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READING BOOKS CREATE NOVEL IDEAS

July 21, 2025 by

Reading books are a lifeline to another time. Not everyone gets it; not everyone thinks they need a lifeline. I don’t start reading a book with that in mind, but when I finish a good one it feels like the writer tossed me a line. That’s the good news. I’m of the mind that berating […]

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GOOD FORTUNE: ACCIDENTAL OR PLANNED

July 13, 2025 by

My happy good fortune could never be planned any more than a shark chooses their favorite remora. It’s all been a long string of happy coincidence. Just another fat baby boomer taking up space in comfort and luxury. That’s me. How about you, same thing? Probably not, but check with younger people to know for […]

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GAMBLING? KNOW WHEN TO FOLD ‘EM

July 10, 2025 by

Call it gambling, gaming, or wagering. What it is is putting money down on a horse to win, place, or show. It’s feeding twenties into a slot machine and pushing a button. In some regions it’s picking the right chicken. One rule that covers them all:

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IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT . . . HEALTH CARE PANIC

June 30, 2025 by

In the unlikely event this post goes viral, which is every blogger’s secret and not so secret wish, I’ll need to be precise. How precise? Very. As my longtime readers know, I write a personal blog about personal things to try and dial down the panic in case you ever face anything similar. Sometimes it’s […]

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OREGON BERRY REVIEW: FARM TO FACE

June 23, 2025 by

Oregon Berry Packing lies seventeen minutes from my front door. In that time I can travel from tacky suburban developments to acres and acres of farmland stretching every direction. To put it in a different perspective, Portland is also seventeen minutes from my front door, on a good traffic day. From concrete jungle to the […]

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THE PORTLAND DIFFERENCE: URBAN FEAR

June 19, 2025 by

The Portland difference means telling yourself one urban space is different than another. How can anyone make such a judgement? There’s only one way: wander around urban spaces both new and old. From London to Paris, more like Paris to London; from Philadelphia to New York City, which most people think is only Manhattan without […]

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LASTING CONSISTENCY OVER THE LONG HAUL

June 12, 2025 by

Lasting consistency means one thing: dependable. You know what you’re looking for and you know what you’re getting when you find it. History is full of people needing things they can depend on and you can depend on this writer to dig them up. I know you’ve got a few yourself but that’s for your […]

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INDIVISIBLE WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL

June 9, 2025 by

I’ve been personally indivisible for quite some time. It could be from growing up with brothers where you carved out your own identity, and a sister who had it all figured out. And I wasn’t the first born, which is important, so I never had everything to myself without some pesky little creature making sounds […]

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NOBODY PLANS FOR NO ONE GOING NOWHERE

June 5, 2025 by

The Beatles have a theme song for nobody plans. It’s called Nowhere Man. This persistent cultural detective heard it when it first came out. I was eleven and it went right past me. Now?

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LEGACY STORIES NEED LEGWORK

June 4, 2025 by

Legacy stories are history stories, as in historical. Some are accurate depictions of a time, an era, and get passed down. Others are told with a touch of how the teller wished things had turned out, and they get passed down too. With the advent and encouragement of and for citizen journalists, where is the […]

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