Gen-X Treasures | OCT 2020
๐ต Social Security Insolvency Clock ๐ Awestruck: Pray As You Go ๐ญ Thrilling Latchkey Kid Diet ๐ 40s Breakup Letter ๐คณ Girl Suicide Rate โ Gen-X Under Investigation ๐ 90s In Vogue +๐โก๏ธ๐ ๐๐
๐ขย Announcement
I will be moving this newsletter to Substack in November. You will receive a test message soon with a fun announcement.ย It involves a prize!ย Thank you for your interest and support.
๐ย I'm still awestruck by the Pray As You God podcast.
After two years, I am still awestruck by the Pray As You Go podcast. Today's episode went straight to my broken heart. And, all our hearts are broken right now. I can't be the only person crying in the shower and yelling at God...ย
"If sometimes your thoughts dwell on the past, regretting that you didnโt do this or that, or on the future, speculating or worrying about what might happen, is there a message here for you? A message to attend to the present, to the now? And if you sometimes think that God is somewhere else and that you could really do Godโs will if only you were somewhere else, if only you had made different life choices, if only you werenโt living among such impossible peopleโฆIs there a message for you here? That God is not somewhere else, but where you are now? ...Your path to God is the one you are on right now, and there is no other. You cannot start, or move on, from anywhere but here. So perhaps now would be a good time to ask God for the help you need to get closer to him."
๐ย Gen-Xers Recall Watching Challenger Disaster
Challenger: The Final Flightย is a four-part docuseries now available on Netflix. When I shared a post about it on Facebook, nearly 200ย people shared their memories of being a kid and watching the launch televised live.ย
๐ Halloween Pictures
During the month of October, I will be featuring wonderful old photographs of Halloween from the 1960s-1990s. Be sure to click the FOLLOWING button on theย Facebook pageย and then click "SEE FIRST" so you never miss a post. The Facebook page will remain totally politics-free during election season. Enjoy a break from the crazy!
๐ญย Lonesome and Thrilling Snack Diet of a Latchkey Kid
Excerpt: "...Iโd eat turkey hot dogs cold and bunless in front of the open fridge. It was often lonely to eat this way, but the time was also entirely mine. It was thrilling."
--Madeleine Davies
๐ย A Post Breakup Letter To My Forties
Excerpt: "...Like on my 45th birthday when I woke up to your betrayal in the form of a sleep injuryโฆfirst a crick in my neck, a cracked molar from grinding my teeth, a bum knee from doing nothing.
--M. Blazoned
๐ ย Inside America's Dead Shopping Malls
What happens when a mall falls into ruin? Filmmaker Dan Bell guides us through abandoned monoliths of merchandise, providing a surprisingly funny and lyrical commentary on consumerism, youth culture and the inspiration we can find in decay.
๐ย In Vogue: The 1990s (A New Podcast)
In Vogue: The 1990s, a new podcast that considers the decade when fashion and mainstream culture collided and changed the world forever.
โย Gen-X Is Under Investigation
"...And Yet Somehow Still Forgotten."ย --Yael Wolfe
๐ย LIVE Table Read: Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Sean Penn and more.
๐ตย Social Security Insolvency Clock
The most recent Social Security Trustees report estimates the Social Security Trust Fund will exhaust its surplus and enter insolvency by 2035.
๐ฟ Quotingย @itsthepricehon
"No one will appreciate a tankless hot water heater like a GenX buyer. Knowing someone else took a long shower before you but not expecting any hot water to be left is basically our entire generational experience." 9/19/2020
โก๏ธย Gen Z unaware that 6 million Jews died during Holocaust
A recent 50-state survey reveals Gen Z has a shockingย lack of knowledge of the Holocaust and death camps.
๐ย Only story he could remember was about The Falklands
"...He had lost his mind and he used to tell me this terrible story, the only story he could remember to tell. He was on the Falkland Island, running across the flat peatlands of Goose Green with a hundred kilos of kit while being peppered with machine gun fire. He told me of the early morning sun and the burning gorse and of his escape from the anarchy and madness of men and countries. When he was finally free of the bullets, collapsed down into the safety of shelter, he spoke of this great melancholy that descended upon him, of how safety and mortality had not saved him, but had left him looking back and yearning to run the lottery of that machine gun fire once more. His comrades had been cut down and his Commanding Officer taken out in the first steps. He had lost too much to ever be able to celebrate survival. He was ashamed of his survival, had lost himself in that desperate race across burning terrain, screaming for sanctuary and life and the comfort of his mother."ย
--Shane Levene, the British blogger with a cult following who is said to have "committed numerous acts of sabotage."
๐งย Quotingย @skwidj
"Do you remember defrosting a freezer?...It used to be necessary to boil pans of water, and then put them in an ice-encrusted freezer compartment to begin melting the accumulation. And yes, those freezers are blessedly gone."ย 9/20/2020
๐คณย Soaring Suicide Rates Among Girls 10-14
Have you seenย The Social Dilemmaย on Netflix? It reveals some dark truths about social media, which have contributed to a 150 percent rise in suicide among young girls.
๐ย Gen-X Memoir: Small Fry by Lisa, Daughter of Steve Jobs
Small Fry by Lisa Brennan-Jobs is one of the books I hope to introduce to theย Gen-X Book Club on GoodReads. We are still readingย Nobody's Cuter Than You by Melanie Shankle. Our next bookย isย 13th Genย By Neil Howe and William Strauss.
Summary of Small Fry: "Born on a farm and named in a field by her parentsโartist Chrisann Brennan and Steve JobsโLisa Brennan-Jobsโs childhood unfolded in a rapidly changing Silicon Valley. When she was young, Lisaโs father was a mythical figure who was rarely present in her life. As she grew older, her father took an interest in her, ushering her into a new world of mansions, vacations, and private schools. His attention was thrilling, but he could also be cold, critical and unpredictable. When her relationship with her mother grew strained in high school, Lisa decided to move in with her father, hoping heโd become the parent sheโd always wanted him to be. Part portrait of a complex family, part love letter to California in the seventies and eighties, Small Fry is a poignant coming-of-age story from one of our most exciting new literary voices."
๐ณย I applied to be Mortified but then I changed my mind.
I'm a fan of The Mortified Podcast and applied to readย my teenage journals but then I got smart and changed my mind. The podcast features adults sharing the embarrassing things they wrote as kids. Truly, well, mortifying.