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TO MY DEAR READER, FROM A BLOG

Dear reader is plural, but writers are told to focus on just one person, and since I’m the writer around here . . . Hopefully it’s a focus on the right reader? The last thing I need is learning how my posts led a reader astray. From me to you: DO NOT GO ASTRAY. DON’T […]

PICK A SIDE AND STAY THERE, OR NOT

What’s the problem when you pick a side? You’re stuck. You talked the talk, walked the walk, then something changed. But you’re stuck. Either stay on the bus as it goes off the bridge, or hit your eject button.

DAVIDPDX @ boomerpdx, A REGAL OREGON BLOG REVIEW

When I look for an Oregon blog I google ‘oregon blogs.’ Does that sound right to you? Good, it should. What isn’t right is the first listing, an unfriendly welcome to sign in and ‘keep up with the topics, feeds, and trends that matter to you.’ In a search for ‘oregon blogs’ the topic is […]

SPORT HEROES FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME

Sport heroes take root from the year you were born. The key is catching up once you learn how to read. Being born in the mid-50’s was a stroke of luck. The Yankees were in the World Series eight out of ten years, winning six. They had Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford, but I was […]

COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN, ONLINE VERSION. CHEERS

Communication breakdown happens when online behemoths find themselves on the wrong side of a tech case. Tech case? What else do you call instagram and YouTube but marvels of modern technology? One way or another the two of them navigated through competition and mergers and acquisitions so some kid can take an endless scroll to […]

ONE PFC’S INTERNATIONAL OPINION: NATO

As an Army veteran from the mid-1970’s I’ve had time to work up an international opinion on NATO. Reading history is one thing; reading history after wearing the uniform is a whole nother level. Racing up the promotional ranks to the heights of private first class brings it home. The low ranks are the gravel […]

MADE IN FOR THE WIN

Made In cookware made it to my house in a roundabout way. When I called customer service there was nothing roundabout about it. I was left wishing every exchange could be so welcoming. Here’s how it went:

READING FICTION IN DECLINE?

Reading fiction has been in decline since the first person put a book down and said, “Not for me. Thanks.” A reader doesn’t finish every book. They don’t go into a library with the goal of reading everything. Maybe read everything one author ever wrote, but not everything from everyone. Which brings up one question:

A NOTE TO THE THIRD STRING PEOPLE: DON’T FEEL TOO BAD

There’s nothing wrong on third string, nothing wrong with third string people. They’re on the team, just not the traveling team. But they matter to the team as they work to move up to second string. One day they’ll be first stringers? Let’s take it one string at a time.

END OF THE LINE . . . “ARE WE THERE YET”

It’s one thing to see the end of line, a whole other to drive past the start in Newport, Oregon. If I have a full tank of gas I hit empty after 460 miles. Eight tanks later, give or take, I’d be in Boston. Might take a week of 500 mile freeway days, or two […]