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MADE IN FOR THE WIN

April 1, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Made In cookware made it to my house in a roundabout way. When I called customer service there was nothing roundabout about it. I was left wishing every exchange could be so welcoming. Here’s how it went:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blogger, boomerpdx, customer service, education, learning, made in, story, wife, writing

READING FICTION IN DECLINE?

March 26, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Reading fiction has been in decline since the first person put a book down and said, “Not for me. Thanks.” A reader doesn’t finish every book. They don’t go into a library with the goal of reading everything. Maybe read everything one author ever wrote, but not everything from everyone. Which brings up one question:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: book, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, challenge, contemporary literary, education, family, fiction, fiction writer, James Joyce, learning, leisure reading, millennials, music, popular fiction, reading, reading fiction, story, well being, wife, William Faulkner, writer, writers, writing

PORTLAND PINK DAY

March 20, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: cherry blossoms, history, learning, Oregon, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, travel

END OF THE LINE . . . “ARE WE THERE YET”

March 18, 2026 by David Gillaspie

It’s one thing to see the end of line, a whole other to drive past the start in Newport, Oregon. If I have a full tank of gas I hit empty after 460 miles. Eight tanks later, give or take, I’d be in Boston. Might take a week of 500 mile freeway days, or two […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, American, boomerpdx, Boston, brainwashed life, degraded healthcare, education, end of the line, healthcare, hippie, learning, narrow minded, newport, Oregon, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, rhode island, selfish, stoner, story, thought-controlled, travel, wife

BIG TIME FOR BIG CITY PORTLAND, AND OREGON

March 11, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Big city Portland gets the name for being the biggest city in the state. How big? The next biggie, Eugene, is three times smaller, rounded up and down for 600k people in one, 200k in the other. (K = 1000)

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, big city, big city Portland, big time, boomerpdx, education, gravel road, learning, Oregon, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, story, travel, writer, writing

LUNAR NEW YEAR AND MORE IN PORTLAND

March 9, 2026 by David Gillaspie

My small group of five went to the Lunar New Year Parade in downtown Portland. Yes, that Portland. If you’ve heard about it and wonder, it’s not a smoldering city rocked by insurrection. But it was rocking. After living in bigger cities where most people visit and leave, including Portland, I was thrilled to see […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomers, city plan, downtown, dragon, drive, education, learning, lunar new year, museum, parking spot, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, portland china town museum, Portland Oregon, story, travel, writer, writers, writing

WE DON’T NEED NO EDUCATION, (FOR ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL)

March 8, 2026 by David Gillaspie

From twitterX: I get yelled at for saying this but for many hundreds of years people went to university not to get diplomas or be employable but because immersion in the humanities was considered foundational to a good life, and school must return to its original purpose: the joy of learning. Doesn’t that […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: college, college degrees, education, family, higher education, history, ivory tower, learning, learning experience, Love, millennials, no education, Oregon, Portland, Portland Oregon, story, university, vision, western history, writer, writers, writing

ELDERLY TRUTHS FROM OLD MAN

March 5, 2026 by David Gillaspie

I watched a video clip of an old man speaking elderly truths. He looked good in his v-neck sweater and button down collared shirt. He said he was ninety-one in the most sincere way. His talk was aimed at the younger crowd, you know, around seventy. Made me feel like a teenager.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: able bodied, America, architect, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, breaking news, builder, Death, education, elderly, elderly truths, family, good sense, history, learning, lego, mobility, old man, sports, story, truth, truths, work in progress, writer, writing

OLD SONG RINGS TRUE TODAY

March 4, 2026 by David Gillaspie

These are the opening lyrics of an old song, for what it’s worth: There’s something happening hereWhat it is ain’t exactly clearThere’s a man with a gun over thereA-telling me I got to beware That’s the name of the song, For What It’s Worth. Click the link for the live video.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, change, college, education, fuck ups, gangster, golden ticket, history, kids, learning, morons, old song, Oregon, Patty Hearst, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, revolution, Southern Oregon, story, travel, Vietnam, vietnam era, wife, writer, writers, writing

STORY SHAPE: MORE SAG IN THE MIDDLE?

March 3, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Story shape and physical fitness have that in common, the middle. From the beginning of ‘good fortune,’ the main character has a few moments until things dip downward. Think of the fanatical diet and exercise demon losing their edge in a Las Vegas buffet and taking off from the high dive into the Mexican, Italian, […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, beginning middle end, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, booze, drugs, education, learning, message, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, rejection, sex, story, story people, story shape, story weight, travel, wife, writer, writers, writing, WWII