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BOOMER BLOGGERS UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL. TOO CLOSE?

As a cohort of boomer bloggers, I read all about them.
From posts and opinions, to ABOUT pages, we’re all about challenges and adventures, the places we’ve been, places we’re going.
Take this picture for example. It’s from the Portland Art Museum page.
Does that big golden ring look like an adventure, some kind of portal? Yes?
What do you do when you see a portal? Jump in.

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WANTED MAN vs NEEDED. THERE’S A DIFFERENCE?

If you’re waiting for a wanted man to make life better, you’ll be waiting a minute.
This man was a one-float parade around Silverton during my last visit.
You could hear him from blocks away with his booming sound system blasting AC/DC.
When I left, he followed my car out of town, then turned back at the city limits.
He was either a one float parade or a motor escort service.
Either way, I asked myself: Are there town characters everywhere?
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ONE PORTLAND JOURNEY: MINE

I got off the bus at the end of my Portland journey, only to begin the real deal.
This is where I lived after breaking up.
My usual move after a break up was moving to bigger and better.
For instance, I broke up in Delaware and moved to Brooklyn, NY.
Here, I broke up in far SE and moved downtown Portland.
This building had a lot of break up apartments, so I was in good company.
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CLASSIC PORTLAND RIVALRY

Social media Portland isn’t for the weak of heart.
It’s either heaven on earth, or a hell hole from the underworld sticky goo.
If you showed up recently, things are looking better; if you’ve been here a minute you’ve seen the ups and downs.
Lastly, if you’ve lived here your whole life? Uh oh.
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PORTLAND BRIDGES – 1971

Every city with a river have one thing in common: bridges.
Portland bridges crisscross the Willamette River over and over to keep traffic moving.
There’s more of them today than 1971, not to mention upgrades.
The 405 is more of river of cars, and like every river it needs bridges to keep the city moving.
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toughen up

GUN WORLD SURROUNDS YOU? What’s It Mean When You Don’t Notice

  A gun world is all around us in America. Start a casual conversation and you might learn the mild mannered person you’re talking to owns thirty guns.   Since it’s so long ago, I like reflecting on my days as an Army medic. It comes in handy helping me pretend not be as grossed […]

IF YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT, LOOK WHERE FOOD COMES FROM

Small print shows where food comes from. Smaller print explains what food factories add to improve shelf life. You need good shelf life when you ship long distance. A three year expiration date on food might be something to skip for dinner. If you know people who identify as ‘foodies’ you’ve heard about the fresh […]

CIGARETTE SMOKE ‘EM IF YOU GOT ‘EM? DON’T DO IT

    Tobacco and cigarette smoke, the stuff of dreams and nightmares.   The dream part comes first. Light a stick and enjoy. All you’ve got to do is breath in, breath out, and watch the cigarette smoke curl into shapes. Later comes the nightmare part, the regret, the tubes, the hospital smell, the faces […]

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boomer years

Prince in Portland, Prince Forever

    Laying along East Burnside, Prince looked comfortable. We were going to a show at the Doug Fir Lounge and there he was. It took me back to the Tacoma Dome after seeing Purple Rain when it first came out. Who was Prince? Only the anti-Michael Jackson, and back then it seemed a good […]

THE BOOMER END OF THE SPEEDO CHALLENGE

    Any challenge but the Speedo Challenge?   Even without a dashing, single-ski dock start, or the dive team Speedo, the man carried a lethal air. He looked like he could fight death and fear, and win. It made him an icon. Leaping off a houseboat deck rail into thin air with one foot […]

HOSPICE, A DANGLING CONVERSATION

The borders of our lives. Boomers have heard this more than once, others will hear it more later on: The closer people get to death, the more they drop their facade. There’s no one left to impress, no one left to pretend for, no one to juke. Toward the end it seems we get the […]

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buckle up

LEARNING FROM WHERE YOU LIVE, PT2: BABY BOOMER ERA

  The baby boomer era state of mind.   What is there to learn from the baby boomer era? Every passing year the nostalgia grows stronger, but that doesn’t change history. Consider the boomer time line from 1946-1964. The oldest boomers were twenty year olds in 1966. The youngest were twenty in 1984. My cohort […]

HILLSDALE BLUEBERRY BREAKFAST: 41 YEARS OF THANKS

    Forty one years of the annual Hillsdale Blue Berry Pancake Breakfast speaks volumes for the community. Business owners turn out and join in the set up, the cooking, and clean up afterward.   Maybe it’s the same everywhere, but maybe not.  For a Portland neighborhood that used to be the Fulton Dairy, it’s […]

GREEN CORNER OF MIDDLE EASTERN MESA

    “Green Corner is off Southern and Alma School. I’ve been there,” I said, flooring the rental car through the round-about on Bass Pro Drive.   “So you know the way? I should stop looking at the GPS?” she said. “Fast corner.”   I’d been there five months ago with DD. Alma School was […]

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