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CALDWELL COUNTY BBQ? HOLY COW

April 3, 2026 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

This is Jimmy in the Caldwell County BBQ pit in Gilbert, Arizona. I was waiting for the occupied Men’s Room when we struck up a chat that was more historical than most history classes. He’s been running the show for a few years with the huge smokers, about five of them going full blast. On […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Arizona, bbq, bbq pit, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, burned bean, caldwell county, caldwell county bbq, food, gilbert arizona, historical, history, history class, learning, Love, Texas, wife

OLD WORDS FIND NEW MEANING

March 6, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Old words and images find new meaning in our quick paced modern world, but a naked kid stomping the head of his vanquished foe Goliath always carries the same message: Go, David, Go. He’s the unlikely underdog facing insurmountable odds and coming through. (You can do it.) Did young Dave need to kick the ball […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: concentration camp, Cromwell, cromwellian, cruel, cruelty, death camp, decency, due process, greek myths, historical, history, holocaust, imprison, law and order, mass detention, Meaning, mythology, prison, prisoners

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

UNDEREDUCATED, OVEREDUCATED, OR JUST RIGHT

January 9, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Growing up, everyone is undereducated. From five, to fifteen, to twenty-five, the learning curve is steep. After high school, you’re done? Noooo. After a bachelor’s degree, your done? Nooooo After a professional degree, or graduate degree, you’re done? After all the learning, no matter how far you get, or how long it takes, we come […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, blogging superstar, boomer blogger, boomers, bot traffic, common standards, Death, dignity, education, facebook, google, google AI, historical, history, just right, learning, mistrust, Oregon, overeducated, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, portland shooting, standards, story, twitter, undereducated, wife, writer, writers, writing

HISTORY MAJORS DECLINING? SO WHAT

September 15, 2025 by David Gillaspie

History majors in decline is the story. ‘So what,’ is the response. Is there a historical reason for this? There’s always a historical reason for everything. Here’s the ‘so what’ part for you:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: anger, baby boomer, blame, boomer brain, college, cultural, dropout, education, emotional response, extra money, family, family event, fools, fun, help, higher education, historical, history, history major, history majors, learning, male emotion, school, shared conclusion, strike out, time, touchstone . cultural touchstone

GROWN MEN GROW UP, EVENTUALLY

August 4, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Eventually, grown men grow up and get with the program. They try to resist, but as we’ve learned, resistance is futile. So turn your hat around, stop the online sports betting, and make someone proud. Put on your big boy pants one leg at a time and stand for something. But what? Let’s take a […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: adult male, ambitious, ambitious woman, bachelor pad, better example, better life, BOOMER, Coos Bay, grow, grow up, grown men, hippie, historical, long haul, message, new york, older adult, Oregonian, Portland, portland pad, pushed, short haul, sports betting, stoned, stoned hippie, test of time

LOOKING BACK TO SEE IF YOU WERE LOOKING

July 16, 2025 by David Gillaspie

I was looking back recently after hearing how great things used to be. Baby boomers had it so easy you could buy a house and two cars and a boat and send three kids to college on a part-time paper route for a weekly publication. As a result the entire generation grew lazy and complacent:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: camel cigarettes, draft lottery, historical, historical references, hood to coast, looking back, looking back to see, marathon, Oregon, Portland, Portland Oregon, run away, running, Salems, smoke, smokers, sports, stepping out, stepping up, story, summer of love, tobacco, vietnam war draft

HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS FROM WWII

July 11, 2025 by David Gillaspie

I’m full of historical reflections because I read sources from history, also called history books. Those were the main readings for graduating with a history degree. It also helps to have spent two decades in historical agency work. The lasting lesson for me was seeing both sides of a story and how close things came […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: D-Day, Dunkirk, facing history, following orders, hiroshima, historical, historical accuracy, historical documentaries, history stuff, loyalty, Pearl Harbor, peer pressure, teamwork, Tokyo bay, war crimes, WWII

MORE LIGHT FOR BETTER VISION

July 3, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Better vision comes from two places at 70: It’s either understanding things better, or cataract surgery. Let’s go with understanding things better today. What do you need to see?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: adapt, better vision, broken loyalty, broken promise, broken trust, celebrity, change, click driven, do more, good fortune, historical, history, influencer, nerd dance, nerds, online world, salute, sour feeling, understanding, vision

CLEAN SLATE? IT’S NOT TOO LATE

April 20, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The clean slate, the fresh start, is possible every day. Start over, begin again, it happens every day. That’s a picture from the night I met The Schonz. He was a sassy old bird with a firm grip. He gave me a clean slate for any other famous Portlander I might meet.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: begin again, blog, blogger, clean slate, Easter, education, every day, fresh start, happy easter, historical, MARRIAGE, millennials, old bird, old man, Oregon, sassy, start over, wife, writers