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THE HEATER AND THE OREGON HEAT

On a chilly Oregon Sunday, known as Wild Card Weekend in the NFL, my heater died. I had no Oregon heat. My palace was cold. Like every writer known to man, I was working and didn’t notice until I felt the air conditioning kick in. Except the cool breeze came from the furnace fan, minus […]

BOOMERTOPIA: A MILLENIAL GUIDE TO LIVING IN A BABY BOOMER WORLD WITHOUT COMPLAINING

This is the sort of anti boomertopia food boomers had to look forward to. If this is what got rolled out for special guests, what would you guess we ate the rest of the time?

DRY JANUARY? START NOW, PARTY LATER

Dry January, or No Drink January, came as a surprise. One of my favorite booze-hounds came up with it before I’d ever heard of it. “I’m thinking of doing a dry January,” he said.

PORTLAND 2019: A GOOD TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO A DECADE

Even surrounded by the built environment, nature finds a way to remind Portland of its place. That’s Mt. St. Helens in peeking through back, the cute volcano that shot rock and smoke six miles high.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL: JUST ADD WATER

Them: I haven’t seen you in a while. Me: I just got back. Them: Where did you go?

TIGARD TRENDING TOWARD TRAIN TRACKS

Not Me: I want to live near the train, the light rail train. Isn’t Tigard trending toward the train. Me: The train goes through Beaverton to Hillsboro. Not Me: I’ve heard great things about Hillsboro.

DECADE ENDS IN SOFT TALK, HARD TRUTHS

    Me: This decade ends the best of times and worst of times. Them: Did you just make that up, or are you finally going to admit to stealing from Charles Dickens? Me: Writers don’t steal, they borrow. Them: Like the time you borrowed a notebook from Payless in Pony Village?

CHRISTMAS EAVESDROPPING, PORTLAND 2019

Christmas eavesdropping is a target rich time. Feelings of gratitude, feelings of loss, it’s a season of feeling. It’s a great time to listen in on those feelings? Yes, it is.

GYM LIFER: IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE

Gym Lifer: You need to come with me and talk to someone. Me: Sure. Him: He’s having chest pains.

BOOMER PARENTS: HOW KIDS LEAVE A MARK

A peppy forty-nine year old single man was feeling down, feeling the holiday blues. I did what boomer parents do, I butted in; it’s an auto-response. He said he lived too far away from relatives to visit family and make it all better. I could feel his sadness, so I tried to talk him back […]