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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

HPV16 TONGUE CANCER HARD TO UNDERSTAND? HOLD MY BEER

        Hpv16 tongue cancer is hard to understand, but only if you look at the numbers.   From cbsnews.com:   Eleven million American men are infected with oral human papillomavirus (HPV), which can lead to cancers of the head, neck and throat, a new study reports.   That equates to 1 in 9 […]

Portland Boomer Thinks About Losing Weight?

Not For Long Let’s agree that you are thoughtful and considerate, that you know how to do the right thing and make an effort to do just that. So far so good? In addition, since you are a Portland baby boomer, a boomer living somewhere else, or just know boomers, you’ve had time to consider the […]

IAN KARMEL’S BOOMER GYM ALERT

Based On Ian Karmel And Everything As F##k: A Warning Voice From His Generation To Boomers. Too many fitness fanatics urge us to better health. And we ignore them. You can’t ignore Ian Karmel. The Portland comedian and Portland Mercury columnist writes about his gym experience, the same gym experience boomers have been dodging. What […]

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boomer years

BOOMER PARENTS, BOOMER MATES: THE DUECE

Do good boomer parents make better boomer mates?   You read the stats about marriage and divorce and wonder what it takes to make it work? If you’re a short-time married, pay attention. What if you’re a long-time married? Same deal, pay attention. Not so much as pay attention to a blog post, or some […]

Willie Nelson Brings More To Portland Than His Band

The old guitar picker takes the stage tonight at McMenamins Edgefield. Willie Nelson, all eighty five years of himself, takes the stage after opener Allison Krause.   More important, he’s on the cover of AARP magazine. Why is that important? How many public figures don’t want to talk about age? In a youth motivated culture, […]

MAN ANTHEM FOR MODERN TIMES

Every era has a song. This era needs a Man Anthem. This Man Anthem is inspired by Barney the Purple Dinosauer and the Republican National Convention. The epicenter of male testosterone in America is Cleveland, Ohio. As if to prove it, Candidate Trump took the stage the way Mr. McMahon takes to the ring. Into […]

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buckle up

DEPORTED IN PORTLAND: MEDICAL TOURISM VIA TIGARD AND BEAVERTON

If you need to be tough, but are a secret wussy man, bring the right back up. I brought Jason Witten to get deported in Portland. Not too many tougher than that. Together we deported in Portland; both of us on just this side of crazy celebration, yet calm.

POLICE STOP TRAFFIC TICKET SAFETY DRILL

A traffic officer pulled me over coming down the ramp to the straight stretch to the Portland (PDX) airport. Of course I didn’t think it was fair, just an opportunistic wrong place, wrong time deal. And I was ten mph over the limit. In the van were my two kids, wife, and a French exchange student late […]

YOU KNOW YOU MADE A WRONG TURN WHEN…

How often do we get warnings when we make the wrong turn? The #oregonstandoff took a wrong turn or two in the past month, but they’re not alone. How to respond when you learn a wrong turn could be a life saver? A wrong turn happens on foot, in cars, relationships. When things go wrong, […]

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