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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

BOOMERITIS, OR WHY DOES IT HURT WHEN I DO THIS?

The Longer You Let Yourself Go, The Longer The Trail Back. One doctor joke goes like this: “It hurts when I raise my arm.” Doc says, “Don’t raise your arm.” It’s as funny the first time as it is the last, if you don’t have arm pain. Most of us have pain from one thing […]

Self Glossing Portland Writer Gives Cancer Warning

  “Warning? We don’t need no cancer warning,” said everyone who’s never followed directions even once.   With cancer warnings around every corner, every speck of asbestos in the ceiling, breath of air, drink of water, it gets wearing to the point of being normal.   More people with cancer? More young people? More millennials, […]

Cancer Message Still In The Merck Ad Mess

  Call me a late bloomer. Maybe you are too? My discoveries and enthusiasm come after most things have moved on. But it still counts for something. At least that’s what I tell myself. I’m telling you, too, it still counts, you still count.   I’m late to see the parent shaming ad for hpv16 […]

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boomer years

YOUNG EAGLES FLYING HIGH

Baby boomer life has a soundtrack. We’ve heard it all from Elvis, The Beatles, Big Hair rock, punk, grunge, and Adele. Then there’s The Eagles. Not quite country, not quite rock, but able to nail either style with what? Country Rock. They weren’t the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, or Poco. You didn’t need some insider vibe […]

BABY BOOMER LOVE: AFTER THE FIRE

Don’t Burn Baby Boomer Love Letters, Review Them On BoomerPdx. From The BoomerPdx Archive: “I think at the age 27-29 is when you first really feel a ‘generation gap’ or are actually aware of the one’s below you. Naturally that means the ones above you are pushed into another level also. Do me a favor. […]

BABY BOOMER PARENTS DO THE RIGHT THING

Wrong versus Right for baby boomer parents. The old days, the ‘good old days’, had a few rules. One of the first rules baby boomers learned at home was My Way or the Highway. This rule usually came up when young boomer felt cheated and wanted to straighten a few things out. And it usually […]

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buckle up

Lighten Up While You Still Can

    When The Eagles sing Take It Easy, the line that stands out for me is, ‘Lighten up while you still can.’ It’s the same when Jackson Browne and James Taylor sing it.   Baby boomers know how hard it is to lighten up better than anyone. Lighting up too, but that’s another post. […]

LIVING UNDER A PORTLAND CHERRY BLOSSOM CANOPY FOR AN AFTERNOON

    Portland cherry blossom between Burnside and Steel This side of a drone video the best place to see the whole run of the Portland cherry blossom parade is the on ramp off Front to the Steel Bridge. Just enough space and height to see the beautiful curve of nature. It looks deserted at […]

Two Shades Of Boomer Travel

  Even when you go someplace you’ve never been, you’ll find shades of familiar.   It takes a special place, one filled with its own internal music, to make everything old feel new again.   The band in my brain cranked up in Barcelona, Spain when I saw the Gaudi church, La Sagrada Família.   […]

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