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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

TO MEN, FOR MEN, FROM MEN

  I’m posting this to men in the Toughen Up section because all the groping news seems like a medical issue, or mental health dilemma.   What goes through a man’s head in the heat of the moment, when the secret button locks the door, when you finally ask, “How much do want this part?” […]

GYM RAT CONFESSIONS: FEAR DRIVEN EXERCISE

    Every fitness center, every last one, from 24Hour, to LA Fitness, to Curves, has a mayor. They also have city councilmen/women, department heads, and gym rats. The gym mayor checks their constituency. They spot, they talk. They walk from machine to machine. Gym councilmen / women spread an array of weights and surgical […]

Cancer Message Still In The Merck Ad Mess

  Call me a late bloomer. Maybe you are too? My discoveries and enthusiasm come after most things have moved on. But it still counts for something. At least that’s what I tell myself. I’m telling you, too, it still counts, you still count.   I’m late to see the parent shaming ad for hpv16 […]

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boomer years

BOOMER ARMY RACE RELATIONS, 1974

The time Army race relations got it right. In the early stages of the All-Volunteer Army, recruiters filled the ranks with whoever showed up. The draft ended, so most of the smart guys stayed out of the way of The New Army. The people who did show up had their own agendas. Some wanted college […]

HOW A BOOMER HEART BREAKS

Which generation has the best broken hearts? Baby boomer heart breaks lead the pack. Remember the first time your boomer heart broke? Something went wrong. Someone said the wrong thing. Was it a mistake, a misunderstanding? Don’t get the shovel and start digging it out. Don’t check your high school year book. If you cut […]

Funeral Feelings Expressed With Shovels And Sweat, Salt And Sea Water

“My father always wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding and the baby at every christening,” said his daughter.   My father had a cowboy funeral. Instead of the nearest Boot Hill, his ceremony happened in the veterans section a big cemetery. People from every part of his life […]

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buckle up

THE FIGHTING FOO FIGHTERS

It’s Not Easy But You Will Win. Foo Fighters Fight For You. What’s the usual concert experience? Buy a ticket, show up, sit down, go home. Maybe raise a smart phone, flick a bic. Then there’s the concert up the Columbia at The Gorge in George, Washington. It’s a road trip no matter where you […]

CATCH PORTLAND FEVER

Once you catch Portland Fever you’re doomed. Drug stores don’t advertise shots in case you catch Portland Fever. It’s not shingles, pneumonia, or the flu. On the other hand it’s not polio, malaria, of tuberculosis. While not fatal, if you do catch Portland Fever, your life is ruined. After a few years in Portland, maybe […]

NEW YORK CITY 1980: HOW TO QUIT A GREAT TOWN

    New York City is easy to quit. Get on a bus, train, or plane and leave. Go ahead and be a quitter.   Except moving on isn’t the same as quitting. You got promoted and the new job wasn’t in New York City? You’re significant other got promoted and their new job wasn’t […]

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