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TAKE MY WIFE, PLEASE. OR ELSE

When Henny Youngman said, “Take my wife. Please,” did he jump up and slap himself? Did his wife take a swing at him? When a joke goes bad, bad enough to get clocked, it’s hard for us to understand. Especially when the joker takes a smack from another funny guy who didn’t like the joke. […]

NO FRIENDS? SOUNDS LIKE A SAFE LIFE

During ‘my research’ I came across this gem: “If you have no friends you’ll probably never get Covid19.” This isn’t the sort of research that leads to cockeyed ideas on how to treat Covid once you get it. My research is different than people who say they’re ‘doing research’ but who don’t understand what research […]

VULNERABLE MEN: “SOMETHING’S IN MY EYE”

Vulnerable men are all over the place. We don’t see them because they don’t want us to know. Here’s a big “THANK YOU” for that. But sometimes it’s the other way around. With the parade of sensitive men recently reduced, I don’t trust my own instincts. William Hurt’s passing was sad news, another example that […]

EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL? AN EARLY UNDERSTANDING

I remember thinking of equal rights my senior year in high school. In 1973, just before graduation where everyone would trek off and change the world, some of the class boarded a bus in front of the school. While we waited to leave, Principal Stuckey came out and played his bagpipes in a kilt. It’s […]

DYING LIGHT? NO, IT’S CATARACTS

“Rage against the dying light.” That’s the advice dead-poet Dylan Thomas gives old people. “Do not go gentle into that good night, rage, rage against the dying of the light,” means something different at thirty-three, when Thomas wrote it, than ninety three. If the lights are dimming in your life, instead of raging and raging […]

BOOMERPDX LIFE LESSONS? #1: MAKE AN EFFORT

Life lessons start with the first one. One lesson is more than enough to start. Get that first lesson right and the foundation is set for additions. #1: Make an effort you’re proud of.

MUSIC THERAPY: PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR STRESSFUL TIMES

Music therapy comes in so many flavors. Listen to calming tones, or listen clanking tones. Find live music, or play your own. The thing with playing music is you need to practice. But how long should you practice? That long.

RICK STEVES SAYS TRAVEL IS A POLITICAL ACT

Is Rick Steves right about travel? He ought to know after all the traveling he’s done. From all over Europe, to Paris, he’s been around. So why is travel a political act?

FUTURE PLANS? CHOOSE THE RIGHT PATH

Who is making plans for the future? Now that the covid pandemic is over, now that there’s world peace, and you’ve reached your life goals, the future looks bright? Not so fast, my hopefuls.

PRISON TIME DOESN’T WORK FOR EVERYONE

If you do prison time, what are you supposed to learn? Is education even part of the sentence, or is it a waiting game? People I know have been to prison. One of them twice. Three times is a bigger problem in some states. Oregon has its own sentencing guideline grid.