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AGING FEAR FOR THE FIRST TIME

February 18, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Aging fear kicks in when you start wondering about tomorrow. Will you be there for it? Why wouldn’t you? Oh, that’s why.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: aging, aging fear, America, average, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, basketball, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, coach, dismissive, education, Fat, fear, football, good grandpa, high school, history, kids, learning, old man, old men, ordinary, seniors, soccer, sports, step up, story, teams, wife, wrestling, writer, writing

PLAY ACTING STOPPAGE

February 10, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Acting? Play acting? Playing? What’s the difference when an actor is playing a part? I’ve seen the difference from my third row center season tickets at The Armory. For years my wife and mother in-law were theater buddies, two outgoing ladies of a certain age parking underground, riding up in elevators, and walking the cement sidewalks […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: act, acting, acting bug, actors, America, american pie, american roots, authentic, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, comfort zone, education, emotional gamut, facebook, family, high school reunion, history, learning, masculine, meaningful life, northwest, northwest portland, roots, social, Social media, story, twitter, writer, writers, writing

HONOR CODE FOR WHEN YOU ‘KNOW BETTER’

February 2, 2026 by David Gillaspie

An ‘honor code’ has always sounded like a ‘pinky promise.’ That’s when someone tells a secret and you hook pinkies to never tell. Ever. Is a pinky promise bigger and more important than an honor code? Hmmmmm?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, buddies, buddy, buddy trip, fitness, friends, history, honor, honor code, leadership, learning, oath of office, pinky promise, responsibility, secret, story, travel, wife, writer, writing

REAL PEOPLE FROM HISTORY

February 1, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Real history gets more realistic when granddaughters tell about their family. I’ve got grandkids. Maybe you’ve got grandkids, too? Imagine them in the future, telling your story. What would it sound like? This comes from a comment on Stumbling Stones Of Harsh History:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blessing, civil service, crime, deported, education, Family history, firing squad, germany, grade school, historian, history, history book, holocaust, illegal arrests, leadership, learning, memories, people, read history, real history, real people, Stolpersteines, stumbling stones, writer, writers, writing, WWII, wwii history

STUMBLING STONES OF HARSH HISTORY

January 30, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Last night I learned about Stumbling Stones, or Stolpersteine. They are memorial bricks laid for Holocaust victims at the last place they voluntarily lived before being deported for execution. Our friends told the story of the journey to their family’s former home in Germany, once known as East Prussia. They found the Stolpersteines outside the […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, education, family, family members, future historians, helper, historians, history, holocaust, holocaust witness, learning, policeman, sentimentals, soldier, story, travel, twitter, wife, witness, writer, writers, writing

ORDINARY MEN: RESERVE POLICE BATTALION 101 REVIEW

January 28, 2026 by David Gillaspie

After watching a portion of a documentary on German Reserve Police Battalion 101 I’m left with concerns. As the story is told on Netflix, ordinary men were recruited into police work. The idea of joining a police staff was better than going to the front. The guys selected got some extra training, then loaded up […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Alex pretti, America, americans, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, Constitution, Death, die, dog song, due process, education, father, fellow citizens, following, following orders, friends, government, history, holocaust, killing, learning, liberty, life, mass killing, mother, murderers, neighbors, orders, ordinary men, police battalion 101, property, sing, singing, true americans, writer, writers, writing, WWII

THE MOVIE DANCE NO ONE ASKS FOR

January 27, 2026 by David Gillaspie

This is a movie dance we all ask for. HOOWA. The one’s we don’t ask for? Sonny Corleone at the tollbooth, Bonnie and Clyde in the car, all getting hosed.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, dance of death, Death, drama, education, feeling, firing squad, goya, guns, historical events, history, learning, movie dance, movies, writer, writers, writing

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

DOG WALKING FOR BEGINNERS

January 22, 2026 by David Gillaspie

This is the dog for dog walking, also known as ‘my dog.’ She gets excited for a walk, but only if you go as far as she wants to go. Go too far, make the wrong turn, and she sits down until you make the right turn. Quite a dog, the best dog I’ve ever […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, dog, dog walking, dogs, education, facebook, family, history, learning, MARRIAGE, old ladies, older people, story, travel, twitter, Walking, writer, writers, writing

GOLDEN SILENCE? WHAT’S THAT ALL ABOUT

January 20, 2026 by David Gillaspie

I’ve experienced golden silence? Nooooo. But I’ve come close. Like the time I woke up in a tent while spending the night on a mountain I’d climbed. So quiet, at first, then the sniffing sound. Since it was Alaska, it may have been a bear. I was silent.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: ashamed, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Bob Dylan, education, ethnic cleansing, facebook, fighting, friendship, GUITAR, historical reminder, history, JFK, learning, military bases, modern nations, muhammad Ali, music, NW Portland, open mic, President Eisenhower, President Kennedy, profound effect, rolling stone, sing, song, story, twitter, unread blog, writer, writers, writing, WWII