family Archives • Page 4 of 27 • BOOMERPDX

page contents Google

SITTING DOWN AND SHUTTING UP? OK BOOMER

February 26, 2026 by David Gillaspie

As we’ve seen over the years, sitting down and shutting up is not a baby boomer characteristic. Never has been. No one has ever called us the Silent Generation, the Quiet Generation, or the Compliant Generation. We’ve been called a lot of things, just not those.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: americans, Baby Boomer blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, education, family, history, learning, living longer, married, McCarthy, mcCarthyism, meth, ok boomer, old enough, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, reddit, shut up, shutting up, sit down, sitting down, Social media, story, television, travel, twitter, wife, writer, writing, WWII

OLD STANDARDS UNDER STRAIN? HOLD MY BEER

February 21, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Old standards are only for old people. Wrong. What’s wrong is the idea of standards, which I’ll clear up right now in case there’s any doubt: The Standard is the standard, no matter the age, young, or old. Got it? Good. So what exactly is The Standard?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: albert einstein, America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blogger, boomerpdx, college basketball, Dallas Cowboys, education, family, game, gamer, gaming, humble, humble reluctance, learning, NBA titles, New York yankees, NFL, over deliver, reluctance, san francisco 49ers, social standards, sports, sports standards, standard, standards, story, Super Bowl, the standard, travel, under promise, wife, writer, writing

OREGON LAVA CAST FOREST ADVENTURE? LET’S GO

February 19, 2026 by David Gillaspie

The Lava Cast Forest in Oregon is not for the weak of heart. I say this based on the traffic I encountered on the way in and on the way out. One car sat in the parking lot when we arrived, one car showed up as we left. Suspicious? Not much, but you never know.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, Central Oregon, education, family, forest, lava, lava cast forest, learning, Oregon, Portland, Portland Oregon, snow, snow birds, snow disasters, snow trip, story, travel, wife, winter, writer, writing

BE INSPIRED BY SEEKING INSPIRATION

February 11, 2026 by David Gillaspie

To be inspired you have to seek it? What about seeing something accidentally, or unexpected, that hits just right? For some it’s a sunset, a beautiful sunset, the most incredible sunset since the night before. Call it inspirational, and you like it because it makes you feel inspired. Then what? Drinks? Take me for example:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, basic goodness, blogger, boomerpdx, caring, dotage, education, family, fitness, human, human condition, inspirational, inspire, inspired, learning, married, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, shared feeling, story, sunset, sunset moment, travel, writer, writers, writing

PLAY ACTING STOPPAGE

February 10, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Acting? Play acting? Playing? What’s the difference when an actor is playing a part? I’ve seen the difference from my third row center season tickets at The Armory. For years my wife and mother in-law were theater buddies, two outgoing ladies of a certain age parking underground, riding up in elevators, and walking the cement sidewalks […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: act, acting, acting bug, actors, America, american pie, american roots, authentic, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, comfort zone, education, emotional gamut, facebook, family, high school reunion, history, learning, masculine, meaningful life, northwest, northwest portland, roots, social, Social media, story, twitter, writer, writers, writing

STUMBLING STONES OF HARSH HISTORY

January 30, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Last night I learned about Stumbling Stones, or Stolpersteine. They are memorial bricks laid for Holocaust victims at the last place they voluntarily lived before being deported for execution. Our friends told the story of the journey to their family’s former home in Germany, once known as East Prussia. They found the Stolpersteines outside the […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, education, family, family members, future historians, helper, historians, history, holocaust, holocaust witness, learning, policeman, sentimentals, soldier, story, travel, twitter, wife, witness, writer, writers, writing

DOG WALKING FOR BEGINNERS

January 22, 2026 by David Gillaspie

This is the dog for dog walking, also known as ‘my dog.’ She gets excited for a walk, but only if you go as far as she wants to go. Go too far, make the wrong turn, and she sits down until you make the right turn. Quite a dog, the best dog I’ve ever […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, dog, dog walking, dogs, education, facebook, family, history, learning, MARRIAGE, old ladies, older people, story, travel, twitter, Walking, writer, writers, writing

MUSIC LESSON AT GUITAR CENTER

January 19, 2026 by David Gillaspie

A music lesson with the usual suspects? Nooooo. With an array like this, from first guitar to last, there’s only one thing to do: Guitar lesson. Which means go looking for another guitar at Guitar Center. So I did, and much to my surprise I found someone else doing the same thing. Well, almost the […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, baby boomer guitar, boomer blogger, education, expensive guitar, family, Gibson, Gibson guitar, GUITAR, guitar center, guitar family, guitar guy, guitar world, history, learning, music, music education, music lesson, song, story, writer, writers, writing

SOLVING PROBLEMS ONE WAY, (and the other)

January 13, 2026 by David Gillaspie

I started solving problems early with a traffic court appearance. I was sixteen and charged with speeding. On a Honda 100 motorcycle. It wasn’t known for speed. What was the problem?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: acid, America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, court appearance, decision making, drugs, education, family, kid problems, learning, millennials, narcotics, Oregon, Portland, Portland Oregon, problems, solutions, solving problems, traffic court, writer, writers, writing, young man

LISTENING PRACTICE: START SOONER THAN LATER

January 8, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Listening practice with Ernest Hemingway: “We learn to talk by two, we learn to listen by sixty.” That he was dead at sixty-one says something about his listening skills? Nooooooo.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, be quiet, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, boomers, education, family, history, john wayne, keep quiet, learning, listening, listening practice, Love, movie business, personalities, quiet, rocket man, Show Business, television, ugly people, writer, writers, writing, WWII