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WAY OF LIFE. WHOSE WAY OF LIFE?

February 20, 2026 by David Gillaspie

I hear the words ‘way of life’ and automatically think of tribes deep in the Amazon who have never been out of the jungle. Instead of the variety of life found in America, I go straight to pre-contact indigenous people, who of course have had contact since we know of them. Pre-contact? Amazon jungle? In […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: air quality, America, Baby Boomer blogger, Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, blog, blogger, BOOMER, boomerpdx, breathing, clothing, common needs, Costco, debilitating disease, disease, education, food, history, inner city, learning, MARRIAGE, Maslow's hierarchy, New Seasons Markets, new york, old guy, older, older adult, paris, precolumbian, recontact, Robert Moses, shelter, sleep, story, urban, water, Way of life, wife, writer, writing

GROWN MEN GROW UP, EVENTUALLY

August 4, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Eventually, grown men grow up and get with the program. They try to resist, but as we’ve learned, resistance is futile. So turn your hat around, stop the online sports betting, and make someone proud. Put on your big boy pants one leg at a time and stand for something. But what? Let’s take a […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: adult male, ambitious, ambitious woman, bachelor pad, better example, better life, BOOMER, Coos Bay, grow, grow up, grown men, hippie, historical, long haul, message, new york, older adult, Oregonian, Portland, portland pad, pushed, short haul, sports betting, stoned, stoned hippie, test of time

WHO IS JUST A POOR BOY?

March 2, 2025 by David Gillaspie

I am just a poor boyThough my story’s seldom toldI have squandered my resistanceFor a pocketful of mumblesSuch are promisesAll lies and jestStill a man hears what he wants to hearAnd disregards the rest

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: break up, choice, new york, paul simon, philadelphia, poor boy, Portland, Portland Oregon, ragged people, ragged quarters, sharp, still sharp, the boxer, white flight

NEW YORKER THURSDAY IN THE MAIL, A LESSON IN READING

October 4, 2024 by David Gillaspie

The New Yorker magazine is my only subscription and I’m surprised how much fun it is. I actually look forward to it, which has been a surprise over the past year. I know what I’m doing on New Yorker Day:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: adulting, books, cartoons, cinema, college, context, education, English major, fiction writing, history major, literary duty, literature, magazine, new york, new yorker, news writing, on television, reading, subscription, the theater, writing

ACCEPTABLE TOPICS SCROLLING TWITTER

September 21, 2024 by David Gillaspie

The notion of acceptable topics on twitter suggests there are unacceptable topics? Since it is the internet, you’ll find more than enough of both. You can find the funniest post you’ll see all day, and the saddest. But maybe we can skip the rampant bullshit?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: acceptable topics, hipster, new york, philadelphia, Portland, scrolling, scrolling twitter, Social media, subliminal advertising, subway, topics, twitter, twitter boss, twitter scroll, unacceptable topics

MIDNIGHT TRAIN GOING ANYWHERE?

August 10, 2024 by David Gillaspie

The midnight train is always going somewhere. You and I? Not so much. Oh, we’re going somewhere, too, but we don’t know where that is. And we’re not supposed to.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: angry girl, approval, city boy, daily news, family, girlfriend, lifetime, lonely world, manhattan, married, midnight train, movie, my boys, my story, new york, one woman, Portland, small town, the future, west Africa

MICRO MEMOIR II: LEAVING TOWN CHRISTMAS PARTY

April 20, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Leaving town used to be easy, if I remember right. Pack a bag, get in a car, hop on bus, and leave. “I’ll be there in a few days.” Same story going out to Brooklyn as leaving:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: back talk, books, brooklyn, Christmas party, dance, eat, exotic, food, italian, leaving town, library, made men, MARRIAGE, marriage material, memoir, micro memoir, new york, New York City, office buzz, office job, Penn station, relationship, shit talk, subway, sweet talk, talk, talking, Wall Street, write, writer, writing

TEFLON DON TO VELCRO DON

January 27, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Teflon Don was the name given to John Gotti for his slipperiness with law enforcement. Nothing stuck. They had the old gangster right up until it mattered. But he didn’t fit the old gangster mold. The big guy worked another angle. For this post I use only the most impeccable sources.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: blog, blogger, boomerpdx, brooklyn, camine galante, celebrity, conspiracy, criminal trials, dapper don, education, gangster, guilty, John gotti, jury, law enforcement, new york, new yorker, old gangster, prison, racketeering, tax evasion, teflon don, throat cancer, trump, writer, writers, writing

EFFICIENT DEXTERITY FOR DIFFICULT TIMES

November 16, 2023 by David Gillaspie

Efficient dexterity means different things to different people? Like everything you try for the first time, or the millionth time, always remember one thing: Everyone is different and what matters to you and I doesn’t matter for everyone else. If you’re reading this I’m bunching you with my other readers. “BUNCH.” Now we’re all gathered […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: blog, blogger, boomerpdx, bridge, Bridge City, change, David Gillaspie, difficult times, efficient dexterity, hope, land use, look around, new york, North Bend, Oregon, Portland, Portland Oregon, provincial, super power, the New Yorker, tunnel, writer, writing

TRANSPORTATION DIARY: PUBLIC RIDES

July 16, 2023 by David Gillaspie

A transportation diary clears up what is and what isn’t public transportation. It’s a bus, or a train, not your mom’s mini van. How many times have you counted on public transportation? My first daily bus ride started in Philadelphia.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: bus, bus buddies, commuter, diary, new york, Oregon, philadelphia, Portland, Portland Oregon, public transportation, social event, subway, transportation, transportation diary