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EVERY YEAR JAPAN GETS FURTHER AWAY FROM HISTORY

History is the story of winners. At least that’s who writes the first draft. Over the years the story changes; call it revisionist history. It’s not a bad thing if you’re not hiding God awful actions. America tries to open up history for all participants, for all the good it does. Now we know the […]

MILLENNIALS NEED BOOMER ‘LEAVING LESSON’

    Leaving Lesson for the younger generation? Stick around. Once upon a time solving problems was simple. If something didn’t go your way, you left. The first class for Leaving Lessons explains how it works. You’ll learn the best time to bail is not a year on a calendar, but an age. 20 – […]

KEN KESEY, SOMETIMES A GREAT OREGON IN KERNVILLE

Kernville house for Ken Kesey’s Sometimes A Great Notion In some parts of America I balk at driving the back roads. I drive on, but carefully. Those roads show more about a shared history if you look hard enough. The Siletz Highway, OR 229 headed east off of 101 north of Depoe Bay, is one […]

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS IMPROVE MEMORY

Memory problems? Let the Portland Trail Blazers help. This Easter a sign kept popping up: “At my age I can hide my own eggs and half an hour later won’t know where they are.” Ha. Ha. Ha? What’s so funny? I forget. Except memory loss is no laughing matter. You want to remember important things, […]

THE REAL WESTERN AMERICA OUT HERE IN OREGON

The real Western America isn’t Texas or California Readers around the world see the American west through movies. From John Wayne in his cowboy costume, to private eye Jack Nicholson in LA’s Chinatown, to policeman Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry franchise, they view the west through a distorted lens. Forget about the red rocks of Colorado, […]

DURABLE PORTLAND CAST IRON FINDS

    Portland cast iron over your head in an earthquake? It’s still art. I see the stuff and think health hazard. Cast iron is heavy enough on the ground, let alone falling any distance. That’s one of the cautions about historic preservation: save yourself first.

LEARNING FROM WHERE YOU LIVE, PT2: BABY BOOMER ERA

  The baby boomer era state of mind.   What is there to learn from the baby boomer era? Every passing year the nostalgia grows stronger, but that doesn’t change history. Consider the boomer time line from 1946-1964. The oldest boomers were twenty year olds in 1966. The youngest were twenty in 1984. My cohort […]

PORTLAND RENTS A LIFESTYLE, WHO PAYS THE FREIGHT

  One solution to rising Portland rents   At first tiny apartments got the shit because they went up in neighborhoods with streets jammed by normal parking. Now the micro havens are a solution, a reason for a drop in the rent crisis. And those bikes? Millennials and bikes and small apartments? It happens. Add […]

OREGON’S BIRTHDAY: WHAT YOU MISSED AT 158

  If you skip Oregon’s Birthday party, you’ll never know Oregon.   You read the same stories from around the country. People matching their vibe to a location show up in Portland. Families planning a big move, choosing between ten cities, come to Oregon because Portland checked all the right boxes. Students enroll in colleges […]

PERSONAL PRIDE vs MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS

Go ahead and be selfish just this once, keep your personal pride personal.   Who among us admits personal pride? Raise a hand. All up? Good. Pride for you and yours is a cornerstone of civilization, something to build on. You can tell personal pride people when you see them in full blossom. They wear […]