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HARD RAIN FALLING, GUTTERS OVERFLOWING, NOW WHAT?

January 7, 2026 by David Gillaspie

I’ve got a hard rain falling in drops you can see. Not the usual drizzle, not a sheet of water, but individual drops spaced and timed to perfection. It’s cold out, the kind of day that makes you think of other places you’ve heard about, seen on advertisements, the kind of cold and wet people […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, American Baby Boomer, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, better days, blog, blogger, Bob Dylan, boomer generation, call to action, Death, education, facebook, flood, getters, hard rain, history, hunger, Jan 6, learning, now what, Oregon, revisionist history, rewriting history, second opinion, show up, sink hole, stay warm, twitter, wife, writer, writers, writing, wrong history, WWII

ON REMEMBERING ANNIVERSARIES

January 6, 2026 by David Gillaspie

My wife is great for remembering anniversaries and birthdays. It’s an encyclopedic memory of family, friends, and pretty much anyone who has ever been born. At least that’s what it feels like in comparison to her husband, who is more selective. I remember plenty, I’m not saying I don’t, but ask me the birthday of […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: all good, America, anniversaries, anniversary, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, BOOMER, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, consequences, education, great, illegal order, law, law of the land, learning, Love, MARRIAGE, married, memory, remembering anniversaries, travel, wife, writer, writers, writing, WWII

EVERYBODY COMES FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE? GET OVER IT

January 4, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Q: Where are you from? A: All over the place. Q: Where did you grow up? A: It’s a long list.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, crime, crime family, do more, education, failure, family, feelings, fitness, fraud, history, kingpin, laundromat, learning, Love, personal essays, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, soliloquy, sonnet, story, Sunset Park Brooklyn, write something, writer, writers, writing

2025 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR, SO FAR

December 31, 2025 by David Gillaspie

2025 highlights have come every day, with each new one besting the last. And, like last year, 2024, it’s come to this. The End. Also like last year, and the years before, tomorrow is a: New Beginning. Let’s say it together. New. Beginning.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: 2025, 2025 highlights, baby boomer, better than that, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, cheers, education, facebook, family, famous people, fiction writer, fitness, football, highlights, historical figures, history, LFG, millennials, music, new beginning, North Bend, Oregon Ducks, playing guitar, Social media, sports, story, the end, wife, writer, writers, writing

GENTLE SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD TIMES

December 28, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Who doesn’t make gentle suggestions? Call it good manners if you know the difference between a request and an order. ‘Would you please help me?’ instead of, ‘Get over here and make yourself useful.’ This happened recently:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: American President, anguish, Baby Boomer blogger, berlin, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, Cold War, control, current times, Eastern Europe, education, family, follow through, gentle suggestions, good manners, history, iron curtain, john kennedy, life in order, Love, manners, MARRIAGE, misunderstood, politics, request, revolution, Russia, sensitive, sex, Soviet Union, stalin, story, suggestions, travel, wife, writer, writers, writing

BE DIFFERENT, BUT HOW DIFFERENT

December 24, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Be different, be better, be something. Just not the old coot where every day is the ol’ same ol’. It’s not the same, day after day, and neither are you no matter how you try. Why not be stable and dependable? That’s different enough.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: agreeable, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, be dependable, be different, be stable, behavior, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, different, Divorce, drifter, family, fitness, gut, gut feeling, history, leeway, loyalty, normal, normal behavior, silver anniversary, unconcerned, wife, writer, writers, writing

HOW TO OREGON DUCK FOOTBALL PLAYOFF AT AUTZEN

December 23, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Oregon Duck football begins where all college football begins: on campus. This is the lovely yard we passed on the way to Autzen from Max’s Tavern in Eugene, Oregon. The place was hopping with Duck shirts, Duck jersey’s, and a few James Madison people. One in our group spent their college years at University of […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: autzen, baby boomer, Baby Boomers, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, college, college football, designated driver, Duck football, duck football playoff, duck season, football, football destination, football fans, football game, football playoff, go ducks, how to, Oregon, Oregon duck football, Oregon Ducks, sports, Sports fans, sportsmanship, track town usa, University of Oregon football, writer, writers, writing

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