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LEAVING PLACES BETTER THAN YOU FOUND THEM IS NOT ASKING TOO MUCH

Experienced campers know all about leaving places better than they found them. Pick up the trash, pack your gear, and move along. It’s that easy, and that hard with campers. After the camping trip is done and they get home, the clean up continues for the next time. Will Mr. Trump be a good camper? […]

PROFESSIONAL BLOGGER or HOBBY BLOGGER

A professional blogger reads the room, knows their audience, and edits like a crazy person. Being a professional means never getting caught mistaking to, too, or two. The same with they’re, there, and their. Accept and except, its and it’s fill out the card. Being a pro means taking greater interests in what moves the […]

HELPING OTHERS LEARN HOW TO HELP OTHERS

Helping others seems like the shortened version of the Golden Rule. Boomers remember the Golden Rule after the Grandma squad drilled it in. Millennials might be a little foggy on it since their parents didn’t take them to church, quote Bible verses, or give them the gift of spending a week with a great-Grandma. Here […]

TORCH PASSING? WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME

When it comes to torch passing, timing is everything. And it’s usually the wrong time. My dad died the day after my last visit.

AMERICAN MADE? TIME TO PROVE IT BY VOTING

American Made is a label that gets tossed around more than it should. It means quality, trust, a better future that the rest of world looks to for guidance. That was then. What does it mean now? Is it still the land of the free, home of the brave?

BETTER LISTENING BY BETTER LISTENERS

Reprint from the paper: Early Sunday morning there were campers in their tents, people lined up in the chow line, and young people patiently waiting their turn in the restroom, the one labeled “Men’s.” Occupy Portland staffed the first aid tent and the media desk while KBOO-FM 90.7 settled into their studio for the early […]

PEOPLE PERSON, PEOPLE PEOPLE, AND THE REST OF US

The self-described people person needs back-up. Call it confirmation. Who calls themselves a people person? Isn’t that what others are supposed to say? “Stan is such a people person,” carries more weight than Stan saying it about himself. “Hello, I’m Stan, and I’m a people person?” What old Stan is saying is hold on tight.

HOPEFUL HISTORY THE OREGON WAY

Opening a book to find hopeful history is pure folly. It’s not history if all the good and bad parts get the whitewash treatment. Too often Oregon history is a mashup of wagon trains and farmers, of noble people of the land, salt of the earth, staking out new ground on behalf of their godly […]

MISUNDERSTOOD MAN GIVES ILLOGICAL INTERVIEW BOOMERPDX STYLE

A misunderstood man, one who knows he’s been misunderstood, often explains how it’s all a big misunderstanding. That’s the good news. The bad news comes when a man works to elevate his basic misunderstanding to a level of believability. Hard to imagine? Depends on the audience. Take a look to see the difference.

VOLUNTEER ARMY SUCKER, ENTHUSIASTIC LOSER

At nineteen I told my dad I was joining the service, that I was looking at the Army or Navy because they had two year enlistments. My feeling was I’d know all I needed to know after two years, like any nineteen year old know it all since I already knew everything. Nineteen year olds […]