Constitutionally Speaking: Guns and Religion

Some of you may be like me, trapped in an On Demand, Hulu , Netflix cycle of must watch TV that requires a spreadsheet to track schedules, characters and plots; which allows me (and perhaps you) to avoid the news detailing what a mess this country is. The news is typically so dispiriting that I …

Experiencing “Salvage the Bones” by Jesmyn Ward

I finished Salvage the Bones this morning because I couldn't stay up for the last 60 pages last night. I am keeping a list of every book I read in 2014 and this is #11. I seldom read out of my comfort zone and this book is most definitely NOT in my typical reading wheelhouse. …

Portland in Black and White

Saturday night Derwood and I went to dinner at Toro Bravo in NE Portland, I have heard that it is always crowded and doesn't take reservations. It opens at 5:00, so we went at 4:45 so we could just scootch in when it opened. We arrived early and found that there were dozens of people …

Thrive Not Just Survive

My sister works in private banking.  One of the clients in her office is an old woman who uses a walker. She is Jewish and has a heavy European accent. She is old and bent over but always looks smashing. Her hair, her clothes, her make-up....always perfect, always elegant. A week or so ago, this …

Riverview Cemetery: the Who’s Who of Dead Portlanders

I spent the 4th of July with Derwood at Riverview Cemetery taking photos for FindAGrave.com. It's a website that I found when writing about Private Fader. I volunteered to take photos when requests came in for cemeteries near my house. Jocelyn, our tour guide, showed us to the different sites for the photo taking. Riverview …

Another Mt. Calvary Story

I was at Mt. Calvary on Sunday to take flowers to my dad. We had a nice chat and he is well. Typically when I'm at the cemetery, I walk back from where my parents are buried and explore that area. On Sunday, I looked down the hill I noticed that big rock down the …