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TAKING PART IN FAMILY LIFE

Family life takes time. Ask the Baldwins with their seven kids.
Keep that in mind, you youngsters, when you decide it’s time to join in.
Join the club, the family club, sooner than later.
Why?
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THE TRUTH, GETTING A HANDLE

Getting a handle on the truth shouldn’t be a big hurdle to clear.
All it takes is a little self-awareness.
The truth is your friend if you’re not too sketchy.
Will it set you free? Well . . .
It depends on the sort of shackles your used to.
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‘DOING RESEARCH’ AND OTHER EXCUSES

What counts as doing research?
For writers it’s an easy answer: Everything is research.
And because everything is research, the trick is finding what matters more.
Is it writing about where you are, how you feel, the people you’re with?
The correct answer? All of the above.
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TWO STORIES + ONE MAN = GREAT LITERATURE? OK LEO

Where does great literature come from?
From more than two stories, but first about ‘that man.’
The great literature man.
Where does he come from?
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GRACE AND DIGNITY FOR AGING MILLENNIALS

I became my ‘brother’s keeper’ through misjudgment, and it wasn’t my brother but my father in-law.
Same idea, though. I think it’s the same idea.
And it was misjudgment, not a mistake.
What happened?
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toughen up

AMERICAN CTE: FOOTBALL AND DRIVING

The last thing good baby boomer helicopter parents wanted was their precious getting his brain rattled loose. But they have friends, friends with dads who coach youth football. “I hear your boy’s a good kicker. He want to play some ball?” And he’s on the team, from sixth grade kicker to pulling guard on a […]

PRE-EXISTING CONDITION AFTER CANCER DIAGNOSIS

The day a cancer diagnosis becomes a pre-existing condition   Like we learn everyday when things change, everybody is different. What you do after a cancer diagnosis isn’t the same as someone else. They might go along their way as if hearing a bee buzzing nearby. Shoo, cancer/bee. Or they might fall down on their […]

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 […]

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boomer years

BOOMERPDX ARCHIVE, c. 1983

1-10-83 (Monday) A former Oregon governor died last Saturday. Tom McCall breathed his last in the hospital up the street. Good Samaritan. A student nurse in my building cared for him at the end. She said he’s a great guy. Everyone says it. He seems like someone you’d like to know. Oregon history’s Tom Vaughan […]

BOOMER BUCKET LIST: SNOW MACHINE

Be Careful Or You Might Ride Your Boomer Bucket List Right Into A Bucket. Have you made your bucket list, the things you want to do and see before you kick the bucket? If not, you’ve got time. What’s the difference between a normal bucket list and a boomer bucket list? Call it age. Call […]

GOOD ENOUGH YET?

When ‘getting over it’ isn’t good enough. It all sounds the same. Get over it. Move on. Turn the page. Maybe you say it to yourself, maybe you hear it from others. If it’s others giving the push, you know what they’re really saying? You’re a whiner. In blogger land it’s whining about SEO, traffic, […]

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buckle up

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 […]

Walking Portland Memory Lane One Alley At A Time

As much as you hear about people moving to Portland, loving Portland once they get here, it’ll never be their home until they’re walking Portland on memory lane.   Like, “This is where I used to play basketball, where I got beat by a five foot six opponent,” didn’t ring up the oooos and ahs […]

Baby Bison Red Dog Travelogue From Yellowstone To Oregon

    She saw me in the bookstore outside the Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone.   She wanted something to remind her of the visit.   I’m glad there wasn’t a moose in the house. She really wanted to see a moose and I’d still be in the park.   The first night was good. […]

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