Ellen Wojahn's Comments

A Teacup of a Garden by Ellen Wojahn

Feb 20, 2007 | comments: 6

Ellen Wojahn Mar 9, 2007, 3:57pm EST

Hm...Maurice wanted some other Portland tips. The first thing that popped to mind was Powell's City of Books -- which I believe is the world's largest bookstore. What's interesting about Powell's, aside from its amazing size and selection, is that used books are shelved next to new ones so you can choose how much you want to spend! Portland also has an amazing Japanese Garden, a very good zoo, and one very new attraction that I've yet to check out: an aerial tramway! You can get from downtown up to the top of Marquam Hill, which is great for commuters. But you can also use the tram as a means for doing a wonderful hike in Portland's urban woodlands. Hiker-author William Sullivan just wrote about it a month or so ago in Eugene's Register-Guard, and you can probably find his step-by-step directions online.

Boston, Wide Awake by Ellen Wojahn

Jan 22, 2007 | comments: 12

Ellen Wojahn Feb 14, 2007, 6:18pm EST

Hi, all -- thanks for reading! To all of you who vowed a trip to Boston, I'm holding you to it, so don't fink out on me. Alas, Kathryn, 'tis true about Filene's. Fi-Bay, as some of us used to call the Basement, is the reason I know how to try on pants under a skirt and remove a bra without taking off a shirt. For years and years there weren't fitting rooms, so one had to be, uh, creative. And while tourists may mistake the Garden for the Commons and vice-versa, that wasn't the comment I was making. It's that the formal name for the Garden is actually plural, and the formal name for the Commons is actually singular -- though natives say each name the way I just wrote them. One gets an "s" it shouldn't have; the other loses one it needs. See everybody next time!

Pulling Into Portland (Part 2) by Ellen Wojahn

Dec 19, 2006 | comments: 4

Ellen Wojahn Dec 30, 2006, 10:54am EST

Thanks for the compliments, carolion and Ingrid! It's always easier to write well when the subject's a fun one. My biggest problem is keeping it short enough, especially when it's my own good times I'm writing about! I just have to remind myself that the reader wants the flavor, not every blessed ingredient. As for bridges, Ingrid, don't even get me started on the Marquam Bridge. Since this wasn't a driving trip, I didn't have to cope with it. But every time I drive through Portland to the north, I have to psyche myself up before encountering this huge flyover. It always makes me feel like I'm driving up and off into midair. And I'm not generally afraid of heights! Once I actually stopped at a rest area about 20 miles south of the city and asked a businesswoman to assure me it was going to be okay. "Of course!" said she, playing along. "Today is completely different. The bridge won't bother you in the least. It will be behind you before you know it." Hurray for her, because she made it fine for me.

Pulling Into Portland (Part 1) by Ellen Wojahn

Dec 7, 2006 | comments: 12

Ellen Wojahn Dec 12, 2006, 10:08pm EST

So great to hear from all of you! I have to say again: It was a really great weekend -- really, really great! And, you don't know the half of it. The second article tells you what we did and saw the rest of our time in Portland.

To those considering a trip to Portland, please know that Mary H. is right -- not all of downtown's neighborhoods feel family-friendly at night. But, to a certain extent, that's part of what I like about Portland. It's not polished and stagey -- it's a real city, with a certain amount of grit to it. Having said that, the areas that feel dodgy are small and not close to most of the downtown action. I can give away a little bit of my second article -- enough to say our walking of the city was among the best aspects of the trip, we had no qualms at all. Mary H. also commented on some train glitches, and with the amount she appears to travel the rails, I'm not at all surprised she's found a few. For me, one of the chances you take when you let somebody else "take the wheel" is that you won't always enjoy the freedom you gave up in doing so. But in most cases, the relaxation is well worth the risk of a glitch. For us, everything ran almost according to clockwork.

Gather Exclusive: Oh, That Tiger (And More) by Donna Carpenter

Jul 18, 2006 | comments: 8

Ellen Wojahn Jul 25, 2006, 2:35pm EDT

Donna, that mother-in-law of yours must be a spry one! ;-)

Gather Exclusive: Why We Love Our Dogs by Ellen Wojahn

Jul 25, 2006 | comments: 8

Ellen Wojahn Jul 25, 2006, 2:14pm EDT

Hi Julie B. and others -- The research so far suggests that dogs get their information about human illness either through literally smelling trouble -- as cancer-sniffing dogs are able to do -- or by sensing behavioral changes in their owners, as Breeze may do with an impending migraine. But it's still an emerging area of research, from what I was able to determine.

And, to those readers seeing a disconnect between my business-related book and this doggie topic -- there's not one, really. In addition to "Playing By Different Rules" some years ago, I've had a hand in writing many, many business-management books and articles over the years. What interests me about business and those who start and run them is the same thing that interests me about these dogs: What makes them tick? How do they do what they do? In what ways do they contribute to our lives and our society? I hope to write about lots of different topics for this site, all with curiosity leading the way. --Ellen

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