http://denver.yourhub.comThe latest blog posts in The Denver Newspaper Agency YourHub.comen-usnews@yourhub.com(c) 2009, YourHub.com5P>Spring fever + cabin fever = the pitts. Here it is only the middle of February and all I can think about is "I want winter to go away". Well that and I spend a lot of time reminiscing about growing up and stuff, which means reminiscing a lot about various camping trips as we did a lot o...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~185157.aspx2/19/2007 2:27:54 PMKevin Murcray Downtiming the Night Side is a science fiction book about time travel by Jack L. Chalker that's in my collection still waiting to be read. But it's also a superbly apt description of my lifestyle, per se, at this time of year. Momentum and holiday madness manage to propel me through Christmas ...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~167953.aspx1/8/2007 10:38:16 AMKevin Murcray One really nice thing about having a creekbed running right through your back yard is that you're constantly surrounded by lush vegetation. The downside to having a creekbed running right through your back yard is you're constantly surrounded by lush vegetation. You're constantly having to figh...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~160059.aspx12/12/2006 1:18:01 PMKevin Murcray It seems my Muse has taken off on an extended vacation somewhere, so now's a good time to just ramble random thoughts, observations and current events in my life. Because I know you all are just fascinated by the esoteric dross that eminates from my mind and the blatently undramatic events that ...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~148574.aspx11/9/2006 3:04:06 PMKevin Murcray Blogger's note: I didn't go on this particular camping trip, which is why I hounded my brother to write it. I'm not sure now whether I'm glad or sad that I missed it. But never mind that, here it is: POLTERCAMP by Colin Murcray After much arm twisting (you can let go now, Kevin), I have fi...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Outdoors/Blog~140264.aspx10/20/2006 11:45:18 AMKevin Murcray Here's another one I first posted in the newsgroup alt.folklore.ghost-stories back in 1996. Those of you who read my last post will remember that I grew up in an old stone house (built in 1872) with a creekbed behind it (usually dry), out in the wilds (well, almost) of Colorado. If any house ev...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~134244.aspx10/6/2006 11:23:31 AMKevin Murcray Well here it is, October already. Which means fall colors falling from trees, cold crisp mornings, occassional frost on the windsheild to be scraped off, and Halloween - and Halloween means ghost stories. What follows is a rewrite of my own personal experience I first posted in alt.folklore.ghos...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~132153.aspx10/2/2006 10:40:43 AMKevin Murcray Somewhere on the Y chromosome there is a gene that codes a desire in young boys to build forts. The desire is nearly universal, suggesting that this gene is in fact rarely, if ever, defective. It was certainly working in my case, I built several. In fact, being a case study in arrested developme...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~119795.aspx8/30/2006 2:52:05 PMKevin Murcray I think I've finally figured out the real reason why I blog here. I figure I'm subconsciously hoping that some Liv Tyler or Jessica Alba or Hiromi Oshima look-alike will discover my blog, and be so blinded by my awesome brilliance, rapier-sharp wit, fantastic (albeit somewhat warped and esoteric...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~116600.aspx8/22/2006 2:21:31 PMKevin Murcray What is it about women that they can't stand to see their male friends remain single, anyway? Take my friend Natalie , for instance - for years now, she's been trying to marry me off to someone, anyone, just so's I got married. She's getting more and more desperate as time goes by. One day i...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~113999.aspx8/15/2006 11:14:32 AMKevin Murcray Somewhere in my past blitherings, I think I mentioned that I didn't have any neighbor kids to play with until I was thirteen. This may give the impression I didn't have any friends until I was thirteen, which is not true. I made a fantastic friend when he moved in next door back when I was e...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~111682.aspx8/8/2006 1:33:46 PMKevin Murcray My fellow blogger, William Boucher (Brighton hub), suggests that I "roll with my Huck Finn heritage". But it's hard to roll very far with that, as only a smattering of my childhood days were spent doing anything Huck Finn-ish. Nor did I have a Tom Sawyer, or, alas, a Becky Thatcher either. No, ...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~109434.aspx8/2/2006 11:00:11 AMKevin Murcray Well, our planned invasion of Georgetown never happened. This apparently has something to do with the fact that we never planned on invading Georgetown in the first place - we planned to invade Idaho Springs, which we did. So Georgetown evacuated unnecessarily and Idaho Springs was caught comple...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Outdoors/Blog~105902.aspx7/21/2006 10:57:08 AMKevin Murcray In my writing I strive to emulate that literary great of greats, Patrick F. McManus . With perhaps a touch (just a sledgehammer's worth) of W. Bruce Cameron sprayed in for flavor. But alas, strive as I might I cannot reach that pinnacle of greatness. I mean come on, Pat McManus has childho...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~99022.aspx6/28/2006 10:11:20 AMKevin Murcray I have no idea where I'm going with this. No surprise, I often start writing with no idea where it's going to take me. I guess we'll all find out when we get there. Memorial day weekend worked out pretty good - three days, three barbeques. We started out saturday night at "uncle" Steve's. Now, ...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~91887.aspx6/5/2006 2:05:16 PMKevin Murcray Fasten your seatbelts and hang on to your hats boys and girls, we're going to be all over the map on this one. Which reminds me, I never did credit my friend Neil for the term "Random Neural Firings", which describes my blogging style perfectly. Thanks Neil! "Scattershot" is another appropriate...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~95266.aspx6/15/2006 2:10:15 PMKevin Murcray ( Author's note: This is a slightly cleaned-up version of something I originally posted to the Newsgroup soc.singles back in December 1998 (hence the reference to video tapes instead of disks). Sadly, it's one of the better things I ever posted.) I was just digging through my video collecti...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Relationships/Blog~102135.aspx7/7/2006 3:47:27 PMKevin Murcray People often wonder why my collarbones are sunk in 2 inches below my shoulders. People: "Why are your collarbones sunk in two inches below your shoulders?" Me: "Rim Lake." People: "Huh?" Rim Lake was the last backpacking trip I went on of any consequence. It was also the hardest one, with th...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Outdoors/Blog~96735.aspx6/21/2006 10:05:06 AMKevin Murcray First time I posted this, it went to the Littleton hub. I don't know why. In my writing I strive to emulate that literary great of greats, Patrick F. McManus. With perhaps a touch (just a sledgehammer's worth) of W. Bruce Cameron sprayed in for flavor. But alas, strive as I might I cannot reach...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~99035.aspx6/28/2006 10:40:57 AMKevin Murcray I am quite possibly the only person in the world who has been bitten by a junco. For those unfamiliar with the word juncos, or snowbirds as they are often refered, are little wren-sized birds that barely weigh half an ounce. Feisty little things among themselves, but they are generally not known...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~89469.aspx5/26/2006 3:00:28 PMKevin Murcray Sigh. Tough crowd, here. Okay, I really didn't want to have to resort to this, but you leave me no choice. I'm going to have to tell you how it was back in the old days. You know, like Grandpa used to tell you, back when he had to walk 20 miles to school and back, through chest-deep snow, and it...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~89008.aspx5/25/2006 1:57:11 PMKevin Murcray Most of you are probably wondering by now why I choose the name "PEREGRINE" for my blog name. Well no, most of you are probably not wondering that, in fact you probably haven't noticed. But never fear, I'm going to tell you anyway - I have nothing else in mind to write about at the moment. ...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~86793.aspx5/18/2006 11:29:03 AMKevin Murcray Or maybe I should say: why I blog, and why you should blog. Specifically, why I blog here and why I think you should at least consider it. There are a few reasons why I blog here. For one, I like to write and want to get better at it. On of the best ways to get better at writing is to d...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~84421.aspx5/11/2006 11:48:27 AMKevin Murcray It's all in the title. Come up with a catchy title, and people read your blog entry. Or at least they take a look at it. Fail to catch their attention with the title, and forget it. No one reads it. The problem is figuring out what title will hook readers. It's a lot like trying to figure out w...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~84151.aspx5/10/2006 3:08:55 PMKevin Murcray Q: How can you tell if a physicist is an extrovert? A: He stares at your shoes while talking to you. bdish. A little geek humor for you there. Speaking of geek humor, I recall an old Dilbert cartoon where they're forming a group to counter the impression that scientists and engineers d...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~82634.aspx5/5/2006 2:29:35 PMKevin Murcray No, this is not a movie review. I'm talking about real hills,like the ones around my house and those in various nationalforests, parks, and other open space land we all like to visit.They have eyes, and ears and noses too. Thousands of them! You goout there thinking you're enjoying some ...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Outdoors/Blog~79002.aspx4/26/2006 11:04:44 AMKevin Murcray She showed up one cold, snowy night a little before Christmas of2004. She was a petite little thing, very scared, very hungry, verycold, very young, and very much alone. Crusty old curmudgean I maybe, but my heart went out to this little girl. I tried coaxing herinto the house; she didn'...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Relationships/Blog~78651.aspx4/25/2006 1:59:24 PMKevin Murcray That rock wasn't supposed to come out. Neither were the othertwenty or so I knocked out of there... Old stone houses are neat in that they are very sturdy andnearly permament - my house is practically a fortress. But it alsomakes them rather frustrating when it comes to upgrades andremo...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~77047.aspx4/20/2006 11:22:27 AMKevin Murcray I don't know what I'm doing wrong here. Other columnists get allsorts of email and telephone calls filled with vitriol, andoccasionally even death threats. I haven't even received a goodinsult. This makes me feel like I'm failing to affect my audience.Or even attract an audience. I mean...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~75174.aspx4/14/2006 3:25:03 PMKevin Murcray Or perhaps I should qualify that by saying canned dog food explodes when heated. At least I've yet tohear of anyone's bag of Purina Dog Chow going off. Back in the good old days before wood-burning bans and variousother air pollution controls, we, and everyone else out in thesticks, w...http://denver.yourhub.com/Littleton/Blogs/Archive/Blog~73750.aspx4/11/2006 2:58:16 PMKevin Murcray