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Michael Gorman - writer, musician and hobby collector
'Scions' serial
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About Michael
Michael Gorman - writer, musician and hobby collector
'Scions' serial
Home
Music
About Michael
'Scions' serial
Home
Music
About Michael
Featured Posts
Working with MuseScore 4 and FL Studio
Feb 27, 2024
Working with MuseScore 4 and FL Studio
Feb 27, 2024

I love MuseScore 4. It’s great for laying things out and overall balance, and their free Muse Sounds are fantastic. For the past three tracks I’ve completed, 75 percent of the work has been in MS4.

Feb 27, 2024
Our trip to London
Sep 30, 2022
Our trip to London
Sep 30, 2022

I found fewer photo opportunities in London and England than in Iceland, but it was a memorable trip nonetheless.

Sep 30, 2022
Managing homework on a game board
Aug 19, 2020
Managing homework on a game board
Aug 19, 2020

It was no surprise to me when remote learning hit our house in March and our oldest viewed due dates as the day he needed to start working on the assignment. I had to get creative to change that viewpoint.

Aug 19, 2020
How to Train Your Dragon: Ten years later
Mar 26, 2020
How to Train Your Dragon: Ten years later
Mar 26, 2020

I lost track of how many times my son watched the original How To Train Your Dragon movie. What surprised me was that I was right there next to him for nearly every showing, and nearly all of those viewings were voluntary.

Mar 26, 2020
Our trip to Iceland
Aug 28, 2019
Our trip to Iceland
Aug 28, 2019

I took and embarrassing amount of photos during our week in Iceland, but nobody who has visited the island will blame me.

Aug 28, 2019
Lessons learned photographing Iceland
Aug 7, 2019
Lessons learned photographing Iceland
Aug 7, 2019

Here are some supplemental lessons I learned, and by “lessons,” I usually mean ´’mistakes’ or ‘misconceptions’ that tripped me up. None of them are life-changing or groundbreaking, but if even one of these manages to save you a headache, then great.

Aug 7, 2019
Review: Roll For It!
Jul 31, 2019
Review: Roll For It!
Jul 31, 2019

I found our family’s new favorite pick-up-and-play favorite in Calliope Game’s Roll For It!.

Jul 31, 2019
Photos: Our Kentucky trip
Jul 24, 2019
Photos: Our Kentucky trip
Jul 24, 2019

My wife’s family met for a week long vacation in a rural Kentucky house. Heavy rains our first night flooded a nearby stream.

Jul 24, 2019
Photos: Bridal Cave near Lake of the Ozarks
Jun 30, 2019
Photos: Bridal Cave near Lake of the Ozarks
Jun 30, 2019

Photos from Bridal Cave near Camdenton, Missouri in the Lake of the Ozarks region.

Jun 30, 2019
Hollywood blew up my hometown
Jun 14, 2013
Hollywood blew up my hometown
Jun 14, 2013

My hometown of Plano, IL has experienced a lot in the last 20 years. Perhaps the coolest development occurred in the summer of 2011, when Plano doubled as Smallville, Kansas, the fictional hometown of Superman, for the movie Man of Steel.

Jun 14, 2013
Our trip to London
Travel, Photography Michael Gorman 9/30/22 Travel, Photography Michael Gorman 9/30/22

Our trip to London

I found fewer photo opportunities in London and England than in Iceland, but it was a memorable trip nonetheless.

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Photos: London by bus
Travel, London 2022, Photography Michael Gorman 9/28/22 Travel, London 2022, Photography Michael Gorman 9/28/22

Photos: London by bus

The first official activity we did after arriving was a tour of London atop an open double-decker bus. I highly recommend it, and the earlier in the morning, the better.

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Photos: Bath, Stonehenge, and the English countryside
Travel, London 2022, Photography Michael Gorman 9/17/22 Travel, London 2022, Photography Michael Gorman 9/17/22

Photos: Bath, Stonehenge, and the English countryside

Stonehenge and Bath were the other destinations on our coach tour.

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Photos: Windsor Palace
Travel, London 2022, Photography Michael Gorman 9/15/22 Travel, London 2022, Photography Michael Gorman 9/15/22

Photos: Windsor Palace

We took a coach tour to the northwest, and Windsor Palace was a surprise hit with my sons.

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Photos: London by river and air
Travel, London 2022, Photography Michael Gorman 9/14/22 Travel, London 2022, Photography Michael Gorman 9/14/22

Photos: London by river and air

Photos from our river tour as well as our trip in the Eye.

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Photos: London by foot
Travel, London 2022, Photography Michael Gorman 9/12/22 Travel, London 2022, Photography Michael Gorman 9/12/22

Photos: London by foot

This is our first trip during which we rented no cars. So, when we weren’t in buses, coaches, or tubes, we walked. In one of London’s warmest heat waves in recent history.

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Photos: Tower of London
Travel, London 2022, Photography Michael Gorman 9/11/22 Travel, London 2022, Photography Michael Gorman 9/11/22

Photos: Tower of London

Walking tour of the Tower of London.

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Our trip to Iceland
Travel, Photography Michael Gorman 8/28/19 Travel, Photography Michael Gorman 8/28/19

Our trip to Iceland

I took and embarrassing amount of photos during our week in Iceland, but nobody who has visited the island will blame me.

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Photos: Gullfoss
Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/26/19 Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/26/19

Photos: Gullfoss

There are several different locations and angles to view the falls. Perhaps the most iconic is the first view that greets visitors: the main, partially-obscured 100-foot drop into the gorge in the foreground, and the three smaller, upriver steps farther back.

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Photos: Þingvellir
Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/24/19 Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/24/19

Photos: Þingvellir

As someone who loves both geography and history, Þingvellir was one of the places I knew I had to visit.

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Photos: Seljalandsfoss and Hjálparfoss
Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/19/19 Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/19/19

Photos: Seljalandsfoss and Hjálparfoss

Thanks to relatively flat land to the west and its 60-meter (179′) height, the falls can be seen from more than 8 kilometers (5 miles) away when approaching from the west on Route 1.

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Photos: Reykjavík
Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/18/19 Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/18/19

Photos: Reykjavík

More than 360,000 people live in Iceland, according to this year’s estimate. A little more than one third of all Icelanders live in the city, and nearly two-thirds live in the Capital Region.

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Photos: Hallgrímskirkja
Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/17/19 Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/17/19

Photos: Hallgrímskirkja

It took 41 years to finish the iconic Hallgrímskirkja. The Lutheran church stood as Iceland’s tallest building from its completion and consecration in 1986 until it was surpassed in 2008 by Smáratorg Tower in Kópavogur.

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Photos: Gjáin
Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/15/19 Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/15/19

Photos: Gjáin

Not far from Stöng, the Rauðá river runs through an area in the upper Þjórsárdalur valley, an area full of particularly green vegetation and striking rock-and-waterfall formations.

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Photos: Driving in Vesturland
Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/13/19 Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/13/19

Photos: Driving in Vesturland

Our trip to Stykkishólmur was spur of the moment. We had done the Circle. We headed east to see Stöngs old and new, waterfalls, and more. We headed south to do… well, nothing. The road upon which we traveled required a 4×4 as soon as it departed the Capital Region. So, north it was.

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Photos: Driving in Suðurland
Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/12/19 Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/12/19

Photos: Driving in Suðurland

After spending a Friday evening visiting Geysir and Gullfoss, we took Skeiða-og Hrunamannavegur, a rural road north of Flúðir, back to a friend’s cabin. It was around 9:00 p.m., but as it was a week before the solstice, the sun was still three hours from setting.

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Photos: The remnants (and restoration) of Viking life
Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/12/19 Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/12/19

Photos: The remnants (and restoration) of Viking life

Around 1104, the volcano Hekla erupted for the first time since the Norse settled Iceland. The surrounding southern Icelandic countryside—including approximately 20 farms in the Þjórsárdalur valley—was buried in ash.

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Photos: Stykkishólmur and Súgandisey
Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/11/19 Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/11/19

Photos: Stykkishólmur and Súgandisey

Two hours north of Reykjavík lies Stykkishólmur. The town of 1200 is the commercial center of Snæfellsnes Peninsula, and likely has been since the mid-16th century.

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Photos: Geysir
Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/9/19 Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/9/19

Photos: Geysir

As striking Strokkur’s eruptions were, I was just as drawn to the springs and pools, such as Blesi and Konungshver.

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Photos: Reykjavík’s Old Harbor and Faxaflói bay
Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/9/19 Travel, Iceland 2019, Photography Michael Gorman 8/9/19

Photos: Reykjavík’s Old Harbor and Faxaflói bay

In 874, according to the Icelandic “Book of Settlements,” Norseman Ingólfur Arnarson threw the pillars to his chieftain’s seat into the waters off the west coast of Iceland and promised to settle where they washed ashore. It reportedly took his slaves three years to find them.

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Michael Gorman