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HISTORY BEGINNER: COMMON BASICS FROM UNCOMMON BLOGGER

October 15, 2019 by

Long stories blur into each other the more they’re told. Eventually a common thread emerges. I’m a history beginner, you’re a history beginner, we all be history beginners. If you don’t agree, then visit a new place, a place where you don’t speak the language, a place with different food, where you essentially throw yourself […]

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FRENCH PRESS IN THE MORNING AND RICK STEVES HISTORY

September 19, 2019 by

I noticed the French press in the sidewalk restaurants one Paris local said cost $100K in fees for table rights. Tight stadium seating from one place to the next looked formidable, but not to Rick Steves fans. Stadium seating? All eyes forward in most cases, but what’s to see? Traffic, on foot and in cars, […]

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TIME MOVES ON WITH A DEGREE OF SADNESS

August 30, 2019 by

Time moves on when you see is a collection of kid bikes, the same collection Toys R Us sold. The same bikes the rich kids rode, the hand-me-down bikes, and the bikes kids rode into teen hood. Lots of bikes going one place: The scrap yard.

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WHAT’S SO GREAT ABOUT JAY GATSBY?

August 28, 2019 by

The Great Gatsby patrols the modern world with Jay Gatsby walking point. (Just finished Hemingway’s Movable Feast. Scott Fitzgerald came in at the end. He and Papa were buddies in Paris before Zelda slipped a gear. In 2011 Paula McLaine wrote a novel called The Paris Wife about the same time. Read both books for […]

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PORTLAND PICTURE TO THE REST OF THE WORLD

August 27, 2019 by

The Portland picture shows up after you forget about the beach, the river, the mountain. People show up to see the city sparkle and shine like the pictures they’ve seen in tourist magazines for fine living in the great Northwest, Portland pictures that seem to say, “Join us in reverence of our beautiful discovery.” Portland […]

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FASHION FORWARD: HOW TO DRESS AMERICA

August 15, 2019 by

Lady Liberty greeted my in-laws when they sailed on the Queen Elizabeth from England to Canada showing them how to dress America. She wore the same frock then as she does now with diagonally draped material pinned to her left shoulder and her bare right arm raised overhead holding the torch of liberty. It’s been […]

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ART HISTORY BASED ON THE GYM HUSTLE

July 31, 2019 by

Art history is a funny place to start a post, especially when it’s not about art or history. A man working out with women said: Nude male bodies are sort of gross, all hairy and lumpy, not like women who are smooth and sleek. The guy got some kudos from the ladies for his observation, […]

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HISTORY CLASS NEEDS AUTHENTICATION, VERIFICATION

July 6, 2019 by

My father in law was a big history class fan; he gave his own history a good spin. The man had been everywhere and done everything, driven every kind of rig that’s ever been made, flown airplanes in every war that had airplanes. His stories were familiar the first time I heard them when my […]

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BON JOVI TABLE vs BAND TABLE

June 14, 2019 by

Bon Jovi table versus the band table had a nice feel to it, like the Sharks and Jets in Westside Story, except without the dancing. One table is all in for one of the sexiest rockers to ever take the stage. Women love him, men want to be him. The other table worked the moment […]

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What’s Better Than A Garden Party? Eight Garden Parties

June 3, 2019 by

Forest Grove Opens Their Yards For Friends Of History The most important part of a garden tour, or yard walk, is avoid comparing every stop to your yard. Yes, you’ve done incredible yard work and you’re proud as a pick axe the way it turned out, the same pick axe you broke your water line […]

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