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MAY 1986, THE LAST WEDDING

It was a cloudy, wet, day, in May 1986 for the last wedding.
Like so many raised on the Oregon coast, a cloudy, wet, day, is good luck no matter where you are.
Everything was done, everything set in Sandy, from rented morning coats to a rented preacher.
The preacher was a second choice.
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SHARING SPECIAL DAYS, EVERY LAST ONE

Special days have special meaning which don’t hit the same for everyone.
For some it’s repeating, “Why bother,” for the fortieth time.
Others like to say, “I thought we’ve moved past all that.”
But you still find those looking for something special in every day, and keep looking until they find it. Hell or high water.
The last line is the bell ringer.
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OLD PORTLAND, YOUNG PARENTS

Make that old Portland, youngish parents.
Or not so old Portland, and not so young parents.
We weren’t teenagers, but if you ever want to feel like one push a stroller around downtown.
With two kids it’s like a double punishment, like sent to your room AND missing dinner.
What else?
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LET THEM, LET YOU, OR LET ME?

The Let Them Theory book has a lot of lets in the letters.
My favorites are the parts that address my problems, which come with a writing habit from what I can tell.
Will I discover why I’m not a better writer?
Learn what I should have done by now, or find a lingering message to get over myself already?
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NORTH BEND HEROES START HERE

 Calling North Bend a small town is a disservice to real small towns everywhere.
Driving south on 101 and crossing the North Bend Bridge takes you under this sign.
If you’re not paying close attention and keep going the same direction, the entire area of the largest metro complex on the Oregon coast feels like it’s all North Bend, especially if you miss the little coos bay sign.
How can the biggest city on the coast be a small town?
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toughen up

SNAP, CRACKLE, POP: WAKING UP OLD AND MOBILE

Fight waking up old by not moving? Oh those magic moment between sleep and awake. You could be any age at any place and be a vital force. So you don’t move to enjoy the moment as long as it lasts. Then you swing out of bed. Your back cracks. Take a step and your […]

KNIGHT CANCER vs THE HUTCH

    Portland and Seattle have a storied rivalry throughout history, especially sports history.   Now it’s competition to find the cure for cancer. Let the games begin.   The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle has a super story out yesterday, huge story in the Seattle Times.   “The Hutch closes in on […]

Chemo Nausea: How To Cope By Comparing Other Nausea

People who’ve lived a little, maybe over done things once or twice, have lists.   A Best Of list.   A Worst Of list.   Whether it’s a car, teacher, town, or vacation, it all fits one list or the other.   Then there’s the list you make for chemo nausea, which you only get […]

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boomer years

BOOMER DENIABILITY: WE DIDN’T LIGHT THE FIRE

We Know Where The Matches Are Though. Believable generational research relies on strong academic studies, insurance statistics, and the federal census. This triumvirate of detailed minutia creates a colorless picture of the past. Instead of men in grey flannel suits, it looks like grey men in flannel, lines of them. Baby Boomer research is the […]

BOOMER AND THE BOMB

Every August Brings The Atomic Winds Of The Bomb Howling Out Of History. History is more than binge watching the Hitler Channel with a few War In The Pacific shows tossed in for balance. If history is your passion, but you aren’t a history major with an advanced degree, your opinion still matters. Every August […]

AUTHOR PHOTOS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS? Pt.2

    Exercise your laser beam eyes?   Nothing says “buy snake oil” either in print or bottle, than an expression that includes laser beam eyes.   This author looks like a button downed English professor forced to read WR121 funnel essays year after year. With that in mind does he have laser beam eyes, […]

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buckle up

MEMORY CUE, EVIDENCE FROM ANOTHER LIFETIME

    How long ago was 1979?   The Brooklyn Union Gas Company makes the call.   How often do you run across things, not your things, that remind you of a different life?   Then it’s your stuff and you don’t remember.

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 […]

VIDANTA EARLY BIRD MEETS THE MIRACLE CREW AT BURGER CUSTOM MADE

    Every Five Diamond resort has a miracle crew, the people who make it all happen day after day, and make it look so easy. You have to look hard to find them, or be a Vidanta early bird.   This crew was busy setting up, busy like a NASCAR pit crew. Professionals one […]

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