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BETTER LISTENING SKILLS FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING

If practicing better listening skills isn’t a life goal, it should be.
How hard is it to pay attention?
You did it in the classroom with the encouragement of a teacher.
I still remember Mr. Kraus singing ‘Toot toot tootsie goodbye’ when he tossed little tootsie rolls to students with the right answer in algebra.
Maybe we need more of that? Instead we get more of this:

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RETURNING REVERENCE TO IT’S RIGHTFUL PLACE

There’s a scent of reverence in the air, of returning reverence after a long pause.
It started in my doctor’s office where I’d been called to sit on a panel with others.
One of the others was Roy Pittman, one of my personal heroes.
The next time I saw the doctor he told me he was surprised at the way I acted, that I showed reverence to Coach Pittman.
If I did, I didn’t know it. What I remember is feeling awe-struck. Maybe it’s the same thing?
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NBA CHAMPION CROWNED, AGAIN

Becoming an NBA champion is a lifelong goal for every basketball player in the world.
The best want to play the best, beat the best, to tell themselves they’re good enough.
It’s that along with contracts and money and fame.
All of that goes along the wayside when you stop playing in ninth grade like me, or in high school.
Do I blame the coaches that I didn’t become a star, a substitute, or even a benchwarmer?
Noooooo, but . . .
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CLEAN LIVING FOR A QUIET LIFE

Clean living is an art form, and like all art it takes practice.
Yes, we’re talking about practice.
It takes practice to talk without a particular tone, without too much edge.
Do that and you may have a productive conversation.
Go ahead and save the tone and edge for people you don’t know, who don’t know you.
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I READ THE NEWS TODAY OH BOY

The news today is all about world events.
News organizations deliver it every day with the same hype and urgency.
News hounds consume every detail and load it onto the pile they carry in case someone asks them ‘what’s up?’
That’s when you brace yourself for the headlines as if they’re coming from an anchorman. Or woman.
That’s the big news story you NEED to know.
The small news, the stories that make us step back, come out another way.
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toughen up

BOOMER GYM UP, MILLENNIALS ON DECK

Presenting the Best of the Best Gym Boomers They show up like clockwork and put in the work. Their personal record is attendance. If they don’t get results they think of suing the gym. Normal boomers get in, get out, and make a better day. The others look around for inspiration.

WORK ON HABITS, COMPULSIONS, ADDICTIONS, NOT GOALS?

Work on habits, not goals? What about goal oriented people?   Long term goals don’t happen overnight. You achieve them by doing the little things. For instance, you decide you’d like to run a marathon. Do you find the nearest race with the closest date and just sign up? Some people do, but what would […]

COPING WITH CANCER: EVERYDAY, OR JUST WHEN IT COMES UP

The first thing I read in a cancer waiting room was Coping With Cancer magazine. Articles and essays defined cancer, breaking down a most unimaginable deal to human understanding. The snippet for Coping on google says, “Coping with Cancer. A wide variety of professionals share their knowledge and experience in easy-to-read, relevant articles, and patients, […]

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boomer years

HOW HARD? BOOMER HARD

Growing Up During Baby Boomer Years Made You Hard. The last thing you want to be called is soft. Soft in the head, soft in the gut, soft arms. Part of living a sedentary life, not a lazy life but not active, is how it leaves a body. Soft. Soft and lumpy after too many […]

GILLASPIE LOVESEAT TO HONOR AMERICA. IT’S FRAGILE

    Who hasn’t been accused of making last minute presents? My specialty is carving names in oak with a router.   It takes practice, at least more than a last minute panic to produce something meaningful on Christmas morning.   I’ve been the object of such accusations, and while correct, there is a bigger […]

Men’s Poll Question: Your Wife’s Old ‘Friend’ Calls To Catch Up?

What’s the best approach is the question of the boomerpdx Men’s Poll Question?   When one of your wife’s college day boyfriends calls to catch up after a couple of decades, and she tells you about it, then what?   MAN #1   I wouldn’t think the question would ever come up since my wife […]

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buckle up

THE OREGON SECRET, part 1

Finally Exposed: Portland Street Car Suspicions… Read the transportation editorial on the Oregonian’s Opinion front page, the sort of benchmark work a newspaper of record addresses online and hard copy. In other words, try and stay awake. No thwarted world terror plans to reflect on. No national shootings of note. Just an honest request to […]

Portland Hearts Beat On Broadway, The Rest Of The City Keeps Time

  Portland hearts come in all shapes and sizes, all conditions and configurations. Like Portland, one size doesn’t fit all. Some arrive overwhelmed by the bigness of the big city. Buildings so tall and shiny dwarf pedestrians used to their own town. Try explaining Portland size in relation to the big big cities. Drop it […]

POLYFACE FARMS LUXURY VS FIVE DIAMOND ULTIMATE LUXURY

  Everyone on this side of the hermit life has seen a county fair cow barn, a state fair pig parade, and a showcase of caged chickens.   Keeping them all penned up seemed harsh until I saw a picture of industrial meat production.   Next cow up, chicken herder.

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