Behind the Ironic Column

  It was cold in Portland today.  The Arctic winds swept down the gorge from the east, bringing us air that had recently been in Canada.  The wonderful thing about the cold wind was that it also brought us blue sky and sun.  After ...

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Some movies I expect to be depressing just from their obvious subject matter.  Any movie about the experience of finding a nursing home or other care-giving establishment for an elderly relative is not designed to be a cheerful experience.  In many cases I wouldn’t even bother to go to such ...

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It’s been a long, gray, rainy, January Monday.  You can deduce from that string of adjectives that it’s not my favorite kind of day.  I’m not sure if being Monday makes it worse, or if the fact that the sun actually appeared yesterday makes today’s dreariness more pronounced. For whatever reason, ...

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A lot of people gain weight over the holidays – and some of them even talk about it as if it were an achievement rather than something they should have avoided.  But I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone claim to lose stature.  I can only assume that’s what happened ...

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How many times have you said to a teenager (your own or someone else’s) “Don’t just stand there with the refrigerator door open.”  It’s one of those reflexive kinds of things – our mothers said it and so do we.  It’s as if the teenager is hoping, against all expectation, ...

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