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SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW WHAT I DON’T KNOW

March 10, 2025 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

‘Smart enough’ is a fair goal in education. It’ll take you where you want to go, and help avoid places you don’t want to go. There’s a self-serving element to it when you like school so much you go to college to become a teacher. Or, you like kids enough to give them a better […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: appearances, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, big foot, blog, blog post, BOOMER, boomerpdx, boomers, dog, dog whisperer, education, facebook, hoodlums, hoods, inner big foot, inner child, inner Sasquatch, learning, Oregon, sasquatch, Seattle, seattle freeze, smart enough, writer, writing

GETTING READY TO GET READY, THEN WHAT

March 9, 2025 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

Are baby boomers getting ready? They’ve been getting ready all their life. The boomer baby is continually shown as a rebel, a kid who grew up with a pledge to ‘not be like our parents.’ It was fine until one day we became parents. It was fine until we got all the left-overs.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, BOOMER, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, boomers, childhood, education, educational value, get ready, getting ready, history, history museum, murdered, parents, travel, writer, writers, writing

MEMORABLE MOMENTS THAT STICK

March 8, 2025 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

This was a most memorable moment from the early years. One headline for life. It covers all of the important stuff: My name is spelled right, it’s a Greco-Roman tournament, and it’s North Bend.. There’s only one thing missing:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: blogger, boomerpdx, gold medal, greco roman, Iowa, memorable, memorable moments, moments, quiet parts, reading, remember, wrestling

SIGNING PAPERS IN REAL INK

March 7, 2025 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

Signing papers is a fact of life. Sign this, sign that, and move on. If you’ve signed and weren’t convinced you knew what you were signing? Welcome to the club.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blogger, BOOMER, boomer blogger, boomer moments, boomerpdx, boomers, Death, downstream, education, higher education, history, Love, MARRIAGE, millennials, papers, papers signed, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, shit detector, sign, signed papers, signing papers, spurious accolades, wife, writer, writing

FOLLOWING ORDERS WITH FELLOW FOLLOWERS

March 6, 2025 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

Following orders seems simple at face value: Someone tells someone what to do and the second someone does it. Done deal? Not so fast.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: all volunteer army, Army, boss, bullied, bully, caregiver, cowing down, face value, fear, fellow followers, followers, following, following orders, germany, historical, historical reference, karma, loss, mai lai massacre, orders, Parkinson's, powerful position, senior care, soldiers, testosterone, volunteer, war, WWII, young men

EXCITABLE BOY, THEY ALL SAID

March 5, 2025 by David Gillaspie 2 Comments

An excitable boy at age eighteen is a good thing. I had a great year at that age. Graduated from high school, got a summer job, hitch-hiked to Iowa and back. I left town for college, then turned nineteen and joined the Army the next fall like it was school. That’s where I saw older […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Army, berlin bunker, best results, blowhard, dangerous, excitable boy, exciting times, germany, historical documentaries, historical industry, history, history degree, human depavity, killers, machine guns, peer pressure, research, teachers, testosterone, Vietnam, WWII, young men

VALUABLE ASSET? ASK THE MAGNA CARTA

March 4, 2025 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

What is the most valuable asset we possess? I believe it is self esteem, self worth. In fact, I count on it in myself and others. Good self esteem in others means they know how to behave themselves in public. I was thinking about it during a recent Costco run that included a chat with […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: asset, civilization, clean air, clean water, clothing, Costco, cutco, cutco knives, experience, experiment, food, founding fathers, king, knife, knife sharpener, knives, learning, learning experience, lucky, magna carta, marauding hoards, plunder, rape, self esteem, self worth, shelter, valuable, valuable asset, value, writer, writing, written

HOUSE CLEANING: WHAT GOES, WHAT STAYS

March 3, 2025 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

House cleaning is basic: start at the top, dust down, vacuum up, done. Or, dust down, vacuum up, scrub sinks and toilets, then done. Or, look at your stuff with dust around it and make a decision of stay or go, then vacuum and scrub, and you’re done. What am I missing? I’ll tell you […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: bookshelf, friends, hoarder, house cleaning, keep, memory, reading, roman bath, throw away, usual le Guin, what goes, what stays, what to keep, writing, writing books

WHO IS JUST A POOR BOY?

March 2, 2025 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

I am just a poor boyThough my story’s seldom toldI have squandered my resistanceFor a pocketful of mumblesSuch are promisesAll lies and jestStill a man hears what he wants to hearAnd disregards the rest

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: break up, choice, new york, paul simon, philadelphia, poor boy, Portland, Portland Oregon, ragged people, ragged quarters, sharp, still sharp, the boxer, white flight

EXTRA EFFORT, BUT HOW MUCH?

March 1, 2025 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

Extra effort is the rule, or so we hear. “If you want to be somebody, it will take more than you’re doing.” “If you want to succeed, work harder.” But some people are born lucky. Clint asks, “Do you feel lucky? Do you, punk?”

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, army recruit, backstory, competition, Drill Sergeant, effort, exhaustion, extra effort, football, germany, history, history degree, holocaust, leadership, motivation, story, strength, training, Violence, winning, wwi, WWII

SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW WHAT I DON’T KNOW

GETTING READY TO GET READY, THEN WHAT

MEMORABLE MOMENTS THAT STICK

SIGNING PAPERS IN REAL INK

FOLLOWING ORDERS WITH FELLOW FOLLOWERS

EXCITABLE BOY, THEY ALL SAID

VALUABLE ASSET? ASK THE MAGNA CARTA

HOUSE CLEANING: WHAT GOES, WHAT STAYS

WHO IS JUST A POOR BOY?

EXTRA EFFORT, BUT HOW MUCH?

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