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NORMAL HUMAN NEEDS. NORMAL?

December 16, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Normal human needs seem pretty obvious? They aren’t much different than the other animals in the jungle. Air to breath. Clean water, shelter, clothing. The basics.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: actors, America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, better country, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, celebrities, Death, education, finding purpose, guilt trip, historical community, historical garb, historical gathering, human needs, JFK, kids, lbj, life direction, millennials, murder, murderer, normal, normal human needs, Oregon, pioneer women, roles, story, wife, writer, writers, writing

EMPATHY HAPPENS, EVENTUALLY

December 15, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The man in the tap house said, “Empathy happens,” and he reminded me of how important it is to stop in for a beer when the occasion calls. I’ve known him for years, just not the way my wife knows people. She’s knows people like no one I know, so she asks questions that she […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, citizenship, education, empathy, empathy happens, family, good person, history, leadership, learning, Maslow's hierarchy, needs, Oregon Ducks, safety needs, writer, writers, writing

NO KITTY GENOVESE FOR YOU

December 13, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Would an Oregonian save Kitty Genovese? A few years back a little boy in Portland, Oregon was accidentally left on a train platform. He made it home safely with his dad. A young woman stayed with him until his father returned, just a bystander who saw what happened and took time to care. Those few minutes ended happily; it […]

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MAKING CHANGE, EXACT CHANGE

December 12, 2025 by David Gillaspie

With regular money transactions heading toward ‘tap and go’, the people making change, giving exact change, are growing more rare. You’ll find them at the drive through window, picking through coins for just the right combination. “Here’s four quarters instead of a dollar,” they say. Or, “$6.50 for my grande latte half-caff with oat milk? […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, baby boomer, Baby Boomers, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, drive through, education, exact change, family, GUITAR, husband, learning, making change, MARRIAGE, mcdonalds, music, Oregon, patience, patient, Starbucks, story, time, wife, writer, writers, writing

PUBLIC GOOD IS GOOD ENOUGH?

December 11, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The idea of doing something for the ‘public good’ is a high standard in America. Why? Because the public, of which we’re all a part, is so broad. What’s good in one place is not so good in another, but no one talks about the ‘public bad’ as a goal. Or do they?

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WE THE PEOPLE, NOT PEE-POLE

December 10, 2025 by David Gillaspie

‘We the People’ are the difference makers others count on. Maybe not you or me, but the folks out there agitating for change, for better outcomes for themselves and their loved ones. Loved ones? You know, the people you think of when you get a warm fuzzy feeling that things are going the right direction […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, Constitution, education, freedom, history, ideologies, ideology, illegal order, justice, learning, liberty, magna carta, MARRIAGE, married, millennials, Oregon, pee, pee pole, Portland Oregon, story, things happen, Thomas Jefferson, travel, veterans, we the people, writer, writers, writing

FAVORITE WRITERS TO LOVE AND HATE

December 9, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Favorite writers have an audience of you, and you are demanding. You know what you want and don’t want. Most of all, you don’t want to be disappointed, forced to find someone new. You don’t want someone new, and the writer doesn’t want to lose you. How does this workout? With new material.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, bigger picture, blog, blogger, book, books, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, death by lightning, destiny of the republic, direct experience, embarrassment, favorite, favorite writers, Fitzgerald, Gilgamesh, guilt, loose ends, make a scene, Mark Twain, new book, new writer, next book, reading list, shame, writer, writers, writing

WHEN ALCOHOL HITS DIFFERENT(LY)

December 8, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Alcohol hits everyone differently. Like any disruptive element, you need to find the boundaries. Saying “Let’s get a beer” to a pal who keeps going until you get a phone call from a thousand miles away should only happen once. They need to set their boundaries. But what about you?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: alcohol, alcohol hits, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomer boozer, booze, drinking booze, education, expensive gifts, fitness, gin and tonic, learning, life, lime, Love, MARRIAGE, older people, sad, urgent issue, vulnerable, wife, writer, writing, youth

GREAT WRITING: WHEN WORDS MATTER MORE

December 6, 2025 by David Gillaspie

From Google AI on current sentence construction: Basic Structure: Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) Subject: Who/what the sentence is about (e.g., Matt). Verb: The action or state of being (e.g., eats). Object: Receives the action (e.g., pizza). Example: “Matt eats pizza.”

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, books, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, Death, education, family, fitness, GenX, genZ, great writing, history, inspiration, learning, married, matter, millennials, music, North Bend, Oregon, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, reading, sentence, sentence structure, story, structure, travel, words, words matter, writer, writers, writing, writing books

NOBODY FROM NOWHERE? SO FAR SO GOOD

December 5, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Some people lament being a nobody from nowhere. Not me. I’ve heard enough big shots complaining about their loss of privacy to the point of living like a shut-in. “I used to be able to go out with no one noticing. Now every time I leave the house is a big event.” Who wants to […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, be there, blogger, boomer blogger, business, dressing room, education, history, margaritas, mexican food, museum, museum business, nobody, nobody from nowhere, normal, nowhere, Portland, Portland Oregon, stories, strip club, the masses, timelines, want more, writer, writing