and salt water and concrete just don't mix over the long term. Discussions about the aquarium are part of the bigger picture planning we've been doing for the last couple of years: what species do we want to focus on, what facilities Read more…

On the Merits of Reading Anything and Everything

Posted on

I will pretty much read anything. Actually, I try to be selective within genres–for example I read Bridget Jones' Diary, one of the most influential and earlier "chicklit" books, but I haven't read widely within the chicklit genre. But, more generally speaking, I will pick up pretty much anything. I devoured all the Star Trek novels in the Swasey library as a kid and even continued to read them through high school and even into college. I've read pot-boilers like Clive Cussler and Dan Brown. I've read a bunch of old classics–Dickens, Verne, Hugo (helpful hint: reading old French books Read more…

5,000 pages of knights, dragons, and one really big wall

Posted on

Sometime in early December I started the book Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. It's the first book in a seven part fantasy series (parts 6 and 7 haven't been released yet). I started getting interested after the hoopla surrounding the HBO adaptation of the books. And then hearing from a lot of people that the books were quite good. So I decided to check them out. They have occupied the better part of two months. Really, I don't think I've read much else of anything since then, but they total 5,000 pages, so it's not like I've been slacking. They Read more…

Walk like the Dickens

Posted on

Last week, Charles Dickens celebrated his 200th birthday. I've actually read a fair bit of Dickens. Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Bleak House, A Tale of Two Cities, and Great Expectations. Of those, Bleak House is probably the "best" of his books, and I have a certain fondness for it because I read it while in London. It also contains one of the first detectives in English fiction: the bizarrely named Inspector Bucket. I wouldn't necessarily recommend Bleak House, though. It is 1000 pages and quite dense. Out of those I've read, David Copperfield and Great Expectations are probably the most accessible. Read more…

Talking Parks at City Club

Posted on

Two worlds are colliding! This Wednesday, City Club's lunch will be about the future of funding for local and state parks. I'll be moderating the panel, which will have people from the state, from Pierce County Parks, and from Earth Economics, a non-profit that specializes in innovation for parks and open space. I think it will be an interesting lunch program! (the picture of the Wright Park lion is from our 2005 park tour)