page contents Google

EXPERT OPINIONS? CHECK REFERENCES

Before you act on expert opinions, do one thing first. Check references? Nooo, not yet. First, ask why you need to trust someone when they ask. After you’ve got trust locked in, be a good listener. Believe them when they tell you who they are, after checking references.

THE BIGGER WORLD AT YOUR DOORSTEP

With the question in my last post answered so soundly, I think I’m on a roll to solve problems, shed light in the darkness, and make the world a better place for others to roam freely. Just between us, how does this work? My wife. Marry the right woman and the clouds part, the sun shines, […]

OLD PORTLAND, NEW PORTLAND, TODAY PORTLAND WITH MARK ROTHKO

This is a scene of old Portland, a painting by Mark Rothko, hanging in new Portland. A single bridge, a barren Eastside, a cloudy sky. Yep, looks like Portland. Here’s how I know:

ADULTISM: JUST DO IT?

Adultism: making mistakes and passing the knowledge on without admitting how you learned it. “Mistakes? Not me. I just know things because I’m smarter than you.” If you haven’t said those words, you’ve heard them and thought, ‘this is what smart people say?’ And we wonder why young people don’t respect their elders any more […]

WRITE FOR BETTER OR WORSE, RICHER OR POORER

Write for better because who doesn’t want to be better, hope for better, strive for better. A better you is good for everyone else. The better you doesn’t fly off the handle at every setback, spin out at every turn in the road, or quit when the going gets tough. The best you handles diversity […]

BOOMERPDX BLOG APPRECIATION SUNDAY

On this blog appreciation Sunday I high five Thomas Wolfe for good luck. Again. The wife and I found him at home in Asheville, North Carolina. We parked the car, got something out of the trunk, and spent a few hours in the museum and the Old Kentucky Home around the block. We came back […]

BOOK POWER TO BRAIN POWER

We were talking about books the other day, talking about book power, in our little salon. You know it’s a salon when the other people have thousands of books in their home after a downsize. How do you downsize a book collection? Don’t ask me, I just make another bookcase, but there comes a time.

PORTLAND RECHARGE PRIMER

Walk down Broadway and you can feel the Portland pulse, the Portland recharge, which is no surprise when you see the volcano map. But, more than that, the city feels primed for a renaissance, a Portland Renaissance. And that means an Oregon Renaissancea?   . . . new growth of activity or interest in something, […]

JOIN OREGON HISTORY FOR THE PEOPLE

Oregon history is full of familiar names and places we remember from Mrs. Kraus’ third grade class. Statues around the state show them as they were. Their exploits are logged in libraries and museums. The Oregon Historical Society at 1200 SW Park, Portland Oregon is both museum and library. That’s a 2 for 1 if […]

NAME RECOGNITION IN AMERICA EXPLAINED, TO BE OR NOT

Two nights ago I watched Hamnet from the blue velvet couch. It’s about Shakespeare, which isn’t a spoiler. At least it shouldn’t be. With one of the more helpful movie openings, it explained that Hamnet and Hamet are the same name. The same. So I was set. Hamnet it is?