page contents Google

PERSONAL PRIDE vs MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS

Go ahead and be selfish just this once, keep your personal pride personal.   Who among us admits personal pride? Raise a hand. All up? Good. Pride for you and yours is a cornerstone of civilization, something to build on. You can tell personal pride people when you see them in full blossom. They wear […]

ASTORIA BOOKS, ASTORIA DOCUMENTARY, ASTORIA PLAY

Call it Little Big Astoria?   No one doubts the importance of Astoria in Oregon history. Little Big Astoria looms in the imagination from early sea captains challenging the Columbia Bar, to Lewis and Clark showing up overland, to today. The fish packing, lumber mills, and ebb and flow of new people keep Astoria current. […]

CLAM DIGGERS, CLAM DIGGING, CARRYING A CLAM BUCKET

Life according to clam diggers.   Thoughts of childhood should come with warnings. If it’s one happy, golden moment, after another, it’s not a memory. It’s a Hallmark Card of childhood. Real memories include trying time, leaning time, and what to never do again time. Did you have friends or relatives who owned land and […]

LETTER TO ENGLAND, IN ENGLISH. ENGLAND WRITES BACK

  Who writes a letter to England?   Before you scroll off to other click-bait, consider this: Write one letter to the person or place of your choice. One letter. Start with the usual, “Dear.” Then send it. If your letter sends death threats or rings fire alarms, this isn’t for you. Instead, call it […]

TWO MARRIED GUYS MAP DATE LIFE

What else would two married guys do? The beauty of public transportation comes with the people you meet. Two old men waited at a Portland bus stop. Late afternoon drizzle fell on the city through fading light. The sun made little effort to split the clouds over the Willamette River. Man 1: It felt like […]

INSULTING ENVIRONMENT CLOSES ROADS, MINDS

  Keep an open mind to insulting environment. Global warming, from either man-made pollution, or natural cycle of atmospheric anomalies and melting ice-caps, is still about the environment. You can’t hide from that old environment. It’s all over the place; we all share that one. And we’ll share the insulting environment after it changes. Whether […]

WINTER REFLECTIONS, TIME PASSING

  Can we still complain if the snow doesn’t last for months and turn a nasty brown?

IF YOU WRITE A BLOG, WRITERS’ BLOCK NOT ALLOWED

So you think you can write a blog? Really? If you hang out with writers, you’ve heard of THE BLOCK, writers’ block. Sounds like this: “I sit there like a writer. I fill up the screen with words. None of it makes sense. Day after day I delete, then delete some more. I’m lost.” Lost, […]

BABY BOOMER MUSEUM

The take away from a Baby Boomer Museum is awareness. A visit to a big museum should make you ask, “How do they decide what to keep?” It’s the same question you’ll ask later, wondering why you bought anything in the gift store. Unless you say, “I needed another tea towel,” you need a better […]

KITCHEN TABLE BEER TRAVEL: OREGON TO GERMANY

  Beer travel starts at John’s Market in Multnomah. Culturally aware types emphasize art and architecture for reasons to travel. They love the history, the land, the people. And they can’t stop talking about all the new stuff they learn. If it’s someone you know, you listen like you’re not hearing an endless variation of […]