future Archives • DAVIDPDX

page contents Google

WHY AUTHENTIC MUSEUMS STILL MATTER

January 3, 2026 by David Gillaspie

I’ve been inside authentic museums of all kinds, from the Gene Autry Museum of the American West, to the Petersen Automotive Museum, to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. They all come with a suspension of disbelief. Does everything have to be perfect? Noooooo. But they do have to be authentic.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, American History, american museums, artifacts, authentic, authentic museums, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blogger, boomerpdx, education, future, go wrong, historical artifacts, history, ignorance, Love, make sense, millennial kids, museum, museums, passive ignorance, read, responsible, story, travel, uncertain future, where is this going, woolworths, work it out, write, writer, writers, writing

FAMILY TREE BRANCH OF RICHARDSONS

December 7, 2025 by David Gillaspie

As people age up and out they look for meaning in different places. Where some look to DNA, others shake the family tree. That’s what my Grandma did years ago. This is what dropped out:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: admiral, admiral richardson, Army, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, club life, December 7, education, family tree, following orders, future, general, general richardson, history, illegal orders, learning, Navy, orders, Pearl Harbor, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Texas state historical association, WWII

LONELY PEOPLE: FROM HEMINGWAY TO AMERICA

October 27, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The answer: lonely people. The question: What does the band America have in common with Ernest Hemingway? Their bond comes from both ends of male adulthood, young man to old man. One sang about them, the other wrote about them. By now baby boomers are both.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: adulthood, aging, America, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, Cat Stevens, Ernest Hemingway, family, future, GUITAR, history, loneliness, lonely, lonely people, mistake, neil young, old man, relationship, travel, writer, writing, wrong thinking

HUMAN PROJECT OF YOU

August 16, 2025 by David Gillaspie

A human project is easy to find. They’re all around because everyone is a project in some stage of completion. The secret? It’s never complete, but there are signs of progress.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, better performance, BOOMER, future, good times, grace, granddad, helpful, human, human project, husband, joyfully, kids, Kurt Vonnegut, memory, Moana, movie night, nice, normal, parents, remember, sharing, Social media, today is the day, wife, work in progress

CLEAN WORK OR CLEANING WORK

September 23, 2023 by David Gillaspie

Clean work sounds like something you do in a clean room. Or an office. Wherever you don’t get dirty. Those jobs come with a number of names: clerk, assistant, manager, department head.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: clean, clean room, cleaner, cleaning work, future, housekeeping, sewage, shared future

GRASSROOTS WORK FOR THE NEAR FUTURE

September 20, 2023 by David Gillaspie

Grassroots work for the future is making noise. In our digital age ‘grassroots’ means something different than other times. The Attention Economy asks but one question: “Can you make me care about your cause?”

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: american climate corps, attention economy, Barry rodgers, big ask, blogger, boomerpdx, climate, climate change, earthshot 2023, foundation for the future, future, grassroots, grassroots work, near future, picture greater, president biden, prince william, readers, Renaissance Man

PORTLAND DRIVER ON A CABINET SEARCH

February 17, 2023 by David Gillaspie

What does a Portland driver do when an IKEA bathroom cabinet doesn’t match the moment? And you live in a Portland, Oregon zip code? Go on a Portland road mission for the right junk. Warning: The time and effort spent is the real object, not the end result. You know, the ‘life is journey’ stuff. […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: cabinet search, dramatize, Fremont Bridge, future, north portand, Oregon, Oregon History, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, portland competition, portland driver, Portland memory, Portland Oregon, portland road, portland road mission, portland streets, portland' future

FUTURE PLANS? CHOOSE THE RIGHT PATH

March 20, 2022 by David Gillaspie

Who is making plans for the future? Now that the covid pandemic is over, now that there’s world peace, and you’ve reached your life goals, the future looks bright? Not so fast, my hopefuls.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: covid pandemic, fox news, future, future plans, happy ending, hate, life goals, magical thinking, magically disappear, right path, trump, world peace

FATHER TIME ON THE MARCH EVERY DAY, EVEN FATHER’S DAY

June 19, 2021 by David Gillaspie

When I was a kid, Father Time looked like my Grandpa. It helped that my Grandpa looked like President “I Like Ike” Eisenhower. I was six years old in 1960 when things changed. The new president looked more my dad’s age. The big job went from the Supreme Allied Commander Europe five star Army general, […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: aging audience, Army, carter, Eisenhower, father time, father's day, fear, future, insurrection, Kennedy, Navy, Nixon, old man, reagan, young audience

BETTER DAYS AND THE RANDOM MOMENTS THAT INSPIRE THEM

March 23, 2021 by David Gillaspie

We had a table discussion about historic moments that led to better days. Four adults, three of whom don’t like things called table discussion. Me: But we’re at the table. One in the group gave their version of a history and moved on. But another in the group made a correction. The rest of group […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: AGENT ORANGE, AR-15, better days, covid pandemic, future, hope, inspire, insurrectionists, mental health, prison, Vietnam War