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BOOMERPDX INTERVIEW: ONE VETERAN, ONE STUDENT, ONE PARENT

A faux-BoomerPDX interview works to paint a citizenship picture, a mosaic, by covering nervous subjects. For this edition it’s a veteran, a student, and a parent doing the work. And they have plenty to say. Take a read:

VOLUNTEER ARMY SUCKER, ENTHUSIASTIC LOSER

At nineteen I told my dad I was joining the service, that I was looking at the Army or Navy because they had two year enlistments. My feeling was I’d know all I needed to know after two years, like any nineteen year old know it all since I already knew everything. Nineteen year olds […]

HOMESTRETCH AFTER HITTING THE FINAL CURVE HARD

Sports analogies don’t always work the way they’re supposed to work, but comparing a life to a race always does the trick. From the starting line, to the backstretch, to the final curve going down to the wire, it all sounds like a life well lived. The closer we are to the race, the life, […]

BEER DRINKING THE HARD WAY WITH A FAIR FATHER

Most times, when it comes to beer drinking, you need a plan. The easy part is when and where. Then it gets tougher. Which beer to drink has become an identity check. In a place like Portland Beer City, a beer identity means everything. Beer cred means never getting caught with a commercial light beer. […]

EQUALITY EXPLAINED, OR “SO YOU THINK YOU’RE BETTER THAN ME, DO YA?”

Is equality ever explained in a rational way without some tag along. It’s “equality, but,” or, “equality when,” or some such qualifier, like only a conjunction conveys the ‘real truth.’ The problem is that equality explained with a qualifier is never equal. See, equality doesn’t need qualifiers, which is a reason to fight. But why […]

AMERICAN STORY TOLD COAST TO COAST. GOT ONE?

The American story drenched in bitter hardships overcome is the most American of stories. It’s the woman who married a man in the 1930’s only to learn he was not the man she thought he was. Who was he?

LOSER LIFE? DON’T BE A SUCKER FOR THAT DEAL

What is a loser life, and who gets permission to judge one from another, the winners and losers? It starts by agreeing with the sharp people who define winners and losers. If it’s not a coach, a judge, or your mom, then a loser life is just an opinion, even if it comes from a […]

WHEN SOFT MEN,PILLOWY MEN, PLAY HARD

Take my opinions on soft men to heart, I’ve seen them in action. So have you. Like most converts to a new belief system, soft men who play hard go an extra mile, or ten. They’ve got something to prove to their soft man group. But there’s a special trick they use.

GYM HIGHLIGHTS: WHERE THE GAINS KEEP COMING

Gym memories, gym highlights, are treasures to hold close. It felt like the only place a civilized society could get in touch with their inner ass kicker. Luckily for rest of the world, gym rats focus on kicking their own ass, not others. But there’s still come crossover, and those are the best gym highlights.

SPEAK HYSTERICALLY AND PUSH A BIG SCHTICK? NOT TEDDY

A manly man, one who pushes their manliness over the limit, uses a big schtick. We like them, we fear them, we want to be them. But, there are conditions. It’s hard being a soft man pretending to be a manly man. Do you know the difference? Here to help.