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HONOR CODE FOR WHEN YOU ‘KNOW BETTER’

February 2, 2026 by David Gillaspie

An ‘honor code’ has always sounded like a ‘pinky promise.’ That’s when someone tells a secret and you hook pinkies to never tell. Ever. Is a pinky promise bigger and more important than an honor code? Hmmmmm?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, buddies, buddy, buddy trip, fitness, friends, history, honor, honor code, leadership, learning, oath of office, pinky promise, responsibility, secret, story, travel, wife, writer, writing

ORDINARY MEN: RESERVE POLICE BATTALION 101 REVIEW

January 28, 2026 by David Gillaspie

After watching a portion of a documentary on German Reserve Police Battalion 101 I’m left with concerns. As the story is told on Netflix, ordinary men were recruited into police work. The idea of joining a police staff was better than going to the front. The guys selected got some extra training, then loaded up […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Alex pretti, America, americans, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, Constitution, Death, die, dog song, due process, education, father, fellow citizens, following, following orders, friends, government, history, holocaust, killing, learning, liberty, life, mass killing, mother, murderers, neighbors, orders, ordinary men, police battalion 101, property, sing, singing, true americans, writer, writers, writing, WWII

WHEN FRIENDS MATTER MORE

January 24, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Do friends matter more the older you get? It depends on who you ask. If someone has lots of friends, they say yes. What about those with few friends? They say yes, too. But . . .

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, conversation, destruction, education, elections, ethnic cleansing, friends, friends matter, friends of friends, friendship, helpful, historical, history, indiscriminate destruction, inhumane treatment, learning, mass population, read, read history, study history, subjects, true friends, tune out, work friends, writer, writers, writing, yalta

DRUG ADVERTISING BUG GET YOU?

November 11, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Drug advertising comes on all of the time now, a persistent flow of ‘you’ll feel better if you take our pill.’ One second you’re watching the Oregon Ducks closing out the Iowa Hawkeyes at the 70,000 seat Kinnick Stadium, named after Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick, and the next you’re watching a lovely family picnic […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: advertising, Baby Boomer blogger, baby boomer drugs, Baby Boomers, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, boomers, drug, drug advertising, drug commercials, drugs, education, friends, hippies, history, millennials, my friends, Oregon, Oregon Ducks, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, readers, story, worried, writer, writing

THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS AND FRIENDS

September 23, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The kindness of strangers came in when I took the wrong turn on an LA sidewalk. It was a turn right or turn left choice and I turned the wrong way. Another couple came out of the same door and turned the opposite way. It was during a car return ordeal, which isn’t usually an […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, driving, friends, GPS, husband, improvements, joy, kindness, kindness of strangers, LA doorstep, listening skills, Los Angeles, nightlife, rental car, ride share, strangers, vocabulary, wife, wives, wrong neighborhood

THE RIGHT WORDS HAVE POWER

September 19, 2025 by David Gillaspie

You know the right words when you hear them. “Everything will be okay.” “You’re doing fine.” “This is just how it’s supposed to work out.” “You’re the one for me.”

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: bad experience, blogger, boomerpdx, breath in, breath out, cheated, Children, friends, lets go, listening, MacArthur fellowship, macArthur foundation, memoir, millennial, millennial writer, Nobel Prize, old friends, pipe dream, power, right words, screenplay, self fulfillment, sleep, take a chance, the folly of loving life, vision, word, word hunt, words, write it, WWII

INSPIRING KIDS TO ACHIEVE? THAT’S THE JOB

August 26, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Who is inspiring kids to achieve? Who inspired you? I’ll start. It’s the parents, mom and dad, the home unit. What else would you expect from a baby boomer blogger? My parents inspired me.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: achieve, ass kicked, band teacher, battles, bosses, coaches, friends, inspire, inspired, inspiring kids, kid, kids, leaders, Social media, spanking, teachers, uninspired

BLOG FRIENDS WORLD WIDE GETTING A GRIP

August 19, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Blog friends come from the four corners of earth, which if my compass is correct, includes North, East, South, and West. Everyone from anywhere can come in with a good internet connection. Shout out to South Africa, Poland, Malaysia, China, Canada, Philippines, and Australia. To India, England, France, and Spain. To North America, South America, […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: arranged marriage, blog, blog friends, blog subscriber, BOOMER, boomer generation, boomer parents, Conditions, culture, customs, Facebook friends, forced marriage, friends, GETTING A GRIP, improved, Internet, internet connection, learn, learning, led astray, MARRIAGE, marriage of convenience, millennial, Millennial generation, nervous, new blog, problems, read blogs, readers, self absorbed, subscriber, thin skinned, twitter friends

PUBLIC PEOPLE IN PRIVATE PLACES

July 6, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Public people are just like the rest of us. They just find themselves in front of cameras more often than not. Now that everyone has a camera everyone’s a journalist, everyone’s a star. And everyone loses a little more of their private place.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: better day, camera, cosmetic surgery, downstream, family, friends, goals, journalist, new friends, old friends, private, private places, public, public people, star, upstream, vision, wrong direction

MAKING FRIENDS WITH FRIENDS

May 20, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Making friends is as easy as stepping out your front door. Odds are good that someone will walk by from somewhere else. It’s up to you to break the ice. Or maybe you’re out walking around and have a conversation with a stranger that seems more like a friend you just met. The important thing […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomers, blog, blog material, blogger, BOOMER, boomer blogger, boomers, boundaries, cheers, chosen family, family ties, friends, grandkids, Grandparents, holding strong, Love, making friends, MARRIAGE, millennials, motherlode, Oregon, reunion, rules, school friends, seinfeld, stranger, wife, writer, writing