"Generation X-ers," Please check in here.

[Sugar Smack]

We're in our thirties and our early forties.

We were called "Slackers" by the rest of the populace. Some of it was justified, some wasn't.

Tell me something, please. Have your tastes, attitudes and habits changed? My tastes haven't changed one iota. I still love Tom Waits, Hunter S. Thompson, Sam Kinison, Daniel Clowes, and classical music. I still have wanderlust. I still smoke cigarrettes, cuss, drink alcohol, and drink a lot of coffee. I read and write voraciously. I eat mac n' cheese (boxed version).

My attitude's different, though. I would like to settle down with one person. I was also shocked out of my 90's reverie by bush being elected president. I snapped out of complacense violently after seeing Faherenheit 911. I am much more politically active now.

How are you doing?

[Connie_Corleone]

1. I've become more liberal.

I'm more cynical also. I didn't pay much attention to politics in the 90's. I always voted for Democrats though. When Bush was selected president in 2000, I didn't think he could do worse than his father, and he would be a one-term president. BOY WAS I WRONG!!

Now, I'm much more political. I'm a political junkie.

[Sugar Smack]

4. I'm a political junkie, too.

I was very complascent (SP?) in the nineties. I never had to pick up a paper. I was being protected by the president. Who knew? So, I went ahead, worked hard, and enjoyed myself.

[zinndependence]

55. me too...I would consider myself a political junkie as well...

I guess that is why I'm at the Democratic Underground!

[Pacifist Patriot]

183. Add me to that list.

[Birthmark]

2. See?

This what pisses me off. I was born in '57 and am categorized as a Boomer. That's bullshit. I have almost nothing in common with that generation. My tastes and habits are way, way closer to the Xers. I usually tell people that I'm the first Xer. And I mean it.

Damn the sociologists.

[Sugar Smack]

11. You're a Gen-X-er to ME.

The age is not the issue. It's the attitude, and you have that quality. Don't be pissed off, come join us!

:) Oh, wait, you're already here!

[Birthmark]

17. Thanks.

Yeah, I've been here a long time. I cut down some of the weeds. Seriously, I remember thinking negatively about my baby boomer cousins' world view by the time I was ten. I just wasn't into it, y'know? :)

[hfojvt]

72. 57, good lord!!

I was born in 62 and people call me a boomer. I am not sure if it is better to be one of the youngest boomers, or one of the oldest Xers, especially since your calendar age does not change. I still hate being called a boomer though, since I learned that the "baby boom" was a post WWII thing, about 1944-1950. Certainly it was long over by the time I was born.

Still, if the boomers are the hippy generation, then I think I was raised boomer. Historically, the hippy movement happened in California and New York in the early to middle 1960s. However, as a social phenomenon, it did not reach the rural midwest, where I lived, until the early to middle 1970s, and those were my formative childhood years.

Obviously, things changed for me when I finally got on-line in 1999. Now I read far more on-line essays than I do papers and books. In the 1990s, I had my bookstore and that took most of my time. In the 1980s, I spent most of my time going to college, and before that it was high school, etc. Lots of things to learn. Ironically, it is only under Bush that I have finally gotten a job with benefits, which eluded me in the Clinton years. Still, it is hardly an ideal situation. Socially, I am pretty isolated, and I think that is better than some alternative. I do not feel as much anomie as I did.

[Blue_Tires]

3. i just turned 29

and some things have changed...i don't have the same love for music/video games that i used to, and i probably watch half as much sports as i used to...i've been trying to find new things to get interested in

i guess i've also become much more of a cynic in recent years

[Sugar Smack]

16. I'm 35.

I feel almost no different from the way I did 10 years ago.

Sometimes, I need a loan from Dad! The political punch has taken its toll and I'm working- at a job and in politics- to try and make a difference.

[RagingInMiami]

5. I'm still a slacker

[Sugar Smack]

18. Heh! We still love you. n/t

[GOPisEvil]

6. I've become more self-aware, politically active and cynical.

But, my old friends will tell you I haven't changed much at all. :shrug:

So, take from that what you will.

Like you, Bush snapped me back into political awareness, so in a sense, he did a good thing. ;)

[Left Is Write]

7. I have never felt like a Gen X'er. I am 39.

Too young for even the tail end of the baby boom, and too old for Generation X.

[no name no slogan]

10. Technically, if you're born between 1965 and 1975

you're considered an X'er for most demographic purposes. Some go back to 1960, though...

[Left Is Write]

14. I may be considered a Gen X'er, but I have never felt like one.

It is my understanding that the Baby Boom generation includes those born from 1945 to 1964, a "generation" being twenty years.

[yvr girl]

57. Some demographers call you a trailing boomer

The tail end of the baby boom. Your world is different than 'your older brothers and sisters' but you're not quite an Xer either.

[KyndCulture]

23. That's what I thought.

Because I'm a 1966 baby and I know I heard the term when I was in high school.

[Arugula Latte]

113. I was born in '66 too. I agree w/ you.

I never quite felt a part of my older sister's generation (born in '63) There were some pop culture differences, e.g. that generation was out of high school when New Wave really gained hold -- my sister thought it was weird when I listened to U-2 in '81 -- her friends liked very mainstream rock at that time. Yet, I never felt like I belonged to the kids who were born in the early 70s -- the classic Gen Xers.

[Trigger Hippie]

108. I coulda sworn I read it ended in '76

the year of my birth. Maybe I'm not Gen X after all. :(

Oh, well I've always considered myself more of a Boomer anyway. :hi:

[no name no slogan]

123. I think there's a "fudge factor" in all those dates though

I've also heard the the boomer generation ended in 1960, too, so who knows? I think it's more a state of mind/life experience thing more than a certain age.

:hi:

[KyndCulture]

22. No no! I just turned 39... we are definitely Gen X'rs.

But I know what you mean.

[no name no slogan]

8. I never thought that label was justified

I graduated college in January of 1991, right in the middle of the "first" Bush recession. We weren't slackers, we just couldn't find jobs.

I originally got politically active in high school in the "go-go" apathetic 80s. I was part of a student group that led boycotts against apartheid and also sent medical supplies to Nicaragua during the contra war.

I continued my activism in college, but it was Paul Wellstone who made me a Democrat. I first met him in 1988, during a local legislative race. He showed me that you could have radical/leftist politics and still be a DFLer (MN's Democratic Party). I went to the state convention that year as an alternate, and returned in 1990 as a delegate for Paul Wellstone. I was there for the entire endorsement battle-- something I still remember well to this day.

My tastes are a little different, but not much. I still love the stuff I listened to in high school and college, and have become even more left-leaning in my politics since then. I'm even angrier, lefty-er, and more active than I once was.

I, too, have settled down a bit. I have a "real" job. I own a house. But I still like to blast Gang of Four on the stereo. I still like the roar of The Bad Brains, although I also appreciate the sublety of Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue", too.

I am very different from who I was in the 80s and early 90s. But I'm also very similar too.

And I REFUSE to "grow up". At least grow up all the way.

[GOPisEvil]

9. That was pretty well said.

Especially the part about not being able to find a job. I graduated in August 1990.

I wasn't as politically active in my youth though. It took THIS Bush to bring that out of me.

[no name no slogan]

19. Those were some bizarre times

I remember the class of 1988 walking into these high-paying, yuppie-track jobs right out of college, making piles of $$ a year, and just two years later graduates were happy to get a job as the assistant manager of a sandwich shop.

Not since Bush II have I seen such an economic decline in such short time. Thank the godz Dubya saved us from the peace and prosperity of the 90s.

[Sugar Smack]

124. I think of the nineties as being a semblance of the

roaring twenties, and the cycle that occurs afterwards straight into a great depression. It's one of the reasons I'm so fond of my own tastes and memories from them, good or bad, and cling tenaciously to them for comfort. The whole "Generation X" idea for this thread was borne out of my looking at my Henry Rollins books, and the Church of the subgenius (Bob Dobbs) and feeling the same warm amusement I had from the beginning. Then a very fleeting thought: "Why can't I just grow up?" ;-) :D

[no name no slogan]

142. Very interesting observation

I see a lot of similarities to that, too. The go-go nature of the economy, the sense of safety/insularity, the "me first" mentality, etc.

It's always interesting to discover things from our pasts, and see that we're still the same people we were in many ways, but still very different. It's interesting to think that we can still grow even though we're supposedly "grown ups" now.

For me, I find that I'm going back and listening to music I listened to from my college days in the late 80s/early 90s, reading the same writers, and rediscovering that youthful optimism. Not to relive the past, but to carry it forward and re-energize myself-- to get back some of what I've lost over the past decade and a half.

It's been a great trip. And it goes on. And it's even better when I share it with somebody special. :loveya:

[Sugar Smack]

146. You are the bee's fucking knees, nnns-

First off, you said a mouthful re: "For me, I find that I'm going back and listening to music I listened to from my college days in the late 80s/early 90s, reading the same writers, and rediscovering that youthful optimism. Not to relive the past, but to carry it forward and re-energize myself-- to get back some of what I've lost over the past decade and a half."

That's how I explain my tastes. Someone recently asked, "What is love?" and I posted only HALF sardonically "love is getting each other's references". They posted back (a little snootily for my mood) "No, I don't think so. Love is respect, and mutual yada yada yada". Heh, heh. I'm not sure I'd got my point across as efficiently as possible.

Secondly, you're a fine, foxy poppa. No, you're HOT. Every time I see your picture I drool into my keyboard. God, someone get me a bib. Have you ebver thought of modeling? I can't stand how cute you are.

[no name no slogan]

150. Bookmarked

Have I told you lately how much I absolutely adore you? Well, if I haven't, I will right now: I absolutely adore you!

Thank you for your kind words. You are the best, my dear!
:* :loveya: :*

[vikegirl]

12. Ex-Goth

Actually, I was more of a rivethead...but I dressed kinda Gothy. Kind of a mix between Trent Resner and Robert Smith. I miss that type of music....cannot relate to anything out now. And now I feel too old to dress like I did (although I still would like to).

Have always been political but after experiencing the * administration it's practically an obsession now.

It used to annoy me that I was always carded but now that I've entered my thirties, I darn near kiss anyone who IDs me in bars.

[Sugar Smack]

44. Hey, vikegirl!

:hi:

I understand, because I have some serious punk tendencies. I do it anyway, in my own way. I'll listen to punk and appear mainstream, give for the multiple piercings, the jewelry and the "God Save the Queen" look on my face.

[Dukkha]

70. me too though I can't get out

Next month I resume my DJ gig again at a Goth club. I've been in and out of the scene for 15 years now. Every time I retire I find myself back in it.

[skooooo]

13. i flipped off a "Young Republican"

..not too long ago, and I'm 41.


lol...

[Sugar Smack]

126. Oh my God, that image!

:rofl:

[skooooo]

145. lol...

It was great. It was during the controversy over the governor's race in Washingon. Gregoire vs. Rossi. The YR was raising money to help the Repugs contest the vote. I went over to him and told him that Gregoire won, and that they should just GET OVER IT.

LOL

He started pushing literature at me, and I told him I didn't want to read that sh*t.

Not real dignified, I guess, but it felt good seeing him shocked at an older person flipping him off.

LOL...

[StellaBlue]

169. "Young Republican" = oxymoron

Even more than Log Cabin Republican or Black Republican.

You CAN'T be a Republican if you don't have any assets, and those yuppie wannabe SUV-piloting fratboy college kids don't have any assets of their own yet. They're just socially promoted corporate welfare recipients.

[texpatriot2004]

15. I am a Gen Xer, I've been politically active since the 1990s

the 2000 "election" catastrophe I began to educate myself, stay informed, and be active.

Go Gen X!

[KyndCulture]

I lived through that in Florida....

and ya know, I said I don't think I could get anymore angry..

holy shit was I ever wrong!!

[marbuc]

20. I'm more responsible, and my tastes have become a bit more sophisticated

I am 33. I drink Red Stripe not Red Bull (malt liquor), fine wine not fortified wine, and fine coffee not whatever is in the pot. Metallica gives me a headache, and (most) rap music offends my sense of decency. I have become more cynical and less idealistic.

Other than that I haven't changed a bit. I still love music, drive fast (although a bit more carefully due to past problems with points), and like to argue about politics. I don't follow sports as faithfully, but will happily spend a day watching football. I drink my beer out of the bottle, and often prepare a dinner without a green leafy vegetable.

[Left Is Write]

24. That's interesting. I'm drinking beer out of a bottle right now.

But my supper is a big bowl of green leafy vegetables!

[marbuc]

27. well my supper was a big bowl of mac-n-cheese.

B-)

[Left Is Write]

29. Well, okay then.

:)

My supper last night was homemade macaroni and cheese and warm banana bread.




























































....and broccoli.

[StellaBlue]

170. mmmmmmmmm

mac and cheese

(insert Homer Simpson drool sound here)

[KyndCulture]

21. Class of 84 checkin' in...

I cried my eyes out the day Hunter Thompson killed himself, I smoke too much of more than one thing, I still like Rum and anything. Coffee is best served at a Waffle House or Village Inn at quarter to 4 AM.

I was a crazy liberal and active in politics in the 80's because I volunteered at an AIDS crisis center and lost too many friends. I still wear my "til there's a cure bracelet". I hated Reagan then with every fiber of my being and I partied my fucking ass off the day he went to his own circle of hell and left this earth.

I'm farther left than I was then. Sept. 11, 2001 snapped me out of my "good time clinton" haze.

I guess I haven't been really successful in business. I graduated with a liberal arts degree in Digital Design and Marketing. I've been laid off of, merged out of and had my job outsourced more times than I care to think about. I've made more money for disgusting republican companies than I care to admit, but I'm happy to say I don't do that anymore. I was fired the last time on 2/7/05 for getting my face on TV protesting Bush. The republican boss didn't like me taking a personal day for that so I got canned - yet again - the next day...

But now, I run a citizen journalist and media reform website and sell my digital art online. I only make enough to eat but I can sleep at night and that's all that matters to me.

What a cool thread. Thanks for starting this.

[marbuc]

25. Good for you

If you can succeed without working for the man then that's just awesome. I wish I could be in that position.

[no name no slogan]

26. Great post

I agree with you about the "good time Clinton" days. I became increasingly apathetic after the 1994 fiasco, and the "triangulation" by the DLC wing of the party. I still voted and donated to Democrats, but I didn't do much else.

Bush's 2000 win shook me, but I really got back into the party after the 2002 plane crash that took Paul Wellstone's life. I used to know Paul when I was in college, and he's the main reason I became a Democrat. I took that day off from work and spent the day crying not only for him and his family, but for our state and country too.

And I agree, this is one of the best threads I've seen today. But I'm a little biased, too. :evilgrin:

[KyndCulture]

31. Agreed about Wellstone.

I'm in Minnesota now after all kinds of shit in the past 5 years - I'm a native Floridian.

On top of my monitor is a velvet box that contains a small piece of twisted metal from the Wellstone crash. It was given to me on 11/4 last year by some friends in the Dem party here that thought it would mean something to me and for everything I did last fall for the election. And yes it does. It reminds me on a daily basis what the fuck I'm doing.

I remember the crash, I remember election night 2000... too many things that are wholly unbelievable. Just makes me sit here and think.. HOW THE FUCK did we get here?

But luckily everyday I get up and think how the fuck do we get OUTTA here!

[Left Is Write]

36. I'm not much of a tin-foiler or conspiracy theorist...

But my gut has always told me that Paul Wellstone's death was no accident.

[KyndCulture]

38. There is no tinfoil required if you live in MN

and talk about Wellstone.


No one here believes that story that was sold to us. There are variations of course, but I've never met one person who thought it was an accident.

[Left Is Write]

40. I'm a native Minnesotan, born and raised.

I've lived in Idaho for almost five years; still can't wait to move back home.

[KyndCulture]

42. Well stop by and visit me in DL!

I have to say that Minnesota is the most amazing place I've ever lived. I adore the people here and the natural beauty is just breathtaking.

[Sugar Smack]

45. Thank you so much.

When HST killed himself, I went into fits. He spoke for so many of us, didn't he?

You are someone I'd like to meet in person. I like your sentance, "I only make enough to eat but I can sleep at night and that's all that matters to me."

[Sugar Smack]

48. Dupe

delete

[BamaGirl]

28. I'm Gen X

and don't feel much different now than I did in my early 20s. I'm 33, been married 11 years, and have 3 kids that I stay at home with. I am so not a soccer mom lol. I know a few older moms and they confuse the heck outta me. I don't do structure, I'm sure as heck not gonna try to force my kids into some mold.

I still listen to a wide range of music, still read and write a ton, still have a wide range of interests/pursuits, and finally quit smoking. I was always cynical and now I'm more so.

I like my life, though. How many ppl can say that? My husband is wonderful and my kids are a hell of lot happier than I was at their ages. I'll never be like my Boomer mom or War Baby dad, but I can't complain. ;)

[Demonaut]

30. guess i should've read some of the posts

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

32. I'm more like Generation G, or H.

Just postin' to say hi to the folks! :hi:

[proud patriot]

33. I've changed a bit over time

Became a Mom , I'm getting more punk as I age
lovin SOAD , anti-flag , green day, Tool, Sublime ,
as well as a growing appreciation for folk and
blue grass ....Still have an opinion on everything
and tell everyone my opinion .

[Sugar Smack]

127. I love it!

The spirit of it means everything to me. I like it that you've become more punk as you got older.

:hi:

[Jamastiene]

162. More power to us all, but especially to our opinons. n/t

[blonndee]

34. I'm one, and proud of it. I've become less self-conscious but I'm almost

as angsty and cynical. Almost, but not quite. I am somewhat more hopeful since I've become more involved in trying to make a difference where I can.

The only reason I was ever a slacker was because I really never bought into the American dream myth. I've never really trusted authority and always resented it because I saw hypocrites and liars everywhere in power. And idiots.

I still love most of the music I listened to back in the day, like Nirvana and NIN and Enigma, Suzanne Vega, the Cure, Depeche Mode, etc. I guess nothing will ever quite measure up to that.

[Sugar Smack]

128. I really can identify with that.

I was just out of college during the nineties and I had a lot of customer service jobs. Insufferable posts, because I saw the same hypocrisy from higher up. It made me not trust "power". Our tastes really match up too, I notice! :D

[NewJeffCT]

35. I'm 38 years old

I've always been liberal, but became more aware thanks to Al Franken's "Lying Liars..." book and O'Reilly's attempted lawsuit against. I just had to buy it then, I read it and was floored.

[flamingyouth]

37. I was born at the end of 1968.

I still have many of the same tastes I had when I was in high school and college in the '80s. I'm happier now at age 36 than I have ever been in my life. :)

[Fenris]

39. Yay.

:)

[Iris]

41. I'm a Sesame Street Kid.

And I have to say I'm really, really disheartened by what this country has become.

My early education was delivered by hippy-types who really believed in what they were doing. Now one of my best teachers is an insurance salesman.

I grew up believing we could all just get along, the way the kids in my reading books did. They hung out with the African American children in their neighborhoods and race was never once an issue.

I listened to "Free to be You and Me" and understood how society can force us in to gender roles. Now, I go to baby showers where every baby girl gets pink and fluffy and delicate and every baby boy gets butchy, scaled-down adult clothes.

I wanted to live on Sesame Street and now I live in a mixed neighborhood and am accused of thinking I was "born knowing everything" just because I'm white.

Mostly, I'm just really, really sad and afraid that I'll never see another populist movement in my lifetime, and I struggle daily with whether or not I want to bring a child into this world.

[Sugar Smack]

129. "Free to be You and Me"

I feel as if I'm seeing a ghost. Iris, your post was profound, and I read it many times before daring to respond with something half as articulate.

My father raised my brother & me single handedly because my mother lost interest in being a mom early on. She took off, which I suppose was best, because my father was both a great dad and a great mother. He bought that record and played it for my brother & me repeatedly, and we loved it. There was a book to accompany it. I remember that being a child of the seventies meant embracing concepts that were THEN natural and acceptable and NOW are considered scorching idealism.

I recoil in horror and disgust when I see how some "bridezillas" carry on. And I identify with your last sentence most of all.

[unless]

43. I'm 33 but I'm so old fashioned that I've been called a baby boomer.

Most of my friends are in their 40's (and I actually get along with my parents' friends (in their 50's) very well. I love senior citizens.

I had a very sheltered and conservative Christian rural upbringing - no cable/sat TV, no CDs/tapes/radio...

I like music that came out before 1970.

[xmas74]

46. 1974.

I'm here.

[CanuckAmok]

47. Never liked Tom Waits.

But I am such a typical Gen-Xer that I was convinced Douglas Coupland was secretly observing me somehow while he was writing the "definitive" Gen-X book.

By the way, I put quotes around "definitive" because "Fight Club" is the definitive Gen-X book, and Marla Singer would kick Claire's ass from here to Tucson.

[Sugar Smack]

50. *confession*

I am Marla Singer. And I'm not a tumor, so stop that rumor.

[Sugar Smack]

131. I think you're right about "Fight Club"

being the definitive gen-X book & movie. I caught fire when I watched it. I couldn't believe my eyes, because Chuck Palahnuiuk had taken ALL my attitudes and my desires and splattered them into a movie where I could see the results.

Y'know, it seems I get a lot of your references ;) and I enjoy your freeper rants IMMENSELY.

[Az]

49. Gen X checking in

Change? Everything changes. Everything alive. I have become far more politically active over the years. Far more defined in philosophy. ADhD causes me to rotate my focus over the years and as a result I have found myself pouring over many different fields of study.

[WCGreen]

51. I like Bush..... The singer.... get your mind out of the gutter...

seriously, I am what I call a tweener.....

Not quite a boomer and certainly not an X'er....

Maybe An Xmer......

My attitudes have not changed since the early eighties when I sobered up....

If anything, I am even more liberal today than I was when I was a wee lad.....

So, I love music, can;t do the hacky sack thing, don;t wear ties dye, but grew up modeling myself after HST, read On The Road three times, listened to it once and saw Sam Kinison in Columbus Ohio....

Have four Tom Waits Albums, but I also have Beatles, Dave Brubeck, George Gershwin and Claude Debussy..... And The Decemberists and my favorite singer is the ultimate X'er, Ben Folds.....

Did I mention I ran for Office three times, served as the Treasurer for the Cuyahoga County Democratic PArty, Served on the Board of Election as an elected Board Member, still work on a lot of local campaigns, served on the Board of my UU church, arched in the first Earth Day, organized a walk out of my junior high on the second anniversary of the Kent State debacle....

AND HAVE NEVER, EVER VOTED REPUBLICAN SINCE 1976 WHEN I BECAME OLD ENOUGH TO VOTE.....

[Sugar Smack]

132. DAMN, honey!

All of that is very dazzling to me. And I knew it about HST because on a night that I really needed it, you channeled him for me. Thanks again for that.

You have youthful energy & spirit, and you remind me very much of a dear friend of mine. You have such wisdom as well.

I'm also just green with envy about anyone who got to see the great Sam Kinison. He was so passionate, and he had the sharpest edge I've ever heard! Whenever I was feeling spurned by a guy, I'd listen to his rants and feel so much better.

[zinndependence]

52. Am I angry/cynical/despondent because our generation...

has been totally screwed over, or has our generation been totally screwed over because we are so angry/cynical/despondent?

[CanuckAmok]

58. I think it's the former.

Nothing like seeing a "We're spending our childrens' inheritance" bumpersticker on a 45' Winnie to make one give up.

At least that's my excuse.

[raptor_rider]

53. Here!!

Almost 30. Read that 1975 is part of Gen X. Slacker?? I work my ass off, 45 hours a day. Main bread winner in my family.

[zinndependence]

54. that label always pissed me off too...

Where did that come from anyway?

It seems like our generation is always getting bad or no press.

[WCGreen]

61. You wouldn;t believe how many slacker boomers there are...

They are just well hidden by the fucking yuppie overachievers....

[LittleClarkie]

56. Eh, my knee hurts

so does my jaw, but that's tmj.

Creeeeak!

42, as of yesterday.

[Withywindle]

59. Yup. Born 1969

"Slacker"? Fuck that noise.

When I graduated college in the early 90s everyone I knew was working two or three $5-an-hour part-time no-benefits shit jobs just to get the rent paid, and then doing all their art/music/theater/politics stuff ON TOP of that.

I never related to a lot of the archetypal "Gen X" lit/movies, etc. because I've never lived in a suburb, and it seems so much of it was about that lifestyle. And I was never a huge Nirvana fan, but I sure do loves me some X and Husker Du and Sonic Youth, still.

[HughBeaumont]

87. I was born in 1969 as well!

For 8 years since I graduated in 87, I cleaned a Ponderosa during 3rd shift and went to college. Those were fun times. Stayed up all night listening to college metal shows and underground metal, punk and hardcore. Had to keep that job since there were no good ones to be found during King George I's reign of boredom.

I remember graduating college in early 1994 (yep, took my SWEET old time) - and literally HALF of the places I would send my crappy resume to wouldn't take it or any others, as per the notes on their doors. Recovering from the Bushcession sucked. I finally got my foot in an office in 1995 and have been gainfully employed ever since, save a 4 and a half month stretch in 2001 during (YOU GUESSED IT) Chimperor's initial months of disaster.

To me, Nirvana ROBBED Husker Du and the Melvin's much more deserved accolades. I STILL cringe everytime I see a modern magazine paste Kurt's ugly mug on their cover and procede to fellate his dead corpse in print even worse than they fellate The White Stripes now.

[Maestro]

60. I'm 37

still listent to extreme heavy metal/industrial/goth and throw in some good alt rock to boot like New Order, The Cure, Depeche Mode with some new stuff like The Mars Volta and The Killers.

Much more liberal; not a slacker; never was. Settled down with another liberal after years of partying. Life is good except for the political state my country finds itself in.

[bridgit]

62. me too...

:hi:

[Sugar Smack]

134. Hey, lady! Hey my superfly grandmaster cheeseball!

:D :toast: :silly: :thumbsup: :hi: :loveya: :hug: :pals: :tinfoilhat: :yourock: :woohoo: :applause: :popcorn: :rofl: :spray: :patriot:

[bridgit]

139. sweetness & light you are here!!!

:hug:

[Sugar Smack]

141. Hey, boom boom?

seriously, what would I do without you, my friend?

:hug:

[bridgit]

156. Czarina, please *curtsy* the world knows well...

you would make your way in this world very well indeed even with, or without me, my sweet :loveya:

We were talking-about the space between us all
And the people-who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth-then it's far too late-when they pass away.
We were talking-about the love we all could share-when we find it
To try our best to hold it there-with our love
With our love-we could save the world-if they only knew.
Try to realize it's all within yourself
No-one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small,
And life flows ON within you and without you.
We were talking-about the love that's gone so cold and the people,
Who gain the world and lose their soul-
They don't know-they can't see-are you one of them?
When you've seen beyond yourself-then you may find, peace of mind,
Is waiting there-
And the time will come when you see
we're all one, and life flows on within you and without you.

[Sugar Smack]

133. Hey, Maestro. I loved your post.

Ah, The Cure and New Order provide me with SO much comfort. I cling with utter tenacity to the music of the nineties.

[ulysses]

63. I didn't do the stereotypical GenX thing.

12/1968 - I've been political since at least 1976 (my best friend growing up was a Republican - we fought over Carter/Ford in the first grade), I listened to Kansas throughout junior high and high school. I did get into grunge and career-surfed through my 20s and early 30s...but I've been happily married for 12 years and have a limited tolerance for Tom Waits. :)

[salin]

64. depends on those definition

right on the border of some definitions of the tail end of the baby boomers. We were tagged - as KIDS - as the "me generation" in the 1970s. Initially associated with the tail end of boomers - but my b-in-law who is clearly a boomer and is seventeen years older than me - makes me question my "affiliation." Those of us born in the early to mid sixties really don't fit into the categories. Missed the sixties - barely new vietnam unless a family member was sent - but are not considered part of the post-watergate generation, either.

To answer your question - even though I might not (barely) qualify - my attitudes haven't changed. My tastes haven't changed. And my politics are the same - except they are stronger now due to the sense of dire threat to our overall system per this administration. Never been complacent - but that has more to do with my family and community (grew up in a college town) than per "generation."

[Sugar Smack]

135. Hi, salin! I loved your answer

because I'm on the fringe edge myself- between the "Me" generation and Generation X. I thought that was SO aptly put: "We were tagged-as KIDS- as the "me generation" in the 1970's." I know- WTF? Do you think it may have had somethink to do with backlash against Dr. Spock?

[salin]

152. as if we had anything to do with Dr. Spock! heh!

though that could be an explanation. I think it was a way to try to denegrate those that came right after the hippie generation - so if we had any inclination to follow - we would be pre-denegrated/dismissed. Then came Reagan (as I came of political age) which I think had more of an influence than the hippies who were just a bit older than us.

So many of my friends graduating from college in the mid Reagan years suddenly got materialistic - imo it was a rather warping time to come of age - Randian theories spreading like poison ivy to fertile wannabe "yuppies" - think St. Elmo's Fire.

Nonetheless many of my colleagues and peers are just as liberal as we were as teens under Carter. While I used to think that was a warping time to come of political age - it was nothing compared to today. Granted since the wheels are coming off and the mask keeps slipping off this ugly administration I see many more college age folks rejecting the whole GOP simplistic economic and political ideology. So maybe in its more extreme form it is actually less warping?

[politicat]

65. End of the era, but...

Born in first week of 1976, I identify far more with Gen X than the non-gen space that I am assigned to. (I also ended up skipping a couple grades, so my peer group was born in 1973.)

I've quit the cigs, cut back on the booze, and switched to tea from coffee. I still listen to everything from Waits and Cohen to VNV Nation and Nine Inch Nails, with some Ravel and Holst thrown in... often all on the same playlist. I've settled down, but still ogle occasionally. I eat the mac 'n' cheese, but usually, we use real cheese because the politics of the dry stuff will make your head spin. I swear more than I should, and fucking (with the g firmly pronounced) is one of my favorite words.

I have the fascination with technology and neat-o factor that my younger sisters (both solidly Gen Y-Not?) think is silly. For them, computers have always been around; for me, they're still a bit of a toy. I remember a time without cable; they do not. I remember life before Nintendo, VCRs and call waiting.

I don't think I was ever a "slacker" (I tended to be very motivated about things that interested me) but I definitely inhabited my own world of student poverty, grad school focus and disinterest in the corporate monolith of entry level employment. I grew far too comfortable and needed to be shocked out of complacency. Unfortunately, it happened badly.

I got politically active with the Contract on America, because it hurt me directly - financial aid was cut.

I can't help but write; if I stopped, I'd die. Books are the big addiction. I'm not goth or punk anymore, but that's more because I've got better ways to shock people and keep them from slamming me into a little Holly Housewife box than I did when I was 15 or 20.

I think right now I'm more scared of the world we're stepping into than I have been since before the fall of the Soviet Union, and more angry about how little gets done to improve real lives than I've been since the Iran Contra hearings. I'm still seething over Ronny Raygun and Poppy. That is something that is not an improvement, and I miss the days when my political involvement ended at writing letters to my congress critters telling them to lay the fuck off of the bloody blow-job.

[Sugar Smack]

81. politicat, that was a beautiful post.

very thoughtful. The "slacker" name never applied to me either. I remember using my energy to the fullest extent in writing, working, and doing comics. I think the nineties was a decade of tireless creativity and imagination.

I remember the 'zines we did in college. Some of the writing in those was priceless, and I seriously regret that some of those writers didn't get proper recognition.

[LaraMN]

66. Oh GREAT! I thought I was a Gen-Xer and I'm NOT!

I'm born in 1977, so I missed the cutoff. Now I don't know what the hell I am! This is going to require some serious introspection. So much for my dark, apathetic persona. I worked really hard on that, damn it!

[politicat]

67. X is a state of mind, IMNSHO.

[LaraMN]

68. But, but, but,...I'm STILL in love with Kurt Cobain.

That has to count for something, right?

[billyskank]

80. You are an X-er

Your parents were boomers. You are the definition of generation X.

[LaraMN]

89. Ahhhh, sweet validation!

I knew anybody who owned knee-high combat boots HAD to be a GenXer.

[StellaBlue]

171. YES!!!!!

I bought some knee-high, silver Doc Martens in London in the summer of '96! Oh, the sweet, sweet days... listening to 'Yellow Ledbetter' while smoking cloves on a windowsill in Rome. Aaah....

That was back when getting a buzz still really gave me a buzz......

[no name no slogan]

90. Generation Y

the younger siblings of GenX. Many of the same tendencies, but you folks don't remember things like

* Jimmy Carter's presidency,
* the "Oil Crisis" of the 1970s,
* Leonid Breshnev (sp?),
* The Iranian hostage crisis,
* using a TV as a computer monitor,
* waiting in line to see "Star Wars" when it first came to theatres,
* being absolutely fascinated when you saw your first LED watch.

:hi:

[LaraMN]

95. No! No! Wrong!

Our Commodore 64 had a small black and white tv for a monitor! I still have it, even (the monitor, not the computer.) I'm in! I'm in! Or do I have to have like 50% of the list to qualify?

[no name no slogan]

97. You're in

Anybody who owned a C64 is WAAAAAAY in, at least in my book! That's one of the first computers I learned how to program. The other was the amazing Apple II (sigh).

Besides, the rest of that stuff wasn't very much fun anyway :silly:

[LaraMN]

98. Yesssssss!

Sweet!

[StellaBlue]

172. Also

I would say Gen Xers remember

vinyl

typewriters

carbon paper

edited to add: TVs in big boxes that you had to actually GET UP to change the channel on

[Lilyhoney]

69. I was born in 1973.

I always thought my sister who is 7 years older than me was in another generation. But I guess not. :shrug:

[asthmaticeog]

71. Same trajectory here, Sugar Smack.

I've remained essentially the same indie-rock geek I ever was, though with nowhere near as busy a concert-going calendar. I've also found myself re-engaging more with politics as I get older (and as the Bush years grow increasingly nastier).

:hi:

[Sugar Smack]

125. Hey, asthmaticeog-

:D I knew it! You have, above all, a HUGE curiosity about things and I can see it from your vocabulary, your references, and your sense of humor. I am lucky to live in a town liberally sprinkled with indie-rock geeks. I feel very comfortable where I am because I'm seeing "Kerry" stickers on the cars of people of all ages. I'm in a town where people of all ages have youthful energy and imagination.

[Beware the Beast Man]

149. Holy Crap- I would have hated to see your concert calendar back in the day

You're still a mover and shaker, icehog. :hi:

[asthmaticeog]

155. From 1990-2000, three to six shows a week. No shit.

For much of that time I lived walking distance from the Euclid Tavern and the Grog Shop, and since I was a writer and a DJ, getting on the comp list for practically any concert was as simple as signing myself up for it. Then I started working in concert promotions, so yeah, I went out WAAAAAY too much.

[WCGreen]

174. I didn;t know you were a clevelander....

Jesus.... I learn somthing new everyday...

Goin to the Beachland to see Slaid Cleves tonight....

[vajraroshana]

73. I'm just tired of the 60s generation

I actually love quite a lot of that generation. Nevertheless, I'm seriously tired of them.

[vajraroshana]

74. I'm more tired of the '00 generation....

though.

[billyskank]

79. I'm going to run the risk of a good flaming now

but I agree with that sentiment. We tend to hear a lot about how wonderful the 60s were, and how radical that generation were, yada yada yada.

Well, that's hardly surprising. Those who were young adults in the 60s are now running the place. They write the articles in the newspapers, edit them, commission and make the TV programmes. They are in total control of what we see and hear. So it's hardly surprising that it has become a truism that music in the 60/70s was better, more meaningful, etc than modern music. That is the music today's opinion leaders of society were into when they were growing up!

As for radicalism, the biggest protests of the 60s and the 70s were against the vietnam war. I can't help but think a large part of that was self-interest: people didn't want to be drafted. Why else are people so much more quiescent about the Iraq war? 'Cause they're not being drafted, I think has much to do with it.

I'm not going to dismiss all the advances in civil rights that came during that period, which wouldn't have happened at all but for that people agitated for it. I'm just also conscious that this generation of radical activists largely then settled down, got jobs, made lots of money and voted for Reagan and Thatcher, without whom Bush and Blair would not have been possible.

I'm not dissing everybody from the 60s, because I know that dozens of activists who never lost their radicalism are now going to jump on me. But I do really feel that my grandparents' generation really DID make big sacrifices, and that no generation that followed them has really had to do anything.

Flame away.

[Sugar Smack]

82. No, that was a very thoughtful post, billyskank!

And I think you covered your butt quite nicely. :hi:

[billyskank]

84. We'll wait until the gang get up and start logging on

Then we'll see! :hi:

[billyskank]

85. I would just like to add...

I don't see anything wrong with not wanting to be drafted in the late 60s and early 70s. I see no reason why anybody should have gone to Vietnam to die.

[vajraroshana]

75. I'm gen X and I'm gay and celebrating my 19th anniversary

this month.

I can't fathom that me and my "illegal" husband have been together for 19 years.

I was 21 when we married.

We've out-lived several of our straight friends' marriages.

I can't believe it's been this long.

Sept. 20.

That's our 19th anniversary.

Woo-hoo!

[Sugar Smack]

136. My congratulations go out to you!

Good on ya! Have a wonderful anniversary. There's nothing sweeter than true commitment.

[Tafiti]

76. I'm not sure I know the boundaries.

I was born in 1980, and I thought I was on the tail-end of Gen X. But everyone on this thread seems to be quite a bit older. Am I a Gen-Y'er?

[Sugar Smack]

137. I think you're a bit of both, my dear Tafiti!

I think of you as an Xer when you have a certain edge, and imagination, regardless of your age.

:hi:

[Maine-ah]

77. Hello!

31, gen-x slacker here. I work two jobs and own my own home.

No, tastes haven't changed one bit. I still love NIN, Marilyn Manson, ect. I still smoke, I still like my green , ect. Though I don't party like I used to. I am a responsible adult in most respects.

I have always been a democrat. Born and raised.

Never been a slacker. I have worked at least one job since I was 15. I come from a "lower" middle class family of six. My father was a teacher and my mother a secretary who didn't go back to work until the youngest (me) went to school.

Two of my favorite things: Good wine and good food. My husband is a former chef and a gen-x'er too. :headbang:

[Sugar Smack]

140. You sound like me.

My tastes from then have spilled over and broadened considerably from then. I listen to my NIN and to Nirvana & Courtney with fondness and comfort.

I've never been a slacker either!

[billyskank]

78. I'm younger than that, at 29, but I'm sure I'm an X-er

My parents were both born in 1949, bona fide boomers, and I thought the definition of generation X was the children of the boomers?

[Kire]

83. I liked 'Reality Bites'

I thought it resembled my life.

[no name no slogan]

91. DEFINITIVE GenX movie

How many of us saw ourselves in those characters?

I also really enjoyed "Slackers" when it came out. It was perfect for the times-- GenX was getting through college, didn't know what it wanted to do yet, coasted around college towns, not yet ready to move on, but not ready to go to grad school, either.

[Sugar Smack]

111. I liked it too, especially

Janeanne Garofalo. She was a very intense character.

[nonconformist]

86. I'm 32. In some ways I've changed, in others I haven't.

I've definitely matured. I've "come into my own", I guess.

I've always been somewhat of a news and political junkie, but nothing like I've been the last 5 years. I've always been a liberal Democrat, but I'm more secure in my beliefs than ever. The last few years has been somewhat of a rude awakening for me, as I've become more informed.

My tastes haven't really changed, but they have evolved to a certain extent - mostly because of life experiences. Us "slackers", the grunge generation, got a bad rep. We were cynical, introspective and philosophical. Previous generations ("me" generations) misunderstood it. They thought we weren't goal oriented, and hell maybe we really weren't. We were too jaded... ironically, because of the "me" generation.

[Sugar Smack]

138. Ironically, all the "slackers" I knew

worked REALLY hard but NEVER put much money into corporate interests. The only "slacking" they ever did was to not go shopping every five minutes. We all got our books used and our clothing used. And we drank cheap beer.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

:hi:

[kick-ass-bob]

88. I am more liberal. I used to be registered independent and

voted for certain Repubs (not many). Now, I am still registered independent, but went from being in between the 2 parties (that seems like a lifetime ago) to being on the left side of the democratic party.

My tastes haven't changed at all, except that I eat a lot healthier (no more Mountain Dew and sausage biscuits for breakfast)

[tigereye]

92. well

I'm at the tail end of the boomer thing, born in the late 50s, but we were punks in college in the late 70s, and many of your stories are very similar to what we experienced graduating from college in 1980 during the late 70s-early 80s recession. My parents were born in the 1920-30s and I don't really totally identify with the baby boom thing.

I always tell my husband we are more of the "punk" generation and very much politicized by 8 years of Reagan, than the baby boom one.


interesting thread.

[jane_pippin]

93. I refuse to identify as "gen x" even though my age is in there because

the whole calling this age group "Gen X" thing started when Douglas Coupland wrote the book, Generation X. Even though what he was describing had more to do with an attitude and outlook than it did the year one was born, talking head TV Trendmakers decided it was catchy enough for an as-yet named post-boomer generation. (Coupland has argued that it has nothing to do with age, but since his meaning was bastardized out of his control he decided he just has to shut up and accept it).

Anyhoo, I refuse to tag myself with a buzzword created by the lazy arbiters of "hip." Because I'm an ornery nerd like that. :D

[Hugin]

99. I agree...

After reading Coupland's book and realizing there were some
parts of it which didn't fit me at all.

I'm more of a "Tweener"... If I'm to be labeled at all.

[jane_pippin]

102. Screw labels. I hate them. You may as well just walk into a marketing

firm and ask to be tattooed--oh, sorry branded--weekly with whatever goddamned piece of shit product they want you to buy whether it's a frickin' retro-style board game, (get your EST with this reissued Operation game! Hey, it stings! It's Fun! We're rich!), ironic snacks (Hey gen xer's will LOVE anatomically correct gummi bears! Yay! So funny! Look, you can make them hump! We're rich!), or some cockamamie idea, (metrosexuals exist and need metrosexual specific hair gel! Yay! It's true! We're rich!).

If a company or television talking head is telling you who the hell you're supposed to be, just do me a favor and throw whatever large object is closest to you at the time directly through your tv. When these lame-o's are telling you something is cool, I can pretty much guarantee you it's not.

Sorry to get so worked up but I just can't stand to see people being pigeonholed, and I hate it more when they willingly do it to themselves. Knock it off! You're all smarter than that.

[Hugin]

103. If it's so great why does it need to be advertised?

That's always the question running through my head.

"Sorry to get so worked up"
Not a problem... It's nice to see some critical thinking
and introspection.

I can't get my mind around people who will participate in
celebrity worship and in the next breath scorn those same
people. It's amazing to me.

If one doesn't like <insert celeb-o-de-jour here> remember
one helped create the environment which perpetuates <insert celeb-o-de-jour here>.

(Note: When I use "you" and "your" in posts I'm not referring
to the author of the post I'm replying to. It's a general reference.)

[jane_pippin]

106. Right, and the thing is that there is some

legitimate hero worship but even that's been perverted by marketing and focus groups.
I mean, young Bob Dylan? Hell yeah I'll worship that, but I don't need VH1 telling me how to do it. To relate it to current heroes, I'll even say the White Stripes deserve it, at least when they first started playing out and I'd even argue still to a degree they do. Artists, writers, plenty of people deserving organic fan support, but you're so right. This cult of celebrity is insane!
Paris Hilton? Your face never changes. Go buy some emotion. See ya, not impressed.
Donald Trump? You have what appears to be a nest on your head, see ya!
Anyone who has ever been on a reality tv show? Sorry, but you guys are so irrelevant and your money grubbing, self-inflicted humiliation wins you no points with me. Go do a commercial for hemorrhoid cream and then fall back into your lives as accounts payable clerks where you belong.

I don't know. I mean, worshiping pop idols & rock stars is all well and good but it seems the quality of these folks who have "made it" has fallen so low and it's all thanks to the marketing folks getting their hands on "talent." And everyone has been so lazy and/or busy dealing with the shitty hand life has dealt them that they don't have time to do anything but accept these terrible people as "artists" and call it relaxation. Maybe we can still make it better though. I am, after all, an optimist. ;)

Thanks for engaging in this conversation, by the way. I'm really enjoying it. And on edit: I'm with you on the "you" thing. That's how I'm using it too.

[Sugar Smack]

118. LOL!!!!!!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:


"You may as well just walk into a marketing firm and ask to be tattooed--oh, sorry branded--weekly with whatever goddamned piece of shit product they want you to buy whether it's a frickin' retro-style board game, (get your EST with this reissued Operation game! Hey, it stings! It's Fun! We're rich!), ironic snacks (Hey gen xer's will LOVE anatomically correct gummi bears! Yay! So funny! Look, you can make them hump! We're rich!), or some cockamamie idea, (metrosexuals exist and need metrosexual specific hair gel! Yay! It's true! We're rich!)."

Oh my GOD, that was great! I'm doing some sneaky checking-in here at work and I just busted out laughing.

I think one of the "Slacker" ideas is that "slackers" worked but they didn't spend a lot of money. This is just an idea. I never fed clothes stores money, because I buy all my clothes at the Thrift shop.

[jane_pippin]

119. Just doing my part to liven up your work day with angry ranting!

Good point about that slacker/thrift store bit. I'm with you on the thrift/resale shopping. But they even tried to co-opt that too by selling $20+ dollar plaid flannel shirts at departments stores, those soulless marketing demons!
But the hell with them. We will set our own trends and we will laugh at them as we do it.

(And thanks for your kind words, too).

[Sugar Smack]

157. If you're not already a professional writer-

You should be. You should be; I haven't heard so much good stuff in such a high concentration in a long time.

[jane_pippin]

159. That was the nicest thing I've heard in a long time.

Thank you.

[Tallison]

147. Great post

I love the insight and irreverence of it. Rant any time.

-Tallison (b. 1974)

[jane_pippin]

160. Ha ha, thanks. Just keep in mind that you asked for it should I ever

drunk-post. ;)

[SarahB]

94. I guess so (born in '72).

I've never fit what anyone else says my demographic should be however (and I'm far from having ever been a "slacker").
I'm just me. :)

[eyesroll]

96. Here!

Turning 30 in a week and a half. I was never a slacker, although I'm supposed to be working right now.

My tastes have broadened, and I'm more politically active than ever; I suppose it's all a logical outgrowth of me at 18, though.

[TK421]

100. I was born in 1975 and I'm 30. Would that make me Gen-W?

:scared:

[Magrittes Pipe]

101. I am a proud member of Generation Sex.

[Sugar Smack]

143. YAY!

Long live Generation Sex! :patriot:

[magnetism]

104. every teacher hated our HS class

said that we were all going to go nowhere. Two became PRO baseball players, a few played on big college football teams, many became successful engineers and doctors and some became city gov't officials.

Take that teach!

[Taverner]

105. See you on the flippity flop ;)

[Sugar Smack]

109. Hey, is that a Courtney Love reference?

:D

[Taverner]

112. Close - the "great grunge hoax"

One of our Generation's Finest moments If you ask me...

------------------------------------

Tom Frank, "The Great Grunge Hoax," and The Baffler

Thomas Frank (Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1994) rose to prominence as editor of The Baffler, an influential journal of cultural criticism. Started in 1988 by Frank while he was an undergraduate at the University of Virginia, The Baffler moved with him to the University of Chicago as he pursued a doctorate in American History under Neil Harris. While The Baffler is famous for rekindling popular interest in the Frankfurt School , it is also often remembered as the journal which broke "The Great Grunge Hoax" story. A November 15, 1992 piece in the New York Times explored the then recent phenomenon of "grunge" and included a sidebar discussion entitled "Lexicon of Grunge: Breaking the Code," which defined the hip new "grunge speak, coming soon to a high school or mall near you." The lexicon purported to translateterms current in the youth subculture of grunge, including "wack slacks" (ripped jeans), and "lame stain" (an uncool person).

Unfortunately for the New York Times , the slang was pure invention. The information on which the paper based their story was part of an elaborate prank perpetrated by Megan Jasper, a Sub Pop Records employee in Seattle who had similarly duped the British magazine Sky. When The Baffler revealed the hoax, theTimes demanded an apology from Frank and his fellow editors, but received instead a surly response which read "(W)hen The Newspaper of Record goes searching for the Next Big Thing and the Next Big Thing piddles on its leg, we think that's funny." After news of the story hit Seattle, tee-shirts featuring the word "lamestain" in the Times ' famous font appeared in the city.

Beyond The Baffler and the two books used in this course, Frank's writings have appeared in The Washington Post, Harper's, In These Times, and The Nation.

[Trigger Hippie]

107. I was born in '76.

I've read I was born in the last year of the Slackers, Gen X thing. So I'll post.

Tastes haven't changed, still listen to Young and Dylan and Thompson. Attitudes have gotten more liberal over the years. Not married, not dating, never having kids (I made my mind up on that last one when I was a teen.) I drink and smoke more now in the last few years than ever before. I hope to get crazier and sillier and wackier with age. :pals:

[Sugar Smack]

144. I promise you, you will, my darling.

You are fearlessly goofy, just like me. I love the enlightenment of your posts, and overall I think you're just as cute as a button. You have a very fine brain. I'm so glad to know you.

:hug:

[eyepaddle]

110. A lot of my tastes "broadened" rather than "changed,

but lately I've found myself on a nostalgia kick--particularly in regards to the music I listened to in high school.

Despite having worked many, many, many 80 plus hour weeks in temperatures ranging from 115 above to 50 or so below zero I proudly consider myself a slacker--I prefer to live my life for me and not my job. I also don't worry about doing a bunch of things that don't really need doing. My latest detour is graduate school, we'll see where I go after that.

Oh yes, I'm 35, I drink MUCH less, I don't hit the bong at ALL anymore and I have taken up whitewater kayaking in the last couple of years. It's more consistently fun than going to bars and you don't wake up with a headache! B-)

I'm just as liberal as I was in 1990--but it has become re-energized these last few years, that's for sure.

[noonwitch]

114. I'm 40-I thought I was a baby boomer?

Mac and cheese from the box is good, but it's better to learn how to make it from scratch. Just find a recipe and double the cheese in it.

[Arugula Latte]

115. You just missed being a Boomer. By one year. Cut-off is '64. nt

[Rambis]

116. 40 Still don't get Jazz

WTF?
Coltrane?
Miles Bitches Brew is ok
Brewbeck
New Age what? Maybe it was the wine and brie cheese pretentious asshole college crowd that turned me off I don't know. I like the Dead's jazzier stuff.
I am at peak outrage and have been since I told my wife at 1:00am Central time bush was going to steal FLA in 2000.

[XemaSab]

117. I'm a little young to be an x-er

but I'll give a shout-out anyway!

[Dastard Stepchild]

120. Hey... Totally late because I was slacking...

I saw this post yesterday, but didn't get around to answering until today. How Gen-X of me. :)

I've not changed one bit. The Smiths were playing in my tape deck in 1990, and they continue to play (albeit in a cd player) in 2005.

I was an animal rights, GLBT rights and human rights activist in my teens. Still am now - moreso, I would argue.

I still can't have a good, long conversation unless I am sitting in a coffeehouse or Denny's-type establishment.

Still watch the Kids in the Hall with drooling admiration.

Yeah. I'm the same. :)

[WCGreen]

130. Sweet heart....

You bjorked me again....

[Dastard Stepchild]

165. lol..

It must be in my nature. :)

[atomic-fly]

121. I still like Generation X (the band)

They were good early punk. Lately I've become a Fox Mulder type...

[OhioChick]

122. Gen X Here........

Never felt like much of a slacker, though. :shrug:

[Beware the Beast Man]

148. '74 here- I was your typical slacker.

My tastes in music have changed somewhat, but every now and then I break out the Sub Pop records for old times sake. Love coffee, still partial to flannel, and still want to grow my hair long. "Clerks" and "Reservoir Dogs" still rank up there as my all-time favorite films. I worked in a convenience store, and shared a house in college with 3 guys who got high on cough syrup. I'm not as apathetic as I used to be, though. Though always left-leaning, I really didn't give a damn about politics until about two years ago.

[Sugar Smack]

158. "Reservoir Dogs" is one of my all-time favorites.

I know it's not a saleable skill to be able to quote from Resevoir Dogs, but if it were...

Working in a convenience store helped you love "Clerks" as well. When I saw that, I thought that I could have written that movie.

I worked in a convenience store and took notes. I felt that I might as well get something out of it, so I kept a notebook with little dossiers of the customers and of certain brands of rudeness they displayed. One was the fact that they thought they were always right. One customer told me, "The customer is always right" and I laughed at him.

When they passed me their credit cards, they tossed them across the counter. They didn't complete sentences; they just said one word:"Marlborros".

They'd buy the popcorn and tell me it was stale. They bought popcorn at a GAS STATION and were surprised it was STALE.

When I said a proper "Thank you", they said, "You're welcome".

There was my biggest moment of WTF.

[Beware the Beast Man]

163. Did you have a lottery machine?

To this day, I am almost completely repulsed by gambling.

True story- there was once a major thunderstorm that knocked out power in most of the area, and you guessed it- I had to stay at work. I had some guy call me and ask if the lottery machine was running. "Nope, we have no power," I told him. He grumbled and said something like, "I figured you'd have it running on a backup generator or something." I felt like saying "Yeah, asshole, ice cream's melting in the freezer, but the lottery machine's just fine!" :eyes:

Oh, and I did have run-ins with "milkmaids" from time to time. :)

[suzbaby]

151. This may sound like a silly question....

but if I was born in 1981, what generation does that make me? I've heard the term "Generation Y" before, but I am not entire sure what that means. :shrug:

[Doris32r]

153. My tastes have changed.

I can no longer drink coffee until 3am... or alcohol for that matter. I hate not getting 8 hrs of sleep. I LOVE naps on Sunday afternoons. I listen to my old tapes and giggle. I read my old journals and fall over laughing. I now find men like Anderson Cooper to be sexier than the Brad Pitts of the world. I go to movie theaters and think... God, I hate coming here with all these stupid highschoolers... could they be any more annoying? I order a salad when I really want a burger! I turn down caffeine after 4pm because I won't be able to sleep. I no longer wake up on a Sat. and just decide to drive to Vegas. I now plan those trips in advance and make reservations. I find myself thinking most new music SUCKS!!! I was very left wing when I was younger. Now I'm more moderate I guess on most issues. Though on others I'm still true blue bleeding heart and proud of it. I find that as even a stopped clock is right twice a day, sometimes those people I most despise surprise me... and that makes me giggle too. Oh, and why did nobody tell us life was not just like on "Friends"???!!!

:shrug:

[Lost-in-FL]

154. I'm still the same b*tch... a lot (a whole lot more) cinical...

And from a news junkie I turned into a political junkie... I am a lot less religious and a much more spiritual. I don't party as much but I still play videogames!

[Jamastiene]

161. I haven't changed either. I still openly admit to being a fan of

Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain and punk rock in general. I still smoke. I still think the "slacker" term was unjustified. I miss the 90's desparately. I still have a bullshit o'meter that goes off when I hear it. I still want to settle down with one person, and I still want her to be female. I still can't stand right wing bullshit. And I still raise my fist in the air when I hear Rage Against The Machine. Nope. I haven't changed my attitude nor my habits either.

[sakabatou]

164. I wonder what people born from the late 80s

and grew up in the 90s are called. Generation Next? 0? what?

[Sugar Smack]

166. You're one of us.

You're one of us, definitely.

[sakabatou]

167. I'm a Gen-X?

[StellaBlue]

168. 1979 here

But I *always* identified more with the Gen-X than any of the subsequent BS stereotypes.

Plus the years keep changing. At one point I thought X was like 1962-1982.....

I definitely DO NOT identify with these 'echo' people or whoever they are. I think you can't be one of them if you remember Kurt Cobain's suicide... that's the cut-off for me. If you remember and were affected by Jurt Cobain's suicide, you're a Gen-Xer.

[anarch]

173. I am extremely much more pissed off now

than I was during the '90s...and in fact, even more so than during the Reagan/Bush1 years. For obvious reasons.

I know what you mean about tastes and habits remaining the same...and I don't feel like any more of an "adult" than I ever did in my twenties, although I'm beginning to suspect that feeling is pretty much the same for any and all generations.

[Gothic Sponge]

175. Born in 67

Still listening to The Pixies.

:headbang:

[Sugar Smack]

176. My brother and I listened to "Alec Eiffel"

about six times in a row today. De gustibus non est disputandum. Personally, I think that's the most gorgeous song ever written aside from the 2nd movement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony.

:D

[Gothic Sponge]

177. I love Beethoven's 7th Symphony too.

:toast:

[Sugar Smack]

178. It's so beautiful and so tragic!

My crying thereafter depends solely on how loud it's turned up! My God, I have never heard anything quite like it in my life.

[Gothic Sponge]

180. I love classical music, but I haven't met many Gen X-ers that do.

It's a shame...

[Sugar Smack]

182. I've met some whose tastes are wildly disparate.

They'll listen to indie music, sca, classical & bluegras (I can't stand bluegrass, though, even in tiny doses).

[Maestro]

184. I like classical.

I don't listen to it all the time but it is not a genre I dislike. In fact, my favorite genre, progressive metal, is influenced greatly by classical music in the way they arrange the music.

BTW, born in '68.

[BamaGirl]

186. I like classical and opera

I also listen to rock, punk, alternative, honky tonk--a little of everything actually lol.

[MirrorAshes]

179. born in '80 here...

guess i dont make the cut.

yet i feel so much older than the rest of the y generation, or whatever it is they're called now.

[Sugar Smack]

181. If you feel older

and your sensibilities are on alert, and you have an imagination, and you've been in jobs that don't pay much, and you don't spend a lot of money on corporate interests, you're probably an Xer! A generation "Y" person is referred to as the younger sibling of an "X"er. so there's not much difference there! :D

[Blue_Tires]

185. ttt

[ChoralScholar]

187. Born in '77 here,

but raised with siblings who were born in the mid-60's, I feel I am a Gen-Xer.

I am more liberal now than 10 years ago, definitely - but turns out, I was just suppressing my liberalism...

I work hard. I am defined by my job. However, I am now beginning to learn the value of distraction, so I am picking up golf.

I am also trying to raise my 18-month-old son, and putting my wife through nursing school.

The beginning of the aches, pains, and stiffness associated with getting older has brought home my own mortality.

That's my life in a nutshell.