Category Archives: Uncategorized

My Dumb Vote: Biden 2020

Posted on April 11, 2026 by Jim Blackwood Jr

Photo: Chrisitan Science Monitor I have a history of making strange votes in presidential elections. John Anderson and Jesse Jackson, I am looking at you. But once I choose, I defend my choice. Thinking deeply about the 2020 election, I … Continue reading →

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Love Trap

Posted on February 21, 2026 by Jim Blackwood Jr

One quirk of our move to a small town is that our mail no longer appears in a pile inside our front door. Now, scattered down the street, are what I call mail pods, clusters of mailboxes on poles. I … Continue reading →

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Heading for the T-Places

Posted on May 12, 2022 by Jim Blackwood Jr

I have an admission. From the mid-1980’s when I arrived here until a few months ago, I had no idea there was a difference between the cities of Tigard and Tualatin. I knew they were somewhere south of Portland. I … Continue reading →

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Does America Only Have 3 Years Left?

Posted on October 14, 2021 by Jim Blackwood Jr

I was awash in hope for the great American experiment. It is a wonderful notion, this idea that a wildly diverse collection of humans would gather to commit themselves to a creed, a collection of ideas. Through the flaws at … Continue reading →

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Drake! WE ARE LEAVING!!!

Posted on August 10, 2021 by Jim Blackwood Jr

Have you ever been to a show with a band you love and about halfway through the set you are done? Maybe the line-up changed. Perhaps the new album was an awful dance-beat nightmare? Or maybe, to your surprise, your … Continue reading →

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The End of America

Posted on May 28, 2021 by Jim Blackwood Jr

I doubt that the middle can hold. Circumstances the founders could not have expected are unleashed and what we know of as America hangs by a precarious thread. The founders knew this form of government was an unlikely concoction. In … Continue reading →

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The Colonization Game

Posted on May 17, 2021 by Jim Blackwood Jr

After the 21st time I saw “land back” spray painted on buildings and toppled monuments in Portland, I mused on this popular notion of rethinking colonization. There are folks who are now decolonizing almost everything. Decolonize mathematics. Decolonize science. I … Continue reading →

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When Essays Become a Book

Posted on October 20, 2020 by Jim Blackwood Jr

For some time now, I have not written many essays on this site . Now you get to know why. I have been using the COVID-19 quarantine to write a new book composed of 24 essays. It was the years … Continue reading →

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Time to Ask. Why Are We Still Marching?

Posted on June 3, 2020 by Jim Blackwood Jr

I was channel surfing local Portland news last night watching the protest and the riot. They were happening at the same time on different streets. The protest left downtown and ended up where it started, Revolution Hall in inner SE. … Continue reading →

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Portland’s Dangerous Street Plaza Idea

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Jim Blackwood Jr

Alone and masked, during the lock down I have walked many of the business districts in Portland. I set out to record a history of the closing of small businesses, restaurants and bars by photographing every closed sign I could … Continue reading →

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