Which generation are you, really?

I was born in 1962 a few weeks before the Cuban Missle Crisis. Technically that puts me at the tail end of the Baby Boom. But I never really felt too much like a Boomer. The memories I have of the Vietnam War are watching the body count on TV before I went to Irish dancing lessons and holding tight to my Mom's hand at a Mother's for Peace rally.

When the 80's was in Bonfire of the Vanities-mode I was in college. It was deep in the Heart of Darkness of the Reagan years and I wanted nothing to do with the delusional, self-centered and money-hungry ways of many of my contemporaries. Didn't they realize nuclear war was imminent?

Later, as a marketer examining demographics and profiles, as a writer covering emerging technologies, and working in Internet startups, the low-tech, anti-tech boomer profile was never a fit for me.

My generational slice is sometimes called Generation Jones. We're wedged in there between Boomers and Gen X. "Jones" comes from the slang term “jonesin’”, apparently referring to the unrequited craving felt by my generation of unfulfilled expectations.

MSNBC says that in the tech world, Jonesers are known as the “early adapters,” the ones who jump on the latest tech trends.

If nothing else, can being a Joneser explain my equal love of both The Dead Kennedys and The Grateful Dead?

But I digress.

Luckily for us in-betweeners, Penelope Trunk, who wrote a great book I recently read and reviewed called Brazen Careerist, introduced a fresh idea that she developed with Boston-based media researcher Margaret Weigel.

Trunk says "maybe you are not really part of the generation your birthday falls under." Instead, maybe "we should determine our generation not by our age but by how we use media."

Click here to take her generational test. I took it and my media age is solidly Gen Y. Could it be that the old adage, "you're as old as you think you are" should really be, "you're as old as the media you use?"

Nathaniel

My friend Rosemary has these wonderful kids. Nathaniel and Alexandra. I've know them since they were young - maybe since they were seven or eight. If I weren't so lazy, I would go down in the basement and post some pictures of them when they were little.

Now they are these amazing, smart, fabulous young adults and I love it when I get to see them or hear about their adventures.

Nathaniel is currently on a trip around the world, that lucky guy.

And I'm thrilled to discover that I can track his experience via his blog. Right now he's somewhere between Bali and Japan.

Here he is in New Zealand at Tongariro Crossing.

Go Nat! Can't wait to hear more when I next see you in person.

Oh yeah, here's a link to Mike's blog. Maybe if I link to it here, he'll feel moved to update us with a new post.

Love to Mike and Rosemary - we'll see you next month in Truro.

Poems

I have started reading Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac every day. It never fails to give me good karma. Today is a poem from W.S. Merwin - one of my top 10 must-read poets.

This is the kind of poem that would bring good to everyone who reads it. Like all good poetry, it takes you out of the day-to-day and helps you see things the way they really are. So even if you don't read poetry, try this one.

Trees

I am looking at trees
they may be one of the things I will miss
most from the earth
though many of the ones I have seen
already I cannot remember
and though I seldom embrace the ones I see
and have never been able to speak
with one
I listen to them tenderly
their names have never touched them
they have stood round my sleep
and when it was forbidden to climb them
they have carried me in their branches

"Trees" by W. S. Merwin, from The Compass Flower. © Macmillan Publishing Company.

Happy Birthday!

Pops had his 70th birthday on July 6th. Here he is doing some dancing at Jim and Jenna's wedding a month ago.
As you can see, he's one groovy 70 year old.

As I always tell you, Pops...I fell in love with you even before I fell in love with Bob. Thanks for being the best father-in-law a girl could ever ask for.

Wish we could have been at the party in Rochester to celebrate!

Bahamas

We got back from a week in the Bahamas a few days ago. And even though we're experiencing that nasty vacation re-entry - the hundreds of emails, piles of mail, loads of laundry, etc...

We're still hanging on to that great Bahamian vibe.

View from our balcony.

In the lagoon below our balcony a flock of manta rays circled.

We stayed at Atlantis exploring its many delights and sampling its many decadent pleasures - pools, snorkeling, water slides, lazy rivers, aquariums, restaurants, clubs and beaches. They have a small casino, but we never wagered. We did explore the island of New Providence and had some authentic Bahamaian food. We took a power boat adventure to Exuma where we snorkeled, fed grapes to iguanas and fish to manta rays. We even had some up close and personal time with a variety of sharks.

Mostly we relaxed and laughed. A whole week with no work, no TV, no newspapers, no Internet, no email, no Blackberry, no cell phone, no blogs. A good, good thing to do.

The water really is that color. It was our first time in the Caribbean. And we wonder now what took us so long. We're hooked.

More stories later - here are the picures.

Harvard Square

Pictures from our dinner with B.

By the way, did you know Dan got job at UPS?

Powdered milk

Nancy was at Mt. Auburn Hospital this past the week on business so Dan, Julie, "Little" Dan, Bob and I met Nancy and her collegue for dinner in Harvard Square one night. Great time.

We got to laughing about the two groups of kids in the Welch family...the four older ones and the two younger girls. I can't remember it exactly but here's a sip:

"You guys were so much older - I had no idea what you were like."
"You girls had it so easy! We went camping - 8 of us in a pop up tent. But you? You went to Myrtle Beach."
"All those clothes and presents all the time."
"You were like queens!"
"I think our growth was even stunted...must have been the powdered milk."
Nancy, aghast: "You got powdered milk?!

Bruuuuuuce

In heavy rotation on all Welch iPods...

Anyone else have memories of singing "Erie Canal" in grade school? Bruce does a great rendition of this Western NY classic.

The songs are amazing. Lots of different styles. A musical pastiche.

Pastiche is the word of the day.

On being Molly

I once met a cow named Molly.

I've met a few horses and plenty of dogs named Molly. In fact, my kids grew up with a Black Lab named Molly at our babysitter's house.

I recently read that the most popular name for dogs in Britain is Molly.

It's also the most popular name for cats in Britain.

But here's my favorite.

Of the Top 20 "Whitest" sounding names, Molly is #1.

Which has got to be true. Do you know anyone named Molly that doesn't get sunburns and freckles?

The sad part? As part of the survey that ranked the whitest and blackest names, they found that resumes with the white-sounding names were downloaded 17% more often by job recruiters than the resumes with black-sounding names.

So you're more likely to get hired if your name is Molly, Amy, Claire, Emily, Katie or Madeline.

And least likey to get hired if your name is Imani, Ebony, Shanice, Aaliyah, Precious, or Nia.

High School bound

As a parent, I always worried about middle school. Developmentally it can be a difficult time for kids and in our town the middle school had been a problem area in a school system where the grade schools and the high school were good.

Lucky for us, one year before Dylan hit middle school they opened up a brand new/renovated 7th and 8th grade school. It's absolutely state of the art, with great technology, beautiful and spacious classrooms, a theatre, new fields, 2 gyms - the works. Better yet, they promoted the very best guidance counselor I've ever met to the position of principal. They also retired some difficult teachers and brought in some new young ones. The overall effect was the reinvigoration of veteran teachers and a pride of place. The school was transformed. And it shows. It's an amazing place.

But the biggest transformation in middle school happens in your child. Dylan grew by almost a foot, sprouted hair all over the place and got a deep voice. He had experiences that helped him blossom into a confident young man with a great sense of humor and he found his niche in school and among his friends and started to chart his views on the world and his place in it.

Celebrating after 8th Grade Moving On Ceremony

This summer Dylan will go away for a whole month and have incredible experiences at Walnut Hill and in Scotland. As much as he has changed over the past few years, I have no doubt that he will transform again after seeing more of the world and being more independent.

Class trip to Washington DC

But that's our job as parents. Give them roots. And give them wings. I have a feeling that during these years Dylan will grow older by a few more years, but Bob and I will age about 20!

Dylan missed Jim and Jenna's wedding because he was on a class trip to Washington DC. Picture this - 2 plane loads - about 200 kids - all traveling together all over DC and to Arlington Cemetary and Gettysburg. Dylan and his friends had a ball and saw a ton of stuff. Here's the school blog entry about the trip.