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ELECTION GUIDE? VOTE LIKE FAMILY

Election guide 2022 sponsored by Phil Knight? Vote like Mr. Knight if you share common values. He’s a businessman, Oregon’s claim to membership in the billionaires club. And he’s competitive in how he sees money spent, so he’s working as an election guide? Unfortunately, his picks come with overweight baggage fees.

NO RESPECT FOR FRAGILE MEN?

‘No respect’ shows up when you least expect it. At least that’s when it should show up; out of the blue, left field, from nowhere. And it hurts feelings. How many times has it happened to you?

RUGGED INDIVIDUALISM vs COMPLIANCE AND LIFE FORCE

Rugged individualism: the life force that separates quitters from finishers. Ask one of them why they do hard things and expect a question in return: “Why not?” It’s a confidence builder, and role to model. Then there’s personal compliance, which shouldn’t be a problem, but . . .

VOTE BLUE FOR A BETTER YOU, MILLENNIALS

Vote Blue ‘for a chance’ to be a better you is more like it. “But what’s a better me, BoomerPdx?” Sure, go ahead and ask a blogger that question and don’t be too surprised at the answer. Is there a right answer?

MARRIAGE EXPERIMENTS: DUCK FOOTBALL OR PORTLAND TRIP?

Marriage experiments are not for the non-scientist. I’m not a scientist, but my wife is. She’s the one who tries new things and keeps an eye out for my response. But that doesn’t make me the experiment. Or does it?

RECOMMENDED READING: T.C. BOYLE’S ‘GOING DOWN’

Recommended reading for writers? Common advice is to read everything, whatever that means. Do I read everything? Everything in a bookstore, or library? No, I read for inspiration, I read for cause, and my cause is writing.

INSPIRE CHANGE WITH DEEDS AND WORDS

“Inspire change” are not just pretty words to say. You can say it, write it, but there’s more: Show it. Remember the writer’s trope of, ‘Show, don’t tell?’ Do both to inspire change.

TENDER BAR, A PLACE EVERYONE NEEDS

The Tender Bar is a book, a memoir, and a movie. A book and a movie, for the deuce. But it’s more than a book or a movie, it’s a destination I stopped in for a drink yesterday, but it was the wrong bar.

DOG WALKING TO START A BETTER WORLD

Dog walking for a ‘better world’ sounds pretty good. But what’s a better world? Let’s start with a cleaner world.

FIRE CONTROL: HOW NOT TO BURN DOWN THE HOUSE

Fire control is not this man’s strong point. Not mine or my neighbor’s either. Two out of the three of us caught things on fire, and this guy’s next.