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LONELY PEOPLE: FROM HEMINGWAY TO AMERICA

October 27, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The answer: lonely people. The question: What does the band America have in common with Ernest Hemingway? Their bond comes from both ends of male adulthood, young man to old man. One sang about them, the other wrote about them. By now baby boomers are both.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: adulthood, aging, America, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, Cat Stevens, Ernest Hemingway, family, future, GUITAR, history, loneliness, lonely, lonely people, mistake, neil young, old man, relationship, travel, writer, writing, wrong thinking

BE SOMEBODY YOU’D LIKE SPENDING TIME WITH

October 15, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Be somebody when it matters is the challenge, and it’s personal. If you’re a baby boomer living in that world, you know how it works. Someone has come to your rescue, and you’ve probably been on a rescue mission of some kind. Looking back at the times my old man wrote a note and sent […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, be somebody, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, getting married, girls day, good wife, husband life, incompetent, kindness, life, relationship, relationship work, somebody, spending time, staying married, time, wife, writer, writing

MARATHON FAMILY MATTERS

June 17, 2025 by David Gillaspie

This is my marathon family. We all lived in Seaside at the time. I couldn’t tell you any of their names because I don’t know them. But they’re still family, temporary family.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: aspirations, athletic ability, divorced, dreams, family, family life, goal, marathon, marathon family, marathon man, parents, permanent family, real family, relationship, runner, temporary family

TRAUMA BONDING RELATIONSHIPS, SO FAR

March 21, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Who has had a trauma bonding relationship? Anyone who played sports, broke up with the same partner a few times, you get the idea. If you’ve ever rented a place in a bad building, worked for a bad boss, or eat in a middle of the road restaurant instead of trying someplace new, you’ve had […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: ambitious, average food, baby boomer, bad boss, bonding, BOOMER, boss, critical, education, food, good work, land lord, leadership, man, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, relationship, restaurant, Starbucks, trauma, trauma bond, trauma bonding, writer, writing

MARRIED MAN WALKABOUT

December 7, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Married Man: My wife doesn’t like doing what I like doing so I’m taking a trip. Me: Sounds like fun. MM: Just me and my dog. Me: Even better. How long will you be gone? MM: Two to five years.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: bad day, blog post, Divorce, dog, dog dump, funny, husband, jackass, john steinbeck, late life, life writing, married, married man, married men, relationship, stick around, trouble, walkabout, wanderlust, wife

HUMAN TRAINING IS DOG TRAINING

November 27, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Human training is complicated. How complicated? Ask a teacher, an instructor, a professor. Ask a coach, a Drill Sergeant, a parent. Or just ask yourself, “Was I difficult to train?”

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomers, better relations, boomer dog, boomerpdx, boomers, coach, command, dog communication, dog training, dogs, good boy, good girl, good life, human training, instruction, instructor, jump up, married, older people, parent, peaceful world, professor, relationship, relationship gold, snacks, teacher, training

ROCKY RELATIONSHIP WITH WRITING?

September 11, 2024 by David Gillaspie

My rocky relationship with writing took a turn yesterday. It happens, but this one was avoidable. Boomerpdx was offline for ten hours. The longest ten hours of my . . . not my life. I just did other writer things. What writer things?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, Bluehost, BOOMER, boomerpdx, broken blog, cancer, domain name, education, expository writing, fitness, Love, memoir, offline, relationship, rocky relationship, story, writer, writer things, writing

LOVE STORY WITH CLOSING DOORS AND WINDOWS

July 20, 2024 by David Gillaspie

The love story in The Last Rave is a warning. But a warning for who? From a gender perspective it’s a warning for women who want more from their guy. Turns out some guys have bigger problems than women who want them to want more with them.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: acid, blog, blogger, cocaine, cough syrup, drugs, education, Emily witt, enthusiasm, history, Love, love story partner, LSD, MARRIAGE, marriage counseling, party, Patrick DeWitt, rave, raves, relationship, relationships, the last rave, the New Yorker, warning, weed, writer, writers, writing

BEST OF TIMES, WORST OF TIMES, THEN WHAT

June 13, 2024 by David Gillaspie

After living through the best of times, there’s only one way to go. What’s better than the best? The correct answer is nothing, but that’s not the answer you’ll get from drunks and drug addicts. It’s hard to tell any time when you’re numbed to reality.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: best pf times, cheating husbands, cheating wives, fidelity, girlfriend, loyalty, man club, MARRIAGE, married, married early, married man club, mystery, old guy, open marriage, plans, relationship, responsibility, rules, upper hand, wife, worst of times, write, writer, writing, writing time

MICRO MEMOIR II: LEAVING TOWN CHRISTMAS PARTY

April 20, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Leaving town used to be easy, if I remember right. Pack a bag, get in a car, hop on bus, and leave. “I’ll be there in a few days.” Same story going out to Brooklyn as leaving:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: back talk, books, brooklyn, Christmas party, dance, eat, exotic, food, italian, leaving town, library, made men, MARRIAGE, marriage material, memoir, micro memoir, new york, New York City, office buzz, office job, Penn station, relationship, shit talk, subway, sweet talk, talk, talking, Wall Street, write, writer, writing