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LOCAL HISTORY STUDENT + HOBBYIST = HISTORY FANS

What we have here for the history student is a picture of a post-industrial landscape typically found beside polluted rivers across America where time has passed it by. The industrial ruins-looking build-up is a common sight from New England to North Bend. What we need to know is this particular mess can be considered the […]

ALL EYES ON THE AMERICAN WORLD CUP, JULY FOURTH

Did anyone leave a 4th of July gathering to watch some World Cup action? France v Paraguay? Canada v Morocco? Me neither. I had to take my dog home before a bunch of kids filled up the backyard. The games were already on.

BEST BUY TACTICAL COMMANDO

I made a birthday run to Best Buy for my wife’s birthday. Married people do this all the time. Maybe just husbands? The difference was, my trip was on the birthday, which some people call irresponsible, tactless, whatever. But I knew what I wanted and where to get it. And I knew the timeline. How […]

MY TOP JULY FOURTH: 1976

In 1976 July Fourth found me living in Philadelphia, of all places. I was standing in the audience listening to President Ford address the nation from the Liberty Bell. I was a regular Army private two months from being discharged after two years. My uncle, a career Marine, was with me. It felt different than […]

PIECES OF A LIFE TOGETHER, AND ‘THE PAST’

If you spend enough time with someone you may eventually get the feeling of living a life, of sharing a life, together. With that in mind, why wait until the last minute to get, or give, the flowers. Is there a plan for how to do that? How do two people put those pieces together? […]

WALK THAT LONESOME VALLEY, OR BABY SHARK, PICK ONE

You know you’ve got to walk that lonesome valley. That’s just how it is. The part about walking it by yourself? I’m not so sure about that. I tried walking it by myself and got pretty far, even though I wasn’t alone. Technically.

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF NATURAL MEDICINE: THE DOCTORS ARE IN

From a distance the ribbon cutting for the National University Of Natural Medicine appeared as yet another civic event in Portland, Oregon. Speakers spoke, ribbons cut, cheers all around. It was all of that and so much more, like overcoming impossible odds. And yet . . .

THE PROPER PERSPECTIVE TO WRITING AN EVERYDAY BLOG

An everyday blog is just what it sounds like: Every. Day. Like most things worth pursuing, it takes tenacity and creativity to make something worth writing into something worth reading. No problem, write. Right? But, there’s more.

BEER BELLY, BEER GUT, THEN WHAT

I’m working on a beer belly reduction plan, which means what? Drink less beer, what else? I was lamenting my loss after meeting a new guy who fixed broken guitar amps in his garage. Me: I think the signs are lining up to loose my gut.

BEING USEFUL LIKE ROBERT FULGHUM

This isn’t Robert Fulghum, it’s me being useful in my Robert Fulghum beard which has gone the way of every beard that dared show itself on my face. He is probably a better beard steward than me. My enthusiasm for grooming an extra pet in the house lasts about six months. The last dog lived […]