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PORTLAND PARK BLOCKS IN DECEMBER WITH DOG

The Portland Park Blocks, the south side, deserves a good look this time of year. Call it a learning moment, my dog did. Who’s a good girl. We started at Portland State University to see what the youths were up to.

BLAME ENGLAND FOR THAT?

Blame England? For what? For being so green, so lush, so historical with its leftover Roman roots? For having current people renting and living in four or five hundred year old houses? Go ahead and blame England for anything you want and you’ll be able to find evidence backing it up. Just make it good. […]

READING BOOKS IS A PROBLEM?

Why is reading books a problem? Because people read the wrong books. But what’s the difference between the right book and the wrong book? Jimmy knows, so let’s ask Jimmy:

INSPIRE CHANGE WITH DEEDS AND WORDS

“Inspire change” are not just pretty words to say. You can say it, write it, but there’s more: Show it. Remember the writer’s trope of, ‘Show, don’t tell?’ Do both to inspire change.

MEAT LOAF GLOWING LIKE THE METAL ON THE EDGE OF A KNIFE

Meat Loaf came on the radio a couple of years back while I was driving chaperones for French foreign exchange students around town. They were in their twenties, too young to know Meat Loaf. Hi, Quintan. Hi, Marion. I almost pulled over in stitches when they started singing along to Paradise By The Dashboard Light. […]

FREEDOM MASK: WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO LOSE?

What’s a freedom mask? Is it the expression on a prisoner’s face on the way out of jail? The look married people have after the final decree is signed? Or is it a blue four-ply square with pleats that comes with loops that fit behind your ears? Since I’ve never been to jail overnight, just […]

CLEAR COMMUNICATIONS FOR NEEDY TIMES, LIKE NOW

Clear communications sound like this: “For best results follow the instructions included.” For the past year and half the covid instructions include wearing a mask, washing hands, and social distancing. Add getting a vaccine and we’re all up to date and safe? It turns out everyone is not as adept at following instructions as they […]

FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS ON DOWN STREAM SUPPLY CHAIN BUYS

Following directions? It sounds so easy, so easy that anyone could do it. So why don’t they? Bad directions? Incomplete? Or maybe directions don’t apply to you because you’ve been everywhere and done everything? That’s where I usually start. And yes, I’ve had some regrets, leftover parts, and malfunctions. But that was then, way back […]

HORSE SENSE AND LEARNING TO RIDE LIKE A HUNGARIAN

Horse sense is common sense. Says as much right off in the dictionary. What it doesn’t say is what people learn riding a horse. To me that’s a better definition of horse sense. Instead of some blow-hard mansplaining how something simple is done in a most condescending tone, the horse teaches by example. That’s me […]

EDUCATIONAL DYSFUNCTION: THE OTHER E D

Educational dysfunction happens to everyone when they get to a point in a project that needs extra help. Frank Thomas is an Auburn University man, something left out in commercials he appears in. The Big Hurt knows the education drill. Doug Flutie is a Boston College man who gets it, too. Whether books, YouTube videos, […]