Darla in the Desert 🌵☕📰

StumbleUpon, Arizona, and the Era When the Internet Still Felt Like Play | Darla in the Desert 🌵 StumbleUpon, Arizona, and the Era When the Internet Still Felt Like Play By Darla  |  Darla in the Desert  |  Tonopah, AZ There was a time — before algorithms, before "content strategy," before every app tried to psychoanalyze us — when the internet felt like a desert highway at sunset. Wide open. A little wild. Full of surprises. In fact, many people referred to the internet as the Wild Wild West — and out here in Arizona, that felt like home. And in that era, I'll say it plainly: I was building something in Arizona before anyone had a name for what we were doing. We didn't have ring lights or brand deals or "engagement pods." We had curiosity, caffeine, and a blue button called StumbleUpon . ✨ When Clicking Felt Like Discovery StumbleUpon wasn't a feed. It wasn't a scroll. It was a portal . You clicked, and the un...

We Took a Week Off | Darla in the Desert We Took a Week Off: Family, Medical Appointments, and What's Coming Next on Darla in the Desert By Darla  |  Darla in the Desert  |  Tonopah, AZ If you've been checking in and finding tumbleweeds — we appreciate your patience more than you know. The past week was one of those weeks where real life didn't ask permission. Daughter and grandkids came to town, and we weren't about to miss a single minute of it. We even managed to wrangle everyone into a movie — good clean comedy, which is harder to find than it should be these days. Worth every minute. On the medical front — questioning two oncologists on the possibility of cryo treatment for Dave's largest lung nodes has finally paid off. The pulmonologist and oncologist consult resulted in scheduling (with our whole-hearted approval) a procedure to attempt to kill the largest nodes with 30,000 volts of electrical shock. The hope is that the lar...

Darla in the Desert: hard‑earned lessons from life, the internet, and a desert that melts your patience first. Send ice! A dusty desert moment — and yes, it feels exactly like this when one sneaks up on you. Dust Devils: Arizona’s Little Wind Pranksters Some days the desert doesn’t come at you with a full-on storm. Sometimes it just sends a dust devil like a little warning signal, spinning through the yard to remind you who really runs the place. Out here, you learn not to laugh too hard at the wind. A dust devil can look playful one second and then show up with enough attitude to shove dirt in your eyes, lift light stuff off the ground, and make you question every outdoor decision you’ve ever made. If you’ve ever had a desert errand turn into an adventure, Lost in Circles in Surprise AZ: Parkways, Ice Cream Sandwiches & Why Silver Alerts Make Total Sense has that same kind of energy. ...