page contents Google

SPORTS LITERACY FOR BOOMERS: KNOW WHEN ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Sports literacy runs through all sports, not just your favorite team, or my favorite team, though that would make things so much easier. It’s more than the Yankees, the Cowboys, or the Celtics; more than the Mariners, Seahawks, and your Portland Trail Blazers. On Friday nights it’s more than the high school football playoffs, more […]

SELF INTEREST? DON’T FORGET THE ‘ENLIGHTENED’ PART

‘Self interest’ is the biggest driver in human history. Think about it. Self + Interest = “Waddabout me?” But, you know this. They aren’t cuss words, or accusations, like ‘selfish interest,’ or, ‘selfish bastard,’ because this is where the enlightened part is supposed to kick in. “Enlightened self interest,” or, “Whaddabout me and you?” That’s […]

FEELINGS MATTER, A REVIEW OF WHY ON SAUVIE ISLAND

Feelings matter when you see yourself in a forty year old reflection. In the image I’m looking through a window with another window shining on the other side. Every year for decades a crew would go to Sauvie Island and prepare a historical house for the upcoming season. Every room was cleaned, inventoried, and filled […]

EVIL HISTORY IS TOO PAINFUL FOR STUDENT READING?

Evil history includes a list of everything you wish you’d never heard of. It’s the story of man’s injustice to his fellow man, and woman, and non-binary person. If you’ve lived long enough, you’ve heard some evil history; add a few more years and you’ve lived some of it, and the aftermath. Everyone has a […]

HISTORY MATTERS WHEN YOU’RE NOT LOOKING

History matters more to history majors? We like to think so, but history matters to everyone else, too. It matters with personal history, house history, town history, business history, and the big history between nations. The key to remember is that it always starts small. And it starts with one question: What happened?

LIFE STORIES: WHEN PERSONAL HISTORY IS NOT ENOUGH

Life stories come in every form and flavor from hot to cold, bland to sassy, truthful to made up. Tell the same stories long enough to the same people and they start to wonder: “How many times have we heard this stuff?” “Do they know they’ve told the same story over and over?” If you’ve […]

HISTORICAL ADVICE: THIS IS WORTH SOMETHING, ISN’T IT

Historical advice usually comes from a book, or a class where some gray bearded funky old man in a musty suit jacket rambles on and on in a cloud of dandruff. Doing history is different than studying history. History museums Do History for everyone else. Museum visitors walk from exhibit to exhibit, floor to floor, […]

NO PHOTO ZONE? 3 PLACES YOU DON’T WANT TO FIND YOURSELF

The No Photo Zone is bigger than three, but something happened recently to link historical and cultural events. Three days ago an old man paid the piper for: Doing a job in 1940’s Germany. Even now people get arrested for their concentration camp guard pasts.

WORK RELATIONSHIPS: BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END

Work relationships usually begin when you start a job and meet everyone. And you’re the new guy, the FNG. Then you settle in and do the work. Until one day someone doesn’t show up. They don’t show up the next day either. Then it happens. You’re no longer the new guy once a replacement for […]

RED BROOM FOR SWEEPING 2020 HISTORY

When a big red broom makes all the difference: W.C Fields said, “I once spent a year in Philadelphia. I think it was a Sunday.” He’s got the time-bender figured out better than Einstein after 2020. Has your world felt like a Philadelphia Sunday this year, too? If you read blogs for new ideas, here’s […]