page contents Google

A DIFFERENT PORTLAND, A DIFFERENT TIME

Today’s city is a different Portland than anyone expected from it’s past. I walked the hard pavement of NW 14th street toward Burnside, the Mason Dixon Line of Portland. I crossed against the light, skipping past a new chain tavern, leaving behind a music store with too much exposure through its showroom windows. I angled […]

WIFE BOSS FROM 1950 TO 2016

Did Fifties women even listen? Everyone’s got advice on what they don’t know about. They connect dots, paint pictures, and still can’t make you can’t see it. Anytime you reach into recent history, you’re showing stuff with easy proofs, references, sources. Real easy, like millions of pictures, documents, oral histories. Especially with women’s history, a […]

ADDICTED TO WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN

Some addictions have treatment. Not when you’re addicted to what could have been. The lady in the image is a poster child for living dreams and sharing them. From a country girl in south England to traveling the world, she collected the sort of memories usually seen on the big screen. She joined the armed […]

PORTLAND PROGRESSIVE REGRESSIVE

If you’re confused in 2016, you might be a Portland Progressive Regressive. Why do things look so perfect in the rear view mirror in Portland? More important, why do we keep looking? The Portland Progressive Regressive likes the good old days, but looks forward to the future. Their vision might not be 20/20, but it […]

BULLIES AND BITCHES: BORN THAT WAY?

Genetics no excuse for bullies and bitches. Some time ago in the Baby Boomer fog of age, like grade school in the mid-60’s at Bangor Elementary, voted the cool school by all former Bearcats, bullies and bitches came in all shapes and sizes. Turns out the time of day also mattered for them. A kid […]

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, RIGHT OR WRONG

The wrong questions and answers still get the right words. All parents have heard questions from their kids that made them think they’ve both gone over the topic before. And they probably have, but that’s no excuse for ignoring any question from a kid. They want answers and you’re the answer man, the answer woman, […]

MAN ANTHEM FOR MODERN TIMES

Every era has a song. This era needs a Man Anthem. This Man Anthem is inspired by Barney the Purple Dinosauer and the Republican National Convention. The epicenter of male testosterone in America is Cleveland, Ohio. As if to prove it, Candidate Trump took the stage the way Mr. McMahon takes to the ring. Into […]

GENTRIFY PORTLAND RENT

What else goes up with gentrify Portland rent? Your blood pressure. Once upon a time the chase for the lowest rent led to some pretty sketchy dwellings. It was a contest to find the worst place for the lowest rent. A young single man seeking low rent in college is one thing. A single man […]

AGING IN PLACE MEANS LIVING IN PEACE

Baby Boomers yearn for an Aging in Place state of mind. If all we are asking is give peace a chance, why not ask for more, like a peaceful place to live? This aging behemoth of a generation, these Baby Boomers, are asking for more. They say they want to age in place, like aging […]

NEW HOMETOWN TRENDING?

Live one place long enough, it’s your new hometown. If you even have a hometown you ought to feel lucky. Feel lucky it’s not your ‘home floor’ or ‘home building’ or ‘home block.’ Hometown feel pretty good compared to some places. Except every hometown has the same stigmas as every city, just smaller. Which brings […]