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A SMALL PANEL FOR THE FULL COURT PRESS

Willamette Writers Heard The Word. What’s it take to get writers out of their rooms, to get them to interact with people beyond their circle of usual suspects? A Willamette Writers meeting does it every time. Cookies, coffee, and the Old Church make an enticing lure in downtown Portland. Who wouldn’t go? WW pulls membership […]

IF YOU TRY SOMETIMES YOU JUST MIGHT FIND

You Get What You Need. How many baby boomers have taken advice from Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones? If your answer resembles, “I used to listen to them,” it’s time to reset. Just because you got older doesn’t mean the songs of your youth lose their meaning. It could be the opposite. Consider the […]

BIG FROG MILLENNIALS FOR THE FUTURE

Special events have one thing in common: they’re special. The only problem is remembering how special. Sure you’ve got pictures to break out. Nothing refreshes memory like images. Video is even better. But what drives things deeper into meaning is talking about it. “Remember the time when…?” We’ve all heard stories that began that way. […]

THEY’RE HERS AND SHE KEPT THEM

Laura Ross-Paul launched a book in downtown Portland last night, not just any book. In an event at the Froelick Gallery she read a passage from “THEY’RE MINE AND I’M KEEPING THEM, How freezing my breast saved my breast.” This was a woman in victory after the hard work of fighting breast cancer. It was […]

RON BOHART AND THE MAJESTY OF KITES

The Kite As Canvas, The Sky As Studio. Say the word kite and what image comes to mind? Add paper, wood, and string in the right measure and you’ve got a kite. Or do you? More than a hobby, or something for a nice day, the kite carries as much history as you can tie […]

PDX HISTORY IN WILLAMETTE WEEK

It’s All In The Personal Details For Portland. Historic data reflects how things were and warn against what might be coming. After the facts of an event circulate through enough hands it becomes hard truth. The forty year history of Portland as recounted by Willamette Week reporters show a city recent arrivals will never know. […]

BOOMER TRAVEL: THE ROAD TO UPPER SEDONA

Or How To Drive A Roundabout Without Sideswiping Half The State. Let’s praise the newest traffic separator sweeping the nation. This British import will be bigger than the Beatles. Not a stop sign, not a traffic light, the roundabout is a two lane puzzle designed to deliver drivers any direction they want. Or just go […]

A BOOK NO PARENT SHOULD HAVE TO WRITE

And Every Parent Should Read. Conner Luby died in a car crash. As I wrote that line in the lobby of a hotel near the Arizona State campus a one year old boy turned the corner before his dad showed up. We both smiled and he wobbled along when his father caught up. The dad […]

TOO OLD TO RETIRE YOUNG?

Sixty Is The New Sixty In The Garden. The dream used to be make a million before you’re thirty and retire. You’ve seen these people, these young retirees? They travel, learn new languages, stay in shape. In other words they’re bored to death and need to keep finding challenges before their brains shut down completely. […]

HIKING BABY BOOMER PORTLAND, pt. 2

An incredible part of the city is feeling like you’re never far from the woods. There’s always a clearing, a trail to follow. And it feels safe enough to dive right in there. On a Friday I stopped on SW Terwilliger in between appointments. This is the road on the side of the hill below […]