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Dan

Berkeley, California

Still telling stories.

Interests: "I will tell you what I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe, whether it call itself my home, my fatherland, or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defense the only arms I allow myself to use --silence, exile and cunning."

Recent Activity

Friday Ferries: Delta Edition

I've known for a while about ferries in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, barge-like little boats that run across the side channels to the main rivers and at a couple of points actually provide continuations for state highways (84, a rather... Continue reading

Posted 2 hours ago at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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Front-Porch Visitor: White-Lined Sphinx

The other morning, Kate was headed out for the early-morning walk with The Dog, then came back in to tell me I should come and see a moth on the front porch. I was editing a story and grunted that... Continue reading

Posted May 4, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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Annals of Public-Education Community Outreach

A friend shared this message in which an Oakland public school--a flatlands school with a largely poor and minority population--is allegedly trying to communicate an important event to students' families. I'm at a loss to understand what the people who... Continue reading

Posted Apr 28, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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Further Adventures with TV News Fonts

Say you're a news anchor--someone who's paid handsomely to look good while reading the news competently and with enough dramatic flair to let the folks at home know that what you're saying is really important. Question: Does it matter to... Continue reading

Posted Apr 28, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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Somewhere on Friday Night

Somewhere else tonight, madness reigned, and perhaps abated for a moment. Here, it was warm and clear with the tide running full as the sun set. Continue reading

Posted Apr 19, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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In Praise (and Otherwise) of Oxalis

In an uncertain world, there's one thing you can count on in Berkeley every late winter and spring: Oxalis pes-caprae, also known around town as oxalis, Bermuda buttercup, yellow wood sorrel, "some kind of shamrock," and sourgrass. "Sourgrass" because the... Continue reading

Posted Apr 14, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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Friday Night at the Garbage Dump

The way things shook out last night, we would have had to rush to the Oakland ferry slip for our usual Friday night round-trip. So we decided to take it easy and do something else. "Something else" turned out to... Continue reading

Posted Apr 13, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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Hey, Eamon: Yeah, I've wondered about the Uno's story through the years. Mom was charming, and I'm sure she had an explanation. Or maybe there was another Mary Alice Hogan in Chicago.

Commented Apr 14, 2013 on April 11, 1953 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

Understanding Too Late

It's early yet, but the teams I follow in the major leagues of North American baseball seem headed in opposite directions: The Cubs south, having dropped six of their first nine, demonstrating a penchant for losing from in front: the... Continue reading

Posted Apr 11, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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Sixty years ago today: My future mom and dad smooch in full view of their wedding party at the Windermere Hotel, down on the South Side near the Museum of Science and Industry and the University of Chicago. The Windermere:... Continue reading

Posted Apr 10, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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Roadside Find: Zedonk (or Is It a Donkra?)

Exotic fauna of Sutter County: a zebroid on the hoof (click for larger images). We're in the bittersweet last day or so of our joint spring break (Kate from the demanding world of public education, me from the somewhat less... Continue reading

Posted Mar 30, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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March Flower and Foliage Report

A few years ago, my sister Ann came out from Chicago about this time of year with Dan, my bro-in-law, and her kids, Soren and Ingrid. I don't think it was a particularly storm winter for them, but there's no... Continue reading

Posted Mar 24, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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No, it will never go back into the duffel bag. I'm already planning which larger duffel bag we have lying around I'll use to stow it.

Commented Mar 24, 2013 on Our Awesome Tent at Infospigot: The Chronicles

Our Awesome Tent

A couple summers ago, when our minivan was still part of the family, we spent a few days on a car camping trip up in the Sierra. The experience was pleasing enough that we resolved that eventually we'd replace our... Continue reading

Posted Mar 23, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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Man--to have those tickets just taken away like that. (And a clarification--these tickets we have aren't for every game. It's actually for every weeknight game for the season, which turns out to be 27 games. Don't know if we'll get to all those, but I'm sure we can spread the wealth.)

Commented Mar 11, 2013 on First, Daylight 'Saving' Time; Next, Baseball at Infospigot: The Chronicles

Cathedral Window

My brother John and I were standing on the platform of the MacArthur BART station in Oakland once, years ago. The platform is set in the midst of a big freeway interchange. It's got a nice view of towering overpasses... Continue reading

Posted Mar 10, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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First, Daylight 'Saving' Time; Next, Baseball

I have come to that time of life--or maybe it's a passing phase--where I really like the apparent extra hour of sleep you get when you turn the clocks back in the autumn. Those sixty extra minutes in bed seem... Continue reading

Posted Mar 10, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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Year of the Snake

' In TV parlance, the term "font" is often used to describe the on-screen titles that accompany graphics during a newscast. In my relatively brief stint in TV news, there'd by someone in the control room assigned to put the... Continue reading

Posted Mar 3, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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Hey, Is That a Full Moon?

It is alleged to be a "snow moon" tonight--the February full moon. I have been sheltered or culturally straitened, because I don't recall hearing that term before today, or "harvest moon" or "hunter's moon" or any of the rest of... Continue reading

Posted Feb 25, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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Hey, Marie: Sounds like a print is in order.

Commented Feb 19, 2013 on Clouds in My Coffee at Infospigot: The Chronicles

Crime Statistics, Lives Lost

A little earlier this month, I wrote something about being preoccupied by a small database project on Oakland's homicides from last year. I should use the word "small" advisedly. Even though homicides represent a small slice of Oakland's overall crime... Continue reading

Posted Feb 18, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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On the Road, 1973 Style

I'm trying to do a little project before the year gets too old: publish my dad's 1930 diary, which his mom forced him to keep when the family traveled out to California, alongside my journal of my first trip out... Continue reading

Posted Feb 17, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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Valentine's Bouquet, Plus Weather News

The late afternoon sun angles in and lights up a Valentine's bouquet, with some of the detritus of the modern dining-room table in the background. Today was warm--a good day to reap the winter's bounteous harvest of weeds. And since... Continue reading

Posted Feb 16, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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Warm Morning, Warm Day Ahead

It's been an odd winter all around I guess, and maybe every winter is odd. I mean weather-wise. On the mild stretch of Pacific coast where I live, the rains came pretty much on schedule in the fall. At the... Continue reading

Posted Feb 15, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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Clouds in My Coffee

Another in the kitchen series "Things You See While Making or Looking at Coffee." We've got a skylight in the kitchen. I had a cup of cold coffee on the counter beneath the skylight. I was looking at the beautiful... Continue reading

Posted Feb 8, 2013 at Infospigot: The Chronicles

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