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THE WILD SIDE, OR JUST ANOTHER WALK

Oregon’s wild side is a twenty minute drive away. Big city life gets gritty near Portland, Oregon’s West Burnside. The pretty lights, the shimmering beauty reflected on the Willamette from the top deck of the Marquam Bridge that looks like Paris lights on the Seine from the Eiffel Tower, disappear after you park your car. […]

MARRIAGE PROMISES: WHAT THEY MEAN IN REAL TIME

Marriage promises are different than marriage vows? If you don’t know the answer right away, this is the blog post for you. See, everybody takes wedding vows, makes wedding vows, shares a kiss, and calls it good. That’s when the promising starts, if it hasn’t been going on up until then.

EXQUISITE CREATURES, OR JUST MY FAMILY

Exquisite Creatures is in the final days of its second run at OMSI. Christopher Marley’s nature collection occupies two floors. In one word, it’s an incredible experience made more so by who I saw it with: Wife, kid, daughter in-law, and a four year old. But not just any four year old, which I’ll get […]

MORE ‘WANT TO?’ BUT WHERE IS IT

‘Want to’ is what you need starting out. More ‘want to’ is what it takes to keep going. Some folks use it all in the start-up phase, others in the keep going phase. Then there’s the closer who never runs out.

PORTLAND PARK BLOCKS IN DECEMBER WITH DOG

The Portland Park Blocks, the south side, deserves a good look this time of year. Call it a learning moment, my dog did. Who’s a good girl. We started at Portland State University to see what the youths were up to.

OLD STORY? THEY’RE ALL OLD STORIES THE OLDER YOU GET

An old story wears thin over time? Not when it’s your story, no matter how many times you tell it. When you hear, “I’ve heard this so many times,” don’t take it as criticism. That’s just someone bragging about their listening skills, not trashing your repetitiveness. Still, why not add something new?

LIFE WRITING RULES

Rules for life writing: Get a life. Pay attention. Find a favorable form. Then what?

ON VETERANS DAY 2024

Veterans Day is for the old folks who remember their youth and those who were young with them. They remember the young people who didn’t have the chance to get old. My Dad got a chance to get old. He out-lived his Dad, just like I’m out-living him.

OPB PEOPLE IN BEAVERTON’S RESER

OPB people gathered Thursday night for a radio show at The Reser in Beaverton. Maybe it’s the same crowd for every Live Wire show, but I don’t know. I’ve been to one other on Portland’s Eastside and both had one thing in common: Old people who know how to have a laugh.

PORTLAND HISTORY COMEBACK JUST IN TIME

Portland history used to be easy. Two old guys flipped a coin in a clearing and here we are living happily ever after. That’s my story, but I’m not sticking to it when I tell the Portland story.