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FRIDA KAHLO PAINTS PORTLAND IN DARK RAIN

Frida Kahlo came to Portland disguised as Vanessa Severo. Or was it the other way around? Either way, I met them when they both showed up at Portland Center Stage At The Armory and crowded the stage with characters.

FEELINGS MATTER, A REVIEW OF WHY ON SAUVIE ISLAND

Feelings matter when you see yourself in a forty year old reflection. In the image I’m looking through a window with another window shining on the other side. Every year for decades a crew would go to Sauvie Island and prepare a historical house for the upcoming season. Every room was cleaned, inventoried, and filled […]

ACCUMULATED CRAP NEEDS NEW TREASURE VAULT HOME

‘Accumulated crap’ is the name for important collections started so long ago I forget the point. It’s also the name for the avalanche of stuff from living long enough to get dumped on. Getting dumped on isn’t the best way of describing accumulated crap, but it fits the theme. If like attracts like, then my […]

EMPATHY SUPERPOWER: THE NURSING TOOL KIT

I know empathy superpower when I see it. Why? Because I’ve felt it. I had a headache when my brother got hit with a bat. If I could have, I would have donated my knees to Joe Namath for playing football in white shoes and long hair. I feel things with people and let it […]

RURAL OREGON FROM COAST TO WILLAMETTE VALLEY

Rural Oregon has never looked better through my windshield. Looked so good I extended a drive by hours just to see more. No, I wasn’t lost. The backroads from Charleston to Coos Bay showed places I’d never seen, and I like to think I keep my eyes open. It looked like rural Alaska without the […]

MESSAGE SENT, FOLLOWED BY REGRET AND HOPE

The message sent about Portland Oregon is one of hope. When the homeless set up camp, Portland hoped they were comfortable. Protest marchers clashed with Portland police hoping for change. Rival groups faced off. The message sent to them, to us, was there would be no police involvement. I suppose the hope was they would […]

CONSISTENCY HABIT? WHAT YOU DO IS WHO YOU ARE

If a consistency habit sounds like one step away from living in a rut, then you’re doing it wrong. A rut, or living in a rut, is the hole you’ve been digging. When life said ‘Dig in’ you started and never stopped, never asked why. That’s a rut you’ve been plowing, my friends, and I’m […]

MARRYING KIND? HOW TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE

Being the marrying kind takes practice. Eventually things work themselves out. From the relationship vault: A few weeks into a sizzling new romance, Lovey and I were in my Lovejoy apartment late one night when the building buzzer started and wouldn’t stop. I got up and pushed the front door button. After all, the place […]

IMPERFECT GOALS? NO ONE SAID YOU HAVE TO BE PERFECT

Imperfect goals are a good reason to write, to explain, to instruct. It doesn’t take a licensed teacher with three masters degrees to understand the pressures of perfection. “Do your work the best you can and let it stand” is the right motto for moving forward. The hard part is watching it all get torn […]

CHECKING OUT THEN BEFORE CHECKING BACK IN NOW

Checking out, dropping out, call it what you will, but leave the back door open. Why the back door? Because you may want to check back in and avoid the scrutiny out front. The nice picture above was not taken at an Amish farm last week, or a pioneer homestead in the 1860’s. Nope, none […]