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BUSY LIFE IN THE FAST LANE, PASSING LANE, OR . . .

March 28, 2026 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

A busy life means making a difference to someone, to something, to somewhere. Take your pick. Pick more than one. What you can’t pick is anyone else’s priorities for their busy life. You can try, but why?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, beer, blogger, boomerpdx, busy group, busy life, busy people, cigarettes, do your part, dui, fast lane, good health, grandkids, health, kids, life, Love, love train, passing lane, wife, writer, writing

FOOD PREP MARATHON: BIRTHDAY BRUNCH

November 9, 2025 by David Gillaspie

My food prep marathon lasted three days. The images here come from a tasty night in LA to set the mood. I’ve had other cooking marathons, but this one combines a few of them. It began with the idea of hosting a breakfast brunch. Hmmmm ? ? ?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: alcohol, Baby Boomer blogger, birthday, birthday brunch, blog, blogger, BOOMER, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, boomers, brunch, cheers, cooking, drinking, education, family, granddad, grandkids, history, kids, learning, Love, men, millennials, Oregon, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, variety, women, writer, writing

PORTLAND SATURDAY IN EARLY AUGUST

August 3, 2025 by David Gillaspie

This Portland Saturday started last year when we missed the big group holiday night out. Yesterday began in the home kitchen chopping up five ingredient guacamole. Followed by strawberry margarita testing for the arrivals on their way. Hmmm, needs more of something. Tequila?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: cocktail, date night, dive bar, division, event planning, grandkids, Hawthorne, hipster, impaired, kids, making problems, MARRIAGE, marriage material, Mississippi, NW Portland, organizationally impaired, origin story, portland intersection, Portland plan, portland Saturday, SE Portland, urban dilettante, wife

“I HAD NO IDEA?” OK BOOMER

June 13, 2025 by David Gillaspie

At some point ‘no idea’ or ‘I have no idea’ is the wrong answer. You can use it as an excuse up to a point, up to a certain age, and it isn’t seventy. Too often I feel like I should have an answer to the hard questions, something better than raising the white flag […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: art, baby boomer, BOOMER, college, college degree, college education, education, granddad, grandkids, history, history of art, IDEA, knowledge, learned, learned answer, math, no idea, ok boomer, paris, qualification, resources, saint denis, science, works of art

CITIZEN JOURNALIST REPORTING ON TWITTER

June 3, 2025 by David Gillaspie

If you are a new ‘citizen journalist’ you should never scroll twitter. At certain times. As a seasoned writer, and speaking for all writers seasoning in their personal blogs, you need sources more reliable than x. The drumbeat over there is too tempting to tap a foot to. Don’t do it.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, attention span, baby boomer, Baby Boomer Generation, BOOMER, boring, citizen, citizen journalist, collateral damage, Death Benefit, grandkids, journalist, kids, literacy, lose interest, mass consumption, media, millennials, personal blogs, readers, reference, responsible writing, scroll twitter, seasoned writer, sensational expose, tweet, twitter, twitter deception, twitter hysteria, twitter post, war, writer

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

HUMAN ZOO OF SATURDAY PARKING

May 11, 2025 by David Gillaspie

I joined the human zoo on Saturday, a clear sky, warm weather, Oregon Zoo day with wife, kids, and grandkids. We weren’t alone. By 11 o’clock Lots A, B, C were all full. Was I flashing back to past parking nightmares? Maybe a little after driving a thousand miles in England, but I had a […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: animal rights, animals, DEI, diversity, elephant, equity, grandkids, human zoo, inclusion, kids, Oregon, Oregon Zoo, people watching, Portland, priceless, value, vietnam memorial, Washington Park, wife, zoo, zoo patron

HAPPY PLACE? KEEP LOOKING

February 12, 2025 by David Gillaspie

They say you’ll know your happy place when you get there. Who are ‘they?’ Happy people, that’s who ‘they’ are. Are they happy all the time? No, but . . .

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Army, Bill of Rights, blog, blogger, Constitution, declaration of independence, education, grandkids, happy place, history, keep looking, kids, making sense, marrieds, museum, museum manager, national archives, normal happy, rothko, smithsonian, travel, writer, writers, writing, WWII

TAKING TIME, MAKING TIME

September 28, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Taking time for the little things is something we’re supposed to do. Making time to get it right is always the challenge. In some worlds, maybe yours, time is elusive, slippery, until you get rewired one way or the other.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, beauty, blogger, Dad, energy, focus, grandkids, Grandparents, keep time, kid events, Love, make time, MARRIAGE, married, memory, Mom, nature, smart readers, take time, time, timing, travel, wife, writer, writing

REGRET FREE LIVING? OK BOOMER

May 7, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Regret free living is a goal to start out, then things change. One day anything is possible. The next? Not so much. Somehow we learn about our limitations, that we need to accept things as they are. But, correct me if I’m wrong, there’s still some wiggle room.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: 1000 words, accept things, big regrets, bigger, blog post, blogger, boomerpdx, commitment, couple, daughters, distill moments, endurance, family, faster, fortitude, grandkids, Hemingway, honeymoon, kids, king of the world, lift weights, limitations, lothario, MARRIAGE, married, mother's day, ok boomer, Portland, portland wedding, proposition, regret, regret free, reputation, run, sex, Social media, sports stars, stronger, strut, wedding, write, write more, writer, writing