NSP Blog Categories

Astoria

otatriangle

February 24, 2025

Oregon Tavern Age: Return to the Triangle Tavern

waltcartoon

January 12, 2019

Final Notes from Life on Probation

truthcover

November 10, 2018

Truth at the Tideline

beartrimmer

November 7, 2018

Youngs Bay Barbershop

dump2

September 10, 2018

Meditations on a Dump Run (Part 1)

baldeagles

July 9, 2018

Bald Eagle Traffic Jam

June 21, 2018

Youngs Bay Coffee Shop

youngsbay

February 13, 2018

February Musings Overlooking Youngs’ Bay

godfatherslogo

February 10, 2018

Thank You Godfather’s Books

spread_kindness

February 7, 2018

Kindness and Gratitude Prompts_Possible Submission of Piece for Publication

Bonnie and Clyde Files

rush

January 26, 2020

Dogs Reigning in My Mind (Part 19)

IMG_20191015_170804425 (2)

January 24, 2020

Dogs Reigning in My Mind (Part 18)

maddie2

January 23, 2020

Dogs Reigning in My Mind (Part 17)

dorothydog

January 22, 2020

Dogs Reigning in My Mind (Part 16)

anna_sonny32

January 21, 2020

Dogs Reigning in My Mind (Part 15)

Cover_A (2)

October 16, 2019

A Few Copies Remain of the Bonnie & Clyde Files

Back Cover_A

June 12, 2019

The Bonnie and Clyde Files…another excerpt

bcillustration

May 21, 2019

Letter From a Bonnie and Clyde Reader

IMG_20190420_140958161 (2)

May 6, 2019

Reunion with Bonnie

May 3, 2019

Book Number 22: The Bonnie and Clyde Files

Coos Bay

metallica

October 16, 2025

Recent Scenes of Homelessness Around Coos Bay

elmercontemplationn

October 13, 2025

Contemplations of a Dog

preindoor

October 8, 2025

Prefontaine Memorial Fun Run

rydercup

October 6, 2025

Oregon Tavern Age: Ryder Cup

sabbath

October 1, 2025

First Day of School

postcard

September 18, 2025

Back into the Breach

elmerwiz

September 15, 2025

Coos County Images

couch

September 4, 2025

Furniture and Annihilation

roberts

September 1, 2025

Oregon Tavern Age: Fog

ciarn

August 30, 2025

Cairns

Corona Virus Thoughts

turkey

October 11, 2023

Dad Contracts Covid

March 30, 2022

Final Corona Virus Thoughts

rodgers

November 26, 2021

Corona Virus Thoughts #26

kinks

September 7, 2021

Corona Virus Thoughts #25

olympics

August 2, 2021

Corona Virus Thoughts: The Olympic Games

lottery

May 25, 2021

Corona Virus Thoughts #24

shot

April 14, 2021

Second Vaccine Shot

shot

March 25, 2021

First Vaccine Shot

stones

March 17, 2021

Corona Virus Thoughts # 23

virus

February 23, 2021

Corona Virus Thoughts #22

Driftwood Forts

elmerfort

May 20, 2024

Our First Fort Together

pistolfortsunday

November 22, 2023

Sunday Fort Building

fort25

June 21, 2023

Fort Building Metaphor Magic

andreatarotreading

May 24, 2021

Fort Tarot Reading

pistolriverfort2

April 1, 2021

A Last Pistol River Fort

jan30fort

January 31, 2021

The Permanent Impermanence of Driftwood Forts

fortfoamtide

November 18, 2020

The Imminent Disappearance of a Fort

forttrash2

November 12, 2020

Pick Up Your Trash 2

note

November 9, 2020

Pick Up Your Trash

forttmattthinking

August 30, 2020

A Stroll Through My Forts

Fiction

magi3

December 20, 2024

Gift of the Oregon Homeless Magi (Part 3)

magi2

December 18, 2024

Gift of the Oregon Homeless Magi (Part 2)

magi1

December 16, 2024

Gift of the Oregon Homeless Magi (Part 1)

lightwindow

December 2, 2024

The Pizza Box Manger: A Christmas Tale

ring

January 31, 2024

The Severed Head

rakes

December 18, 2023

Christmas Rakes for the Homeless

steve6

March 3, 2023

Scenes of Steve Prefontaine (Scene 6)

steve5

March 1, 2023

Scenes of Steve Prefontaine (Scene 5)

steve4

February 27, 2023

Scenes of Steve Prefontaine (Scene 4)

steve3

February 24, 2023

Scenes of Steve Prefontaine (Scene 3)

Lost and Found

sheep

August 5, 2024

The Parable of the Lost Sheep and a Fentanyl Smoker

sheep

September 3, 2020

Excerpt from a Letter that I Hope Will Change the Course of My Life

July 20, 2017

Lost and Found 15 / Purpose

IMG_7745 (2)

July 1, 2017

Lost and Found 14 B / Endings

June 29, 2017

Lost and Found 14 A / Endings

baldeaglesign

June 14, 2017

Lost and Found 13 / The Creative Mind

blogshots

June 9, 2017

Lost and Found 12 / Lists

mattmisc 021

May 30, 2017

Lost and Found 11 / One Year In

mermaidschristmas4

May 9, 2017

Lost and Found 10 / Faces

May 6, 2017

Lost and Found 9 / Self Hospice Care

NSP Correspondents

cabin

May 8, 2025

Oregon Tavern Age: Captain’s Cabin

mattroguefort

July 23, 2021

The Beer Chaser Blog

kelly

November 19, 2020

A Friend’s Meditations on Dementia

clack_foodline

September 14, 2020

A Vortex I Story

golddiggers

May 26, 2020

Panning During the Pandemic

Citadelfrontcolor

February 13, 2020

From the Dust

eucrecreekfort

July 22, 2019

Deep into the Destroyer’s Domain

androsov

June 27, 2019

Androsov’s Fort

santa

January 2, 2019

A Slash Burn Christmas (Part 6)

Clearcut1

January 1, 2019

A Slash Burn Christmas (Part 5)

NSP Meditations

babyruth

October 27, 2025

Oregon Tavern Age: Turds

elmersteakblog

October 20, 2025

A Favor for Elmer

metallica

October 16, 2025

Recent Scenes of Homelessness Around Coos Bay

elmercontemplationn

October 13, 2025

Contemplations of a Dog

preindoor

October 8, 2025

Prefontaine Memorial Fun Run

rydercup

October 6, 2025

Oregon Tavern Age: Ryder Cup

sabbath

October 1, 2025

First Day of School

groovy

September 29, 2025

The Fishmonger’s Ensemble

crab

September 22, 2025

Oregon Tavern Age: Crabs

postcard

September 18, 2025

Back into the Breach

Of Walking in Rain

14rain_love 019

March 27, 2024

Rainy Morning Homeless Meditations

birds

October 25, 2023

Rainy Day Ruminations

jetty

June 3, 2022

Of Thinking of Rain

walking

February 21, 2022

A Philosophy of Walking

drstrange

September 13, 2021

Of Not Walking in Rain

rain

March 5, 2021

The Sound of Rain

beer

January 4, 2021

Sellwood Walk 1-2-21

fortrainblog

January 1, 2021

Walking in Rain with Big Changes on My Mind

fort5

December 21, 2020

Of Walking in Winter Rain

ellison

May 13, 2020

Some Miscellaneous Thoughts in Rain

Oregon Beaches

elmercontemplationn

October 13, 2025

Contemplations of a Dog

moon

August 22, 2025

Full Charleston Moon

deadlion

June 30, 2025

Meditations on a Dying Sea Lion

triton

May 16, 2025

Hairy Triton Morning

mattrunningspitdogs2

April 16, 2025

My New Book Released: One Man’s Beach

elmerbeachfeb25

February 11, 2025

Frosty Dawn at the Beach

IMG_20241201_071526113

December 4, 2024

Orange Contrails

kelpfountain5

August 7, 2024

The End of Kelp Stories on the Oregon Coast

elemrjetty

May 27, 2024

At the Siuslaw Jetty

elmerfort

May 20, 2024

Our First Fort Together

Oregon Coast_History

mattrunningspitdogs2

April 16, 2025

My New Book Released: One Man’s Beach

prefinalcover

September 30, 2024

Never Stop Pre: The Enduring Inspiration of America’s Greatest Sports Legend…by Matt Love (new book out!)

stoneygonian

September 2, 2024

The Stone Oregon Era

Pioneers_PDX-Punk_Communico_B_1200x675

August 14, 2024

Thoughts on Portland Punk Rock and Homelessness

sheoregon-md

June 10, 2024

Rest in Peace Earl Mohr

moreblazers 021

May 29, 2024

Bill Walton and the Secret Weapon to the Portland Trail Blazers Winning the NBA title in 1977

reed

October 23, 2023

The Joy of Reedsport

beaverlogo6

August 30, 2023

Oregon On My Mind (Part 6) Rest in Peace Walt Curtis

beaverlogo2

August 16, 2023

Oregon On My Mind (Part 2)

beaverlogo1

August 14, 2023

Oregon On My Mind (Part 1)

Oregon Tavern Age

babyruth

October 27, 2025

Oregon Tavern Age: Turds

crab

September 22, 2025

Oregon Tavern Age: Crabs

tape

September 8, 2025

Oregon Tavern Age: Miscellaneous

roberts

September 1, 2025

Oregon Tavern Age: Fog

burg

August 18, 2025

Oregon Tavern Age: Roseburg Camping Bitches

chairs

August 4, 2025

Oregon Tavern Age: Lawn Chair

hamms

July 21, 2025

Oregon Tavern Age: Empire Scenes

reddevil

June 23, 2025

Oregon Tavern Age: Red Devils

elmerburnbarrel

June 2, 2025

Oregon Tavern Age: Nirvana

heidy

May 27, 2025

Oregon Tavern Age: Coos Country

Pioneer Pride

beaverlogo2

August 16, 2023

Oregon On My Mind (Part 2)

ocbridge

August 9, 2023

An Oregon City Legend

houseclass

June 1, 2022

Recycling My Yearbooks

football

November 20, 2021

Football vs. Repentance

pioneerpridecover

April 7, 2020

Pioneer Pride: Part 25-The End

pioneerpridecover

April 7, 2020

Pioneer Pride: Chapter 24—A Sophomore Date

pioneerpridecover

April 5, 2020

Pioneer Pride: Part 23-Kissers III

pioneerpridecover

April 3, 2020

Pioneer Pride: Part 22-Kissers II

pioneerpridecover

April 2, 2020

Pioneer Pride: Part 21-Kissers I

pioneerpridecover

March 30, 2020

Pioneer Pride: Part 20-The Rivalry

Poetry

groovy

September 29, 2025

The Fishmonger’s Ensemble

liberty

July 2, 2025

Freedom Laundry

rifle

March 3, 2025

Kaiser ER

heathman

February 25, 2025

A Husky Checks Into…

moon

October 30, 2024

Hunter’s Moon Walk

skunk

September 26, 2024

A Tanka

elmerpool

July 8, 2024

Reading Hart Crane with the Husky

sheoregon-md

June 10, 2024

Rest in Peace Earl Mohr

hoodie

May 22, 2024

Three Poems About the Homeless

osprey

April 22, 2024

An Osprey Man

secret coast radio

scr logos

December 17, 2020

Secret Coast Radio #26

scr logos

November 13, 2020

Secret Coast Radio #25

scr logos

October 31, 2020

Secret Coast Radio #24

scr logos

October 27, 2020

Secret Coast Radio #23

scr logos

July 9, 2020

Secret Coast Radio #22

scr logos

June 18, 2020

Secret Coast Radio #21

scr logos

June 1, 2020

Secret Coast Radio #20

scr logos

April 22, 2020

Secret Coast Radio 19

scr logos

April 12, 2020

Secret Coast Radio #18

scr logos

April 4, 2020

Secret Coast Radio #17

Sports

preindoor

October 8, 2025

Prefontaine Memorial Fun Run

prerock

April 7, 2025

Never Stop Pre at Pre’s Rock

IMG_20241009_160823935

October 14, 2024

A JV Football Game

preexceprt2

October 7, 2024

Another Excerpt from Never Stop Pre

exceprt1

October 2, 2024

Excerpt from Never Stop Pre

prefinalcover

September 30, 2024

Never Stop Pre: The Enduring Inspiration of America’s Greatest Sports Legend…by Matt Love (new book out!)

football

September 4, 2024

Some Thoughts on Football

goldbeachgolf

July 1, 2024

A Socialist Nine Holes of Golf

moreblazers 021

May 29, 2024

Bill Walton and the Secret Weapon to the Portland Trail Blazers Winning the NBA title in 1977

football

January 24, 2024

Some Thoughts on Football

Writing

havel

August 13, 2025

A Creative Crisis and Thoughts on Hope

prerock

April 7, 2025

Never Stop Pre at Pre’s Rock

sabers

March 12, 2025

Sabers and Utopias

op68finalcover

March 10, 2025

Operation 68: Letters from a Young Missionary in Brazil

rickshaw

January 22, 2025

Not Finishing Novels

sartre

December 12, 2024

An Update to Sartre

elmerfort

October 28, 2024

Some Thoughts On My Current Writing Life

preexceprt2

October 7, 2024

Another Excerpt from Never Stop Pre

prefinalcover

September 30, 2024

Never Stop Pre: The Enduring Inspiration of America’s Greatest Sports Legend…by Matt Love (new book out!)

Bottle Coversmaller

August 21, 2024

Thoughts on Giving Away The Old Crow Book Club to Homeless People

NEVER STOP PRE

The Enduring Inspiration of America's Greatest Sports Legend

Buy the Book: Print $21.99 + $5 shipping

"Never stop Pre. When he's no longer relevant in Oregon, Oregon is dead."

On May 31, 1975, Coos Bay, Oregon native Steve Prefontaine died in an automobile accident. At the time of his death, he held 14 American records in distance running.

Pre was 24 years old and already a legend in Oregon and the world of track of field.

Read More - Click here to buy the ePub or Kindle Editions

Support Meditations Blog

The Old Crow

Book Club

In December of 2020, author Matt Love moved to Portland to care for his elderly father.

Returning to the Rose City jolted Love after 23 years residing on the Oregon Coast. In the Sellwood neighborhood where he lived, Love met a homeless man named Mark. They formed a friendship over literature and the unforeseen magical discoveries in street libraries. They created The Old Crow Book Club, and yes, sometimes that involved drinking Old Crow on a sidewalk.

The club also included several other Sellwood homeless men and women cut from John Steinbeck's Cannery Row cloth.

In due course, Love learned the members' stories of homelessness and how they survived. He wondered what happened to his beloved state of Oregon and attempted to help Mark get off the streets only to run up against the seemingly futile policies to address the crisis.

Along the way, he had the best conversations about books in his life and wrote The Old Crow Book Club, where he recounts his interactions with the homeless people in his neighborhood and offers some suggestions how to alleviate what he considers the greatest man-made American humanitarian disaster of his adult life.

The Old Crow Book Club is available for purchase here and select independent bookstores in Oregon.

$15.99 + $4 Shipping

Choice Cuts

of Oregon Fiction

Choice Cuts of Oregon Fiction by Matt Love contains 20 stories, all set in Oregon. The cast of characters includes a depressed Santa Claus, Steve Prefontaine, Jack Ramsay's fast break offense, socialist squirrels, a clearcut, a dead deer, a junior high football team, a high school tennis player, a dissipated teacher, a man who evolves into a beaver, a homeless vet, a jilted preacher, a double date to a prom, rural degenerates, a wily caterer, and much more.

The publication of the collection culminates a quarter century of the author's writing about Oregon and rambling around the state.

Choice Cuts is available for purchase here, through Amazon, or select independent bookstores in Oregon.

$22.99 + $3 Shipping

The Savage

of State Street

Nestucca Spit Press is proud to present The Savage of State Street: The Thieving and Literary Lives of Smoky Epley. He is the greatest unheralded writer in Oregon history and also one of its more mediocre, colorful and persistent thieves.

In 1973, Oregon State University Press published Men in Exile: An Anthology of Creative Writing by Inmates of the Oregon State Penitentiary. Twenty-two of Smoky Epley's pieces appeared in the book.

Smoky spent most of his adult life in state and federal prisons for robbery. In 2008, during one of his brief stints of freedom, Smoky became friends with Matt Love, an Oregon author and publisher. They met after Love discovered Men in Exile and wrote a newspaper column about the landmark book. Smoky read the column and reached out.

He returned to prison in 2009 after forging a check. Upon his release in 2011, Love encouraged Smoky to write a memoir. He completed half of Auto before dying in February of 2013.

$19.99 + $3 Shipping

Sonny the husky discovers a homeless encampment destroying a creek in a Portland city park. She alerts her owner and a park ranger and inspires a community clean-up of the damaged riparian area. Neighborhood citizens and residents of the encampment join Sonny to restore a tiny part of a watershed and later celebrate their collaboration.

Buy Bundle Direct From Author (PDF & ePub Download)

Buy eBook on Amazon