It happened when I was about seven. Thanksgiving Day. I remember clearly. We were out in the garage mashing aluminum cans because as an enterprising young whipper-snapper I’d noticed that the junk man’s aluminum price had recently sky-rocketed. I was preparing the final batch in what would be my most epic aluminum can delivery. Sure to [...]

Today is a double-whammy. My mother’s birthday and the holiest of all Hallmark Holidays – Mother’s Day. More often than not, it seems, the two fall on the same day. It’s unfortunate for my mom – like the kids who have to share their birthday with Christmas. In theory, everything should be twice as good but [...]

Lofts are hard to live in. Don’t let anyone fool you. Big open spaces with free-flowing floor plans and no walls sounds really fucking cool in a tree-house kind of way. And – to be honest – it sort of is. But the hipster-modern factor definitely has its drawbacks. Which is why I spent the first 10 [...]

It didn’t snow. The woman who answered the phone when I called to book our room at the Aster Inn was kind enough to give me her account of the situation: “There’ll be a little white on the ground for you when you get here, honey – but we haven’t had a flake fall down in [...]

… From last year’s Christmas column in the Oregonian. Christmas, 1985. I tear into a shiny metallic package from Santa Claus to reveal a long-coveted toy: a motorcycle noise-maker for my bicycle. I beg my father to install it immediately and then sit on my hot pink banana seat in the garage revving my new engine with [...]

It’s Christmas Eve. I’m going to be honest and admit to being a little bummed about not being snowed in like last year, but we’re headed north in the big rig and preparing for QT with family, an outdoor movie theater with the Polar Bear Express, and probably some fun photo-making. We’re not bringing bikes. Or probably [...]