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FAVORITE WRITERS TO LOVE AND HATE

December 9, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Favorite writers have an audience of you, and you are demanding. You know what you want and don’t want. Most of all, you don’t want to be disappointed, forced to find someone new. You don’t want someone new, and the writer doesn’t want to lose you. How does this workout? With new material.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, bigger picture, blog, blogger, book, books, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, death by lightning, destiny of the republic, direct experience, embarrassment, favorite, favorite writers, Fitzgerald, Gilgamesh, guilt, loose ends, make a scene, Mark Twain, new book, new writer, next book, reading list, shame, writer, writers, writing

GREAT WRITING: WHEN WORDS MATTER MORE

December 6, 2025 by David Gillaspie

From Google AI on current sentence construction: Basic Structure: Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) Subject: Who/what the sentence is about (e.g., Matt). Verb: The action or state of being (e.g., eats). Object: Receives the action (e.g., pizza). Example: “Matt eats pizza.”

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, books, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, Death, education, family, fitness, GenX, genZ, great writing, history, inspiration, learning, married, matter, millennials, music, North Bend, Oregon, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, reading, sentence, sentence structure, story, structure, travel, words, words matter, writer, writers, writing, writing books

READING BOOKS CREATE NOVEL IDEAS

July 21, 2025 by David Gillaspie

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 […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, blogger, Blogging, blurbs, books, BOOMER, boomerpdx, character, compilation, country music, drugs, hard sell, Johnny Cash, lifeline, mysteries, new ideas, reading, reading books, rock and roll, sex, story, universal truths, writer, writers, young mom

POWER RULES WRITTEN TO FOLLOW

June 2, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Power rules come in a variety of formats including written, verbal, and example. The written ones seem to carry the most importance since we’ll never know the verbal or actions of history. Unless it’s written down. Once direct orders are written down, the next bit of documentation is the recollection of events, the after-action report […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, baby boomer, better stories, books, BOOMER, boomerpdx, boomers, documentation, education, family, first historian, germany, history, history books, history writers, informed decision, japanese, kryptonite, power, power distribution, power rules, rules, stories, story, trauma, unconditional surrender, war, wife, write, writer, writing, written, written down, WWII

TWO STORIES AND ONLY TWO?

December 17, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Two stories in 5000 years are not a lot of stories. Is that for slow readers too? Or do speed readers change the numbers? I have the feeling Mr. Eco is repeating the writer’s mantra: Buy More Books. Sounds good to me, but why not check in with other writers.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: books, companionship, connections, feelings, feels, felt, gathering, happy birthday, harmed, learning, lifted, literary, party, reading, slow readers, stories, story, writers, writing

GIVING UP THE FIRST TIME

November 1, 2024 by David Gillaspie

I don’t remember giving up, quitting, rising the white flag. But here we are, and I’m not alone. There’s the rocking chair, the TV, the food delivery. As long as everything lasts, why not rot away quietly? Why not? Here’s why not with Kurt Vonnegut:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: blog, blog post, blogger, bloggers, books, boomerpdx, Death, Internet, Kurt Vonnegut, memory, mistakes, reading, remember, saul bellow, writer, writers

NEW YORKER THURSDAY IN THE MAIL, A LESSON IN READING

October 4, 2024 by David Gillaspie

The New Yorker magazine is my only subscription and I’m surprised how much fun it is. I actually look forward to it, which has been a surprise over the past year. I know what I’m doing on New Yorker Day:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: adulting, books, cartoons, cinema, college, context, education, English major, fiction writing, history major, literary duty, literature, magazine, new york, new yorker, news writing, on television, reading, subscription, the theater, writing

QUIET LIFE? GOOD LUCK WITH THAT

September 1, 2024 by David Gillaspie

The quiet life is an aspirational goal. Even the biggest party person eventually welcomes a less social time in their life. But it doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten anyone. Hell, I remember the neighbors from the first house I ever lived in.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: a plan, aspirational goal, bad book, book, books, good book, good luck, quiet life, reading, rock fight, the classics

MICRO MEMOIR II: LEAVING TOWN CHRISTMAS PARTY

April 20, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Leaving town used to be easy, if I remember right. Pack a bag, get in a car, hop on bus, and leave. “I’ll be there in a few days.” Same story going out to Brooklyn as leaving:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: back talk, books, brooklyn, Christmas party, dance, eat, exotic, food, italian, leaving town, library, made men, MARRIAGE, marriage material, memoir, micro memoir, new york, New York City, office buzz, office job, Penn station, relationship, shit talk, subway, sweet talk, talk, talking, Wall Street, write, writer, writing

TOO MUCH? TOO MANY? WHEN CAN YOU TELL

April 13, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Too much of anything is a problem, but not when someone else tells you. You’ve got to tell yourself. It’s that simple. And that difficult. But, as usual, there’s more to it.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: book, books, bookstore, boomerpdx, boomers, downsize, downsizing, education, good luck, history, hoarding, too many, too much, travel, wife, writer, writers, writing