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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

A Gift For The Baby Boomer Smoker: Gut Punch Therapy

And It’s Not A Carton Of Marlboro Red Even a smoker smells it. They may stink up a car with their smoky clothes and breath, but they’ll know if another smoker has been there. Will they complain about the bad effects of second hand smoke? Of course. Smokers come in all shapes and sizes and […]

BREAST CANCER: A MOTHER JONES FACEBOOK POST ASKS IF ALCOHOL IS A CAUSE. WHAT ARE OTHER CANCER CAUSES?

    From motherjones.com:   Susan Sontag once wrote that telling people about your cancer diagnosis tends to fill them with mortal dread. But when I’ve disclosed my illness to friends and told them that alcohol can cause breast cancer, I’ve never invoked enough mortal dread to deter anyone from ordering a second drink. Most women […]

YOU HAVE FEELINGS? DO THEY SAY HAPPY?

  HOW TO TELL IF YOU’RE HAPPY You’ve heard it before, whether you’re ten, thirty-four, or seventy-four years old. Balance. Say it like they said, “Plastic,” in The Graduate. Life, or a good life, depends on balance. Think moderation. Most of the time you hear this and nod and agree like the fat man who […]

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boomer years

LIFE MARATHON ENDS EARLY FOR QUITTERS

    You’ve heard it, I’ve heard it, we’ve both felt it. We’re tired and don’t know why, because a life marathon doesn’t have a finish line.   Eating right, getting rest, and still tired. Is it a baby boomer lament, or just the way it is?   Maybe it’s time to sit it out […]

D-DAY PRACTICE: DIEPPE, SLAPTON SANDS

History of D-Day practice neither grand or glorious. The real D-Day turned the tide in World War Two, but the two D-Day practice events left more dead than the real D-Day. Through those deaths communications improved. Coordination improved. And suppressing news improved. No one wanted it out that commanders had screwed up a D-Day practice […]

EXPERIENCE AUTHORITY FIRST HAND

The truth is powerful after you experience authority. From your private life to public life, things change. You can’t always express that unique feeling you need to share. If you talk your talk and nobody listens? If you talk your talk and the wrong people listen? If you’re afraid to talk your talk? That one […]

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buckle up

How To Sake Bomb

Start A Boomer Birthday Right What goes best with sushi? Ask your server at Mio Sushi. Ours recommended the traditional Sake Bomb. Sake Bomb? Huh? That’s what I asked. Am I the only baby boomer who’s never heard of it? And why is it called a bomb? Start with Japanese beer, like Sapporo, and a […]

Oregon Loggers Work In The Woods Singing Johnny Cash

    Tillamook State Forest has plenty of trees, and plenty of piles made by Oregon loggers. Visitors from around the world need to see the beauty of Oregon, and the clear cuts. A close up view.   One belongs to the other. I wouldn’t advise anyone going into a working coal mine, but why […]

THOMAS WOLFE PACK ON THE PORCH

If you don’t live in a state with a celebrated novelist, go to North Carolina and Thomas Wolfe. This is dark suited Thomas Wolfe, author of Look Homeward Angel, not white suited Tom Wolfe, author of The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Same neighborhood, North Carolina and Virginia, but different eras. That Thomas Wolfe was such […]

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