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VALIDATED LIFE? GET YOUR TICKET STAMPED EARLY

A validated life, like a validated parking garage ticket, means freedom. Except the validated parking ticket is more direct. Put the card in the slot, the bar rises, you drive away. What constitutes a validated life that raises the bar to escape the couch you’ve been parked on?

YEARNING NOSTALGIA vs REAL LIFE

Yearning nostalgia poured out of the TV screen during CBS Sunday Morning. It happened when they ran a story on the town of Mayberry where Andy Griffith kept order. People in North Carolina love Mayberry, except it’s pronounced Mount Airy.

MANLY MEN WHO FORGET TO BE MEN FIRST

The manly men where I grew up were loggers and truckers and fishermen. They were hard men doing hard jobs. One of them liked to visit with my dad and tease my older brother. There may have been tears. But it’s different now. What changed?

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS WINDOW ON BOOMERPDX

Contributing writers on this blog start in comments. I invite people to leave comments. If you have an opinion on a post, leave a comment. When you have more feelings than a comment can hold, think about being a contributing writer. Here’s the deal:

STABLE MAN? WHAT HE IS, OR WHERE HE LIVES?

A stable man is good to know, whether it’s in the neighborhood or the horse barn. If you see a man mucking out a stall, that’s a stable man. The same also name applies to the guy who keeps his yard up, his car clean, and decorates his porch with flowers instead of old refrigerators. […]

MAN LIST THAT DOESN’T TAKE MUCH OF A MAN

A good man list leads with one thing: Be attentive. Without paying attention, what’s the point. Wait, where are you going?

SPENDING TIME LIKE YOU’LL NEVER GET OLD?

Spending time together in the right places make the best memories. The guys in the image are two brothers I follow on twitter. One is a sports talk guy, the other is a regular guest. They go beyond sports with their life lesson takes including recipes, medical advice, and their brand of man-knowledge. The tweet […]

TEN HAMMERS? THINGS IN THE HOUSE WHEN ONE IS ENOUGH

Ten hammers ought to be enough? Who has ten hammers? Me. And they’re all looking for a nail.

GUN VIOLENCE PRIMER: TEAM PICTURES OF THE FUTURE

Gun violence changes the future of team pictures and school pictures. What will they look like to survivors of school shootings when they’re older? The kids in this picture are at the beginning of the their run through public school. The adults are coaches and team parents supporting their kids. What’s wrong in this picture? […]

TAKING STEPS ONE AFTER ANOTHER

With any luck we’re taking steps. Right direction, or wrong, we’re taking steps. There’s nothing quite like insoles with affirmations to start those steps. Though the intentions are good, the application falls flat. How many good things start with such promise?