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UNDEREDUCATED, OVEREDUCATED, OR JUST RIGHT

Growing up, everyone is undereducated. From five, to fifteen, to twenty-five, the learning curve is steep. After high school, you’re done? Noooo. After a bachelor’s degree, your done? Nooooo After a professional degree, or graduate degree, you’re done? After all the learning, no matter how far you get, or how long it takes, we come […]

HARD RAIN FALLING, GUTTERS OVERFLOWING, NOW WHAT?

I’ve got a hard rain falling in drops you can see. Not the usual drizzle, not a sheet of water, but individual drops spaced and timed to perfection. It’s cold out, the kind of day that makes you think of other places you’ve heard about, seen on advertisements, the kind of cold and wet people […]

HOW TO OREGON DUCK FOOTBALL PLAYOFF AT AUTZEN

Oregon Duck football begins where all college football begins: on campus. This is the lovely yard we passed on the way to Autzen from Max’s Tavern in Eugene, Oregon. The place was hopping with Duck shirts, Duck jersey’s, and a few James Madison people. One in our group spent their college years at University of […]

HOW TO GROW A SENSE OF WONDER IN PORTLAND OREGON

Most of the time a sense of wonder in Portland means a painful memory from the days of old, of Meier and Frank downtown and the Georgian Room for tea. The place had a special aura during the holidays. The painful part? It hasn’t been there for years, Meier and Frank and the Georgian Room, […]

UNCHECKED SPEECH, GUARDED WORDS

If you’ve heard unchecked speech, then you know guarded words when someone says them. One might be a raving crack-head angling for another piece of the rock. The other might be a priest in a confessional. Each has their place, sometimes more than one place. There’s only one problem: If they switch back and forth […]

NORMAL HUMAN NEEDS. NORMAL?

Normal human needs seem pretty obvious? They aren’t much different than the other animals in the jungle. Air to breath. Clean water, shelter, clothing. The basics.

NO KITTY GENOVESE FOR YOU

Would an Oregonian save Kitty Genovese? A few years back a little boy in Portland, Oregon was accidentally left on a train platform. He made it home safely with his dad. A young woman stayed with him until his father returned, just a bystander who saw what happened and took time to care. Those few minutes ended happily; it […]

MAKING CHANGE, EXACT CHANGE

With regular money transactions heading toward ‘tap and go’, the people making change, giving exact change, are growing more rare. You’ll find them at the drive through window, picking through coins for just the right combination. “Here’s four quarters instead of a dollar,” they say. Or, “$6.50 for my grande latte half-caff with oat milk? […]

PUBLIC GOOD IS GOOD ENOUGH?

The idea of doing something for the ‘public good’ is a high standard in America. Why? Because the public, of which we’re all a part, is so broad. What’s good in one place is not so good in another, but no one talks about the ‘public bad’ as a goal. Or do they?

WE THE PEOPLE, NOT PEE-POLE

‘We the People’ are the difference makers others count on. Maybe not you or me, but the folks out there agitating for change, for better outcomes for themselves and their loved ones. Loved ones? You know, the people you think of when you get a warm fuzzy feeling that things are going the right direction […]