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BASIC APPRECIATION OF COMMON THINGS

A basic appreciation is important for context.
Things are usually more complicated than they seem.
A brick is a brick, just some fired up mud, until you see them working together.
In the hands of a skilled craftsman, a brick is a jewel.
What else deserves a second look? A towel rack.
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TALKING DOWN TO SOMEONE? WHY

How can you tell when someone is talking down to you?
It might be the clarification questions you ask that gets them annoyed to the point of explaining everything a few times, very slowly.
Or it might their regular way of communicating.
Which leads to more questions, like, “Why be a jerk?
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FALLING LEAVES OF AUTUMN

Falling leaves are the rule of the season.
The only place without a carpet of leaves is a parking garage.
But that’s Oregon, famous for trees.
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toughen up

THERAPEUTIC SWEARING, MEDICAL MARIJUANA, CANCER

      Swearing, done in the right spirit, communicates so much more than long, drawn out, explanations. Besides, how often do you need the long version? I’ve investigated both swearing and medical marijuana and come to a few helpful conclusions for cancer patients. Instead of getting all macho and shocker, I’ve amended my profanity […]

DYNAMIC DENTAL TIME WITHOUT THE DRAMA

Have you seen the dental form that asks how you feel? How do you feel about dentists? About making dental appointments? How do you feel about waiting in the dentist’s waiting room? This isn’t about uncovering deep secrets, just a way for the doc to get a feel for their patient. It’s about feelings, and […]

A BOOMERPDX ‘MOST READ’ REVIEW

Why is “BLACK TAR HEROIN, SAM QUINONES, AND DREAMLAND” the most read? This week’s Most Read tally: Home page / Archives 96 BLACK TAR HEROIN, SAM QUINONES, AND DREAMLAND 57 PRESIDENTIAL BIRDS? YOU CAN’T BLAME DONALD TRUMP 11 HOW TO WRITE AN ARTIST REVIEW, pt 1 11 WHEN THE WRITTEN WORD IS? STOP SIGN 10 […]

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boomer years

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS, RIGHT OR WRONG

The wrong questions and answers still get the right words. All parents have heard questions from their kids that made them think they’ve both gone over the topic before. And they probably have, but that’s no excuse for ignoring any question from a kid. They want answers and you’re the answer man, the answer woman, […]

Funeral Feelings Expressed With Shovels And Sweat, Salt And Sea Water

  “My father always wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding and the baby at every christening,” said his daughter.     My father had a cowboy funeral.   Instead of the nearest Boot Hill, his ceremony happened in the veterans section a big cemetery.   People from every […]

Climate Change In My Kitchen Is Real

  The first step to take when the air conditioning fails on the hottest week of the year, with an even hotter week on the near horizon?   Stop making things hotter. No cooking. Eighty five degrees in the kitchen with nothing on is hot enough.   Thinking of baking a polenta pizza? Maybe flattening […]

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buckle up

SILVERTON SEVEN BRIDES BREWERY FESTIVAL

It wasn’t billed as a festival for a Thursday night, but it was this time. A festival of survivability after a heart-thumping force march on the hottest day of the year. Add one of the smokiest days from Canadian fires and it felt like a heavenly Seven Brides Brewery cloud. How wonderful was this? Everyone […]

VANDERBILT DAYS AT THE OMNI GROVE PARK INN

You don’t need to be a Vanderbilt to fall in love with The Omni Grove Park Inn. If you were a Vanderbilt, or a friend of the Vanderbilts, you’d stay at Biltmore House back in the day. That day began in 1895, and you’d travel with your staff, which included someone to dress you for […]

TIME TRAVEL WITH GUITARS TUNED GOOD AND FIRM WOMEN

        Time travel with music happens every second of every day. A song comes across the waves and we’re back in the day we first heard it from the first beat onward.   Unfortunately I never hear the first song I ever played on a guitar.   Down In The Valley isn’t […]

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