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EXCITABLE BOY, THEY ALL SAID

March 5, 2025 by David Gillaspie

An excitable boy at age eighteen is a good thing. I had a great year at that age. Graduated from high school, got a summer job, hitch-hiked to Iowa and back. I left town for college, then turned nineteen and joined the Army the next fall like it was school. That’s where I saw older […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Army, berlin bunker, best results, blowhard, dangerous, excitable boy, exciting times, germany, historical documentaries, historical industry, history, history degree, human depavity, killers, machine guns, peer pressure, research, teachers, testosterone, Vietnam, WWII, young men

EXTRA EFFORT, BUT HOW MUCH?

March 1, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Extra effort is the rule, or so we hear. “If you want to be somebody, it will take more than you’re doing.” “If you want to succeed, work harder.” But some people are born lucky. Clint asks, “Do you feel lucky? Do you, punk?”

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, army recruit, backstory, competition, Drill Sergeant, effort, exhaustion, extra effort, football, germany, history, history degree, holocaust, leadership, motivation, story, strength, training, Violence, winning, wwi, WWII

THE SECOND PICK GOES FIRST? SOMETIMES

February 25, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The idea of a ‘second pick’ can be a way of life, not a mistake. You’re heard of ‘one hit wonders?’ That’s what they call a band that only reaches the stratosphere of popularity with one song, not an entire catalog. Most of the time we hear ‘second pick’ and think of professional sports drafts. […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: access, anthologyj, bandwagon, biggest mistake, blog, blogger, chronic loser, Dallas Cowboys, first pick, general history, history, hyped, monograph, national history, negotiation, North Bend Bulldogs, Oregon Ducks, personal history, primary sources, recorded, research, rights, second pick, shill, stories, trust, truth, Way of life, winners, world history, writer, writers, writing

GILBERT HOUSE IN SALEM: CHILDREN’S MUSEUM, ADULT PLAYTIME, OR BOTH

February 23, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The Gilbert House Children’s Museum is fun for kids, a way for them to see new things in a new context. Gather up the kids and grandkids for an afternoon of the usual? Nope, not at the Gilbert House. There’s something undeniably sweet going on there for the big kids, the adults.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: A.C. Gilbert, adult playtime, blogger, care, children's museum, dads, education, erector set, fun, Gilbert House, history, history degree, kids, learning, magic, magician, moms, museum, museum man, museum time, Phil Knight, playtime

STAYING COMPETITIVE, WITH YOURSELF

February 18, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Staying competitive can be a life goal. It means staying sharp, alert, ready. Being quietly competitive is one thing; you may bring out the best in you. Loud competition can be a problem, such as?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: apartment, Baby Boomers, blog, blog worthy, blogger, boomerpdx, boomers, dead, Death, education, Fat, fat and lazy, history, lazy, MARRIAGE, new jersey, North Bend, nostalgic, Oregon, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, single life, starter home, writer, writers, writing

ATTENTION SPAN DEBATE ON VALENTINES’S DAY: WHAT?

February 14, 2025 by David Gillaspie

A short attention span is normal? Older people like to joke about going into another room for some reason they can’t remember. It happens all the time, but there’s a hack: You have to stay in the room until you remember. That’s Michael Corleone wishing brother Fredo well.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: attention span, blog, blogger, boomerpdx, coment, debate, documentary, happy face, historical, history, Hubers, memories, museum, museum of you, Portland, Portlandia, Seahawk, valentine's day, wife, writer, writers, writing

LANGUAGE ARTS FOR THE WIN

February 13, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Language arts is the difference between the possible and the impossible. Can we return to childhood? Would you want to? Or . . .

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: art majors, blog, blogger, boomerpdx, childhood, dreams, english majors, fears, fight, history, history guy, hobbies, idioms, language arts, laughter, non-traditional student, profession, questions, Shakespeare, standard, unspoken rule, well informed, writer, writers, writing

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

CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS AND US

January 15, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Cultural institutions like new members. They like to get people involved and interested. It’s a good idea, unless you’re like me and had no idea what an institution is. Or what culture is. Now I know, and it’s just in time.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: cultural institutions, culture, fire department, go bag, historian, history, history guy, history museum, join, oregon historial society, safe, social institutions, society, wall of flame

MOUNT HOOD VIEW FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD

January 9, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The Mount Hood view is so good from the neighborhood that streets are named after it. That’s what you get in a town near a mountain. You could say a town near a mountain range since there’s also a view of Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams to the north, Mt. Jefferson to the south […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: cascades, city dirt, digging holes, dirt, downtown Portland, historian, history, hoodvista, local historian, mount hood, mountain, mountain climber, Mt.Adams, Mt.jefferson, mt.st.helens, neighborhood, Portland, Portland people, provincial view, Rocky mountains, suburban dirt