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MARRYING KIND? HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE

Being the marrying kind takes practice. Eventually things work themselves out. From the relationship vault: A few weeks into a sizzling new romance, Lovey and I were in my Lovejoy apartment late one night when the building buzzer started and wouldn’t stop. I got up and pushed the front door button. After all, the place […]

PORTLAND BRIDGE RUN AND RESCUE AFTER DARK

This is my favorite Portland bridge, the Hawthorne Bridge. The picture makes it look longer than it is on foot, or on a bike. When I lived on the west side, I had a job on the east side and crossed it twice a day. Then I moved to east side and worked on the […]

IMPERFECT GOALS? NO ONE SAID YOU HAVE TO BE PERFECT

Imperfect goals are a good reason to write, to explain, to instruct. It doesn’t take a licensed teacher with three masters degrees to understand the pressures of perfection. “Do your work the best you can and let it stand” is the right motto for moving forward. The hard part is watching it all get torn […]

ADVERSITY TRAINING ONE BLOG POST AFTER ANOTHER

Adversity training comes from two sources: Those who have faced adversity, and those who will face adversity. Pro Tip: We all face adversity. How we deal with it tells others who we are. While I’m not an adversity trainer, or in adversity training, I am a man and therefore qualified to add senseless context to […]

WINERY REMINDER: KNOW YOUR TASTING GLASS

This is a winery reminder for Oregon wine country: If you buy a flight of wine to taste test, keep track of your glass. A seven-wine flight doesn’t mean seven glasses. But you probably know this. Since I live within shouting distance from one winery after another, now I know.

EVERY DAY IS A NEW CHANCE FOR SMALL CHANGES

Every day has promises to keep with miles to go before we sleep. Sound familiar? It was a poem written by an old man named Robert Frost. When I first read ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ I chalked it up to a reflection on mortality. Reading it now, instead of a high school […]

HOT ENOUGH YET: A COOL REVIEW FOR RELIEF

Yes, it’s hot enough. It’s been too hot for a few days, so hot that people talk about moving to Arizona for a break. Snow Birds aren’t running from the cold in June, they’re running from the surprising heat cooking the Pacific Northwest. When a Heat Dome slams shut, the temps rise. Who’s ever heard […]

DOWNSIZING GUIDE: FROM A PASSED PORTLAND GENERATION

They didn’t have a downsizing guide when they decided to move. All they knew was that 12,000 square feet over four floors was a little large for two people. Their house was a museum of their lives together. Now all the books, dishes, and furniture, enough for three households, were moving. It had been a […]

PORTLAND TREND OR OREGON’S FUTURE ON A NEW TRAIL

While I usually drag on about other things, I sense a Portland trend here: @Oregonian Portland’s police chief and mayor are set to announce Tuesday that city police will no longer stop motorists for low-level infractions, such as equipment failures or expired plates, to reduce disproportionate stops of people of color. Fewer tickets for minor […]

FALLING WOMEN, AND HOW TO HELP THEM UP

Falling women need a good landing. If you’re around when it happens, what’s the best move? Since a fall is usually accidental, the landing part comes from basic instinct, not planning. I’ve been that landing a few times, some better than others. You?