Went past a former place of employment a few weeks ago. The place has been out of business for almost eight years, and it’s been six years since any other business occupied the space. The landlord’s attempts to lease aren’t going very well. It’s been for rent for a couple of years… Before it rents,…
A few days after I moved to Tucson, I heard that my neighborhood was having a July 4th parade. Being the new kid in town, I was curious to see what a parade in 100-degree heat would be like. So, I ventured over to the corner of Camden Street and Palo Verde Boulevard to see…
Last Thursday, my part of Tucson received .70″ of rain in less than an hour. The water has had a chance to soak into the ground and revive the plant life, including this dinner plate cactus… March 2019 update: Oops! Looks like that photo went bye-bye when I had this blog redesigned. But, never fear,…
March 2019 update: The photos associated with this post are now part of my Tucson Event Photography website. They are linked in the text. This is a continuation of my previous post on the Summer Solstice celebration at the Arizona State Museum. The festivities included a Tucson-based group of fire dancers called Flam Chen. Here…
March 2019 update: The photos associated with this post are now part of my Tucson Event Photography website. They are linked in the text. Saturday was the longest day of the year. So, how did we Tucsonans celebrate the Summer Solstice? With an outdoor festival, of course! The triple-digit temperatures didn’t stop thousands of people…
March 2019 update: This website is no longer online. Here are a few of the many accomplishments of Leon E. Barstow, Ph.D.: Created the world’s first commercial DNA synthesizer, which is now in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution. Developed and commercialized new products with sales totaling $200 million. Raised more than $35 million…
April 2015 update: This site was redesigned by the university. On this project, I worked with Terence Monks, Ph.D., head of the University of Arizona Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. My job was to design an attractive, fast-loading website that combines the natural beauty of the Tucson area with information on his lab’s research and training…
Remember when going to college meant leaving your home and job to study on a faraway campus? Nowadays, college can come to you. It’s as simple as logging on to your computer and enrolling in a distance degree program. Established with a $2.06 million gift from University of Arizona alumni David and Edith Lowell, the…
On this project, I worked with Sheila Tobias, a Tucson-based educational consultant who wrote the best-selling book, Overcoming Math Anxiety. Sheila collaborated with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to establish the Professional Science Master’s degree program. The Science Master’s is an M.S. degree that prepares students for work in fields such as consulting, banking, insurance,…
Last week, a neighbor came over to alert me that she and her roommates were having a Saturday night house party. With live bands. "What kind of music?" I asked. "Punk rock," she replied. Now, that brought back some memories of house parties back in my early twenties. Back when this punk thing was just…
Good landscape planning and design is one of those things that a lot of us talk about, and some of us even do it. But, here’s Martha from Reality-ville: I didn’t plan the design of my yard. I just made it up as I went along. And my forary into water harvesting was motivated more…
Okay, ornithology buffs, this one’s for you. I spotted this bird at Wildlife World (near Phoenix) in late 2006. Anyone care to identify him or her?
Yesterday afternoon was a tense time on the University of Arizona campus. The UA-led Phoenix Mars mission was nearing a significant milestone: The end of its 10-month journey to the Red Planet. I was among the hundreds of people who converged on the UA Mall to watch NASA TV coverage of the landing on the…
Stained glass window, Catholic Newman Center, Tucson, Arizona
Back in February, I blogged about one of my Tucson cycling heroes, Lee Rombach. Following his death at the age of 93, his friends decided to offer his much-used (and much-beloved) bicycle as a transportation scholarship for foreign students at Arizona State University. Many of them come to this country with little more than the…
…your prickly pear cactus swoons.
Ever been to a cyclocross race? This one happened in Tucson’s Himmel Park in early 1998. (Hard to believe it’s been that long!) Part of the fun is watching the riders jump over things while holding on to their bikes. Perfect theme for a postcard…
This past Saturday, Habitat for Humanity Tucson started construction of its eighth Women Build home. The event drew approximately 100 women volunteers to the Habitat build site at Corazon del Pueblo. Once there, they got down to work with hammers… and saws… Then they put all the pieces together and raised the walls… Tip: I…
This one was created for a Creative Postcard Club assignment… We were given the task of designing a card that would promote our hometown.
This past Sunday, I stopped by the Main Library in Downtown Tucson. Just a week ago, the library plaza had been filled with artists and their admirers. The occasion was the 3rd Annual Tucson Madonnari Chalk Art Festival. Even though the crowds have departed, the chalk art remains…
"Diamond" Jim Hewitt is a musician, music producer, and web applications developer from Oracle, Arizona. He periodically sends e-mails announcing upcoming gigs. The last one included a promo of his Tucson Folk Festival appearance, and it ended with admonition, "Be there or be trapezoidal!" How could I refuse an invitation like that? Jim was playing…