Mile-High Class Warfare
Not long ago, I was accidentally seated in First Class on a flight from Portland to Houston. Accidentally, because there were…
Author: Barbara J Gabriel
Scratching Beneath the Surface of Your Town
We are moving soon from Portland, Oregon to Austin. The one in Texas. The reasons we have decided to move…
What’s Your Favorite Shark? Curiosity and Creativity
“What’s your favorite shark?” Questions like that one, coming from an eight-year-old boy I’ll call Simon, at 6:00 in the…
Lunch at Portland’s Beast with Friends
I write about the philosophy of stealing a day from fate because I believe it is an important part of…
Making New Friends in Ireland
Earlier this summer while traveling in Ireland I met Mickey, an Irish gentleman who came into Con & Maura’s Bar,…
I’m Downsizing While a Bicycling Burglar Cases the Neighborhood
I watched a burglar bicycle past my house today while I sipped cappuccino and watched my dogs wrestle in the…
Reinvention Through Travel and Why I Never Wore Those Stupid Green Pajamas
In a Dispatch a while ago, I mentioned an Irish radio show I listened to one morning while driving from Ireland’s…
Irish Whiskey Tasting in Midleton, County Cork
There’s a theory (you can look it up and read Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers) referred to as the 10,000-hours rule, which…
Road Tripping in Ireland
I had this vague notion about my first trip to Ireland 15 years ago: that I would seek out some…
Two Tales of Dublin
I lost my map of Dublin in the toilet of the restaurant where I ate breakfast. Or maybe I left…