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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

GET STARTED, KEEP IT GOING

Two of the hardest  words to learn in the English language: Get Started. Most get started after they’re told what to do. “Stand up. Put one foot in front of the other. Repeat. Get started now.” It’s that easy and that hard to get started. With the reported obesity epidemic sweeping the nation’s youth why […]

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 […]

The Best Medicine Not In The Cabinet

When the New York Times posts on Facebook you know it’s an important subject. Newspapers in the digital age can’t afford to waste print. Is it war in the Middle East? Famine in Africa? Economic doom in America? Is sweating good for you? It’s all of the above, but the last one is tricky.

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boomer years

BABY BOOMER RESENTMENT, Con’t

The Beatles. For all the bands that go on forever, The Who, The Stones, Bob Dylan, why did we lose The Beatles so early? Baby boomer abandoned? Could be they burned so bright they went blind to our needs? Five years of top albums in the decade might do it. The Beatles had their five. […]

World’s Factory: China Fills Big Box America To The Brim

  The world’s factory, otherwise known as China, fills big box America from Costco to Target to Walmart.   From Home Depot to Lowe’s the world’s factory supplies America with the suburban necessities.   If it’s electronic components, or sporty textiles, or steel, look for the Made in China tag. You won’t have to look […]

THE GOOGLE FACE OF PORTLAND WHEN YOU’RE NOT LOOKING

What Outsiders Don’t See On The Front Page. Live here long enough and you know Portland is more than the next eastside trend, like bewildered 30-somethings riding bikes and having kids. So much more. Stephen Colbert pumps for Powells Books. LeBron James rolls with Nike. Anthony Bourdain shouts out for Pok Pok. They point to […]

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buckle up

LEARNING TO LEARN PORTLAND BIG AND SMALL

  Life long learners need classes to learn Portland?   A New York man moved to Portland in his fifties. He returns to The City every year to find something new. “Just walk around the financial district in lower Manhattan and you can read the history of the area on the sidewalk,” he said. “I […]

EXTRA ROOM AIRPLANE SEATS? FOR WHO?

  From the crowds I’ve seen at airports, people have learned to negotiate the hurdles. With the hope of not being the only old and confused passenger, OCP, I pay attention.   Walk up to a screen near the airline you’re flying and key in the info you copied at home from a confirmation email […]

BECK’S IN PORTLAND BEER CITY

A Euro-problem For Portland Beer? Or Just Me. In the beginning there was Blitz, the baby boomer’s original Portland beer. You can still see the remains of that other urban brewery around NW 12th and Burnside’s Brewery Blocks. It’s a nice re-use of an area instead of complete tear down. What isn’t around is the […]

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