One more trip to Walla Walla, this time to celebrate Heather’s graduation. I would brag about her grades and accomplishments, but I don’t want to embarrass her. I’ll just leave it at, “She done good.” :-)

Congratulations, Heather! We are so proud of you.

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Fathers’ Day came early this year. And my family is wily. That combination turned out great for me yesterday.

Melissa invited me to Bike N’ Hike¹ during lunch under the ruse of having me help her find a front wicker basket. She apparently hoped I’d want to test ride a bike I’ve had my eye on for a while. She needn’t have worried. I went prepared, taking my own helmet. Melissa and I test rode different sizes of the same bike, and (1) I was oblivious to her sly grin, (2) I assumed her grin was induced by riding such a fun bike, or (3) Melissa is much more devious than I previously realized. It’s probably some combination of all three.

Early yesterday evening, after being told to sit down on the couch and close my eyes, my family carried in the same bike I’d ridden during lunch and parked it in front of me. When I opened my eyes, I couldn’t believe it. I had to go on a ride with Jamison.

Today, although the forecast was for wet, I biked to work. On the way home, the forecasters earned their keep and my bike was christened with rain water.

It’s perfect! A city bike — and exactly the one I wanted. It has fenders, a rack, a bell, and even a kickstand. All I need to do is transfer over my lights and maybe my bike computer.

Now for the naming. We have a tradition of naming bikes after flowers and I’m willing to expand that to plants. I’m wavering between Sage and Lichen.²

What say you?

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“10 Ways” is different. It’s personal. It’s authentic. It’s inspiring.

And it’s just what I needed to counterbalance the stressful news of the past few days.

I also added Frankie’s blog to my regular “must read” list. It makes me smile. I hope it does the same for you. :-)

The post "10 Ways Photography Can Change Your Life (It Changed Mine)" appeared first on Brent Logan. Consider visiting 10 Ways Photography Can Change Your Life (It Changed Mine) to leave a comment.

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Perhaps I am naive, but I believe that at this point in history, the greatest danger to our freedom and way of life comes from the reasonable fear of omniscient State powers kept in check by nothing more than policy documents.

Edward Snowden

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Now is a good time to throw some support to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

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The post "Government Secrets and the Need for Whistle-blowers" appeared first on Brent Logan. Consider visiting Government Secrets and the Need for Whistle-blowers to leave a comment.

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Oh, to have this vantage. I’m so jealous…

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As part of the census process, the U.S. Government also collects more detailed demographic information, the American Community Survey. This data is available to view on a map at the county level.

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The post "Where’s the Outrage?!" appeared first on Brent Logan. Consider visiting Where’s the Outrage?! to leave a comment.

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I reached a milestone today: I donated my sixteenth pint, totaling two gallons of blood.

I reached my one gallon milestone in December of 2009, but had to stop giving blood for a year after visiting rural China in 2010.

Will you join me in giving blood?

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