👋🏻  Hello!

Thanks for visiting! You'll find a bunch of musings I've been writing around these parts since the early 2000's. Lately, I've been reviewing a lot of books. But I also write about code and my experiments using generative AI. But really, you're just here to see pictures of Benson.

Blog Posts

Travels through the U.S. and Canada

• Filed under: photography | travel

Banff

Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Last weekend, I returned to San Francisco after a two week road trip across the western United States and Canada.

Some of the places we visited included:

  • Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho
  • Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada
  • Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada
  • City of Vancouver and City of Victoria, Vancouver Island, British Columbia
  • Seattle, Washington
  • Mt. St. Helens, Washington
  • Oregon Caves National Monument
  • Sonoma Valley wine tasting

Some select photos from part of the trip can be found below.

Rocky Mountains in Idaho

Sawtooth Mountain Range, Idaho

Hamilton, Montana - Night Shot

Bitterroot River in Hamilton, Montana.

Flathead Lake, Montana

Flathead Lake, Montana.

Columbia Valley

Columbia Valley near Radium Hot Springs, Canada.

Kootenay National Park

Entering Kootenay National Park, Canada.

Lake Louise, Banff National Park

Kerry and I at Lake Louise in Banff National Park, Canada.

Lake Louise, Banff National Park

Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Canada.

Lake Louise, Banff National Park

Banff National Park, Canada.

Athabasca Glacier

Wannabe Mountie.

Another song – Nate is a Daddy

• Filed under: humor | music | video

At this rate, I’m going to be able to release a new album very soon. I’d call it “Horrible Songs for Good People.”

Anyway, my friend Nate just had his first child. I decided to pull out the guitar again and write another song! It’s called, “Nate is a Daddy” and is dedicated to him and the new addition to his family. It features his interests (freeways), his favorite sports team (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), and my favorite sports team (Los Angeles Dodgers of Awesome).

Lyrics:

Nate is a daddy,
you can be one too!
Nate is a daddy,
what’s he going to do?

Think of all the fun he’ll have,
waking up at night.
Crying babies, lack of sleep,
it’s such a beautiful sight.

He’ll teach her about freeways,
And how the Angels suck.
She should be a Dodger fan,
for good luck.

But all that doesn’t matter,
at the end of the day.
Because Nate is a daddy,
So what do you say?

Nate is a daddy,
what’re you going to do?
Nate is a daddy,
you can be one too!

A birthday song for my roommate

• Filed under: humor | music | video

Today is Mark’s birthday. Mark is one of my roommates that I live with. I decided to write a song for him featuring references to his studies in science (bioengineering – eyes), his interests (Shark Week on the Discovery Channel), and his hobbies (making cheesecake).

I went ahead and recorded the song with my Kodak Zi6. So the audio quality isn’t the greatest (nor is the singing ability). But really, what’s the point of posting a video on YouTube if you’re not going to embarrass yourself, right? Here you go!

Lyrics are below:

Happy birthday to Mark
He studies eyeballs in the dark.
He wants to get his Ph.D
That really means a lot to me.

Happy birthday to you Mark.
You enjoy shows about sharks.
And you’ll be a doctor one day,
Which will help with the bills you have to pay.

You are my roommate!
And I think that’s really cool.
You make some great cheesecake,
that makes my mouth drool.
Happy birthday to you Mark.
Happy birthday to you.