page contents Google

BOOK REVIEW: BLACK TAR HEROIN, SAM QUINONES, AND DREAMLAND

June 12, 2019 by

Do Millennials Hear Boomer Parents Talk About Black Tar Heroin And The Damage Done? Sam Quinones Says Not Much. The movie Traffic isn’t about black tar heroin. It’s heroin, though, and shows a group of affluent young people dealing with a friend’s drug overdose. They drop him on the sidewalk outside an Emergency Room and […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Learn The Tools, Then The Gun

May 27, 2019 by

War does one thing well, it gives a new vocabulary for death. One young man knew it front to back. “You’ve caught the best weather in Portland,” he said.  “Been too hot or too wet.  Not like this.” The weather?  It’s a start. He was built thick, maybe six feet tall. “Nice. After this I’m back […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

THIRD PLACE RANKING BEHIND HOME, WORK

May 6, 2019 by

Third place in sports is hard to celebrate, while third place in what passes for normal life is something to cheer for. At least that’s the idea. I celebrate third place in sports, the bronze medal, because only two others took things further. A third place in public life needs gold certification if you decide […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

PORTLAND FUTURE: WHAT TO EXPECT

April 18, 2019 by

What I want to see happen How many times have I driven over the Willamette River and looked at the Eastside thinking of what a Portland future could be? Every time. Early morning works best, especially if you’re leaving town for a short time. When I get back I don’t expect the freeway to be […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: , , , , , ,

STATE OF OREGON GETS BEAVER IN ’69

April 16, 2019 by

Too cute. Best of any state? Yes, it is.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: ,

PROMOTE AMERICAN FUTURE WITH AN AXE

April 14, 2019 by

Without getting into the details, I’ve somehow collected about fifteen axes. I’ve become an axe repository. Along with axes for wood, I’ve found six guitars around the house. I claim one. ‘Why the axes,’ I wonder when I add them all up. Then it came to me. America was built with an axe of one […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: , , ,

WHO LIES ABOUT ABANDONING NYC

March 19, 2019 by

I spoke to a woman recently who moved to Portland Oregon from Brooklyn New York, just casual conversation in a Safeway line. We had something in common since I moved here from the same place, though she didn’t start in North Bend Oregon. She was big city all the way with no perspective on the […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

WHAT I LEARNED BY STARTING A RANGE FIRE

March 15, 2019 by

Like how to put it out. During a high school sports trip a team in two vans drove through Wyoming. If memory serves, Wyoming was the closest state to Oregon selling fun fireworks like bottle rockets and firecrackers after a lifetime of sparklers and Piccolo Petes. Since we were high school guys in both vans, […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: , , , , ,

MONUMENTAL PUBLIC WORKS: FREMONT BRIDGE

March 2, 2019 by

What you see in the picture is the westside offramp off the Fremont Bridge here in Portland. I was cruising north on Front Ave past the Hawthorne Bridge, my most traveled Portland span across the Willamette, past the Morrison with it’s I-5 N access. The Burnside Bridge, Steel Bridge, Big Red passed by, and finally […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: , ,

PORTLAND URBAN LIFE REVERSE HISTORY: FROM 2-17-19 TO 2-13-17

February 18, 2019 by

The ultimate joy of aging gracefully is the grace part. I don’t feel a need to lash out at every wrong I’ve ever felt. At the same time I can’t listen very well to others working their own lash. I mean, who really knows what brings people to act the way they do? Well, I’ve […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: , , ,