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BLAZER SEASON WRAP FOR DAME TIME

Another Blazer season, another year, and another view of Damian Lillard. The best teammate award and a first round exit. Who doesn’t get caught up in the whirlwind of the NBA Playoffs without noticing Lillard? I’m not asking who thinks they know what he should do next. It’s been another year, a primetime season, but […]

MEMORIAL DAY 2021, WASHINGTON PARK, PORTLAND OREGON

Memorial Day is for the kids, the enlisted guys, the drafted guys, the FNG who followed orders. It’s for the professional soldiers who learned the job and did the work. Sergeant Tennyson said it with, “Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do or die.” Take that hill, cross that river, crawl […]

UNDERSTANDING PHOENIX FROM PORTLAND OREGON

Understanding Phoenix is easier if you have some kind of reference. Call it an urban reference. Phoenix is Big City big, but it’s more than that. Phoenix is the focal point of Arizona the way Portland is in Oregon. Not everyone enjoys that status, mostly those who don’t live in Portland or Phoenix. You’re either […]

PRIVATE PEOPLE, OR JUST HIDING AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH

Private people learn the lesson early. Don’t talk. But is that good manners, or something more complex. Call me suspicious, but quiet people need to follow the rules just like everyone else. Engage, contribute, and make it count. Do that when it’s called for be as quiet as you want the rest of the time. […]

FITNESS BLOGGERS IN PORTLAND EMBRACE THE GRIND?

Fitness bloggers lay it out there in exact terms: “Do this, not that. And if you’re doing that, stop now.” Portland fitness bloggers join in, but since it’s Portland Oregon, it must have a twist? If the motto is Keep Portland Weird, there must be a twist. There’s always a twist with fitness, especially writing […]

COVID SUNDAY: VACCINE DATE AT OREGON CONVENTION CENTER

Covid Sunday started at 2:45. That was the appointment time for a covid vaccine. Not my appointment though, I was just the driver. The driver plans one thing for Covid Sunday: Don’t be late. That was my plan after talking to a lady who had been late and lost her appointment time. The plan was […]

CHRISTMAS SEASON: WHAT BOOMERS SHOULD KNOW

Christmas season for boomers comes with the sort of experience people go to therapy for. We know what to do, also what not to do. The important thing is we do both. With more readers coming in from faraway places like Shanghai China and Portland Oregon, it’s not too early to help them out. But […]

WINNING PORTLAND? LOSE SOMEPLACE ELSE FIRST

Winning Portland, if you call it a win, is easy: grow a beard, wear plaid, work up an opinion on every beer you open. If that sounds like a Portland dream, it is, but it doesn’t last. Bikes, beer gardens, and weed shops are all good news from the outside looking in, but if those […]

PORTLAND OREGON FROM THE THIRD FLOOR

City lights in Portland Oregon brighten before sunrise, one window at a time, floor by floor, until an entire wall reveals the secret shadows behind steel and glass. Every city feels anonymous in the beginning. Tall buildings full of strangers become familiar in time. After that, it’s your town. A clear orange sky promises fall colors painted […]

BREAKING THINGS IS EASIER THAN FIXING THINGS

Breaking costly things is part of adult life. We find something useful, and use it. And it breaks. Sometimes they break themselves. If it breaks, we fix it, or throw it away and buy an updated version. The proud and the brave say, “Not me, man. If something breaks, I try to fix it before […]