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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:

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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?

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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.

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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.

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HOW TO WRITE, WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT

January 2, 2026 by David Gillaspie

How to write seems self-explanatory. Why bother is the real question. My Grandma on my Mom’s side passed this pearl of wisdom along: “Smart people talk about ideas, normal people talk about places, dumb people talk about other people.” With that mind, who are the big gossips in your group?

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NEW YEARS DAY WITH OREGON DUCKS

January 1, 2026 by David Gillaspie

My thanks go to the Oregon Ducks on New Years Day. Because of this college football team I watched three games in a row. With my wife. First, we talked:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, big-10, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, college football, Eugene, family, football, Georgia, go ducks, history, Indiana, MARRIAGE, Miami, millennials, ole miss, OOOOO, Oregon Ducks, SEC, sports, story, writer, writers, writing