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Where To Get Tacos in Cleveland
I grew up in Texas and learned to eat in San Antonio, so Mexican food is an important part of my weekly diet. Popular opinion i Cleveland has it there’s only one place to get authentic tacos around here: La Plaza. This Mexican-focused grocery store in Lakewood used to serve tacos from their deli counter, but they became so popular they opened a dedicated restaurant space in the front of the store. Due to their popularity, the taco’s aren’t cheap… $3/ea at the time of writing. They’re reasonably sized, but they still provide a bit of sticker shock. If for some reason you don’t want to go to La Plaza,…
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Born in Cleveland: Henry Mancini
Henry Mancini (composer, conductor) who is known for things like the Pink Panther and Peter Gunn themes, won a Golden Globe, four Academy Awards, and twenty Grammys and was born in Cleveland’s Little Italy in 1924. His family moved to Pennsylvania when he was five, but pretty cool even so.
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Green Burial
I am interested in green burial (aka natural burial). Traditional cemeteries are arranged for the living. Traditional burial is expensive, wasteful, and weirdly permanent. Green burial (as defined by the Green Burial Council), is a way of “caring for the dead with minimal environmental impact that aids in the conservation of natural resources, reduction of carbon emissions, protection of worker health, and the restoration and/or preservation of habitat.” That resonates strongly with me. Green burial uses non-toxic and biodegradable materials, such as caskets, shrouds, and urns. I found these resources helpful. General Info New York Times Article (2018) Green Burial Council Wikipedia Cemetery Survey Results Videos Will For The Woods…
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Blockchain Skepticism in Cleveland
Cleveland civic leaders are gaga for blockchain right now. Organizations are pulling together in an uncharacteristic way, in support of Bernie Moreno’s moonshot “Blockland“. This week, Noriel Roubini’s delivered well-researched statements for the Senate banking committee, on why cryptocurrency is a scam (“the mother or father of all scams and bubbles”), and blockchain is massively overhyped (“In practice it is nothing better than a glorified spreadsheet or database”). Roubini is a professor at NYU, studies asset and credit bubbles, and correctly predicted the 2008 mortgage crisis. Roubini is not the first to raise concern about cryptocurrency, but he has includes something you hear less often: critical statements about the future…
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Main Street Diamond
In August 2018, I decided to check out the Cleveland Metroparks permitted drone site at Mill Stream Run. I had a really difficult time finding it. I mean really difficult. There are no signs, and it’s not marked in any way. The are is not marked on the online map of Mill Stream Run, and not described in detail in any material that I could find. This flight area is a recent introduction by the Metroparks so everything is obviously still pretty new. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. Metroparks’ website lists it as “Main Street Diamond located in Mill Stream Run Reservation”. After driving the length of the…
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Why I am Moving to Cleveland
My wife and I are planning a family move in 2018, relocating from Denver to Cleveland. There’s no one thing that’s pushing or pulling us, really. Many things aligned to make this a good time to consider a move. She went to college at Case Western Reserve University, so she has some familiarity with the city. She’s always had good things to say about it. Until recently though, I had the typical outsider attitude: “Rust Belt city? Why would I be interested in that?” We weren’t planning a move from Denver, and even if we were — I wasn’t interested in any Midwest city. A musician friend from Denver moved…
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Why I Am Leaving Denver
My wife and I are planning a family move in 2018, relocating from Denver to Cleveland. There’s no one thing that’s pushing or pulling us, really. Many things aligned to make this a good time to consider a move. There’s lot of great stuff happening in Denver, and it’s a neat place to be. When I talk to people in other parts of the country, they often say “Oh, you’re lucky! I’d love to live out there.” Intentionally giving it up seems odd. Since people have been asking, I decided to provide some more detail why I’m ready to leave Denver. (Why Cleveland? See here.) It’s Expensive It’s not San…