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HOW TO INTERACT WITH RAJNEESH CULT MEMBERS ON PORTLAND STREETS

    Most days after work in the 80’s I walked the same way to my NW Portland apartment. The path took me past a place called the Martha Washington on SW 11th. I walked the same way so I could talk to an interesting woman from the museum.   Note to remember: All museum […]

STARBUCKS BOOMER MORNING CHOICES

      That feeling when you’re driving long distance and have to make a head stop and there’s no rest area? Find a Starbucks, buy a tall coffee, problem solved.   Some of the best restrooms in public places are in Starbucks. Don’t like coffee? Then stop someplace else, like fast food, a gas […]

PORTLAND FEVER: 1980-1990

    After walking around Manhattan and finding the perfect neighborhood, I wanted to find that neighborhood in Portland. When I did it started Portland fever.   Northwest Portland in late spring reminded me of Greenwich Village on a smaller scale. Like most everything compared to NYC, smaller is normal. Smaller buildings, smaller stores up […]

PORTLAND 1980: HOW TO SETTLE IN A NEW TOWN

    One song stuck with me on the bus ride from NYC to Portland 1980: The second verse of Lodi, by Creedence Clearwater:   I rode in on the Greyhound I’ll be walkin’ out if I go I was just passin’ through Must be seven seven months or more Ran out of time and […]

PORTLAND PLANNING VIEW FROM SOUTH WATERFRONT

    Does the top pic look anything like a Portland planning Christmas card? Stacked apartments dot the SW Portland landscape like a vision of Chicago from the Sears Tower.   That’s not the welcome mat Portland planning rolls out for new pioneers. Where’s that world famous food cart court next to a tap room? […]

NATUROPATHIC PHYSICIANS KNOW NUTRITION FIRST

  My wife shared a joke with me. She’s a naturopathic physician, Dr. Gillaspie. It had nothing to do with the old television show with young Dr. Kildare and his colleague Dr. Gillaspie.   “Early in our practices doctors from my class would talk about what it must be like as an RD, a real […]

PORTLAND PULSE = CRYSTAL BALLROOM + GERDING THEATER + OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY

  In one week Portland showed itself on a Sunday night, Tuesday night, and Wednesday afternoon. The show included the Crystal Ballroom on SW 14th and Burnside, Gerding Theater on NW 11th, and Oregon Historical Society on SW Park.   From Dan Auerbach, to Astoria Part 2, to Oregon’s birthday party, Portland lifted the curtain […]

COLLECTING EARLY PORTLAND CAR: THE BENSON

    Things don’t get much earlier when it’s called The First of anything, like the first car built in Portland.   That’s it in the picture. Nice car. Getting it from the donor to the museum was the job.   My job. Listening to an older man cuss about everything was part of the […]

FACEBOOK WINGS ON AMERICAN AIRLINES

    I stood across the concourse, the airport hallway, from my check in studying my boarding pass with Group Nine printed on the bottom right side.   Group Nine is last to board, last to sit, and last to find an overhead bin for the carry-on.   Luckily my wife and I were flying […]

FIVE DIAMOND ATTITUDE: WORK IN PROGRESS

    Ultimate luxury, like crack, coke, meth, heroin, oxy, opioids in general, and cigarettes, is a hard habit to kick.   I’ve worn this wristband for three weeks as a reminder of ultimate luxury, and clever marketing. It reminds me to put things back where I found them in their original luxury, and find […]