i heard it through the grape vine: generation x nostalgia

via LoneGunman

The Seattle Post Intelligencer reports that Hollywood's "high-concept ideas are coming from deep in the closet of Gen-X nostalgia." The writer includes a rundown of toys that have thus far been overlooked by studios including the California Raisins, Teddy Ruxpin and Pound Puppies.

What Generation X toys, books, cartoons and TV shows do you think Hollywood studios ought to give a nod? I'm thinking Lucky Charms, The Movie or Cap'n Crunch vs. King Vitamin. Ha!

the montréal massacre and the death of gen X hope

Today, I'm kicking off a guest blog series that will feature some of my favorite Generation X bloggers. If you're interested in contributing a post to this series, please email me at jenx67[at]cox[dot]net. I'm interested in posts between 500-1,000 words with strong Gen X themes framed around pop culture, religion and memoirs, etc. Today's guest blogger is Naomi Munn.

Naomi is a Canadian writer now living in Michigan’s Great Lakes Bay Region. Born in the last gasp of the 60s and a survivor of the Jewish single-mother ghetto, Naomi balances the ambitious goal of finding the meaning of a spiritual life with raising a family. Devoted to Judaism, she often writes about the mystical life. She blogs at Writing for Life

photo via aaron escobar

We of Generation X may whine about the suburban canned spaghetti we were forced to consume as our mothers left us alone; latch-key children babysat by the blue light of the television and imprisoned by the four walls of our sub-middle class nightmare. But there are greater fears inside our souls than abandonment.

We can plead for understanding of our loneliness, our cynicism and our pragmatism in the wake of raising ourselves. But for some of us, the pain of being broken cost us more than our optimism. The burden of our lost hope led to rage.

On December 6, 1989, Marc Lépine strolled into the engineering school École Polytechnique in Montréal and separated the women from men. He then shot the women to death, left to right, screaming "You're women; you're going to be engineers. You're all a bunch of feminists. I hate feminists." Fourteen women died because of the twisted pain inside one member of Generation X.

Columbine was not the first tragedy where students killed out of pain – we started this fire ourselves.

Many of the parents of Generation X joined the Boomers as they burned their bras in the name of feminism. Our mothers protested, held “consciousness-raising” meetings and gave up Tupperware to instead store the sexual revolution. They left their husbands and moved their children to sprawling row-house ghettos. Women now living on the edge of society went to work for a living and left Generation X to fend for ourselves.

These mothers paid for their ideals, their feminism, with struggles for equal pay and equal rights; with long hours and little money and bitterness about the unfairness of our society. But the Generation X children they left behind paid for our equality with our lives.

Many of our generation were college students in 1989 – Canadians watched in horror as the CBC news broadcast live pictures of women who bled to death in chairs, slumped in the grey-walled cafeterias that were so similar to our own. We huddled in stairways and in groups fainting on the floor. We were the daughters of women who fought so hard to give us access to careers never thought possible. We were the young women who desperately wanted to become the source of our own wealth – to never depend on our absent fathers or our future husbands.

We never thought we’d have to die for our ambition.

Living in the shadow of the Montréal Massacre meant nightmares for Generation X north of America. While American young people were struggling with the possibility of war over oil, we struggled with war against ourselves. Marc Lépine was one of us – a broken child abandoned by his father, raised alone by his mother.

Growing up Generation X in Canada meant more than feeling alone; at that moment we began to feel afraid. Struggling for gender equality became a practical struggle for our ideals. It meant not complaining when a professor felt your breasts from behind, because at least you were alive, and studying for a career most women would not have attained 10 years before. It meant hiding in your dorm room at night and rushing from class to class in the daylight in the hope that our university wouldn’t be the next target. It wasn’t isolated, and we were terrified. We were women on the cusp of independent adulthood – but only if our society let us live.

While the violence ended and we went back to our studies, we did not forget those left behind. Stones mark the night that one of us turned on us all – monuments across Canada dot the landscape and remind us that the pain of isolation, the torment of making children grow up too soon can rend the soul into many fractured fragments.

And many of us still wonder about the steep price we paid for our mothers’ ideals.

generation X roundup: jackson, fawcett memoirs; top-earning actresses

Since the death of Michael Jackson, I have never seen so many blog posts about Generation X. Ted Anthony, Associated Press was the first reporter to frame Jackson's death as a loss for Generation X and I believe this kick-started the meme, although Latchkey Man, The Gen X Files and I were all quick to publish blog posts about this. If you google Generation X + Michael Jackson or Farrah Fawcett (click the Google blog search button) you will get an idea of what I am talking about. Some of these memoirs are really worth reading. Here are a few I came across:

Gen X Bonds Over King of Pop Death From Australia's The West
RIFPMJ from the Lost Ogle
RIP Michael from Jason's Photo Blog
My First Record Was By Michael Jackson from Trapped in the 80s Mom
Ben from Modern Day Pioneers
Kids and Heroes from MissQOKC.
Fare Thee Well, Fair Lady from Dustbury (a Boomer, I like him!)
A Tribute to Michael From Another Gen Xer from The Confluence.
Farewell Michael from Cincinnati Blog.
How I'll Always Remember Michael from She Likes To Watch.

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A Baby Boomer who calls himself The Occasional CEO has published a blog post in which he says Baby Boomers need to stop apologizing to Generations X and Y; work for 25 more years and never stop driving. He says they are "in control" and essentially, never giving it up. This guys is definitely annoyed.

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Forbes magazine announces the top earning actresses in Hollywood and the top two spots are held by Generation X rivals Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston.

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Finally, next week, I will feature some guest bloggers on this site. I think you will enjoy their Generation X posts! If you have a Generation X post you'd like to share, email me at jenx67[at]cox[dot]net.

never a dull moment

Pictures of the little ones taken today at an Oklahoma City Spray Ground.

This morning, this little turkey said,

"Momma, I'll never run from your beautiful arms."

(I swear I don't make this stuff up.)

Several months ago, I took Sully to see my dad, who has Alzheimer's.

Sully covered his arms and hands with kisses and my father said this:

"You have a little lover on your hands."

Yes, I do, dad, and I so wish you were here to watch him play in the park.

This is the Super Bridgy. Tonight at the dinner table,

she waved her fork in the air at a fly and nearly proceeded to poke her eye out.

Ahhh, never a dull moment.

And, where is my oldest daughter?

Seriously, she's hiding from kisses and forks.

Conspiracy Theory and Salmon Dinner with a Spokane Indian

Be it the rain or the wind

Or the moon up in the sky

The spin of the earth or the change of the tide

I don't know what brought us together

What strange forces of nature

Conspire to construct the present

From the past

--From Alan Jackson

In early June, Robert and I gathered with our friend, TR, for a most unexpected event: a salmon dinner with a Spokane Indian, Sulustu. He and his wife, Rhonda, travelled all the way from Washington state to spend some time with us. We'd met less than a year earlier via the Blogosphere.

Dinner was an amazing cultural adventure that paid homage to not only Sulustu's Native American roots, but Robert's as well. (My husband is half Achumawi or Pit River Indian.) We had boiled red potatoes and salmon laid out on wood and cooked on a grill. Afterward, we gathered on our porch and talked until midnight. I was too aware, with every second that passed, that we were seconds closer to telling our new friends goodbye. We parted with hope that we would see each other again someday.

I began following Sulustu's blog last summer. Ironically, through his blog, I connected with TR, an Oklahoma blogger, who lives one mile from my house. He has become my friend. Moreover, a rural Oklahoma blogger, Smalltown Girl, became engaged with this trio, and this has led to a meaningful connection among six people.

Sulustu, Robert and TR

All those many months ago, when I began following Sulustu's blog, there was no indication that the two of us, along with his wife Rhonda, shared a life experience so unusual that anyone who has walked such a road has instant intimacy with other fellow journeyers. TR and Smalltown Girl have not walked this specific road, but have such rare insight into the journey, this evolution can be viewed as nothing less than Divine Appointment. There have been so many other gifts along the way, including Robert connecting with a Native brother.

I think if we're open to it, God will conspire on our behalf. Every day, I see how He has ordered my steps. A few weeks ago, I read this on the blog, View Through the Fingers: "I always seem to run into the right person at the right time, but that seems to be a matter of paying attention."

I hope I'm paying attention.

winners!

It looks like Big Bird will be paying a visit to Dude, Where Am I? and Starbucks will be paying a visit to But I Digress. They are the winners of the recent giveaway! Thanks, ya'll! More Gen X giveaways coming soon!

the daily oklahoman

Today, The Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma's largest newspaper, published an excerpt (page 11a) from my guest post about Generation X and Oklahoma City. The original post appeared last week on reporter Steve Lackmeyer's blog, OKC Central. The paper also generously included the URL, jenx67.com, in the story. I've tweeted this and I put it on Facebook, so if you're reading this for the third time, my apologies. It was just SO NEAT! I appreciate Kent Fischer for bringing this to my attention!

the jungle of life

A story I wrote a year ago and published last week on this blog, Mary DuBueno, is featured today on the blog Jungle of Life. Lance is the author of Jungle of Life, and his blog is chock full of so much great stuff, it's easy to see why he has such a big following. I feel so grateful that he would see fit to publish this story, especially since we just became acquainted and all I have to offer in return is my gratitude. Thank you, Lance. This means so much.

missing michael jackson more than i missed him before

Yesterday, as Generation X mourned the loss of a childhood icon, and while every radio station in Oklahoma City played Ben, Beat It or Billie Jean, I surprisingly had a different song going through my head. Randy VanWarmer’s You Left Me, Just When I Needed You Most.

But I miss you more than I missed you before
And now where I'll find comfort, God knows
'Cause you left me just when I needed you most...

Melanie Dewey, my BFF from high school can confirm it. I was the biggest Michael Jackson fan at Caney Valley High School in 1983, the year Billie Jean and Beat It became #1 hits two months apart. Jackson was plastered all over my locker. Nobody danced wilder and crazier than me when his songs were played at the Barnwarmer, Snowball and homecoming dances. I loved Michael Jackson.

Then, one day, I woke up and Michael Jackson’s weirdness reached a tipping point. I could hardly stand to look at him. He was not the same person whose pictures hung in my locker. I left him. I missed him. I never stopped waiting for the Michael Jackson I loved to reappear. I always thought he might, but it never happened. He died. And, although some have said he died a long time ago, that is just tragic literature. He did not die a long time ago. We left him a long time ago, in the moment he evolved and changed into something we did not like, and there is a big difference.

And, it goes without saying Michael Jackson left his Thriller fan base, also known as Generation X. And, now he is gone forever, and whether I cherish it or regret it, his music forever wallpapers the memories of my youth.

This is what we do. We change, and when we do, some people choose to leave us. And, this is what we do. People change and when they do, sometimes, we choose to leave them. And whether we were the one doing the leaving or the one being left, we still mourn. And, as the song says:

God knows.

Washington Post Reports Two Lost Icons: For Generation X, a really bad day.

Thank you to Ted Anthony for his Washington Post story about Generation X and the the loss of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson as it relates to the larger picture of generational and life experiences. He echoed the sentiments expressed by the Gen X Files, Latchkey Man and me in posts earlier tonight:

"These people were on our lunchboxes," said Gary Giovannetti, 38, a manager at HBO who grew up on Long Island awash in Farrah and MJ iconography. "This," he said, "is the moment when Generation X realizes they're grown up."

It has been so interesting to see Generation X on Twitter and in the Blogosphere sharing in this sentiment tonight.

It was really something to read tweets from a local PR director about songs like Ben. Folks, I wanted to play Ben in my 8th grade piano recital instead of Bach. Connecting with someone who even knows Ben, who even remembers Ben, who understands the rats reference, man, it was a Gen X moment I'm savoring. There was another tweet from an Oklahoma City jeweler about Say, Say, Say by Jackson and McCartney. Remember that?

I don't just want some Comment Luv. I want some Gen X Luv. Kumbaya. Let us bond. =)

Generation X Loses Two Coming of Age Icons; Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson

Image via Wikipedia

You and I must make a pact,

we must bring salvation back.

Where there is love, I'll be there.

--From Michael Jackson's I'll Be There

Growing up, my brother had the iconic poster of Farrah Fawcett in an orange bathing suit taped to the back of his bedroom door. In high school, Michael Jackson pictures adorned my high school locker. This would not be much of a Generation X blog if I did not acknowledge the passing of these Superstars.

And, I don't know about you, but I don't know how much older we (Gen X) can get before the rest of the world kind of starts recognizing the fact that we're not exactly young anymore. When you start losing your coming-of-age icons, well, it's a sign - I'm getting older, too.

I welcome your thoughts about their lives and untimely deaths.


RIP Farrah. RIP Michael.

bareback through the blogosphere

I want to be the kind of person who immediately recognizes the brilliance in others.

I don’t want to wait for the herd.

I don’t want to follow someone or something only after it becomes a popular trend.

I want to recognize those amazing people mass culture has not yet discovered, so I can witness their evolution.

I want to be the kind of person who does not hide my face from someone else’s radiance because I fear their bright light might dwarf or diminish mine.

I don’t want to be frightened or intimidated by the talent in others.

I want to search for it, even when it isn't readily apparent. And, when I find it I want to call it out -- the intellect, the fearlessness, the genius.

I want to risk my reputation being kind.

I want to risk my reputation telling the truth.

I want to risk my pride, reaching out even if nobody reaches back.

I want to risk my days listening.

I want to make a difference when nobody is looking.

I want to be all that I have needed someone to be – all that you were, when nobody was looking.

I was more brilliant when you were shining your light on me.

The herd has nothing on you.

You left crowd wisdom in the smoke and group intelligence in the corner asking, “What just happened?”

While everyone else wanted to be in a tribe you rode bareback alone.

You confessed your agenda and asked for help.

You shared your best kept secrets and tricks of the trade.

You let others share in the decision making.

You gave all the credit away.

You shared the stage and made room for everyone’s ideas and differences.

You were counterintuitive.

You did not squander your affections on things that don’t matter.

You did not squander time, and you did not squander people.

You were generous.

You chose mercy over peace.

You said what needed to be said.

You dipped your cup in the well of understanding and you passed it around.

You are everyone who is walking toward me right now and no one who is walking away.

You did not wait for the herd, and neither will I.

What brilliant human being will we discover today?

some stories take courage to tell. this is one of them.

Click the full screen icon in the lower righthand corner to enlarge ebook.

Mary DuBueno

View more Microsoft Word documents from jenagain.

The Quiet Revolution of Generation X

There are a handful of people on the planet who consistently turn out fantastic blog posts specifically about Generation X. They are relatively few in number - six at least, 12 at most. (Talk about niche blogging.) Here are three posts from three of them

Joe Moody's post about the quiet revolution of Generation X -- the Internet. This is a fascinating little ride into Moody's experience as a newspaper journalist and how the morning coffee and newspaper has become the morning coffee and laptop.

Dave Sohigian posts about Generation X deserving a spot on Guy Kawasaki's Alltop; 7 myths about Generation X and a post about the Sarah Palin vs. David Letterman confrontation, No Jokes About My Kids.

Finally, Chris Curtin's post, A Documentary for Gen X -- Anvil: The Story of Anvil is what many Generation Xers I know really need to hear. LISTEN UP: "...We’ll only achieve our goals if we’re willing to participate (indeed, cherish) the struggle."

If you're reading this and thinking, "Hey! What about me! I wrote something great about Generation X, too!" (I've most likely already read it, but got sidetracked) send me an email with the link to jenx67[at]cox[dot]net or just leave a comment.