popcornthad@terminal:~$ lynx ~/find-a-kernel

Find a Kernel

$ grep -r ->

72 results in journal clear

• 07-14-26 3:30 pm

  Journal

  This page gathers ongoing entries. I’m rebuilding the archive here as I go. Each entry stands alone... over time they form a larger picture.

• 02-18-24 4:06 pm

  320 Days

  It's been 320 days since my first surgery. Over these ten months I went through two surgeries, six weeks of radiation, and eight weeks of head and neck rehab. The last few weeks have been good ones. No sign of tongue cancer so far. I'm feeling good enough now to get back to posting some fun stuff...

• 06-23-08 3:35 pm

  A Fascinating Insect

  Have you ever wondered just how many fascinating insects are around us, all the time, everywhere? This one turned up on a flower, a katydid nymph by the look of it, easy to miss if you're not looking closely.

• 02-26-24 6:17 pm

  After Work Ride

  Evening ride with Miss Scully after work.

• 07-30-26 9:47 pm

  Amber Flow

  New background on the home page. It's called Amber Flow, part of a set of algorithmic pieces I've been working through. Gold and amber threads winding across black. I'm a traditional artist, watercolor and acrylic mostly, so code-based work is new ground for me. Still finding my footing, but exper...

• 06-05-22 4:26 pm

  An Afternoon at Barnes and Noble

  Jolynn and I spent some quality time together at Barnes and Noble. We ended up sitting in chairs between the shelves, the way you do when a bookstore visit turns into more than just grabbing something and leaving. Barnes and Noble has always been one of our favorite places to go together, whether...

• 02-15-26 4:17 pm

  Back Home

  I decided to leave social media a few weeks before the new year (2026). There was no announcement or countdown; I simply left. I closed my accounts and permanently deleted them. I understand what this decision means. I have lost some connections, and to some, it might seem like I disappeared....

• 09-29-25 6:00 am

  Beyond the Waves: Deaf Art

  My painting, "That's How I Read Your Lips," is exhibiting at Linda K. Jordan Gallery at Gallaudet University for "Beyond the Waves: Deaf Art," running September 29, 2025 through April 3, 2026. This exhibition, titled "Beyond the Waves: Deaf Art," features over 30 Deaf artists from around the wor...

• 09-18-24 7:05 am

  Bill Would Have Been 61

  Big Red was the last thing my brother drove before COVID took him from us, over three and a half years ago now. Every time I drive it, I feel connected to him. Keeping his memory alive out on the road. I miss traveling with him on motorcycles, crossing the country together. Happy birthday, brother...

• 08-03-26 9:47 pm

  Books Has Arrived

  I added a new section to the site called Books. It's a running list of what I'm reading, what I've read, and what's on the shelf waiting its turn. Each entry has the title, author, genre, series, and reading status. Finished books get a rating too. A few books are up and ready. Still more to a...

• 06-15-24 10:00 pm

  Character for Mothership RPG

  Played Mothership for the first time with a group of three others and a game master. Met OOF here, my scientist character. It didn't go well for OOF, but I stuck it out all the way to death. Still had a great time playing. Mothership is a sci-fi horror tabletop RPG where you and your crew try to s...

• 04-21-12 2:56 pm

  Curly Hairo

  I love walking into a stained glass store. Colorful glass everywhere I look. I grabbed a green piece out of the box and held it up for a photo. Later, looking at it, it reminded me of Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk from the 1970s.

• 06-22-19 8:32 pm

  Date with Miss Scully

  Out on a date with Miss Scully today, headed to Annapolis. Just the two of us and the open road.

• 11-05-24 11:05 am

  Demolition Load in Big Red

  I was remodeling the foyer. Tore down the walls, some studs, and the flooring. Loaded it all into Big Red and drove to the landfill. They wanted three hundred dollars for it. I told them, this is my personal truck, I'm not running a business here. Turns out the only reason was because I was drivin...

• 09-28-24 3:27 pm

  Eastern Box Turtle

  Eastern box turtles spend their whole lives within a home range of just a few hundred feet. If one gets moved out of that range, it will often spend the rest of its life trying to find its way back. If you see one crossing a road, you can help by moving it in the direction it was already headed, j...

• 08-22-24 11:07 am

  Eastern Box Turtle Says Hello

  "Hello," whispers the shy Eastern box turtle. I love walking in the woods. It's one of the things that connects me most with nature. See my other post, Eastern Box Turtle

• 08-18-24 7:42 pm

  Food Pyramid

  A food pyramid for the day. Sadly, no purple Peanut M&Ms to complete the set.

• 06-10-22 11:15 pm

  Friday Night Art

  My Friday night fun with arts. I'll post this new artwork, including a short video, as soon as I finish it. Updated (6/14): See this painting, Frangible Red.

• 07-27-24 1:20 am

  Friday Night Fun Skating

  Skating was a big part of my life with Jolynn when we were younger. I haven't kept it up the way I want to, life just gets in the way. I'd like to change that and skate more when I can. Jolynn already has her own skates. I'm still hoping to get a pair of my own someday. Where to Skate Around DMV...

• 02-13-21 10:07 am

  Gone But Not Forgotten

• 03-13-24 5:07 pm

  Grays in Yellow

  For some emotional reasons, this is one of the pieces that stuck with me out of all of Mark Rothko's work. Not my favorite, just an interesting one. Grays in Yellow, painted by Rothko in 1960. Fun fact: the title was assigned by dealer Sidney Janis. Rothko abandoned descriptive titles around 1947....

• 09-20-24 3:20 pm

  Greenbelt Park

  This park is close to home, which is the main draw. It's part of the National Park system, not the kind of park you'd expect to find tucked into the DC suburbs. The Perimeter Trail runs all around the park, starting at the entrance, and lets me walk non-stop for 5.3 miles. There are stretches wher...

• 09-04-18 4:15 pm

  Here Comes Autumn

  Getting up close with a flower before the season shifts. Here comes autumn.

• 03-08-26 8:07 pm

  Hiking Trails

  I can't remember a time when hiking wasn't part of my life. I started young, picked up the pace in high school, and kept going from there. Some of it was on marked trails in national parks. A lot of it wasn't, unmarked routes through forests and mountains back when I was younger. I've hiked the Gr...

• 05-03-17 7:44 pm

  Homestyle Country Fried Steak

  My mom cooked country fried steak while I was growing up. She usually seasoned it with salt and pepper. Later, Jolynn cooked it the same way using crushed Ritz crackers for the coating. It has always been one of my favorite meals. We do not usually add salt or pepper when we cook it. The crackers...

• 05-26-25 4:34 pm

  Homestyle Vanilla Ice Cream with Caramel

  I made ice cream today. Vanilla, the simple kind, with caramel poured over the top until it pooled in the bottom of the bowl. Sat down and ate the whole bowl. Some days that's the whole point.

• 03-02-26 3:27 pm

  Hunting for the Pieces

  One thing I didn’t expect about building this site? It does take a long time to find and compile my own material. Before I can post something, I usually have to dig through old journals, random notes, folders of photos, and half-forgotten files. I know they’re there. I just don’t always remember...

• 07-04-22 8:00 pm

  Indoor Fireworks

  Someone asked where I watched the fireworks this year. Nope, I made my own instead. Yep, I have good ventilation. Thank you for your concern.

• 08-05-24 3:46 pm

  Jaya the Cat, 2024

  Jaya has her eyes locked on a bird outside. "I'm definitely going to catch you, birdie."

• 03-21-25 9:41 pm

  Jaya the Cat, 2025

  Jaya the Cat is once again questioning your late-night choices, and your general weirdness.

• 11-27-24 3:53 pm

  Lake Brownwood

  Sitting at the bottom of the grand staircase at Lake Brownwood State Park in Texas. The Civilian Conservation Corps built it in 1934, ninety years ago now. Still standing, still leading right down to the water.

• 12-02-10 12:56 am

  LEGO Imperial Shuttle with Yes Serious

  My brother-in-law, Yes Serious, and I put together the LEGO Imperial Shuttle. It's a big build, wings and all, with over 2,500 pieces to work through. We took our time going through the instructions together, piece by piece, and got it standing tall in the end. It was a good evening spent building s...

• 03-22-26 10:14 am

  Longer Route

  I went out to Greenbelt Park in Maryland to walk the Dogwood Trail. It's a simple loop, about a mile, with an extra outer stretch of roughly 0.3 miles. Easy and steady, nothing challenging about it. Partway through, I hit a sign pointing to a longer route on the right and a shorter route on the le...

• 07-14-14 11:30 am

  Meet My Therapist

  This is Miss Scully, my 2014 Harley Davidson Forty-Eight. I've always considered her my therapist. Nothing clears my head like getting out on the road with her.

• 07-13-24 7:55 pm

  Miss Muffin, 2024

  Miss Muffin delights in the evening sunset, stretched out on the windowsill. Only downside, the window's covered in smudges from S'more's nose. S'more is our border collie.

• 03-21-25 1:15 pm

  Miss Muffin, In the Light

  More sun, now. That's the demand from Miss Muffin today, and she means it.

• 05-05-21 1:59 pm

  Miss Muffin's Meditation Time

  Do Not Disturb Miss Muffin decided this cushion is the best spot for her own meditation time. We're gonna leave her alone for as long as she wants. So stay out of the yoga room.

• 05-17-14 12:16 pm

  Miss Scully

  This is Miss Scully, my 2014 Harley Davidson Forty-Eight. I've been riding her for a while now. She's built low and mean, an air-cooled 1200cc Evolution V-twin under that small 2.1 gallon peanut tank, with a fat front tire that gives her that stripped-down look I wanted. The name comes from that tan...

• 08-24-25 8:06 am

  Morning Fog at Caney Fork

  A beautiful morning by the river at Caney Fork, Tennessee. This is a spot I stop at most of the time whenever I travel through on I-40, both directions.

• 03-26-20 6:40 pm

  Mosses

  I always love seeing moss, especially through macro photography. Imagine seeing this as an insect. It's its own world down there. I run my hands over moss whenever I can, in the city or out in the woods hiking, doesn't matter where.

• 02-11-12 7:19 pm

  MSSD Wrestlers and Coaches

  This is one of my all time favorite photos. February 11, 2012, at a wrestling tournament at St. Albans School in Washington DC. Wrestlers Albert Blake and Ilan Ben-Moshe, coaches Tairbek Tabolov and me, all making goofy faces for the camera. I still smile every time I see it.

• 05-11-21 10:24 am

  One of My Favorite Irises

  My mom grew these irises in Oklahoma. A while back she mailed me 28 bulbs. I planted them here in Maryland and they did well. Really well. I'm up to more than a hundred bulbs now. I put my fingers in the shot for scale so you can see just how big this bloom is. This one is one of my favorites out of...

• 01-20-25 4:19 pm

  Pac-Man Day

  Jolynn and I found matching Pac-Man shirts and had to make it a whole thing. We both grew up on this game. Spent way too many quarters on it in the 80s, and neither of us ever really got tired of it. So we put the shirts on, went outside, and did our best Pac-Man faces. Mouths wide open, chomping...

• 04-18-24 7:11 am

  Parked and Patient

  Miss Scully being lonely while waiting for me at work.

• 08-03-26 12:38 pm

  PBJ For Life

  I've been a PBJ guy my entire life. Doesn't matter how many other sandwiches exist in the world, I could eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every single day and never get tired of it. This is not up for debate. The best one starts with the right ingredients. Sourdough bread, Peter Pan honey ro...

• 08-04-24 1:20 pm

  Pistachios

  Pistachios are one of my favorite nuts. I eat them often. I always buy them in the shell on purpose, it slows me down and keeps me from losing control and eating the whole bag at once. Cracking each shell open has become a kind of meditation for me, one at a time, no rushing it. I took this photo...

• 01-31-21 3:25 pm

  Pure Love in the Snow

  Jolynn and I got out and enjoyed a day in the snow together. Just walking, taking in the quiet, snow falling around us the whole time. Days like this remind me what pure love really looks like. Nothing fancy, just being out there together.

• 07-29-26 6:30 pm

  Purple Ink

  I finished a second theme for my wife Jolynn's website, purplejolynn.com. Most of the functions carry over from Retro Terminal. Page types, hero system, admin setup, all reused. I did not start from scratch, and that made this build move a lot faster than the first one. The look is a different...

• 06-06-22 11:26 am

  Ready to Ride

  Miss Scully awaits me for a ride.

• 02-11-12 11:30 pm

  Remembering Chuck Baird

  Chuck Baird and I spent most of our time together talking about model railroads and art. He had HO scale trains on the wall in his living room. I had N, HO, and HOn30 in my train room. That's usually where our conversations started whenever we visited each other. In the studio, we'd talk about pas...

• 07-14-26 12:30 pm

  Retro Terminal

  From custom CMS to Grav CMS, my web building days are over! I spent many years building custom websites and CMS platforms, but eventually got tired of the ongoing updates and maintenance. After using WordPress and many other popular database-driven CMS platforms, I grew to dislike them, so I went...

• 07-14-26 2:45 pm

  Web Projects

  I used to build my own CMS from scratch. These days I keep a shorter list of tools I actually trust, starting with Grav CMS and my own Retro Terminal theme.

• 09-27-15 2:33 pm

  RSD-4 and Brakeman

  Standing in as brakeman on this RSD-4, Locomotive 201, a first generation road switcher on static display at the Northwest Railway Museum in Snoqualmie, WA. Built in 1951, it's the last one remaining out of thirty eight experimental models the American Locomotive Company produced. What a beautiful...

• 09-20-24 1:49 pm

  Save the Suit for Muffin

  Why are we still wearing suits and ties? There's no real reason for it anymore. They're uncomfortable, impractical, and outdated, kind of like the clothes and wigs people wore in the 1700s. The whole concept is absurd. What purpose does a suit actually serve besides creating some illusion of profess...

• 04-16-07 7:47 pm

  Simple Chicken & Noodles

  One of the simplest and fastest recipes I make. This can be served on its own or with a side, broccoli, green beans, or corn. Ando always picks corn since he's not a fan of the green ones. Ingredients Chicken breasts Egg noodles Bertolli extra virgin olive oil McCormick parsley flakes K...

• 03-17-24 4:06 am

  Sketching by the Water

  Nice day for bicycle riding and sketching at Bladensburg Waterfront Park.

• 05-05-07 6:20 pm

  Spaghetti

  This is our family's favorite spaghetti. Easy to make and quick too. I've used the same ingredients and the same brands for years now. Ingredients Spaghetti Ground beef (1 lb) Hunt's tomato sauce (1 can) Bertolli extra virgin olive oil (1 tbsp) McCormick minced onion (or chopped fresh...

• 10-20-19 12:51 pm

  Still Here

• 05-25-24 7:46 pm

  Texas BBQ Trip

  Thanks to my parents for taking me to different barbecue restaurants every time I visit them in Texas. It's always been a special treat from them. They even throw in surprises sometimes, different barbecue t-shirts along the way. Looking forward to my next visit soon.

• 05-13-19 12:30 am

  Thad and His Mohawk

  Coffee? Never. Mohawk? Absolutely. This one was a haircut on a whim, no plan behind it, just wanting a mohawk again. Life's too short for boring hair and foul bean water. Given the choice, I'll take a mohawk over coffee any day.

• 06-15-22 11:45 am

  The Fla-Vor-Ice Trick

  Jolynn found an easier way to open Fla-Vor-Ice from a social media. I didn't believe her. I tried to prove her wrong, but ended up struggling to tear the end off with my teeth like I always do. That's when she pointed out what we've been doing for years, teeth and scissors, when all we needed to do...

• 09-28-24 3:39 pm

  The Last Nuts I'd Ever Taste

  Just imagine this. It seemed like a perfect place to take a break, so I sat down on a wooden bench, towering trees above casting cool shadows around me. I reached into my backpack, pulled out the nuts I'd packed, ready for a quick snack. As I sat there, unaware, the woods around me were about to c...

• 05-31-17 10:52 am

  The Shag Carpet I Always Wanted

  Ever since I was young, I’ve wanted a long shag carpet. Not just to see it in a room, but to live with it. I imagined stepping onto it first thing in the morning and feeling the strands between my toes. At night, it would be the last thing my feet touched before going to bed. I wanted to run my...

• 06-14-24 1:17 am

  Twelve Years, Two Cancers

  Battling cancer twice over twelve years was a difficult journey that shifted my path from routine to survival. These two unexpected detours strained my physical, emotional, and mental strength. Despite uncertain outcomes, rigorous treatments with chemotherapy, a bone marrow stem cell transplant...

• 04-21-24 5:52 am

  Two Days of Art

  We had a lot of fun at Artomatic in Washington, D.C. It took us two days to see everything in the building. Along the way we met some artists who were showing their work. Every one of them was really nice to talk to.

• 08-18-22 2:22 am

  Vermilion Series

  “Vermilion” series watercolor paintings positing soon! Updated (8/24): Vermilion Series

• 06-08-22 8:31 pm

  Video Call with Cilla

  Jolynn talking to her favorite cousin, Cilla.

• 08-18-24 8:39 am

  Walking in the Woods

  Does this trail look as quiet as it feels? Walking near my home, I felt completely removed from the city around me. The hearing person I was with told me she could hear traffic, music, doors slamming, lawnmowers, people talking, kids screaming while they played, all of it happening around us the who...

• 11-23-01 10:02 am

  Watercolor Sketching in Fort Worth

  Jolynn, Ando, and I went to Fort Worth with my parents for our anniversary. We hit some museums, walked through the Stockyards, an amazing place, and had a nice dinner out at Old San Francisco Steak House. I brought my watercolor kit along and did some sketching back at the hotel. It was fun, at...

• 02-17-26 11:30 pm

  Why Amber Theme?

  The story behind the amber theme of this site. The First Amber When I was about four years old, I remember staring at a jar of honey. I would hold it up and study the color, how light passed through it, and that deep golden tone. I knew I loved that color. I've loved it ever since. Bad T...

• 02-18-26 1:47 pm

  Why Popcorn?

  I have loved popcorn for as long as I can remember. Not fancy popcorn. Not covered in everything. Just simple, real popcorn. Pan. Oil. Kernels. Heat. Watching the first kernel pop. Then another. Then all of them. It never gets old. Most of the time, I skip the butter. It tastes good withou...

• 02-17-25 4:49 pm

  You Never Know What's Behind the Wall

  I tore down a wall in the house and found this. A mess of old wiring, crossed and looped every direction, with two junction boxes buried in it. One of the wires was bare. Not capped, not taped, just bare copper sitting there. Still live. This is the wall I had screwed into for shelving and a coat...