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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

RISK AVOIDANCE FOR WASHINGTON POST IN BEZOS’ WORLD? WRITER PLEASE

February 8, 2026 by David Gillaspie

The only risk avoidance for the Washington Post firings, layoffs, retirements? Avoid holding their place at the top of the print media pyramid. No matter the metric, The Washington Post was among the top five, if not top three with The NY Times and Wall Street Journal. Maybe it will stay up there, but not […]

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FIGURE THINGS OUT BY WRITING THEM DOWN? OKAY BOOMER

February 6, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Is it true you can figure things out by writing them down, or is there more to it? Who said, “I don’t know what I think until I write it down?” Who? Don’t panic, it was Joan Didion. I know questions make some people nervous. (Me) From National Public Radio:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, challenge, current trend, digital platform, education, facebook, figure things out, fitness, grade school, historical context, Joni Mitchell, learning, life, married, merry go round, national public radio, NPR, ok boomer, Oregon, pacific northwest, personal blog, poison, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, questions, story, travel, twitter, wife, 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 […]

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NATIONAL PRIDE FROM THE BACK ROW

January 29, 2026 by David Gillaspie

The idea of national pride usually comes from where you were brought up, and who raised you. My sense of things comes from growing up in small town America, raised by parents who came from even smaller towns. The sophisticate in the family was Grandma, who grew up in Dallas, Texas, graduated high school as […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: academic, America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blogger, boomerpdx, education, facebook, Great Depression, IQ, learning, Love, national, national pride, parents, personal pride, pride, proudest parents, public education, scholarship, sorority, sorority sister, story, teacher, twitter, write, writer, writers, writing, WWII, young adults

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

CAREFUL PLANNING TAKES TIME

January 26, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Planning, careful planning, is an essential element to all caring relationships. Especially the relationship you have with yourself, your inner-world with your inner-voice on a continuous narrative. ‘Let’s do this, then that, but this before that. And only on the weekend.’ What kind of a plan is that, a beer drinker’s weight loss plan? Nooooooo, […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, careful planning, crowds, education, fitness, good husband, historically accurate, history man, husband, Jan 6, kids, learning, Love, MARRIAGE, marriage of misery, married, moral guidance, moral guide, morals, more relevant, plan accordingly, planning, Portland Oregon, relationships, relevant, story, wife, writer, writers, writing