I now have a blog which allows comments, so ergo, I get comment spam. Luckily, I also have a WordPress extension which catches most of it before I even see it, so it doesn’t bother me. It is amazing, though, the lengths to which spammers will go just in the hopes that my modest blog…
Author: cjbickford
A Bike Ride Along the Guadalupe River Trail
This morning, instead of doing my regular work out, I put Kelly on my road bike, and took her along on a ride along the Guadalupe River Trail, an off-road paved trail, not far from our home. Why? Well, for one thing, in the past few weeks the weather has been too perfect to remain…
A Weekend at Mount Madonna
We spent the weekend with other members of Neil’s cub scout troop at Mount Madonna. Mount Madonna is a popular local camping locale on the border of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties. One reason for its popularity is that its western slope faces the Monterey Bay so it’s always cool, but never cold, and…
Giving Geeks a Bad Reputation
Peter came back angry from the Resident Evil 3 panel at the Wondercon convention. One of the key people at the panel was Ali Larter, the actress who is starring in Resident Evil 3, and who also happens to play one of the characters in the comic-book-like TV show Heroes. At the panel, the very…
The Great Passport Wait
As an adult, long-term passport holder, all I have to do to renew my passport is mail in the right forms, pictures, and payment. But as I was focused on my passport, I noticed Neil’s passport is about to expire, and it really might not be a bad idea to get Kelly her own passport,…
My New Passport Photo
My passport actually expired a few years ago, which made me uncomfortable. I’ve had a valid passport since I was a baby, and not having one was at odds with my self-image of being an international traveller. Oh, never mind that I haven’t been abroad in nearly 5 years, and I have no income but…
Pick Up Cricket
The Cricket World Cup just got underway. I played cricket once, sort of. Peter and I had taken our children to our neighborhood park. Near the playgrounds, an English immigrant was pitching a ball to his young son, who had a flat bat, and was standing near a small three-pronged rack with a stick of…
Code Pink for Menopausal Mania
One of my older female relatives once sent me the poem “When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple.” It’s essentially a cute little poem (which has been passed around for ages now) which pretty much declares that one of the advantages of getting old is being free to be a little eccentric….
A Pretty Day at Happy Hollow Park and Zoo
The weather has been so ideal lately that it should be a crime not to go out and enjoy it. So yesterday, after breakfast, we took our children Happy Hollow Park and Zoo. We’ve been going there since Neil was a baby and it’s the near-ideal place to bring young children in San Jose. It’s…
The Turban Fashion Trend in Historical Context
The Spring/Summer 2007 collections for several designers included turbans on the models’ heads. Here’s a turban from the Ralph Lauren collection: and another turban from Prada’s show: Celebrities, including Jennifer Lopez and Prince (at the Superbowl) have donned turbans recently, and a minor English designer, Fashion East, went all out and put some of their…