Daily Blues & Views

With the testimony of Dr. Blasey Ford before Congress, I'm sure many folks are trying to remember some of the high school parties they attended.  This is all the more difficult depending on the type and amount of beverages present.  I suspect social class plays a significant role too. Some indisputable evidence that has come out of these hearings and their aftermath is that alcohol was a huge part of the equation back in the 1980s, the setting for this particular situation. Frat parties and exclusive private boys schools clubs have always been about getting drunk.  The degree to which one imbibes seems to be the significant factor here.  But, inebriation is not the topic here, high school parties are. Do you remember many high school parties you attended?  I do...at least a few.  They seem to revolve around events rather than what we drank.  Growing up in Southern California, many of those I recall revolved around a swimming pool. As a high...

A couple of weeks ago I met a wonderful young man just about to begin his career in one of the more stressful helping professions.  Robbie is a sharp, well groomed, young professional who will soon be working with folks that have been diagnosed with all manner of mental illnesses.  Like so many young folks I meet, he had education debt, but also the energy and intellectual curiosity of someone who would make a great friend. We met at a small dinner party organized around the fact that all attendees had helped one of our neighbors when he sustained an injury that left him on crutches for the better part of 6 months. Since Robbie will soon be moving about an hour away, the little get together had even more meaning.  Some of my neighbors and I had helped our injured friend without ever meeting each other.  This dinner would remedy that. The dinner went well.  We talked politics, film, art, and a smattering of neighborhood news.  Before the evening...

Last week I made my annual pilgrimage to a small lake in Central Oregon.  I've been going there for about 10 years now every September.  It's great to be in this Cascades after Labor Day because the tourist population is gone and the weather usually holds up for another month.  I had a goal.  There are some beautifully colored Brook trout in this lake and while I have no problem with catching (and releasing) a Rainbow trout, the opportunity to catch a Brookie with Fall spawning colors often eludes me.  I charged up the battery on the little digital camera that fits nicely into the pocket of my favorite fishing shirt and promptly forgot to put in in place the morning I drove the 18 miles up into the mountains from our rented guest house in Central Oregon.  The thought hit me just as I was negotiating the last mile of the horrible washboarded dirt road that dead ends at the lake.  What's the worse that could happen?  I kept asking myself.  I c...

There is a song called "Amanda" by Waylon Jennings that has a verse I've held onto for decades.  I think the song was written in the 1970s when I was in my 30s so it's easy to see the appeal because the aforementioned verse goes:                                    It's a measure of people who don't understand                                    The pleasures of life in a hillbilly band                                    I got my first guitar when I was fourteen                                    Well I finally made forty, still wearing jeans I liked the fact that at 40, I was still wearing jeans.  Levis are my jean of ...