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BORING, TRIVIAL, POINTLESS LIFE? GOOD JOB

March 17, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Doing a good job means what? Following orders and delivering a finished product according to the highest standards of the industry? Let’s not get carried away. How about finishing on time with something that works the way it’s supposed to work? You can do that and your masterpiece at the same time. If you don’t […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: American Dream, american novels, american system, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boring, civil rights, due process, enthusiasm, finish, good job, legal rookies, losing, masterpiece, moral tone, pointless, project, story, travel, trivial, vote, voters, voting, winning, work, writer, writers, writing

COLD WET OREGON WITH EXTRA WATER

March 14, 2026 by David Gillaspie

On a cold wet Oregon day the beach was covered as far as the eye could see, and since it’s flat you can see a long way. Jelly fish, man of war, or whatever it was, it was a mass die-off of squishy critters up and down the beach, a purple carpet of goo to […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, family, good old days, Love, MARRIAGE, millennials, newport oregon, Oregon, Oregon Coast aquarium, Portland Oregon, story, travel, wife, writer, writers, writing

DO MORE? LIKE WHAT

March 13, 2026 by David Gillaspie

You need to do more to matter? That’s what you ask yourself when someone says, “You need to do more to matter.” Have you heard that? I still hear it and I’m not some spring chicken pecking my way around the pen. When is enough enough?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Army, big brother, classic, classic funny, coaching, college, confidence, deployed, do more, education, funny, graduated, judging, losses, opinion, sports, story, unmotivated, wins, writer, writers, writing

BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY YOU SAY?

March 12, 2026 by David Gillaspie

I just finished reading about one man’s dedication and defense of the biographical essay and thought, ‘blog post?’ Like most writers, he lost me in the digressions. Like most online readers, I scrolled on. But here’s what you need to know:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: autobiographer, autobiography, Baby Boomer blogger, biographical blogger, biographical essay, blog, blogger, English, English teacher, essay, focused, piece of writing, poem, screenplay, short story, story, structured, wife, writer, writing, writing surface

BIG TIME FOR BIG CITY PORTLAND, AND OREGON

March 11, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Big city Portland gets the name for being the biggest city in the state. How big? The next biggie, Eugene, is three times smaller, rounded up and down for 600k people in one, 200k in the other. (K = 1000)

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, big city, big city Portland, big time, boomerpdx, education, gravel road, learning, Oregon, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, story, travel, writer, writing

NORTH BEND IN THE OREGON HISTORY CENTER

March 10, 2026 by David Gillaspie

This is North Bend in 1940. Something is missing, though. I-5 is missing, but there’s something else. These baby boomers and their memory, you never know what you’re getting.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blogger, book, boomerpdx, boomers, family, hwy 101, kids, memory, museums, north bend bridge, North Bend Oregon, Oregon, Oregon Coast, oregon historial society, Oregon History, story

LUNAR NEW YEAR AND MORE IN PORTLAND

March 9, 2026 by David Gillaspie

My small group of five went to the Lunar New Year Parade in downtown Portland. Yes, that Portland. If you’ve heard about it and wonder, it’s not a smoldering city rocked by insurrection. But it was rocking. After living in bigger cities where most people visit and leave, including Portland, I was thrilled to see […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomers, city plan, downtown, dragon, drive, education, learning, lunar new year, museum, parking spot, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, portland china town museum, Portland Oregon, story, travel, writer, writers, writing

WE DON’T NEED NO EDUCATION, (FOR ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL)

March 8, 2026 by David Gillaspie

From twitterX: I get yelled at for saying this but for many hundreds of years people went to university not to get diplomas or be employable but because immersion in the humanities was considered foundational to a good life, and school must return to its original purpose: the joy of learning. Doesn’t that […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: college, college degrees, education, family, higher education, history, ivory tower, learning, learning experience, Love, millennials, no education, Oregon, Portland, Portland Oregon, story, university, vision, western history, writer, writers, writing

ELDERLY TRUTHS FROM OLD MAN

March 5, 2026 by David Gillaspie

I watched a video clip of an old man speaking elderly truths. He looked good in his v-neck sweater and button down collared shirt. He said he was ninety-one in the most sincere way. His talk was aimed at the younger crowd, you know, around seventy. Made me feel like a teenager.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: able bodied, America, architect, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, breaking news, builder, Death, education, elderly, elderly truths, family, good sense, history, learning, lego, mobility, old man, sports, story, truth, truths, work in progress, writer, writing

OLD SONG RINGS TRUE TODAY

March 4, 2026 by David Gillaspie

These are the opening lyrics of an old song, for what it’s worth: There’s something happening hereWhat it is ain’t exactly clearThere’s a man with a gun over thereA-telling me I got to beware That’s the name of the song, For What It’s Worth. Click the link for the live video.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, change, college, education, fuck ups, gangster, golden ticket, history, kids, learning, morons, old song, Oregon, Patty Hearst, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, revolution, Southern Oregon, story, travel, Vietnam, vietnam era, wife, writer, writers, writing