Death Archives • BOOMERPDX

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GIVING UP THE FIRST TIME

November 1, 2024 by David Gillaspie

I don’t remember giving up, quitting, rising the white flag. But here we are, and I’m not alone. There’s the rocking chair, the TV, the food delivery. As long as everything lasts, why not rot away quietly? Why not? Here’s why not with Kurt Vonnegut:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: blog, blog post, blogger, bloggers, books, boomerpdx, Death, Internet, Kurt Vonnegut, memory, mistakes, reading, remember, saul bellow, writer, writers

WRITING REWARDS YOU MISS IF YOU DON’T WRITE

October 30, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Writing rewards come in flavors other than green. JD Salinger said the act of writing is reward enough. That from a guy who locked himself up for his reward. But he didn’t throw away the key.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, Baby Boomers, blogger, BOOMER, boomerpdx, boomers, cancer, Death, doing something, education, election, facebook, Love, millennials, Oregon, Portland, presidential politics, reward, rewards, sports, story, student loans, twitter, vote, voter, voting, women's healthcare, writer, writers, writing, writing reward, writing rewards

GOOD TWITTER, BAD X?

October 22, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Good twitter was a great scroll. Celebrities and famous names shared their interests, causes, and struggles. They made themselves look almost normal, which was nice. Not so nice?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: blog, blogger, Death, elon, famous names, grown men, heartache, ideas, painful, scroll snob, shit-post, Social media, trump, twitter, writer, writing, X, x scroll

COMPARISON CULTURE: BETTER THAN WHAT?

August 29, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Comparison culture didn’t start with social media, but that’s where it found fertile ground. Baby Boomers and every generation before, all had the same comparison: My Dad is better than your dad. What comes after that? Maybe a fight.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: boomer blogger, boomerpdx, compare, comparison culture, crime, criminal, Death, education, facebook, family, fertile ground, jewelry, Social media, twitter, wife, writer, writers, writing

WOMEN’S HEALTHCARE, A PORTLAND STORY

August 1, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Women’s healthcare is just another story if you’re not a woman, don’t know any women, if there are no women in your life? Does that sum things up for you, or does it sound far fetched? Everybody has women in their lives at some point. Just ask your mom, your grandma, your sister, your wife, […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: abandoned infant, another story, Death, dojo, emergency department, fight game, healthcare, homeless, homeless camp, KATU, koin, kptv, maternity ward, news news story, Oregon health authority, Oregon's safe haven law, Oregonlive, personal views, portland story, ratings needle, story, vote, woman, women, women's healthcare, youtube

CLEAR DOWN RANGE NEW MEANING

May 3, 2024 by David Gillaspie

The first time I heard the call of “CLEAR DOWN RANGE” I was laying in the dirt with the guys, Fort Ord dirt, and trying to fit three bullets inside the diameter of a quarter. The best I got was two in with a stray nearby. The rifle range targets were a head and shoulder […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: blog, blogger, boomerpdx, buffalo, clear down range, coaching, college, common sense, Death, down range, dream, education, event, fifty years, fort ord, fresh flowers, good life, hope, listening, march, new meaning, Portland, promise, protest, read more, rifle range, roses, shooting range, targets, teach, tulips, violent, writer, writers, writing

FRAGILE MEN CLUB? YOU’RE ALREADY SIGNED UP

April 24, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Fragile men had no place in Western American history stories about the savage frontier and cruel hardships. Nor in the early industrialization with mighty oil, steel, and railroad barons casting their deepening shadows across the land. Writers found other virtues to extoll other than common frailties. The western frontier needed stories of valor and sacrifice […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: American History, american west, bitterness, Death, fragile men, fragile men club, frontier, heroes, historian, history buffs, men, Oregon, Oregon Trail, pioneers, racist, regret, sacrifice, scholars, solitude, the west, valor, virtues, western frontier, western history, write about, writers

OLD LESSON PLAN FOR NEW TIMES

March 8, 2024 by David Gillaspie

An old lesson plan? From Aristotle? Who needs one with new lessons every day? More like who doesn’t? Sometimes it takes a while for things to sink in.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Aristotle, better listeners, blog, blogger, boomerpdx, caesar, Death, education, great stories, history, japan, japanese, Lakewood theater, lesson plan, listening, mentors, moral codes, plato, roman, socrates, story, story structure, storytelling, teacher, teachers, teaching, three acts, war story, writer, writers, writing, WWII

BOOMER DREAM: I WISH I KNEW WHAT I KNOW NOW WHEN I WAS YOUNGER

March 2, 2024 by David Gillaspie

A boomer dream sung by Rod? Poor old grand-dadI laughed at all his wordsI thought he was a bitter manHe spoke of women’s waysThey’ll trap you, then they use youAnd before you even knowFor love is blind and you’re far too kindDon’t ever let it show I wish that I knew what I know nowWhen […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: alpha gen dream, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, Blogging, BOOMER, boomer blogger, boomer dream, boomerpdx, David Gillaspie, Death, donation button, education, family, financial blog, gene dream, genz dream, hard truth, Making money, MARRIAGE, millennial dream, millennials, monetized blog, money, money blog, PORTLAND BABY BOOMER, saving money, spending money, top earning blogger, truth, write, write more, writing

STORY MEDICINE PRESCRIPTION: READ AND WRITE

February 26, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Story medicine is good for what ails you. Why? Because you deserve a break. Things go bad, and you read a story about something worse? You might feel better. But what about when things are going good, never been better. What story is going to improve that?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: army medic, blog, blogger, boomerpdx, chiaroscuro, Death, history, medical, medical advice, medical problem, medicine, mona lisa, museum, New York City, New York story, Oregon, pound of flesh, read, readers, sfumato, story, story medicine, story telling, the Louvre, wife, write, writer, writers, writing