One of my recent lunchtime treeware reads was Arnaldur Indriđason’s novel Jar City, the first of his Reykjavik thrillers featuring Inspector Erlendur. Overall I found it an excellent and gripping read, with sparse prose that nevertheless convincingly conveyed the oppressive grey and rainy atmosphere of a Reykjavik autumn, as well as the dismal, and...

Other NN fans of Queen, and those who love connections between science and music, might be interested in a recent National Public Radio article on, and interview with, guitarist Brian May. In 2007, he obtained his Ph.D. in astrophysics at Imperial College London, and is also the co-author of a book on stereoscopic photography, A Village Lost and Found....

Brown Pelicans, 2010. Mixed media: collage, acrylic, PearlEx pigments, Prismacolor, permanent marker, and Caran d’AcheThis is the same book, William J. Long’s Fowls of the Air, that I’ve been altering for a few years. Now it might be subtitled “Fouls of the Sea”.

Here in South Texas, we’ve entered the four-month stretch of 90F or above daytime temperatures, albeit without the worrying drought conditions of 2009. There is something about hot weather that makes me want to take afternoon naps, even though I’ve never really been the napping type, and seem to be incapable of napping more than 10 to 15 minutes. ...

’Tis the season for bluebonnets across Central and South Texas, and this year there is a large patch of the flowers in a wood pasture near my house. Although there are at least six species of bluebonnets in Texas, and all are officially designated as state flowers, the one most commonly seen in the Hill Country is the Texas Bluebonnet, Lupinus texensis....

Inspired by Corby Kummer’s article comparing produce at the “Ur-Whole Foods” and a Walmart Supercenter in Austin, Texas (see his Walmart produce department video here), I decided to survey the local and organic produce available at a nearby Walmart this morning. I rarely shop at this store, as there’s a very nice local grocery store much closer to...