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HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE WITH EVELYN BANKO

Last night my wife and I, along with our friends Barry and Phyllis, attended a Holocaust remembrance in the Tigard library.

 

Please join us on the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht for a witnessing by the local Holocaust survivor Evelyn Banko.
She will be talking about her experiences under Nazi persecution in Austria, and her family’s eventual journey to safety in the US by way of Latvia and the Soviet Union. 
Caution: strong language involving violence and death.
Program presented in partnership with the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education.

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TAKING PART IN FAMILY LIFE

Family life takes time. Ask the Baldwins with their seven kids.
Keep that in mind, you youngsters, when you decide it’s time to join in.
Join the club, the family club, sooner than later.
Why?
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THE TRUTH, GETTING A HANDLE

Getting a handle on the truth shouldn’t be a big hurdle to clear.
All it takes is a little self-awareness.
The truth is your friend if you’re not too sketchy.
Will it set you free? Well . . .
It depends on the sort of shackles your used to.
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‘DOING RESEARCH’ AND OTHER EXCUSES

What counts as doing research?
For writers it’s an easy answer: Everything is research.
And because everything is research, the trick is finding what matters more.
Is it writing about where you are, how you feel, the people you’re with?
The correct answer? All of the above.
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TWO STORIES + ONE MAN = GREAT LITERATURE? OK LEO

Where does great literature come from?
From more than two stories, but first about ‘that man.’
The great literature man.
Where does he come from?
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toughen up

WHAT SEVERE ILLNESS MEANS TO OTHERS

  Under the category of ‘Who Knew’, severe illness opens the door to compassion. And it’s not all about you.   Talk between cancer survivors is one thing; talk between a cancer survivor and someone untouched launches other topics. Some survivors are good listeners, others see the open door and rush right through.   That […]

BREAST CANCER: A MOTHER JONES FACEBOOK POST ASKS IF ALCOHOL IS A CAUSE. WHAT ARE OTHER CANCER CAUSES?

    From motherjones.com:   Susan Sontag once wrote that telling people about your cancer diagnosis tends to fill them with mortal dread. But when I’ve disclosed my illness to friends and told them that alcohol can cause breast cancer, I’ve never invoked enough mortal dread to deter anyone from ordering a second drink. Most women […]

EMOTIONAL FITNESS: AS THE BARBELLE TURNS

Does a gym help emotional fitness? The gym rat with the gallon jug, pill pack, and headband, don’t workout for emotional fitness . The only way they’d focus on emotional fitness is if they could see it in a mirror with a pulsating vein. Gym regret is a sign of good gym emotional fitness, like: […]

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boomer years

HOSPICE, A DANGLING CONVERSATION

The borders of our lives. Boomers have heard this more than once, others will hear it more later on: The closer people get to death, the more they drop their facade. There’s no one left to impress, no one left to pretend for, no one to juke. Toward the end it seems we get the […]

BABY BOOMER RESENTMENT, Con’t

The Beatles. For all the bands that go on forever, The Who, The Stones, Bob Dylan, why did we lose The Beatles so early? Baby boomer abandoned? Could be they burned so bright they went blind to our needs? Five years of top albums in the decade might do it. The Beatles had their five. […]

HOW HARD? BOOMER HARD

Growing Up During Baby Boomer Years Made You Hard. The last thing you want to be called is soft. Soft in the head, soft in the gut, soft arms. Part of living a sedentary life, not a lazy life but not active, is how it leaves a body. Soft. Soft and lumpy after too many […]

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buckle up

PORTLAND OF THE SOUTH PT. 2: KNOW WHERE YOU ARE

An ongoing series about Asheville, NC, Portland of the South pt. 2. In Portland, Oregon, going under the Morrison Bridge at midnight for southern food seems like a good idea every time. Yes, it’s dark, there are homeless tents scattered around, but Montage is still Portland. Park and go on in. If it was any […]

Air Oregon My Oregon Paradise West Of Cascades

      For a moment let’s skip the romanticized view of the state. The brown patches across these images are clear cut lumber sections, replanted with more trees. Why are they brown? It’s not because of brown trees. Air Oregon shows too much.   Oregon, My Oregon via Oregon Blue Book, music by Henry […]

PORTLAND SUCKS? TELL US MORE ABOUT THOSE FEELINGS

Say Portland sucks and you might be right, but why ruin it for the rest of us.   If Portland sucks for you, that may be just the tip of your iceberg. Blame the city for what? Your attitude, your entitlement, your butt-hurt life? Why not? You don’t know what you want and it bugs […]

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