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NEEDING MORE: HOW TO CONTROL THAT EMPTY FEELING

July 27, 2021 by

Needing more of something depends on age. Kids needing more kid stuff like their friends; young people need more experience than they’ve had time to acquire; old people need more time to figure out what they missed along the way. We’re needy from the start. Babies need more mom and dad time, grandparents need more […]

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INFLUENCE YOURSELF FOR LASTING RESULTS

July 26, 2021 by

How can you influence yourself without thinking the influencer is clueless? I don’t like being told what to do, but that’s where we all start. “Put your things away. Clean up after yourself. Show some respect.” Who hasn’t heard that as a child? Who hasn’t said it to a child? From appearances, not everyone was […]

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PEER PRESSURE WITH A PUSH IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

July 25, 2021 by

Peer pressure works unless you’re so special that you have no peers to pressure you into doing things. Are you ‘Peerless?’ If you are, congratulations. Tell your mom hello from the rest of us, superstar. We like to think we’re special, unique, without peers, but how can that even be possible? It’s not. Even the […]

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PORTLAND BRIDGE RUN AND RESCUE AFTER DARK

July 24, 2021 by

This is my favorite Portland bridge, the Hawthorne Bridge. The picture makes it look longer than it is on foot, or on a bike. When I lived on the west side, I had a job on the east side and crossed it twice a day. Then I moved to east side and worked on the […]

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ONE HOMETOWN VS ALL OTHER HOMETOWNS

July 23, 2021 by

One hometown is like any other town they say. Whoever ‘they’ are, they’re wrong. “A hometown is where young people bide their time before their real life begins,” goes the standard line. “It’s where kids first learn about the real world without bearing the consequences.” Not the case when the hometown is North Bend, Oregon. […]

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IMPERFECT GOALS? NO ONE SAID YOU HAVE TO BE PERFECT

July 22, 2021 by

Imperfect goals are a good reason to write, to explain, to instruct. It doesn’t take a licensed teacher with three masters degrees to understand the pressures of perfection. “Do your work the best you can and let it stand” is the right motto for moving forward. The hard part is watching it all get torn […]

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CHECKING OUT THEN BEFORE CHECKING BACK IN NOW

July 21, 2021 by

Checking out, dropping out, call it what you will, but leave the back door open. Why the back door? Because you may want to check back in and avoid the scrutiny out front. The nice picture above was not taken at an Amish farm last week, or a pioneer homestead in the 1860’s. Nope, none […]

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DYSFUNCTIONAL PARENTS TEACH THEIR KIDS BY EXAMPLE

July 20, 2021 by

Dysfunctional parents come in all sizes, shapes, and colors. Kids raised in a dysfunctional environment come out of it with choices to make. No one chooses to be a dysfunctional parent, but if that’s all you know, what else is there to do? Plenty. Starting with, “What is dysfunctional supposed to mean, smarty pants? You […]

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HUMAN CONNECTIONS YOU SHOULD NOT IGNORE

July 19, 2021 by

Human connections are the ties that bind us together. Whether we like it or not, we can’t look away from others like they don’t matter. At the same time, it takes an effort to realize what caring means. Why would anyone care about strangers in a strange land? If you find yourself confused by the […]

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GOOD JUDGEMENT IN CONSEQUENTIAL TIMES

July 18, 2021 by

Let’s be frank about the notion of good judgement: if you never do anything of consequence, any sort of awareness is fine. Why? Because it doesn’t really matter. The problem is influence. Too many punks have found their ‘voice’ in social media. Instead of yelling at people to stay off their yard, they’ve done some […]

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