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WRITERS DREAM HOUSE NEEDS A DREAMY INTERIOR TOO

Everyone has a ‘Dream House.’ They know it when they see it. “That’s the house of my dreams.” Two blocks later it’s another house. I could drive around town all day looking at dream houses, but which one is the dreamiest?

NEW YEARS EARLY PREPPER FOR 2024

With New Years Eve pulling up on the calendar, why not a new you in the new year? But I had a good year, you say. Don’t you want an even better year? Of course you do. So ? ? ?

PORTLAND VIEW, THE OTHER PORTLAND

The Portland view we’ve all seen is akin to a metro trash transfer station. You know the place, where you pull up with a load, pay the fee, and get directed to a one in a series of huge bins. Front loaders drive around pushing trash back so you have room. Then you back in, […]

IMPORTANT PEOPLE NEED MORE IMPORTANCE

You know the important people in your life. How? Because they’re important to you. And you know why they’re important. Maybe you even tell them they are the important people in your life. But maybe you don’t, then what? They’ll tell you.

A MERRY CHRISTMAS LOOKS LIKE:

  Johnny looks ready for some merriment? Or:

NEW STORY PROBLEMS? CHANGE THE SETTING

New story problems are like cooking a chicken. You know how you’d like it to turn out, but that’s not how it always works. When it’s your Christmas story, and it’s December 24th, you’ve got work to do. Start with your story.

HOW OLD IS ‘OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER?’

How old were you when you first heard it? My memory says I was a seven year old who couldn’t field a grounder after my last ‘bad hop’ bounced off my face. I wasn’t technically afraid of the ball, except I was afraid of what the ball might do. When one of the baseball fields […]

CHRISTMAS CONTRAST: LONGEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR

A Christmas contrast happens every year. Whenever some adult says, “I remember when I was a kid. Christmas was different,” is just the start. Different? Compared to what? Was Christmas nicer?

SHORTEST DAY, LONGEST NIGHT . . . AGAIN

Today is the shortest day of the year? If that’s true, then the shortest day follows the longest night, or tonight is the longest night. There’s got to be some kind of astrological meaning, but I don’t know. What I do know is the night before Christmas used to last what felt like a week. […]

TRUE JOY, A COMPENDIUM

Who thinks of true joy as the day your parents permitted you to ride your bike to your pals house a couple of streets over? They trusted you because you demonstrated proficiency on your street. Now you were one of the big guys. When you got that first bike you wanted to ride it everywhere. […]