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DON’T MEAN NOTHING? OR EVERYTHING?

The Torture Report. All war anniversaries, from WWI, to Pearl Harbor, to closing the operational command in Afghanistan, feel the same. It’s all Vietnam. That war played out on the nightly news through junior high and high school for my classmates. It was the war older brothers were drafted for, the war that robbed another […]

A SMALL PANEL FOR THE FULL COURT PRESS

Willamette Writers Heard The Word. What’s it take to get writers out of their rooms, to get them to interact with people beyond their circle of usual suspects? A Willamette Writers meeting does it every time. Cookies, coffee, and the Old Church make an enticing lure in downtown Portland. Who wouldn’t go? WW pulls membership […]

THE BIG CHRISTMAS DANCE

Dance It Off No Matter Who’s Watching. From the first junior high dance to your wedding day dance, music and movement play a bright spot. Embarrassingly bright? Probably, but only if you do it right. Take all the dance shows, from Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, Soul Train, and the current Dancing With The Stars, and […]

BABY BOOMERS: OLDER SIBLINGS OF THE WORLD

When Big Brother Is A Good Thing. In a large sense baby boomers have become the big brother of the world. Boomers young (50) and old (68) have caught plenty of heat over the years, but their influence is everywhere. Save the earth? Peace? Equality? Women’s rights? Gay rights? In such a huge demographic, baby […]

IF YOU TRY SOMETIMES YOU JUST MIGHT FIND

You Get What You Need. How many baby boomers have taken advice from Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones? If your answer resembles, “I used to listen to them,” it’s time to reset. Just because you got older doesn’t mean the songs of your youth lose their meaning. It could be the opposite. Consider the […]

BIG FROG MILLENNIALS FOR THE FUTURE

Special events have one thing in common: they’re special. The only problem is remembering how special. Sure you’ve got pictures to break out. Nothing refreshes memory like images. Video is even better. But what drives things deeper into meaning is talking about it. “Remember the time when…?” We’ve all heard stories that began that way. […]

IS THIRTY YEARS TOO LATE? IS SIXTEEN?

From Local To National, Send The Word: NO Two stories need broader exposure, a specialty for BoomerPDX. One comes from a local sports columnist, the other from every media outlet worthy of the name. The Oregonian’s John Canzano wrote about a forgotten woman from an a Corvallis assault. Why forgotten? No charges, no crime. Part […]

BOOMERPDX TALKS TO KIDS ABOUT TALKING TO POLICE

One Neighbor Got It Right. Boomers used to call the police names, mean names. The police responded with restraint? Understanding? Night sticks? Antagonize the authorities and take what comes next. Don’t count on good humor. One neighbor explained how he talked to police. Since he had a criminal record he knew to defuse situations before […]

ALIENATED BOOMERS VS MODERN HIPPIE

Take a good look at the next Millennial hippie. A twenty-something in tie dye, hygiene averse, stands next to their custom made bicycle at a happening brew pub. This isn’t a Halloween costume, it’s their outfit of choice. Call it lifestyle for lack of a better term. Just don’t call it throwback. Their choice of […]

BABY BOOMER’S LIFE FLASHES BEFORE HIS EYES

Clearing Out The File Cabinet. The kid on the right is learning the ropes. He’s your gentle BoomerPdx blogger looking like he’s crying in wrestling practice. It just looks that way. Really. If I was crying it was tears of happiness for having such a great teacher like Robin Richards. Later the same year Robin […]