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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

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 […]

CANCER RESEARCH THROUGH BETTER BEER

    “I’m buying you a beer,” G said.   “That’s awfully nice, but you don’t have to,” I said.   “It’s that one,” he said.   “Which one?” I asked.   “At the bottom of the Daily Specials.”   I looked at the beer menu and didn’t see it.   “Where are the specials?” […]

FOODIE vs eFOOD. WHAT TO EXPECT?

Foodie For Thought. You smelled what The ‘foodie’ Rock was cookin’? It was a metaphor, medium rare, foodie. In real life you’ve smelled food before it hits the table. You’ve sat in Portland restaurants watching plates fly by trailing a scent stronger than a pheromone cat collar. The next one’s got to be yours. Or […]

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boomer years

How Older Men Express Themselves When No One Is Around To Call BS

  I knew older men who’d been everywhere, done everything, and could drive any car ever invented.   They’d had every job from sales executive to mailman, to factory worker, to fighter pilot in three wars. Sometimes it was true.   One of them said he was shot down and imprisoned on a Japanese held […]

THE SOUND OF CIVIC DUTY

Ask An Academic Professional About Civic Duty And Listen Hard. You won’t hear about their civic duty or your civic duty, but the shared community. Might not be your community either. Keep listening. Civic duty is more than boundaries and lines drawn on a map, they say. An academic pro, the teacher, counselor, the administrator, […]

BLACK FRIDAY OR BLACK OPS

Who Really Needs The Dick Gun Doorbuster? The Sunday paper shows up on Thursday every Thanksgiving, loaded with consumer bait known as ads. During a short break in the three day cooking ordeal every devout member of the Greatest Generation uses to prepare a proper meal, my MIL and I looked at the ads. What […]

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buckle up

Run Away From Home, Family, Life. But To Where?

If you were lucky growing up you couldn’t run away. Well you could, but would you end up someplace better?   My hometown is North Bend, Oregon. I attended the same grade school, junior high, and high school all in the same school district. So did most of my graduating class.   We didn’t hear […]

MEXICO TRAVEL: PUERTO VALLARTA PERFECTION, pt3

    The top down view from the seventh floor in Old Vallarta, or Viejo Vallarta, to the square.   Is it Frida Kahlo’s turquoise house? It’s the right color.   If it part of the Kahlo catalogue, she’s got octopus on her self portrait.   But it’s not Frida. Not enough eyebrow.  

ONE BABY BOOMER’S MOUNT RUSHMORE

Greats, Near Great, And Who Was That?   The traditional list for Mt. Rushmore singles out the best of an era. The baby boom era is 1946-1964. Lot’s to choose from. Steven Spielberg makes most lists. So does Tom Hanks and Steve Jobs. Bill Gates is easy to find. Most recently NBA basketball players came out with […]

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