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HOW TO GROW A SENSE OF WONDER IN PORTLAND OREGON

December 22, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Most of the time a sense of wonder in Portland means a painful memory from the days of old, of Meier and Frank downtown and the Georgian Room for tea. The place had a special aura during the holidays. The painful part? It hasn’t been there for years, Meier and Frank and the Georgian Room, […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, Baby Boomers, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, Christmas, december, education, football, georgian room, history, hustle, married, Meier and Frank, Oregon, Oregon Ducks, painful memory, Portland, Portland Oregon, sports, story, streets, travel, urban, urban canyons, writer, writers, writing

COLLEGE DIPLOMA, JUST ANOTHER PIECE OF PAPER?

December 19, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Every time I open the sleeve and look at my college diploma it takes me back to another time. What time is that? The mid-70’s? Nooooo. Early 80’s? Noooo. But I started freshman year in 1973.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: academics, advanced degree, AI, America, American, american nobility, appointed officials, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, bachelor's, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, college, college diploma, education, equality, facebook, fraternity, history, landed gentry, learning, liberty, magna carta, master's, nobility, pfc gillaspie, PhD, public policy, U.S. Constitution, writer, writers, writing, youtube

UNCHECKED SPEECH, GUARDED WORDS

December 18, 2025 by David Gillaspie

If you’ve heard unchecked speech, then you know guarded words when someone says them. One might be a raving crack-head angling for another piece of the rock. The other might be a priest in a confessional. Each has their place, sometimes more than one place. There’s only one problem: If they switch back and forth […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, art museum, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blog, blog post, blogger, boomerpdx, booze, despair, drinking, drunk, education, family, family tree, guarded words, history, history museum, homeless, I love you, learning, Love, married, MOVING ON, old guy, old man, Oregon, speech, story, street people, unchecked speech, weight of loss, writer, writers, writing

ADULTHOOD MISUNDERSTOOD, AND THEN … ?

December 17, 2025 by David Gillaspie

You’d think adulthood misunderstood would come from some kid with ideas on who they’d want to be. But, noooooo. It’s the adults. If it were a kid, they’d have time to figure things out after a misunderstanding. What if it’s a baby boomer? What’s their excuse?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: adult, adulthood, adulthood misunderstood, baby boomer, Baby Boomers, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, education, facebook, good manners, grown man, history, learning, MARRIAGE, misunderstood, podcast, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, priorities, rossi radio, story, time passes, writer, writers, writing

NORMAL HUMAN NEEDS. NORMAL?

December 16, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Normal human needs seem pretty obvious? They aren’t much different than the other animals in the jungle. Air to breath. Clean water, shelter, clothing. The basics.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: actors, America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, better country, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, celebrities, Death, education, finding purpose, guilt trip, historical community, historical garb, historical gathering, human needs, JFK, kids, lbj, life direction, millennials, murder, murderer, normal, normal human needs, Oregon, pioneer women, roles, story, wife, writer, writers, writing

EMPATHY HAPPENS, EVENTUALLY

December 15, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The man in the tap house said, “Empathy happens,” and he reminded me of how important it is to stop in for a beer when the occasion calls. I’ve known him for years, just not the way my wife knows people. She’s knows people like no one I know, so she asks questions that she […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, citizenship, education, empathy, empathy happens, family, good person, history, leadership, learning, Maslow's hierarchy, needs, Oregon Ducks, safety needs, writer, writers, writing

NO KITTY GENOVESE FOR YOU

December 13, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Would an Oregonian save Kitty Genovese? A few years back a little boy in Portland, Oregon was accidentally left on a train platform. He made it home safely with his dad. A young woman stayed with him until his father returned, just a bystander who saw what happened and took time to care. Those few minutes ended happily; it […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, Cinema 21, genovese, kitty genovese, learning, MARRIAGE, NW Portland, Oregon, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, story, writer, writers, writing

MAKING CHANGE, EXACT CHANGE

December 12, 2025 by David Gillaspie

With regular money transactions heading toward ‘tap and go’, the people making change, giving exact change, are growing more rare. You’ll find them at the drive through window, picking through coins for just the right combination. “Here’s four quarters instead of a dollar,” they say. Or, “$6.50 for my grande latte half-caff with oat milk? […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, baby boomer, Baby Boomers, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, drive through, education, exact change, family, GUITAR, husband, learning, making change, MARRIAGE, mcdonalds, music, Oregon, patience, patient, Starbucks, story, time, wife, writer, writers, writing

PUBLIC GOOD IS GOOD ENOUGH?

December 11, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The idea of doing something for the ‘public good’ is a high standard in America. Why? Because the public, of which we’re all a part, is so broad. What’s good in one place is not so good in another, but no one talks about the ‘public bad’ as a goal. Or do they?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, china, Oregon, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, pubic good, public, public transportation, writer, writers, writing

WE THE PEOPLE, NOT PEE-POLE

December 10, 2025 by David Gillaspie

‘We the People’ are the difference makers others count on. Maybe not you or me, but the folks out there agitating for change, for better outcomes for themselves and their loved ones. Loved ones? You know, the people you think of when you get a warm fuzzy feeling that things are going the right direction […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, Constitution, education, freedom, history, ideologies, ideology, illegal order, justice, learning, liberty, magna carta, MARRIAGE, married, millennials, Oregon, pee, pee pole, Portland Oregon, story, things happen, Thomas Jefferson, travel, veterans, we the people, writer, writers, writing