politics Archives • DAVIDPDX

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WHAT I WANT AND WHAT I GET

January 17, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Did I want a big fluffy dog? Noooo. But here we are and she’s the best darn dog I’ve ever known, heard of, or seen. Better than Bullet and Rin Tin Tin? Waaaaay better. She’s my dog, and just what I want. But I didn’t know that before hand.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, education, history, king, learning, majestic mountain, my kingdom, Oregon, politics, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, programing, regular programing, story, what I want, WWII

GENTLE SUGGESTIONS FOR GOOD TIMES

December 28, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Who doesn’t make gentle suggestions? Call it good manners if you know the difference between a request and an order. ‘Would you please help me?’ instead of, ‘Get over here and make yourself useful.’ This happened recently:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: American President, anguish, Baby Boomer blogger, berlin, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, Cold War, control, current times, Eastern Europe, education, family, follow through, gentle suggestions, good manners, history, iron curtain, john kennedy, life in order, Love, manners, MARRIAGE, misunderstood, politics, request, revolution, Russia, sensitive, sex, Soviet Union, stalin, story, suggestions, travel, wife, writer, writers, writing

A CERTAIN AGE, THEN POOF. THAT’S IT?

August 9, 2025 by David Gillaspie

“As a culture, we tend to let people disappear at a certain age,” said Dustin Hoffman. What’s that feeling you get when you hear someone start with, “As a culture . . . ?” They’re talking about something you ought to know, or it’s something you don’t know and feel suspicious about. I side with […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: american life, as a culture, athlete, athletes, beauty and mystery, blog, bright lights, career, celebrities, culture, disappear, drama, fitness, fitness fan, kingpin, left alone, left out, new culture, people disappear, politicians, politics, public life, red carpet, sports, suspicious, tired, write, write a blog

WEIGHT LIFTING FOR MENTAL HEALTH

October 25, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Weight lifting is for everyone, more or less, weight-wise. Lifting is something you do every day whether you log it as such, or not. I’m a fan of trying to tell the difference between lifters and non-lifters.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: candidate, democracy, fitness, fitness watching, government work, history, Hitler, incompetence, lifters, lifting, mental health, mental process, metaphor, politics, president, stalin, successful democracy, trump, weight lifting, workout, write, write about it

AMERICAN PROCESS = THE GRIND

October 9, 2024 by David Gillaspie

American process is what we’re famous for around here. The U.S. didn’t become what it is today by scrapping everything and starting over, although some argue that that’s what FDR did in the Great Depression. Not my argument. Why? Because FDR was schooled in the American process. He had been a state senator, assistant secretary […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: American, american process, american progress, baby boomer, baby boomer lifetime, BOOMER, boomer lifetime, campaigning, cbs news, experience, government, government experience, history, lifetime, military, military experience, misunderstanding history, Oregon, politics, presidency, president, presidential, presidents, register to vote, sandwich generation, the grind, time magazine, vote, WWII

YOUNG MEN LEARNING TO VOTE

September 22, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Young men can do their own math on voting, but I’ll help: One man, one vote; one woman, one vote. You have one vote, bro, and it may not seem like much, but that’s what it is. One. Vote. Does it even matter enough to bother with? One vote may not seem like much, but […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: adult, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blog, blogger, BOOMER, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, boomers, brooklyn, campaign, common good, election, gen x, gen z, juveniles, kids, law, masculinity, men, metropolitan detention center, millennials, misspent youth, normalizing, politics, vote, voter, voting, WWII, yelp review, ymca, young men, young voters

PERSONAL ATTACHMENTS KEEP GROWING

July 31, 2024 by David Gillaspie

I’ll define ‘personal attachments’ first: it’s your leg, your arm, your head. It’s anything you’ve grown fond of. Baby boomers are officially old enough to have grown fond of most everything. And that’s a normal life.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, attachments, baby boomer, Baby Boomers, bias, blog post, blogger, boomerpdx, coastal elite, education, history, midwest, personal, personal attachments, political, politics, women's health, write consistently, writer

COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN

June 29, 2024 by David Gillaspie

If a writer isn’t complaining, what are the other options? After a quick look since I came up with nothing, it’s praise. Praising. But we’re not used to praising. That needs to change.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: authentic, authentic writing, be authentic, blog, blogger, common man, complain, complain culture, complain effectively, complaining, complaint, culture, dread, education, family, favoritism, fear, French exit, manchurian candidate, Patrick DeWitt, politician, politics, praise, praise the lord, praising, screaming, stage fright, write, writer, yelling

OREGON PRIMARY LISTENING FOR MILLENNIAL ROAR

May 16, 2022 by David Gillaspie

Tuesday is election day for the Oregon Primary. But you already knew that. No? Now you do. Out here in the real west, not some landlocked desert version of ‘out west’ in states like Idaho, or Utah, or Arizona, we drag ourselves to the table, pick up a black or blue ink pen, open the […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, Baby Boomers, boomerpdx, boomers, married millennials, millennial, millennial voters, millennials, Oregon, Oregon primary, politics, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, voting millennials

PROFESSIONAL SIGNALING AND COMMUNICATIONS LIKE SPORTS WORLD

November 5, 2021 by David Gillaspie

Professional signaling prevents miscommunication and so much more. That’s what it’s supposed to do, more, along with ‘doing your own research.’ Besides, who really knows what research means, let alone doing it. Instead of confusing explanations of how good or bad something is, was, or might be, why not use the most effective communications known […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Communication, communications, Joe manchin, messaging, political messaging, politics, PROFESSIONAL SIGNALING, signalling, sports, sports world, West Virginia