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EARLY SCHOOL RIVALRIES FUEL LIFETIME OF CONTENTION

Early school rivalries explain so much about how we interact with one another. I started school at sea level; the rivalry schools were on higher ground. That’s where kids from the fancy part of town learned how important they were and why they were better. At least that was the theory in first grade. Sports […]

MEDICAL SCIENCE vs “I’VE GOT A HUNCH”

Medical science is not the same as a horse race; you can have a hunch about Big Red in the fifth, but a hunch about medical science? I don’t remember the last time I heard about a medical hunch, if I ever have. But if this hidden memory pops up, I hope the medical hunch […]

LOVE RULES ON PORTLAND PARK BLOCKS AND BLACK HEARTS

It was a dark and stormy night for love rules? No, not stormy, but dark, and I was in a certain space somewhere between regret and remorse. So maybe it was stormy after all, my own little shower of despair. It started with a conversation inside a Willamette Writers meeting, which is always a challenge. […]

ANNUAL BEN AFFLECK APPEAL FOR 2020

This year the Affleck Appeal gets right to the point: time is not on anyone’s side, except Keith Richards. Now that Keith has given up hard drinking, and standing back from the cigarettes, he would be a good role model for Ben on his way back to the top of Hollywood. But first a few […]

REASSURING NORMAL IN ALL THE MEDIA NOISE

Reassuring normal, or a sense of normal, is a parental duty to children. Keep them calm during turmoil so mom and dad can find a way out of their turbulence. Keep the little grinders on a regular schedule: breakfast time, clean-up time, story time, lunch time, nap time, exercise time, dinner time, reading time, bed […]

HISTORICAL DREAM OF PARIS AND VERSAILLES

One historical dream, a recurring dream for adventurers and scholars, is being somewhere important by yourself. Imagine renting Disneyland, except it’s Versailles. And you’ve got it all to yourself.

ART WORLD DEFAULTS TO TRUTH IN THE ORSAY

Did the art world need a change in 1849? Who knows, I was just trying to keep up on a march through Paris in 2019. Ah, Paris. Just saying the name brings it all back: the museums, memorials, and churches; the neighborhoods, the Metro, and Versailles. Nothing hit harder than the painting in the top […]

DOPE STORY: WHAT TO SAY TO HEROIN GUY

What’s the right thing to say after hearing another sad dope story? The request: I’d like you to write my story. The response: Tell me the story.

FOREVER FRIENDS? I MEET THEM ALL THE TIME AND SO DO YOU

Who starts the clock on forever friends? How long is forever? Lastly, if you had to repeat the same night forever with forever friends, what would you do? I don’t have answers for the first two questions, but I’ve got the last one covered. This is my forever night:

PREEMPTIVE CONVERSATION: SORRY, I WASN’T LISTENING

When is the best time for a Preemptive Conversation? Married men have different answers than singles, from both sides of the fence: Her side, and yer side.