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SOCIAL MEDIA: WHAT DRAWS ONLINE ENGAGEMENT? FISH STORIES

December 17, 2020 by

Social media, the big ones, are visual stimulants. Who doesn’t pause for the whacky and weird just a little bit longer than they expected? What shows up and grabs you so tight you can’t scroll away?

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TWO PERSONALITIES: SUMMER CAMP vs FINISHING SCHOOL

December 16, 2020 by

Two personalities, or shades of two, ought to be enough to make it through the day without more problems. If one is enough, stick with it, but don’t feel trapped. Multiple personalities are not a good sign, but two are not a problem if used with proper care. But which two?

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BLOG TRAFFIC: BOOMERPDX FROM NATION TO NATION

December 15, 2020 by

Blog traffic map via google analytics. The big difference between the top map and every other map of the world is that this one tracks where the hits, the readers, the bots, showing up on boomerpdx originate. It’s a blog traffic map, which isn’t very writerly since geography isn’t about plot, story structure, or how […]

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MAKING PLANS, NOWHERE PLANS FOR NOBODY

December 14, 2020 by

Making plans in December has been an American tradition unlike any other. Everyone shows up year after year, just like last year, just like next year. Making plans in normal times was easy until a status change shifts everything forever. After that no one makes plans thinking they’ll stick.

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INHERITED TALENT AND WHAT TO DO WITH IT

December 13, 2020 by

Inherited talent comes with that one big question: what to do? This is part of the Nature vs Nurture debate. If you’re born with the ability to do something well, how can you do it better? And who recognizes inherited talent besides helicopter parents?

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SUFFERING ADDICTION NEEDS BAD NEWS FIX, STAT

December 12, 2020 by

What the heck is a suffering addiction? A quick search turned up an answer: Suffering and struggle are emotional addictions as strong as addictions to alcohol, nicotine and drugs. So if you notice a pattern in your life of struggle and suffering from one issue to another with little respite in between — I’ve got news for […]

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UNIVERSAL FEAR OF MASK WEARING IS A WEAPON. OH YEAH?

December 11, 2020 by

Universal fear is what the other guy feels when they face the same things as the rest of us. Like wearing a mask. Over here in America, see, we have rights. We have choices here in the land of the free, home of the brave. One choice is to embrace universal fear and hold it […]

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COVID19 DEATHS NOT THE NORM TO ENDURE

December 10, 2020 by

Covid19 deaths will never be normal for anyone who has been with loved ones in their final moments. My mother-in-law had a massive stroke the doctors called an unsurvivable brain bleed. It even sounds bad. For two days she responded to conversation with closed eyes and a hand squeeze for yes or no. Her last […]

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STRESSED FEELINGS OF PEOPLE, ANXIOUS PEOPLE

December 9, 2020 by

Stressed feelings are an overload signal, like a surge protector. If your life is a barrel, it carries everything important inside. We add and subtract, move things around. Now and then it overflows. It’s not a ‘disturbance in the force,’ overflow, not at first. But it is messy. Now what? You need to ask?

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JOE COOL LOOSES HIS MOJO AFTER DISAPPOINTMENTS

December 7, 2020 by

Joe Cool never says good-bye because he knows he’s not going anywhere. You may not see him in person, but he takes up head space; at least that’s his vision. He knows you want him, whether you know it or not. That’s the magic of Joe Cool. He knows. How long before he ages out?

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