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The Blog

 

BACKWORDS blog explores the intersection between presence and history. The blog is a platform that honors the moment of encounter that any one person experiences—with art, literature, music, performance, or place. Often, reflections fit multiple categories—the opposite of a news program or style blog, BACKWORDS is not preoccupied with immediacy. An event does not need to be current to be relevant, nor does a memory need to be close to its origins to hold its potency.

Featured Posts

Spice and Rain

October 9, 2019

Let's Confuse Each Other In German: How I Turned 30 in Paris

August 7, 2019

My First Foray Into The Wonderful Wallowas

October 9, 2019

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Recent Posts

Driving Through a Derecho, or, Toto, We Are Unfortunately Still in Kansas

August 7, 2019

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Ginger Duncan

Okay, more like, “Phil and Ruby, we’re unfortunately still in Kansas.” 

Phil and Ruby were the two German Short-Haired Pointers that I was helping my friend Shonna transport from Marin County, California, to their owners in Harding, New Jersey. We had a week to get acro...

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What Tony Hoagland Means to Me

May 1, 2019

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Ginger Duncan

Snow is a unique experience in Portland. Not the weather itself, but the reaction from the city and everyone in it. An inch or two can cause chaos. Threats of more than a few inches can mean widespread panic. Every once in a while we’ll get a decent storm, and it’s dur...

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What Kind of a Question is "What is Art?"

April 3, 2019

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Ginger Duncan

Lately, when I go to write about art, I’ve been feeling a little stuck. No inspiration springs effortlessly to mind. This got me thinking about art and its place in my life; how my relationship (or lack of) with it has shaped (or hasn’t) my view of the world.

What came...

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The Art of Going Alone: A Story in Three Parts

March 6, 2019

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Ginger Duncan

Part One: The Concert

The Summer of 2018 was not the best I’ve ever had. I was going through an unexpected breakup, my job was boring me to death, and there were heat waves that left my bedroom at upwards of 95 degrees. I was feeling restless, lost and uncertain – my co...

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Mourning Place

February 6, 2019

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Ginger Duncan

A few weeks ago I took advantage of an unusually sunny Sunday – a merciful break from the mid-winter gray of the Pacific NW. I headed from Portland toward the coast, set on doing a favorite hike but open to wherever the day took me.

I hiked my hike in the astounding 55...

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Mystery Solved: My Favorite Moment in Rock and Roll History

December 5, 2018

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Ginger Duncan

When I was 12 or 13 – back when downloading music off Napster and burning CDs was a thing – the jam band my dad has been friends with since highschool acquired some home recording equipment. My dad, being a rockstar in his daydreams, was quick to put it use and show of...

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Seth at the MoCA Shanghai (and me at another modern art museum)

November 7, 2018

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Ginger Duncan

I am unwaveringly fond of modern art museums. It’s one of the first things I look up when I search for things to do in a new city, and it was no different for my trip to Shanghai. But let me start here: Shanghai is big. Imagine a big city you’ve been to – if it’s Los A...

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Date Night ft. Chad Valley

October 10, 2018

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Ginger Duncan

I had the perfect city date-night on the books. One of my besties, Lori, and I had reservations at a restaurant I’d been wanting to try, dessert plans, and tickets for a show at The Doug Fir, a hip Portland music venue. It was a beautiful summer day and, being someone...

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750 Pages of Pure Tragedy, and Thoughts on Why I Read Them

September 5, 2018

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Ginger Duncan

A couple years ago I did something that felt a little crazy: I sold and donated a couple hundred of my books. At the time, I was moving… again (I would move 4 more times before settling where I live now) and hauling 6 rubbermaid tubs up and down stairs and in and out o...

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The Small Mysteries of My Day in Songjiang

August 8, 2018

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Ginger Duncan

When we stepped out of the train into the metro station, we were met with the same scene as in every other metro station in Shanghai: Escalators. (Without realizing it, escalators had become the thing that will always represent Shanghai in my mind.) But when we emerged...

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Older Posts >

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My First Foray Into The Wonderful Wallowas

October 9, 2019

Spice and Rain

October 9, 2019

Traveling with Less

September 11, 2019

Antibiotics and Balinese Dance, A Winning Combination

September 11, 2019

Let's Confuse Each Other In German: How I Turned 30 in Paris

August 7, 2019

Driving Through a Derecho, or, Toto, We Are Unfortunately Still in Kansas

August 7, 2019

A Brown Betty and a Family Pothole: Thieves and Potters

July 10, 2019

I Won't Call It Country: My Americana Kick

July 3, 2019

What Tony Hoagland Means to Me

May 1, 2019

Twenty Four Hours in Russell, New Zealand

April 3, 2019

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