Oregon Humanities

The Place I Call Home

There are some days that roll out like a promise. Other days you turn the corner to unexpected joys. And still others where the people you meet along the way surprise you into believing in humanity again.

Last summer, the time I spent in Eastern Oregon re-awakened my belief that preserving where we came from, charting where we’re going, and creating innovative ways to see the journey along the way are the essence of our humanity.

I witnessed volunteers who wear more hats... Read more

26 April 2010 | Posted by Kimberly Howard in Inside O. Hm. New Ideas | Permalink | Comments? (1 so far)

Democracy and The Big Sort

I’m reading Bill Bishop’s The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart. I’d been meaning to pick this book up for about a year now and, as soon as I did, it felt immediately “familiar.”

Bishop starts by recounting his experience of choosing Austin, Texas, as his home. He explains that this was not an overtly political decision. He and his wife just wanted to live where they “fit in.” They wanted a “high-quality” life. These... Read more

15 April 2010 | Posted by Cara Ungar-Gutierrez in Inside O. Hm. New Ideas | Permalink | Comments? (0 so far)

A Quiet Endeavor

I recently completed the Humanity in Perspective (HIP) course and am proud of the accomplishment. It isn’t merely that I completed the course, received the certificate or the credit. It was an achievement that changed my perspective, and a change in one’s point of view can be profound. Often in life our point of view is altered due to conditions outside our control. It seems sometimes that we are but the affected spectator. When we seek and welcome change and it positively... Read more

08 April 2010 | Posted by Sam Nerveza in Inside O. Hm. New Ideas | Permalink | Comments? (2 so far)

Linguistically Intoxicating

I was halfway through my shift on a quiet night at the bar. To be fair, they were all quiet nights at that bar. I might as well have been tending in a dry county. You’d think a free hotel bar would be full 365, but this bar was silent. Perhaps it was the Merlot?
When I realized my tips were going to be under $10 I started putting the lemons back in the fridge. Then an Inuit man walked in.

I’d love to tell you there were cinematic strings played upon his entry accompanied... Read more

01 April 2010 | Posted by Aaron Rayburn in Inside O. Hm. New Ideas | Permalink | Comments? (1 so far)