Walk with the Mayor: Spring Creek Nature Area

From 2020 02 22 Spring Creek Nature Area

Paul Voelker, mayor of Richardson, leads informal walking tours in Richardson on an irregular basis. February 22's tour was of the Spring Creek Nature Area, including a side tour of two small historic cemeteries in the area, including the burial place of Jacob Routh, the settler who once owned the land.

Fifteen Richardson residents joined the mayor on a beautiful Saturday afternoon for this easy walk. Be on the lookout for future walks and take advantage of this opportunity to meet the mayor and see the best that Richardson has to offer.

More photos from the walk are after the jump.

POTD: Raqch'i Women

From 2019 08 23 Puno

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Raqchi, Peru. Like I've said before, the women of Peru have the best hats in the world.

After the jump, a bonus photo of another hat style.

Honey Boy (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes

Honey Boy (2019): Personal story of Shia LeBeouf from child star to rehab. Raised by a bullying, alcoholic father, the surprise is not that "Otis" ends up a young adult in rehab himself but that he functioned as a child star at all. Powerful, but relentlessly depressing. B-

Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes

Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (2020): A mobster seeking a missing diamond and others with grievances against Harley Quinn get her in big trouble. Full of violence, mostly cartoonish, it's a silly and fun look at female empowerment. Margot Robbie is a likable antihero. B-

Willful Ignorance Runs in the Family

This site is not usually used for national politics, but I learned something about the GOP primary in north Texas that brings back memories of one of my first elections in Texas. So bear with me as I remember Jim Collins.

POTD: Temple of Wiracocha at Raqch'i

From 2019 08 23 Puno

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Raqchi, Peru. It shows the ruins of the Temple of Wiracocha (destroyed during the Spanish Conquest, of course). At 100 yards long and 60 feet high, it's believed to have held the largest gable roof in the Inca Empire.

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: Student and Teacher in Peru

From 2019 08 23 Puno

Today's photo-of-the-day is from an elementary school in Peru in a small town on the highway between Cuzco and Puno.

Photo of teacher after the jump.

POTD: Elementary School in Peru

From 2019 08 23 Puno

Today's photo-of-the-day is from an elementary school in Peru in a small town on the highway between Cuzco and Puno. Ellen soon made friends and easily slipped into teacher mode despite the language barrier.

Bonus photo after the jump.

POTD: Dancing Two Miles High

From 2019 08 21 Cuzco

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Cuzco, Peru. Ellen was taken to the dance floor by...some kind of masked creatures. Ellen had fun and did a great job of dancing, even though afterwards she complained that there's not enough oxygen at 11,200 feet for such nonsense.

Bonus photo after the jump.

Review: Men Without Women: Stories

Amazon

From Men Without Women: Stories, by Haruki Murakami:


The call came in after one a.m. and woke me up. Phones ringing in the middle of the night always sound harsh and grating, like some savage metal tool out to destroy the world."

So begins the title story of Haruki Murakami's collection of short stories. Murakami is one of my favorite authors, whether writing epic tales or short stories. These stories are about men and women, men with women, and especially in a deeper way, the impact on men being without women.