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MUTUAL INTEREST FOR THE LONG HAUL

Start with mutual interest, something you both like. In the beginning every new discovery is a happy revelation.   “You know how to cook? So do I.” “What’s this?” “Dinner.” “Oh.”

READING BOOKS CREATE NOVEL IDEAS

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 […]

MELANCHOLY NOSTALGIA? WHERE DO I SIGN

Melancholy nostalgia is no one’s idea of a good time. Nostalgia alone is more than enough. Those ‘good old days’ never looked better until you start scratching around. Add a dose of melancholy to clear things up.

CHALLENGING TIMES CHANGE CULTURE

Challenging times start early every day. Fortunately the Beatles prepared us. Here Comes The Sun. After that  comes the morning plan:

OREGON BERRY REVIEW: FARM TO FACE

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 […]

THE PORTLAND DIFFERENCE: URBAN FEAR

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 […]

NOBODY PLANS FOR NO ONE GOING NOWHERE

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?

LEGACY STORIES NEED LEGWORK

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 […]

POWER RULES WRITTEN TO FOLLOW

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 […]

CARE MORE THAN WHAT?

“Care more about what you can change,” is the mantra I like. There’s something on your shoe? Clean it off. Your house plant is drooping? Water it. The basics are still basics.