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BOOMERPDX BLOG APPRECIATION SUNDAY

July 12, 2026 by David Gillaspie 2 Comments

On this blog appreciation Sunday I high five Thomas Wolfe for good luck. Again. The wife and I found him at home in Asheville, North Carolina. We parked the car, got something out of the trunk, and spent a few hours in the museum and the Old Kentucky Home around the block. We came back […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: attention, attention economy, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blog appreciation, boomer blogger, boomerpdx appreciation, contributors, Death, dull, education, learning, Oregon, readers, rewriting, Social media, subscribers, Thomas Wolfe, writer, writers, writing

BOOK POWER TO BRAIN POWER

July 11, 2026 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

We were talking about books the other day, talking about book power, in our little salon. You know it’s a salon when the other people have thousands of books in their home after a downsize. How do you downsize a book collection? Don’t ask me, I just make another bookcase, but there comes a time.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: book, book decoration, books, books by the foot, boomer blogger, cook books, deep reading, education, history, history books, learning, library, Love, Oregon, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, reading, research, Salon, scholarship, smithsonian, Social media, story, travel, travel books, writer, writers, writing

PORTLAND RECHARGE PRIMER

July 10, 2026 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

Walk down Broadway and you can feel the Portland pulse, the Portland recharge, which is no surprise when you see the volcano map. But, more than that, the city feels primed for a renaissance, a Portland Renaissance. And that means an Oregon Renaissancea? . . . new growth of activity or interest in something, […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, BOOMER, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, education, imagination, learning, Love, millennials, mind boggling, Oregon, oregon renaissance, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, portland doors, Portland Oregon, portland recharge, Portland Renaissance, story, travel, wife, writer, writers, writing

JOIN OREGON HISTORY FOR THE PEOPLE

July 9, 2026 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

Oregon history is full of familiar names and places we remember from Mrs. Kraus’ third grade class. Statues around the state show them as they were. Their exploits are logged in libraries and museums. The Oregon Historical Society at 1200 SW Park, Portland Oregon is both museum and library. That’s a 2 for 1 if […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, education, historical society, learning, libraries, MARRIAGE, memories, millennials, museums, Oregon, oregon historical society, Oregon History, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, travel, wife, writer, writers, writing

NAME RECOGNITION IN AMERICA EXPLAINED, TO BE OR NOT

July 8, 2026 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

Two nights ago I watched Hamnet from the blue velvet couch. It’s about Shakespeare, which isn’t a spoiler. At least it shouldn’t be. With one of the more helpful movie openings, it explained that Hamnet and Hamet are the same name. The same. So I was set. Hamnet it is?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: belgium, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, college, denmark, education, family, feeling, Florsheim shoes, france, german, hippies, learning, Love, millennials, music, Oregon, paella, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, problems, Shakespeare, social change, Social media, Spain, spanish rice, story, travel, twitter, Vietnam War, wife, writer, writers, writing

NOT LOST, BUT STILL A HISTORY OF LOSING

July 7, 2026 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

You are not lost if you still have enough gas in the tank and sunlight in the sky to keep going. But, not everyone agrees. I chalk it up to those who’ve experienced enough losing to know the symptoms. They’ve seen losers, been losers, and know what they’re talking about when they call you a […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: attention, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, Death, education, facebook, family, fitness, history, interests, kids, learning, lost, Love, not lost, personal history, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, real life, Social media, wife, writer, writers, writing

PIECES OF A LIFE TOGETHER, AND ‘THE PAST’

June 30, 2026 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

If you spend enough time with someone you may eventually get the feeling of living a life, of sharing a life, together. With that in mind, why wait until the last minute to get, or give, the flowers. Is there a plan for how to do that? How do two people put those pieces together? […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, education, facebook, family, feeling, fitness, good husband, history, husbandry, learning, life together, living a life, Love, MARRIAGE, marriage husbandry, married, millennials, Oregon, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, sharing, Social media, story, the past, together, tranquillity, travel, wife, writer, writers, writing

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF NATURAL MEDICINE: THE DOCTORS ARE IN

June 27, 2026 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

From a distance the ribbon cutting for the National University Of Natural Medicine appeared as yet another civic event in Portland, Oregon. Speakers spoke, ribbons cut, cheers all around. It was all of that and so much more, like overcoming impossible odds. And yet . . .

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, doctor, education, history, learning, Love, millennials, National College of Natural Medicine, natural medicine, nature, Naturopathic Doctor, naturopathic medicine, ND, Oregon, oregon renaissance, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, ribbon cutting, writer, writers, writing

THE PROPER PERSPECTIVE TO WRITING AN EVERYDAY BLOG

June 25, 2026 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

An everyday blog is just what it sounds like: Every. Day. Like most things worth pursuing, it takes tenacity and creativity to make something worth writing into something worth reading. No problem, write. Right? But, there’s more.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Army, Baby Boomer blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, creativity, culture, culture shock, dream, education, English major, everyday blog, facebook, family, history, late seventies, learning, life, Love, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, proper perspective, Social media, tenacity, travel, wax museum, wife, writer, writer dream, writer's block, writers, writing, youtube

BEER BELLY, BEER GUT, THEN WHAT

June 24, 2026 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

I’m working on a beer belly reduction plan, which means what? Drink less beer, what else? I was lamenting my loss after meeting a new guy who fixed broken guitar amps in his garage. Me: I think the signs are lining up to loose my gut.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, beer, beer barrel, beer belly, beer drinkers, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, bruges belgium, Costco, Deschutes Brewery Inc, drinkers, drinking beer, education, friends, history, kirkland lager, learning, Love, married, pilsner beer, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, stella Artois, story, travel, wife, writer, writers, writing