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PIECES OF A LIFE TOGETHER, AND ‘THE PAST’

If you spend enough time with someone you may eventually get the feeling of living a life, of sharing a life, together.
With that in mind, why wait until the last minute to get, or give, the flowers.
Is there a plan for how to do that?
How do two people put those pieces together?
I’m glad to tell you:
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THE CUVEE PROM PLAN: TUXEDO REQURIED

The Cuvee prom plan works when the star align:
A birthday? An anniversary? A retirement?
Combine all three and it’s time to break out the tuxedo?
Yes, it’s time.

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WALK THAT LONESOME VALLEY, OR BABY SHARK, PICK ONE

You know you’ve got to walk that lonesome valley. That’s just how it is.
The part about walking it by yourself? I’m not so sure about that.
I tried walking it by myself and got pretty far, even though I wasn’t alone.
Technically.
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NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF NATURAL MEDICINE: THE DOCTORS ARE IN

From a distance the ribbon cutting for the National University Of Natural Medicine appeared as yet another civic event in Portland, Oregon.
Speakers spoke, ribbons cut, cheers all around.
It was all of that and so much more, like overcoming impossible odds.
And yet . . .

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GREAT NEWS FROM MT. ANGEL AND JOHN ROSSI PODCAST

The great news from Mt. Angel comes via the John Rossi Podcast visit to Lou’s Kitchen.
The Kitchen is a big winner in Best of Willamette Valley 2026 claiming the Gold Medal for best all-round restaurant.
When I opened the door the place was packed and buzzing at noon.
One grilled chicken salad and an Arnold Palmer later we retired to the podcast studio to work on stuff and thangs.

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toughen up

Connecting Boomer Exercise And Writing

Talk writing with a boomer, with anyone, and you hear a common story. “I’m going to write my novel (memoir, short story, or poem) when I retire. Or, “I’ve got it all figured out in my mind. Now all I need to do is find the time.” Or, “I’d like to write something, but all […]

CANCER TREATMENT: 5 THINGS I KNEW BEFORE STARTING

    I will submit to the cancer treatment sequence of events that may or may not do what is predicted. Like a lamb to slaughter, I would submit to whatever it took to kill the shit out of hpv16 throat cancer.   In the writing world we all dream of that one ‘YES’ that […]

Stomp Out Cancer: When Not If

    Stomp out cancer is a campaign with the hashtag #stompoutcancer.   Cancer survivors from OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital joined Nike and UofO to help create the uniforms the Ducks wore for Stomp Out Cancer.   Their efforts are a ray or hope for everyone crossing the line from cancer treatment to cancer survivor. […]

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boomer years

HOW A BOOMER HEART BREAKS

Which generation has the best broken hearts? Baby boomer heart breaks lead the pack. Remember the first time your boomer heart broke? Something went wrong. Someone said the wrong thing. Was it a mistake, a misunderstanding? Don’t get the shovel and start digging it out. Don’t check your high school year book. If you cut […]

THE BIRTHDAY BOY: HOW TO CELEBRATE YOUR DAD’S DAY

The Gillaspie children Wayne, Cleo, and Rex, c. 1948. This May 8th my Dad would have been 84 years old. Birthdays are important. To all baby boomers: Call your parents on their birthday. To all hipsters: Get off your scooter and show your parents you were raised right. Call them. To all millennials: Follow the […]

Another Moment Of All American Serendipitous Patriotism

    “If you’ve ever wondered what you’d have done had you lived during the era of slavery, the Holocaust, or the Civil Rights Movement — whether you’d have stood & spoken up; whether you’d have intervened to help someone or been complicit in harming them through your silence — you have your answer.   […]

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buckle up

PODUNK TOWN, OR YOUR HOMETOWN

Nothing Explains Feelings For A Hometown, Your Hometown, Than Traveling Though Others. Drive down I-5, Highway 99, 101 down the coast, or 97 east of the Cascades, and you roll through one podunk town after another. You don’t even have to go far off the road to see them. Just drive by, take a look, […]

BOOMERS ON THE MOVE TO SOMEWHERE ELSE

Why Not To The Hometown? No one likes hearing classmate at a reunion say, “So glad I got out of here.” Hear it once and you want them out of there again. Hometowns aren’t prison to escape from. If you feel that way, it’s you, not the town. Maybe when we were in our late […]

MEXICO TRAVEL: PUERTO VALLARTA PERFECTION, pt2

    First thing you’ll need is a new hat. Pick one, maybe two.   Once you get into the swing of things you can adjust.   Not a hat person? You are now.

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