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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.
[Read More…]

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toughen up

INFLAMMATION, CHRONIC PAIN, ADDICTION

We all have a horse in the chronic pain race. The best advice after surgery is taking pain pills on a schedule. If you let the pain get ahead of the pain killer, it’s hard to back down. Skip a pill and you might take an extra dose, then double up in half the scheduled […]

CANCER SURVIVOR ESSAY STRUGGLE

    Stories about a cancer survivor are an inspiration to all cancer survivors. Even a cancer survivor essay about the trauma of being a cancer survivor holds important hope.   Pam Parker gets into it with a cancer survivor story in the Chicago Tribune.   It’s not pretty and sweet and all dolled up […]

BoomerPdx And End Of Life Debate

Oregon wins the trifecta for end-of-life discussion. 1. Oregon Senate Bill 451 establishes the nation’s first state registry of people’s wishes for end-of-life care. 2. U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer’s H.R. 1898 allows funds for doctors discussing end-of-life choices with their patients. 3. The state has allowed physician-assisted suicide/death with dignity as a final option. In […]

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boomer years

In The (Baby Boomer) Beginning – 1946

Highlights From The First Year. The earliest Boomers came in a ground breaking year. It wasn’t their world yet, but the adults had it set up for them. An overview of 1946 shows how the times changed, and how they stayed the same. Read on:

INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN BOOMER

I hear you asking, “What’s a ‘proven’ boomer?” You know what a ‘made man’ is in the Mafia? They’ve taken an assignment from the boss and done good with it. Usually the assignment that makes you a Made Man also makes you a Button Man. You push the button, pull the trigger, you’re a made […]

HELICOPTER PARENT WISH LIST

My mother discovered stolen contraband the night she pretended to hang up my coat. The ‘hang the coat up’ frisk was a classic move. I’ve used it with my own kids. The item she found was a seventy nine cent writing tablet that opened like a book. She asked where it came from, I gave […]

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buckle up

TAKE ME TO UNION STATION AND PUT ME ON A TRAIN

  What is it about train stations, including Portland Union Station, that feel so mournful? The Rolling Stones caught the sorrow with No Expectations. Take me to the station And put me on a train I’ve got no expectations To pass through here again Once I was a rich man Now I am so poor […]

TWO MARRIED GUYS MAP DATE LIFE

What else would two married guys do? The beauty of public transportation comes with the people you meet. Two old men waited at a Portland bus stop. Late afternoon drizzle fell on the city through fading light. The sun made little effort to split the clouds over the Willamette River. Man 1: It felt like […]

TURNING PORTLAND INTO A STOP ON THE WAY TO SEATTLE

Turning Portland skyline The First Interstate Tower and Big Pink set a future that didn’t happen. Concerned citizens got a break before turning Portland into mini-Seattle One tall building was enough, or so the thought went, but two is better? Because they’re bookends instead of standing side by side, the space between them look as […]

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