Tom’s Blog

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Scroll down for reflections and musings on topics ranging from writing to grandchildren, from social justice to mindfulness meditation, from travel to music, and more…

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Grace in the Face of Terror

On Friday afternoon, May 26, 2017, on a MAX commuter train in Northeast Portland, Oregon, a man began verbally abusing two women, one of whom was wearing a hijab, with racist, anti-Muslim insults. When other passengers intervened, the man pulled a knife and attacked....

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Collateral Beauty

This film took my breath away. Literally. I found myself short of breath toward the end. I highly recommend Collateral Beauty. Yep, it got a score of 12% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was savaged by critics. It died at the box office. I don't watch movies that receive such a...

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Dear “White” People – I Am Not Your Negro

Dear "White" People, For all of us who consider ourselves "white" - we who have immigrated [or our ancestors did] to the United States from Europe [primarily]. I have a hope and a request that we will watch the film, I Am Not Your Negro. I was recently in Seattle for...

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Edward Snowden and the Times in which we Live

I watched the new Oliver Stone film Snowden a few weeks ago. It gave me the creeps. I recognize it's a Hollywood/Stone version of a story about a guy people consider either a traitor or a hero. It still gave me the creeps. Though Stone's version of JFK is considered...

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Kubo and the Two Strings

One of the byproducts of living with two young granddaughters is we tend to watch more animated films in our home than we might otherwise. One of the benefits of this reality is that many such movies are teaching some important life lessons that are often missing in...

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