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GRACELESS BEHAVIOR: APOLOGIZING FOR MALE PATTERN RUDENESS

February 20, 2020 by

What better example of graceless behavior than an old man stealing a seat from women? Yes, it’s a small thing, but still a symptom of a greater ill. Graceless behavior is not about equal rights.

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BEARD LIFE: WHY ADDING OREGON HISTORY TO THE STORY MATTERS

February 15, 2020 by

In the middle of every February it’s always the same: Oregon’s birthday, Valentine’s Day, and a celebration of beard life all at the same time. This year I brought some extra beard life to the chocolate and the lemon birthday cake. They both wore well.

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SYLVIA PLATH JOINS WILLAMETTE WRITERS WITH KATE GRAY

February 5, 2020 by

Kate Gray explained Sylvia Plath in the best way possible: she wants the world to know ‘the girl’ Plath was before her junior year in college. I sat in the full-house crowd at Willamette Writers monthly meeting in downtown Portland, marveling that anyone could give such a thorough breakdown of a real person; that anyone […]

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PORTLAND 2019: A GOOD TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO A DECADE

December 31, 2019 by

Even surrounded by the built environment, nature finds a way to remind Portland of its place. That’s Mt. St. Helens in peeking through back, the cute volcano that shot rock and smoke six miles high.

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BOOMERPDX HALLOWEEN PARTY GUIDE

October 31, 2019 by

A Halloween party is more than chugging a twelve pack and handing out candy. First it’s too much sugar; you know you’ll dip into the candy bowl a few times. If you wear a costume this will happen: Scare little kids so much their parents talk about reporting you; older kids will be frightened into […]

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EXTRA EFFORT GOES TO THE TOP

October 9, 2019 by

With a little extra effort, an image of the Fox Theater in Portland, Oregon could be an entire universe. I’ve heard stories, read interviews, of famous directors who said movie theaters were their whole world growing up. I saw a movie about a kid whose whole world was the village theater. With a little extra […]

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LIFELONG MEMORIES IN PARIS AND LONDON: ROLE MODELS FOR PORTLAND OREGON

September 27, 2019 by

Time spent in Paris and London brings comparisons and competition for lifelong memories. People who live in both cities, who have apartments and houses in each, are the best judges. Oddly enough I met just such people on a visit to Bruges, Belgium. What are the chances of meeting people in one country and seeing […]

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COCKFOSTERS SOUNDS RIGHT IN LONDON AND PORTLAND

September 26, 2019 by

Young and old alike can look at a Northwest Portland neighborhood map and figure out the street naming theme. Ankeny, Burnside, Couch, Davis, Everett, Flanders, Glison, Hoyt, Irving, Johnson, and the rest of the alphabet. City planners must have taken the idea from the London Underground?

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PARIS RIVER: HOW WATER MAKES THE CITY

September 9, 2019 by

The Paris river divides the city like the Willamette divides Portland. But instead of an Eastside / Westside divide, Paris goes with Right Bank and Left Bank. One method means knowing the compass, the other is much more simple. Think of finding a place with directions that include east, west, north, and south. I’m already […]

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PORTLAND PICTURE TO THE REST OF THE WORLD

August 27, 2019 by

The Portland picture shows up after you forget about the beach, the river, the mountain. People show up to see the city sparkle and shine like the pictures they’ve seen in tourist magazines for fine living in the great Northwest, Portland pictures that seem to say, “Join us in reverence of our beautiful discovery.” Portland […]

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