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BETTER LISTENING SKILLS FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING

If practicing better listening skills isn’t a life goal, it should be.
How hard is it to pay attention?
You did it in the classroom with the encouragement of a teacher.
I still remember Mr. Kraus singing ‘Toot toot tootsie goodbye’ when he tossed little tootsie rolls to students with the right answer in algebra.
Maybe we need more of that? Instead we get more of this:

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RETURNING REVERENCE TO IT’S RIGHTFUL PLACE

There’s a scent of reverence in the air, of returning reverence after a long pause.
It started in my doctor’s office where I’d been called to sit on a panel with others.
One of the others was Roy Pittman, one of my personal heroes.
The next time I saw the doctor he told me he was surprised at the way I acted, that I showed reverence to Coach Pittman.
If I did, I didn’t know it. What I remember is feeling awe-struck. Maybe it’s the same thing?
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NBA CHAMPION CROWNED, AGAIN

Becoming an NBA champion is a lifelong goal for every basketball player in the world.
The best want to play the best, beat the best, to tell themselves they’re good enough.
It’s that along with contracts and money and fame.
All of that goes along the wayside when you stop playing in ninth grade like me, or in high school.
Do I blame the coaches that I didn’t become a star, a substitute, or even a benchwarmer?
Noooooo, but . . .
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CLEAN LIVING FOR A QUIET LIFE

Clean living is an art form, and like all art it takes practice.
Yes, we’re talking about practice.
It takes practice to talk without a particular tone, without too much edge.
Do that and you may have a productive conversation.
Go ahead and save the tone and edge for people you don’t know, who don’t know you.
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I READ THE NEWS TODAY OH BOY

The news today is all about world events.
News organizations deliver it every day with the same hype and urgency.
News hounds consume every detail and load it onto the pile they carry in case someone asks them ‘what’s up?’
That’s when you brace yourself for the headlines as if they’re coming from an anchorman. Or woman.
That’s the big news story you NEED to know.
The small news, the stories that make us step back, come out another way.
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toughen up

NIKE CANCER TEAM TRAINING CAMP REVIEW

  After a diagnosis for hpv throat cancer I found a cancer team. An Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist, a radiation oncologist, and a chemo-therapy oncologist, all gathered data for my best outcome.   That was the shared goal. I had a couple of others I shared with them, like avoiding opioid addiction and secondary […]

GUN TALK THE WRONG WAY … AGAIN

Raw Story posted a gun column about white men and guns. It was the sort of gun talk white men with guns shouldn’t identify with. “White men stockpile guns because they’re scared of black people and feel inadequate, science says.” That’s the rawstory title. It’s raw, but even more, it’s lazy, but a site called […]

LIFE STAGES WITH ELISABETH KUBLER-ROSS

    Instead of death and dying, use the same grief progression for living and life stages. It fits just as well, after all no one said life was easy. Sometimes living is a downer until we find something to live for.   Life stages go beyond the chronographic scale, like the Terrible Twenties, the […]

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boomer years

BOOMERS IN A DOWNSIZING STATE OF MIND

Or Just Moving For A Better Portland View? From oregonlive.com: “The analysis of Census data showed more baby boomers than ever lived in single-family detached homes in 2012. The pattern holds true even for the eldest of the age group, born between 1946 and 1955. That an indication that the convention wisdom may be wrong, […]

A BOOK NO PARENT SHOULD HAVE TO WRITE

And Every Parent Should Read. Conner Luby died in a car crash. As I wrote that line in the lobby of a hotel near the Arizona State campus a one year old boy turned the corner before his dad showed up. We both smiled and he wobbled along when his father caught up. The dad […]

ART WALK OF SE PORTLAND, AESTHETICS AND SWEAT

It’s The Art Walk Of Portland, Not Breaking And Entering. Art As Beauty. My art guru suggested a Saturday art walk. I had a week to think about it, but said yes right away. Art and walk both sound like a good time. Art Walk? Twice the fun. Ceramics, paintings, and all inside houses you’d […]

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buckle up

PORTLAND FEVER: 1980-1990

    After walking around Manhattan and finding the perfect neighborhood, I wanted to find that neighborhood in Portland. When I did it started Portland fever.   Northwest Portland in late spring reminded me of Greenwich Village on a smaller scale. Like most everything compared to NYC, smaller is normal. Smaller buildings, smaller stores up […]

PDX BRIDGES NEW & OLD

The new pedestrian bridge brings new views of Portland. The view of the freeway looking south. To find it from I-5 north, take the Ross Island Bridge exit and snake around. Park your car before you make the right turn to the Ross Island ramp and you can’t miss it.           […]

A GHOST ON THE TRAIL

The Last Reunion. Baby boomers understand how fast time passes. One moment they’re eating breakfast before school and mom reminds them to wear a coat. The next moment they’re in their dorm room reading James Joyce. A blink later and they’re on a date with their future mate. The clock hands don’t spin like a […]

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