Wednesday morning, October 5, I was filling time before my mom arrived at the Portland airport. She was on a nonstop from ATL that had left at 3 a.m. Pacific Time. She turned 77 in September. That’s a long way on little sleep. She’s my hero! The real truth of the matter is, I had been a bit uber–intense (who me?) with getting the house clean and adorable enough for my mom… Read More
In a few days, when 100 Voices: Americans Talk about Change hits book stores, Marjan Baradar’s voice will be #91. Back in 2009, Marjan spoke of her optimism alongside her fear of the polarities in the country – she mentioned specifically the violence that can come of that. She spoke of the power of civic engagement and indicated her sense of such participation as a responsibility, a natural expression of being an… Read More
Ever since my garage door crunched itself into an intractable accordion, trapping my car inside, I’ve been riding the bus. I like it. It takes more time, but it’s easy – and its richer. One of my companions at the bus stop most Tuesdays and Thursdays is Mr. Joey Prude. The first time we spoke was on a Thursday. That day, like every other day I’d seen Mr. Prude he sat under… Read More
It’s sunny in Portland OR and already in the 60’s at 12:24 p.m. on Saturday. People are out everywhere and I’m walking west, nearing the center of the Steel Bridge, one of the ten bridges spanning the Willamette River and operated by the Port of Portland. The water level is very high – highest since the flood of 1996. As I walk onto the Steel Bridge, I’m guessing the bridge operators are… Read More
Early this morning, I read email from “a cultural insider of the hacker community.” He’s a student in a class I’m teaching this term and was writing to clarify the term troll as it applies to internet hackers. A NYT article I’d assigned had used that word in a story of a man who drew people with epilepsy to an internet site that, unknown to the web surfers, presented a sensory blast… Read More
A young woman in camo was in front of me in the TSA line at the airport. It was a long line. I asked if she was headed home. “Furlough,” she said. “Afghanistan.” We talked families and weather. She said she’s in her second tour of duty. Back to back. “The reason I re-enlisted,” she went on, “well, it wasn’t because there’s any glory in it or anything. It’s pretty much hell. … Read More
My friend Murry is in a protracted conversation with esophageal cancer. He knows all too well that his condition didn’t come from nowhere. The president spoke yesterday to matters in the Middle East – to the changes signified with the public uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. He spoke to Israel and Palestine– to that protracted conversation. We all know that none of that came from nowhere. Today I took a photo of… Read More
During the work week between 6 and 7 a.m., it’s a different kind of quiet on the streets of downtown Portland. All last week I walked downtown to catch the bus. The weather was warming, the air softer to the touch. I liked it. That time of morning, delivery people dot the grid of city streets. They roll dollies with boxes of produce. They use fork lifts to move reams of paper… Read More
If we’re ever going to begin to grapple with the problems we have collectively,we’re going to have to move back the veil and deal with each other on a more human level. Wilma Mankiller (1945 – 2010) Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation Today I sat with two Elders in my community – two Grandmothers. Both of these designations, elder and grandmother, carry ambiguous valence in a culture (mine) so taken with… Read More
Back in the 2000, my friend Amy Schutzer published a novel she titled Undertow http://www.calyxpress.org/books.html. She considered another title: What Version of the Truth Do We Tell? I’ve just finished the first draft of 100 Voices: Americans Talk about Change. Really! The first draft toward publication in September, 2011. That’s amazing enough, but the reason I mention it here has to do with truth. It has to do with the incredible candor… Read More
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