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

March 24, 2026 by David Gillaspie

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.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: continuing education, discouraged, education, failure, first string, ignored, loser, Mom, mother, mother in law, mother knows, people, third string, third string people, winners

MONDAY MORNING STARTER: COMPLAINING?

March 16, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Monday morning, like every morning of the week, starts with a quick look online to see what’s up in there, to see if anything sticks past the first scroll. What stuck? Complaining. My online peeps are disappointed in their engagement numbers. No one reads their posts. And it hurts soooo bad.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: acting, art, baby boomer, complain, complaining, complaint, dancing, drawing, engagement, essays, faceless public, failure, fiction, frustration, monday morning, music, online, online engagement, painting, poetry, pubic, reportage, sculpting, singing, Social media

EVERYBODY COMES FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE? GET OVER IT

January 4, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Q: Where are you from? A: All over the place. Q: Where did you grow up? A: It’s a long list.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, crime, crime family, do more, education, failure, family, feelings, fitness, fraud, history, kingpin, laundromat, learning, Love, personal essays, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, soliloquy, sonnet, story, Sunset Park Brooklyn, write something, writer, writers, writing

YOUNG OLD VS OLD OLD, THE JOY OF AGING

September 11, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Young Old: Spry, active, ready to show how young. My Grandpa showed off his new knee by doing one legged step ups on a low rock wall, his knee at a right angle, then up. He invited me to give it a try. I was in my forties. It was harder for me than him. […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: aging, alcohol, blacking out, blessings, cognitive test, confused, crazy people, disoriented, dropping weight, due process, failure, fairness, fitness, golden rule, good advice, haunting losses, healing sleep, joy, joy of aging, loved ones, millennials, old granddad, old-old, overcome, seek counseling, slowing down, wins, young-old

DEAR DOCTOR, IT HURTS WHEN I DO THIS

July 15, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Who dreams of telling their dear doctor what hurts and they make it all better? Me, I do, and so does everyone who ever had a ‘hitch in their get-along.’ That’s what my Dad called the way our old babysitter Violet’s way of walking. She had a rolling gait on one side, what I now […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: American, American History, Baby Boomers, Benzos, blood thinners, dangerous symptoms, dear doctor, doctor, doctor appointments, downward spiral, failure, followers, help out, history, intentional ignorance, it hurts, keep fighting, leading voices, liquid oxy, mental health, Michael Jordan, millennials, oxy, pharmacy, prescription, resisting, scientific, scientific method, statins, superstar, temptation, winning

EXCELLENCE EXPLAINED FOR THE NFL

February 11, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The NFL is excellence explained. It’s the best place in the world for young men with a particular skill set to work. It’s where other men teach them how to refine their skill set. Together, they are The National Football League in a nut shell.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: betting, championship, cowboys, dream, EXCELLENCE EXPLAINED, failure, football star, lose, NFL, NFL dream, personal failure, players, podcast, skill set, Social media, sports, sportswriters, television, touchdown, win, winners, work, young men

MORE ‘WANT TO?’ BUT WHERE IS IT

December 26, 2024 by David Gillaspie

‘Want to’ is what you need starting out. More ‘want to’ is what it takes to keep going. Some folks use it all in the start-up phase, others in the keep going phase. Then there’s the closer who never runs out.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: advice, anger, bitterness, class structure, closer, education, failure, family, friends, hidden motivation, keep going, learning, message, motivation, neighbors, ocean, ohio, Portland Oregon, regrets, school, self fulfillment, society, sorrow, start up, want to, want to want to, wanted

ACCEPTING FAILURE? LESSONS FROM LeBRON

November 6, 2024 by David Gillaspie

If you’re good at accepting failure, it means one thing: You tried, given it your best, and it wasn’t enough. You’ve done it, I’ve done it. If you haven’t done it, it’s coming. Accept failure to get better, and who doesn’t want to get better?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: accept failure, accepting failure, americans, beatdown, beaten down, best effort, failure, grass roots, history, LeBron James, losing, loss, NBA, president, regular people, scoreboard, sports, try hard

BETTER MEN? BETTER THAN WHAT?

October 11, 2024 by David Gillaspie

The idea of better men is different than Best Man. If you’ve ever been selected as a Best Man, you know what better feels like. Somehow, someone valued your friendship, in spite of how you might value yourself. Can anyone be a better man? Let’s not get carried away.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: accountable, allen ginsberg, American President, athletes, author, best man, better, better man, better men, blog, blogger, Blogging, boomerpdx, community, current author, dependable men, failure, fence, good, good man, inspired children, JFK, Kurt Vonnegut, old men, Patrick DeWitt, plan, public, public good, public service, responsible, sports, value, vote, voter, voting, writer, writers, young men

EMOTIONAL CALLOUSES GROW WITH LIVING LIFE?

October 8, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Emotional callouses are one way of navigating difficult times. The problems start after difficult times pass. Should you rip the callouses off like an old bandaid, or let it ride? Before you decides, review those hards times so you know the possibility of them returning.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: building, callous, difference, difficult times, divorced, emotional, emotional callouses, emotions, failure, freedom, goals, kids, learn, life, living, living life, married, mistakes, priorities, rebuilding, roommate, success, time, vengeance, wife