Sunday Shopping Bag

A shopping bag seems appropriate for this update, because I have in fact been shopping: for used motorcycle parts, raspberry iced tea, a pair of moccasins, a wifi range extender … The smell of consumer lust permeates Casa Paul. These days I do most of my shopping online, mainly through Amazon and eBay.  I used […]

You Can’t Read That!

You Can’t Read That! is a periodic post featuring news about banned and challenged books. ArIzona: At least one Tucson Unified School District supervisor is embarrassed by the national and international furor over book-banning.  The funny thing is that he’s one of the persons responsible. Meanwhile, activists continue to push back.  It’s Tucson Freedom Summer! […]

Project Bike Update

The Ducati lives again: new brakes, battery, and tires; carburetors fixed; lots of small but essential parts replaced.  I picked it up yesterday morning. I rode it around the neighborhood yesterday afternoon. The frame is small and the riding position too sporty for a big guy like me, but it should fit our daughter well. […]

Morning on the Mountain

Mount Lemon, that would be, just a 26-mile ride from my home at the base of the Santa Catalinas in northeast Tucson. We finally had a good monsoon rainstorm yesterday, and when I woke up this morning the sky was still overcast.  I decided to get the Goldwing ready for a ride anyway, and that turned […]

Paul’s Book Reviews: SF, Fantasy, Non-Fiction, and a Memoir

“Now, as Ross runs up the engines, I remove the safety pin from the gear lever. I watch Ross anxiously. I am pathetically eager to perform my co-pilot’s duties quickly and efficiently. As he shoves the throttles forward and we start down the runway, I place my hand ready on the gear lever. I feel […]

Air-Minded: the Fog of War

I went to the library earlier today and found the entrance area crowded with parents and small children.  I wondered, for a minute, if the library was holding a fire drill, but I was able to squeeze through the kids and get inside, where I checked out a book they were holding for me.  By […]

Saving Private Tarantula

Damn, it’s hot. I feel the need to be outdoors, doing outside things and working the old body … but damn, it’s hot. And I hear it’s hot everywhere, so I can’t claim any special exemption for living in Arizona.  Still, I fished a tarantula out of the pool yesterday, and that’s an Arizona thing. […]

Paul’s DVD Reviews

“When you get upset, when you get mad, you turn red, right? When you get envious, or sick, you turn green. When you become cowardly, you turn yellow; and ya’ll got the nerve to call us colored? ” — Kevin Phillips as Leon “Neon” Edwards in Red Tails Into the Abyss (2011, USA) The great […]