Hi! Mr. John here. Welcome to The Ugly Frog (tm). The Ugly Frog is the name of my fishing Kayak and it's the name of this blog! What an amazing coincidence! OR AM I the ugly frog?!? Anyway, welcome! The things I enjoy in life most include being in nature and shooting nature photos, kayaking and kayak fishing, and reading classic literature, drawing here and there and other creative things (and more of course). Here, you can enjoy those things with me! You may say: "John, your site is so basic! no fancy frills!" Correct. . . . no cheap thrills. I am old school and program it myself with basic HTML in a note document (I'm a high tech coder!). I create all the amazing graphics myself too! haha. . all photography etc are my own. No stock photography here! All mine. Simple. Basic. Hope you don't mind.

Note: all links are to subpages internal to my site here. If there is an external link, I will note that it is an external link.

15 May 2026 Update: At the moment I am just over 1/2 way through "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy. Then next I will be reading a James Oliver Curwood book titled "The Country Beyond." I invite readers to join me in that one and to join me on an adventure to his "castle" in Owosso, Michigan sometime thereafter TBD.

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My Thoughts on "Dubliners" by James Joyce

I just finished reading Dubliners by James Joyce on 2 May 2026 and here are my thoughts on it: My Thoughts on Dubliners I am also starting to read another James Joyce work today and that is "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man."

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My Thoughts on McTeague by Frank Norris

On 18 April 2026 I finished reading McTeague by Frank Norris and my thoughts are posted here. My Thoughts on McTeague

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2026 Kayaking Season

I adventured out only once this season so far due to the weather this spring being riddled with rains, winds, and cold temperatures. The adventure was to the Black River out of North River Road Park in an evening. It was late so adventure was just about an hour. Fished by the bridge over the canal and NO FISH! No fish reported by shore fishing people as well. An adventure is planned to Kensington Metropark so stay tuned! !