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MUSCLE MEMORY? REMEMBER THEM

September 7, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Muscle memory is a warning of what you didn’t do today. Nothing is sore, nothing feels stretched, and you’ve got an inner-thigh cramp you rubbed out. That the cramp hit the evening of a big family dinner downtown Portland with a belly-dancer working the room shouldn’t matter. It just looks suspicious, as you were reminded […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: aerobic, athletes, diet control, exercise, gym, man boobs, memory, moobs, motivational tool, muscle, muscle memory, powerlifter, recovery day, remember, social event, sweat, temperamental, weight lifting

A CERTAIN AGE, THEN POOF. THAT’S IT?

August 9, 2025 by David Gillaspie

“As a culture, we tend to let people disappear at a certain age,” said Dustin Hoffman. What’s that feeling you get when you hear someone start with, “As a culture . . . ?” They’re talking about something you ought to know, or it’s something you don’t know and feel suspicious about. I side with […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: american life, as a culture, athlete, athletes, beauty and mystery, blog, bright lights, career, celebrities, culture, disappear, drama, fitness, fitness fan, kingpin, left alone, left out, new culture, people disappear, politicians, politics, public life, red carpet, sports, suspicious, tired, write, write a blog

EMBRACING CHANGE, BUT NOT TOO TIGHT

May 18, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Embracing change is all there is to do when something new pops up. Either that or get miserable and bitter. Go with the flow or drown fighting the current. If you think this sounds like being a quitter, well . . .

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: athletes, big difference, cancer, change, cigarettes, coaches, community, difference, embracing change, fitness, fitness guys, game, hero, high school, lung cancer, money, parents, quitter, smoking, sports, teachers, team, weight lifting

BETTER MEN? BETTER THAN WHAT?

October 11, 2024 by David Gillaspie

The idea of better men is different than Best Man. If you’ve ever been selected as a Best Man, you know what better feels like. Somehow, someone valued your friendship, in spite of how you might value yourself. Can anyone be a better man? Let’s not get carried away.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: accountable, allen ginsberg, American President, athletes, author, best man, better, better man, better men, blog, blogger, Blogging, boomerpdx, community, current author, dependable men, failure, fence, good, good man, inspired children, JFK, Kurt Vonnegut, old men, Patrick DeWitt, plan, public, public good, public service, responsible, sports, value, vote, voter, voting, writer, writers, young men

EXTRA EFFORT WHEN IT MATTERS

August 5, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Extra effort often gives a big win in sports, at work, in life. Or you get lucky. After a big win you don’t need to do anything extra. So why do people ask, “What’s next?” after a big victory?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: athletes, authority figure, basketball, big win, blog, blogger, extra effort, let it fly, olympians, Olympics, paris, permission, reporter, reporters, sports, sports reporters, story, table tennis, USA, victory, what's next, winners, writer, writing

EXERCISING RIGHTS FOR BETTER LIVING

June 12, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Exercising rights are a mental thing; also a physical thing. The mental part is realizing the benefits of the physical thing. How often has someone doubted the benefits of either? When they do cast doubt, they do it from a couch eating bonbons.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: athletes, athletic training, exercise, exercise habit, exercising, exercising rights, expectations, gains, getting strong, goals, kids, lifting, losing weight, married, mental, over achieving, Paris olympics, physical, power lifters, running, wife, workout, wrestled

INSIGHTFUL AGING TAKES PRACTICE

January 23, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Insightful aging? Oh yeah, I’ve got insight. It’s not such a reach when you see people leaving the party way too soon. Once you’re done, you’re done, then the question is how will you be remembered? So how will you be remembered? How do you want to be remembered?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: aging, aging baggage, athletes, Baby Boomer blogger, bad example, beer, blog, blogger, boomerpdx, boomers, brain age, chug beer, David Gillaspie, difference maker, football, insightful aging, Jason kelce, memory, mourning, party, practice, remembered, sports, taylor swift, writer, writers, writing

OREGON ART PEOPLE BEHIND THE SCENES

October 31, 2023 by David Gillaspie

Art people live in every state, every country. This map shows state size based on population. Oregon looks pretty small compared to New Jersey. What follows are Oregon art people.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: art, artists, athletes, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, Charlie Sandbo, create art, creating art, David Gillaspie, history, Oregon art, photographer, picture greater, sports, Tigard, tigard high school, writer, writers, writing

SPORT FAN MARVELS AT MODERN ATHLETES

January 17, 2023 by David Gillaspie

Sport fan comes in two flavors: ‘Awe struck’ is one. The other is, “Come on, it’s not that hard.”. One gets it, the other never will. I’m in the awe struck camp, but love hearing how it’s not that hard.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: athletes, awe struck, beer, betting, cowboys, dak prescott, Dallas Cowboys, Eddie lebaron, football, modern athletes, playoff football, quarterback, sport fan, sports fan, Super Bowl, tom brady, troy aikman

Today Is A Special Day For Someone, What’s Your Day Like

July 12, 2018 by David Gillaspie

Coaches have had a grand time reminding their athletes that, “There’s someone somewhere training just as hard as you. Time to step it up.” They say this right after you’ve had a special day of success so you won’t let it go to your head too fast. Or, “Someone is training harder […]

Filed Under: BOOMER YEARS Tagged With: athletes, blog, blog reader, blog writer, competition, education, food porn, happiness, heroin, heroin addict, heroin addiction, joy, killing, kitty genovese, mamma mia, murder, Pat Conroy, porn, portland porn, production, special day, Thomas Wolfe, time management, today, training