“Love someone, anyone, just not them.” How many times have you heard that? Never? Me neither, but it feels like that’s the rule. As long as we love someone, anyone, we can all rest easier. But, what if . . . ?
THE WILD SIDE, OR JUST ANOTHER WALK
January 29, 2025 by
Oregon’s wild side is a twenty minute drive away. Big city life gets gritty near Portland, Oregon’s West Burnside. The pretty lights, the shimmering beauty reflected on the Willamette from the top deck of the Marquam Bridge that looks like Paris lights on the Seine from the Eiffel Tower, disappear after you park your car. […]
GOOD TIMES GOING FORWARD
November 7, 2024 by
The good times ahead aren’t for everybody. They may not be for the people who voted for the good timing man. Getting on toward seventy this year, I expect to hear all about it. What’s it going to sound like going forward? You’ve heard it before:
YOUNG MEN LEARNING TO VOTE
September 22, 2024 by
Young men can do their own math on voting, but I’ll help: One man, one vote; one woman, one vote. You have one vote, bro, and it may not seem like much, but that’s what it is. One. Vote. Does it even matter enough to bother with? One vote may not seem like much, but […]
GUITAR PLAYERS OF THE PAST
April 30, 2024 by
My guitar friends say guitar players are the same from every era. Unlike current critics of the NBA who say past greats played against milkmen and plumbers and wouldn’t survive in today’s game, musicians from the past are just a request away. Or a documentary. I recently saw The Wrecking Crew.
MICRO MEMOIR II: LEAVING TOWN CHRISTMAS PARTY
April 20, 2024 by
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:
LEAVING TOWN IN THE 70’S, A MICRO MEMOIR
April 19, 2024 by
When you say you’re leaving town for good it doesn’t start with a packed bag. You need to let the landlord know, the boss know, your friends. The best town I ever left was the Brooklyn borough of New York City. See ya, suckers.
TEFLON DON TO VELCRO DON
January 27, 2024 by
Teflon Don was the name given to John Gotti for his slipperiness with law enforcement. Nothing stuck. They had the old gangster right up until it mattered. But he didn’t fit the old gangster mold. The big guy worked another angle. For this post I use only the most impeccable sources.
MARRIED LIFE GOING LONG, LONGER, KEEP GOING
May 10, 2023 by
Married life seems long when you think how long you’ve been married. Then someone else says they’ve been married longer and calls you newly weds. Newly weds after thirty-seven years? That’s it? I keep it more basic: Every day has a first date feel. You remember first dates?
‘BACK HOME’ IS THE SADDEST PLACE
August 3, 2022 by
“Back home we don’t call it that.” Those are the words I overheard at Tapphoria. Two people at another table were going over things. They weren’t from here and the more they talked the more each mentioned their own ‘back home.’ I know homesick when I hear it.
