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TO MY DEAR READER, FROM A BLOG

Dear reader is plural, but writers are told to focus on just one person, and since I’m the writer around here . . . Hopefully it’s a focus on the right reader? The last thing I need is learning how my posts led a reader astray. From me to you: DO NOT GO ASTRAY. DON’T […]

PICK A SIDE AND STAY THERE, OR NOT

What’s the problem when you pick a side? You’re stuck. You talked the talk, walked the walk, then something changed. But you’re stuck. Either stay on the bus as it goes off the bridge, or hit your eject button.

DAVIDPDX @ boomerpdx, A REGAL OREGON BLOG REVIEW

When I look for an Oregon blog I google ‘oregon blogs.’ Does that sound right to you? Good, it should. What isn’t right is the first listing, an unfriendly welcome to sign in and ‘keep up with the topics, feeds, and trends that matter to you.’ In a search for ‘oregon blogs’ the topic is […]

RETIREMENT TIME OPENS DOOR FOR THINGS AND STUFF

Everyone’s’ retirement time is unique, no one matches any other. For some it’s a big party at work with a grand send-off, followed by more parties to celebrate that new freedom. There’s that giant card where everyone you worked over the decades signs with the glee of a high school year book. Or maybe you […]

BORING, TRIVIAL, POINTLESS LIFE? GOOD JOB

Doing a good job means what? Following orders and delivering a finished product according to the highest standards of the industry? Let’s not get carried away. How about finishing on time with something that works the way it’s supposed to work? You can do that and your masterpiece at the same time. If you don’t […]

HIDDEN SONGS OF THE OREGON COAST

People play their guitar in the basement alone looking for hidden songs. Hidden songs? There you are moving around the fretboard and something sounds different. You play it again. Nice. While you play you remember the old times you had when you were younger. Like yesterday.

BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY YOU SAY?

I just finished reading about one man’s dedication and defense of the biographical essay and thought, ‘blog post?’ Like most writers, he lost me in the digressions. Like most online readers, I scrolled on. But here’s what you need to know:

YOU TIME + ME TIME = OUR TIME

‘Our time’ is full of hope and promise for a better world. That’s what I learned in kindergarten and it set me on my path. Maybe it’s a baby boomer notion, or maybe it’s everyone over a certain age who feels that hope. Either way a better world has been a long time coming and […]

TAXES PAID, SERVICES DELIVERED, AMERICAN DREAM

You settle back after you close the books on your taxes paid and that new life waiting just around the corner. Those taxes are the money paid to live the American Dream. Who among us thinks of taxes paid every time we get jolted driving over another gaping pothole? “Why do I bother when they […]

HISTORY BUSINESS MINDS THE STORE

History business is a museum, a class, an artifact. It’s all of that and more: it’s you, me, and the guy down the road. If you ask someone about it, you might hear something like, “I learned history in school.” There are other responses to the question, “What does history mean to you?”