Only 45?

So, here’s a news release I received today about the latest study outlining the miserable state of affairs for Generation X. This one comes from PwC and reveals that Generation X employees are struggling the most financially, and are most likely to dip into retirement savings.

Piggy Bank

By the way, PwC represents a rebranding for Price Waterhouse Coopers. I really don’t know much about them, but I’m always a little suspicious of studies managed by firms that tell me my financial situation sucks, “but, hey, we can fix it with financial education.” Here is some FREE financial education: Don’t spend more than you make. 

Here’s some more. It is not going to get any better financially for Generation X. In fact, it’s going to get worse. You’re not going to earn as much as your parents earned because the strides you make financially aren’t going to keep pace with inflation. Here’s the news release.

NEW YORK, June 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Generation X employees – those born in the early 1960s to the early 1980s – struggle the most when it comes to juggling competing financial priorities related to their homes, children and parents, reveals PwC US’s 2013 Employee Financial Wellness Survey. As a result, more than one-third (36 percent) of Gen X employees think it’s likely they will need to dip into their retirement savings to pay for non-retirement expenses, a percentage significantly higher than for both Baby Boomers and Gen Y, the “Millennials.” Thirty percent of Gen X employees admit having already withdrawn money held in their retirement plans for expenses other than retirement.

“Gen X employees are in a unique financial situation. They’re often faced with the full spectrum of financial issues – from having to fund children’s education to caring for aging parents – while dealing with day-to-day household expenses,” says Kent Allison, Partner and National Practice Leader of PwC’s Employee Financial Education practice. “These competing financial pressures, along with already depleted equity in their homes, exacerbate America’s retirement crisis as employees believe they have no choice but to turn to their retirement savings to focus on short-term needs.”

Retirement confidence remains low

Lingering financial challenges continue to weigh down retirement confidence: significantly less than half (35 percent) of employees express confidence they will be able to retire when they desire, reflected in the finding that employees ages 45-54 possessed the lowest retirement confidence over the last three years.

Although overall employee financial stress across generations decreased to 52 percent this year from 61 percent in 2012, financial stress continues to impact employee productivity. Twenty-three percent admit that personal finances have been a distraction at work. Of those, 19 percent say they spend five hours or more at work each week thinking about or dealing with issues related to their personal finances.

“The leakage from retirement plans reemphasizes that employees are facing immediate financial issues that compete with their focus on long-term savings for retirement,”­­­ says Allison. “The impact of this conflict can be seen beyond employees’ saving accounts. It becomes a key concern for employers that may see older, less healthy, less productive and more expensive employees working longer, impacting the bottom line and reducing the younger generations’ opportunities for advancement.”

Employees’ Biggest Concerns about Retirement*

Running out of money – 45%

Healthcare costs 38%

Not being able to maintain my standard of living 26%

Health issues 25%

Not being able to meet my monthly expenses 21%

I don’t know what to do with my free time 11%

Not leaving any assets upon my death for my family, charity, etc 4%

Meeting education expenses for child/children 4%

Managing my investments in retirement  3%

Other  3%

Other expenses for children (e.g. wedding expenses) 2%

* Respondents could choose up to two answers

Healthcare a greater concern

Healthcare costs rank among the top of employees’ retirement concerns, with 38 percent citing it as a concern. The fear of losing healthcare coverage drives an increasing number of people to delay retirement: 29 percent this year, up from 21 percent in 2012.

More than half of the employees (53 percent) with health insurance say they are covered by a high- or mid-deductible healthcare plan, a reflection of the rise of consumer-directed health plans. While employees are concerned about healthcare costs, only 35 percent of those covered by a high or mid-deductible plan contribute to a health savings account (HSA) and of those, only 12 percent indicate that they plan to use the funds as a means to meet future medical expenses in retirement.

Notably, the majority of those closest to retirement age are planning ahead: of the Baby Boomers planning to retire within the next five years before the age of 65, two out of every three employees have a plan for covering their healthcare expenses before becoming eligible for Medicare. Forty-three percent of Baby Boomers are confident they will be able to cover their medical expenses in retirement.

“As life expectancies extend, these concerns will only increase over time,” says Allison. “The burden of saving for retirement has shifted to the employee with the rise of defined contribution plans. So it’s important for them to understand the benefits of options such as HSAs that allow them to meet current and future healthcare costs. The under-utilization of HSAs is an education issue that we encourage employers to address in their financial wellness programs.”

Despite some improvements, cash flow still a major issue

Cash flow issues continue to top employees’ financial concerns, with anxieties about insufficient emergency savings for unexpected expenses (49 percent), delayed retirement (45 percent), and not being able to meet monthly expenses (22 percent) among the top concerns. Additionally, almost half (49 percent) of Gen X respondents find it difficult to meet their household expenses on time each month, as compared to Baby Boomers (31 percent) and Millennials (30 percent).

Employees’ Financial Concerns by Generation

“Despite key economic indicators showing signs of improvement, a more sustained recovery is likely required before a significant positive impact occurs for employee financial wellness,” says Allison. “People often expect immediate improvements when the market climbs; however, employees’ financial situations don’t turn on a dime. With employees continuing to experience effects of the economic downturn, employers have an opportunity to drive change to employees’ financial behaviors. Recognizing this, more and more companies are implementing holistic and proactive financial wellness programs that help their employees deal with the stresses of competing financial priorities without sacrificing their future, ultimately leading to a more productive and healthy workforce.”

If That Didn’t Bore You To Tears And You’re Still Reading, Check This Out

Eric A. wrote a series of guest posts recently for Charles H. Smith, the writer of Why Things Are Falling Apart. Here they are:

The Brewing Generational Conflict

Generation X: An Inconvenient Era. The charts in this post are pretty stunning.

A Brief History of Cycles Part 1

A Brief History of Cycles Part 2

And, if you can’t bear all that clicking…

The Totally Sweet 90s

…and you just want to crawl under the covers and relive your youth with something sweet, check out Gael Fashingbauer Cooper and Brian Bellmont’s new book The Totally Sweet 90s. This is the team that brought us Whatever Happened To Pudding Pops?

From the Publisher

If you can tell the difference between the Petes in Pete & Pete, know every step to the Macarena by heart, and remember when The Real World was about more than just drunken hookups, The Totally Sweet ’90s will be a welcome trip down memory lane.

With this hella cool guide, you’ll reminisce about that glorious decade when Beanie Babies seemed like a smart economic investment and Kris Kross had you wearing your pants backward. Whether you contracted dysentery on the Oregon Trail or longed to attend Janet Reno’s Dance Party, you’ll get a kick out of seeing which toys, treats, and trends stayed around, and which flopped.

So throw your ponytail into a scrunchie, take a swig from your can of Surge, and join us on this ride through the unforgettable (and sometimes unforgivable) trends of the ’90s.

There’s a companion website, too. Check it out.

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Indulge me while I extol the virtues of my idyllic childhood summers. This way you can understand the absolute misery of my idle youth.

Old Taco Bell

In the late 60s and early 70s, I played on Huntington Beach. After sunset, we drove to an old Taco Bell that had a fire pit, torch lights and green burritos. By the mid 1970s, I was living near Pikes Peak Mountain and swimming at Star Ranch. And a couple of years after that, I was chasing tumbleweeds in West Texas.

And, there were the glorious cider stands in New Mexico and our homemade fishing poles in Arkansas and farms in East Texas.

I moved around a lot as a kid and we were poor, but for the most part, I was pretty happy.

Until the Summer of 1981, when all this virtue evaporated. I was not quite 14 years old. Too young to get a job, too old for VBS. Too cool to ride my bike.

So began my years in Teenage Wasteland. I bummed around the house all day watching game shows and soap operas.

Sometimes, I went to work with my mom. I’d traipse around downtown Bartlesville waiting for the library to open so I’d have a place to hang out. One day, I picked up a book on Vietnam War crimes.

I was very confused. Between the pages of that book, I realized my mind was a desolate landscape, My life, a swamp of boredom.

So, I began studying history, which led me to 10,000 tragedies, which I mulled over and let shape me. It was grim, but at least I was paroled from the Price Is Right.

Throughout American history youth have been vilified, glorified, exploited, ignored and now smothered and over-indulged.

In 1959, Philip Gilliam, a judge in Denver’s juvenile court system wrote an open letter to teenagers that appeared in an Indiana newspaper. Everything he wrote can be applied to the last five generations of American youth. Here is the full text:

Always we hear the plaintive cry of the teenager. What can we do? Where can we go?

The answer is GO HOME!

Hang the storm windows, paint the woodwork. Rake the leaves, mow the lawn, shovel the walk. Wash the car, learn to cook, scrub some floors. Repair the sink…get a job.

Help the minister, priest, or rabbi…Visit the sick, assist the poor, study your lessons…Your parents do not owe you entertainment. The world does not owe you a living…You owe the world something.

You owe it your time and your energy and your talents so that no one will be at war or in poverty or sick or lonely again.

Grow up…develop a backbone, not a wishbone…accept some of the responsibility your parents have carried for years.

They have nursed, protected, helped, appealed, begged, excused, tolerated and denied themselves…so that you could have every benefit…In Heaven’s name, grow up…

For additional reading, check out Huck’s Raft: A History of American Childhood by Steven Mintz

Click here for a full list of my commentaries on KOSU via iTunes.

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Times have changed, just like dad.

[Guest Post]

There are so many differences between the time I was raised and the world that had evolved. Actually, in many ways the world de-evolved in the span of just a few decades. It can be comic at times to realize the many differences and how the world perceives itself from when I was young. I’m not saying that my generation was perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but we took for granted many freedoms that are non-existent today.

1. Gun Play – I remember when I was young violent cartoons were still somewhat plentiful, but activists started to change and edit the classics. Generation Xis probably the last remaining generation that can truly remember Daffy Duck getting his beak blown around his face by a shotgun wielding Elmer Fudd. But yet, it is after these changes that have been implemented that more and more children are taking guns to school.

2. Self-Reliance – I remember walking home from elementary without a care in the world for half of a mile and up a hill, literally. Going to school was pretty easy, but I lived on a hill above my school. My parents were fine with the fact that I could walk home and take care of myself for several hours before they got home. I was in first grade at the time. In today’s world, your neighbors call social services and you could be brought up on charges for neglect. Are they against teaching responsibility at a young age? Why be responsible for ourselves when we can blame our parents?

3. Lock-out – When I was growing up, my grandparents rarely ever locked their front doors. If you ever needed a place to go in the middle of the night, they would rather you crash there than in the street somewhere. Now-a-days, the house could be completely emptied in the middle of the night by teenagers. Coincidentally, these are the same teenagers that social services helped gear towards parent shaming.

4. To Spank, or Not to Spank – A form of punishment that many of us grew up with was a whooping by belt, paddle, or as in my grandfather’s case, a willow switch. I wouldn’t dare attempt some of the things that children today get away with. Since spanking your child can land you in court fighting for your right to be a parent, many adults are afraid of what might happen if they intervene in misbehavior.

5. Smoking Privileges – I remember times when my cousins and I were sent to the corner store with enough money to buy a few penny candies and a pack of cigarettes for my aunt. Boy, did teenagers abuse that privilege. It makes me think, however, what happened in parenting from earlier times when sending your child down to pick up a pack of cigarettes became taboo? Could it have been from the parenting abilities of earlier generations that allowed children to take advantage of this ability to smoke underage?

There are so many differences to adapt for from the time I was raised to the moment I am in now with my own children. Although I don’t fear social services like many other parents, I don’t step over the line between punishment and abuse. I also don’t lock my doors very often, but that’s because of the 180 pounds of dog that live inside of my yard. All I can do is be the best Mom I can be for my children, which they constantly remind me of how good I am. When my daughters tell me I’m the best Mom in the Universe, my reply is, “I try.”

Author Bio:
Nancy provides feedback on all elements of the site “www.enannysource.com” helping us to really make sure that we are making it as easy as possible for caregivers to sign up and find work.  In addition, she spends quite a bit of her time on freelance writing tasks.

Thank you Nancy and eNanny Source for feeding my blog!

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Hello, Friends. It’s time for another round up of recent Generation X headlines, memes and generally fun stuff. We call these posts Blue Plate Specials and they’ve been around since 2008! Here we go!

Is Gen Y Ruining San Francisco, The Mission District?

Not since Matt Honan penned Generation X Is Sick Of Your Bullsh*t has their been a more memorable missive from Gen Xers to Gen Y than Chris Tacy’s recent blog post series, Don’t Be A F**king Dou**ebag. This is not a hugely popular blog, but was picked up by SFist and now is pretty much going viral. Tacy is concerned about the Millennial Generation ruining San Francisco. Here is his Mea Culpa:

I know that it’s people like me that started this shit show in SF. I moved to The Mission back in the early 90s. I was part of the gentrification that started the whole trend of startups being centered in this neighborhood. I sold a company at the height of the dot-com boom and I did my part to turn SF into the playground for the rich and educated that it’s become. I accept my portion of the blame – and am now trying to do what I can to stop things from getting worse and perhaps even get just a little bit better.

Generation Listen

Generation Listen NPR

In an effort to connect with younger audiences, NPR launched Generation Listen at South by Southwest (SXSW) in March. Since that time, they have been actively building a community of young NPR listeners who are curious about the world and have a passion for creating a more informed and engaged public.

Holly Hobbie Looks A Little Vampy

Jenny Isenman, a popular Gen X blogger has written a story for Cafe Mom about “Six ’80s Childhood Characters That Have Become Naughty Instead of Nice.” Check out the slideshow comparing changes in the dolls over the last 20 to 30 years. It’s pretty stunning. Images included are Strawberry Shortcake, Rainbow Brite, My Little Pony, Legos and Holly Hobbie.

Holly Hobbie has gone from a prairie doll with braids to a teenager in a short skirt.

My Little Pony Movie Too Hot To Trot

Speaking of the evolution of girls’ toys, check out the trailer to My Little Pony Equesterian Girls. This movie has attracted so much negative attention they’ve disabled the comments on this official trailer. See Gen X Moms Fear New My Little Pony Feature Film Horses Are Too Hot To Trot.

Every Generation Better Than The One Before

An article on Fox Business talks about how lazy and materialistic Gen Xers are and how much their future sucks. I know you’re dying to read it. It highlights research from Jean Twenge, who hands down has the best cover of any book about generations ever written.

I totally have this tattoo. Except the ME is an X.

SLOW: Children Texting Comic

I know a few adults this applies to, also. By the way, I began a text to my 15-year-old the other day with “Hello…” She thought this was hysterically funny. Do you know how lucky I am to have a teenager around to keep me one slim step ahead of being a complete nerd? Thank you, Daughter! With a five and seven-year-old, I’m going to be able to hold my own with these younger generations for at least another 10 years. Ha! (Maybe. Wishful. Thinking.) (?)

Slow Children Texting Comic via Bizarro Blogs

The Geeks Who Leak: Generation Y Hacktivists

The Geeks Who Leak. They’re idealistic members of Generation Y, the Millennial Generation. They believe all information wants to be free.

Time Magazine is at it again. This time their obsession with Generation Y plays out in the article The Geeks Who Leak. It’s about a generation of hacktivists who are idealists and believe “all information wants to be free.” It covers first-wave Millennials Edward Joseph Snowden (b. 1983); Aaron Swartz (b. 1986) and Bradley Manning (b. 1987).

To refresh your memory, Swartz was the storied hacker and Reddit founder who sadly took his own life in January. He was being sued for wire fraud among other things. Manning is the Army solider who supplied classified documents to WikiLeaks.

Based on Time’s research, only 19 percent of Americans 18-34 (Gen Y) think Snowden’s actions were a bad thing. In the same poll, the majority of Americans thought he should be prosecuted for the leak.

Tatted Up Grandpa

Just for kicks, I thought I’d share this with you. Source: Aboriginal and TSI Tattoos on Facebook.

Tatted Up Generation

Before Midnight

Before Midnight is the must-see Generation X coming-of-middle-age summer movie. Starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, Dennis Lim of the New York Times calls it the screen romance that defined Generation X.

Before Midnight is the third in a series starring Hawke and Delpy. First there was Before Sunrise in 1995, and then Before Sunset in 2004. Here is a wonderful excerpt from Lim’s review:

Each of the “Before” movies is a window onto a stage of life, sharply attuned to the possibilities and disappointments of one’s 20s, 30s and 40s. But collectively, as with Michael Apted’s “Up” documentaries and François Truffaut’s Antoine Doinel films, they have become something larger: a continuing participatory experiment in embodying the passage of time. The long intervals between the films are gaps for projection — each new installment is bittersweet proof that the characters and actors on screen have changed, and we along with them.

Here is the official trailer for Before Midnight, which opens in most cities today.

The Replacements Reunite

Riot Fest is a punk rock/alternative music festival that formed in Chicago in 2005. Riot Fest will make its comeback there when they kick things off in a three-city tour that includes Toronto, Denver and Chicago.

The Replacements are launching a comeback at Riot Fest later this summer. They’re “one of the best bands that never got big.” Hailing from Minneapolis, they developed a cult following and are today considered pioneers in alternative rock.

Their song, Bastards of the Young, written by Paul Westerberg (b. 1959) is the proving ground of Generation Jones and the anthem of the disaffected sons Generation X. In 2011, Jeremy Gordon of Prefix wrote this about the song:

Aside from being a supreme distillation of Reagan-era apathy, “Bastards of Young” is also the Replacements’ calling card, the song that sums up their ethos… youthful dissatisfaction: unfulfilled dreams, useless education, lack of a generational identity, the pain of filling out one’s taxes…

Bastards of the Young

God, what a mess, on the ladder of success
Where you take one step and miss the whole first rung
Dreams unfulfilled, graduate unskilled
It beats pickin’ cotton and waitin’ to be forgotten

We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
The daughters and the sons

Clean your baby womb, trash that baby boom
Elvis in the ground, there ain’t no beer tonight
Income tax deduction, what a hell of a function
It beats pickin’ cotton and waitin’ to be forgotten

We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
We are the sons of no one, bastards of young
The daughters and the sons

Unwillingness to claim us, ya got no word to name us

The ones who love us best are the ones we’ll lay to rest
And visit their graves on holidays at best
The ones who love us least are the ones we’ll die to please
If it’s any consolation, I don’t begin to understand them

We are the sons of no one…

100 Years of Change Infographic

Source: MoneyChoice.org

That’s all for this edition of the Blue Plate Special: Generation X News. Which blurb was your favorite?

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Oklahoma City Ice Storm, OKC | Photo Courtesy Paul McCord via Flickr with CC License

It was like a scene from the winter of a Russian revolution. Every twig and wire, branch and street covered in thick layers of ice. It was December 2007, and Oklahoma City was like a statue of frozen roads and lifeless houses.

We lost power and were forced to leave our home. We were lucky. We were able to stay with my mom even if she only had one bed and one couch and we had three children and two of them were still in diapers. This went on for 11 days.

My husband and I tried to plow through it all, going to work every day, pretending our lives weren’t immobilized by the storm.

I don’t know why we kept appearances. Our stress was galatial. We all got pneumonia.

Really, it’s startling how the vortex of even a minor crisis can suck you down.

Like everyone I take comfort in the stories of those who survived the recent tornadoes. But, occasionally, they’re a blinding light bouncing off the twisted metal of someone’s life. So many dreams caught in the skinned branches of lopped off trees. Tales of courage cannot neutralize the losses.

I wish they could.

This past weekend, I was not swept away in a flood while hiding in a ditch from a tornado. I lived another week to tell another story.

On Sunday afternoon, I took my kids swimming. The woman in the lounge chair next to me had broken teeth and prison tattoos. She was reading a book called The Lessons In Love.

“I read a lot of these self-help books,” she said, “but I never finish any of them.”

She began to tell me about her life and within 10 minutes, tears had pooled in the dark circles under her eyes.

I seriously wanted to jump in the pool, hop across it, grab my stuff and runaway.

“I hope I can get my kids back,” she said. “And, my house, but I’m so tired. I don’t want to work fast-food anymore.”

She told me she always felt strong, like she could stand up against all evil and stare it down, but not anymore.

“I just want someone to save me,” she said. “I just want to be saved.”

I paused for several seconds and stared at her. She was wearing a black bikini with the elastic dried and stretched out, just like all her hopes.

And, I said, “Michelle, you have been rescued. You have been saved.”

And she nodded her head yes, and then her cell phone rang and I slipped away.

I cannot give Michelle back her children or her house. But, maybe I can buy her a new bikini. I think this is how it works. Community. If everyone pulls one piece of debris from the wreckage, the burden will not be so heavy for any one person to lift.

Subscribe to my commentaries on iTunes.

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This year marks the 75th anniversary of Superman. To celebrate, Halloween.com came up with this infographic featuring the various incarnations of the Man of Steel’s shield. Pretty cool, eh? Except I am totally sick of Superman.

Eight Generations Have Loved Superman!

Infographic Created by HalloweenCostumes.com

Official Superman Trailer, 2013

The new Superman movie opens June 14. I’ve posted the official trailer after the infographic. Enjoy!

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by Atomische * Tom Giebel via Flickr

At first, I thought it was just me. Maybe the new Flickr site was fantastic and I was just stuck in my ways. Maybe eventually I’d adjust. After all, leaving Blogger was a touch decision, but I did it. I moved on and now I love WordPress.

Keep Calm and Leave Flickr by jess&r ♥ sharingvia Flickr

But, then something happened that has never happened to me before in relation to a brand I dearly love. After visiting the new site just two times, I’d given already given up on it.

Flickr flag depicts Flickr in distress by Justin Hardecopf via Flickr

I needed a picture of scattered feathers with the Creative Commons License. On the old Flickr, this would have been easy to find. But, before I even looked for such an image on the new Flickr, I decided it would (1) take less time to buy a bag of feathers and (2) photograph my kids scattering them and (3) clean up the entire mess than it would take to sift through the colossal junk that has become Flickr.

Passe par tout has some very funny responses to the new Flickr.

Here’s Why the New Flickr Sucks

I am hardly the only one who feels this way. Newton Gimmick of the blog Infinite Hollywood (IH) explains the problems with the new Flickr way better than I could. Check out his post, The New Flickr Sucks and Here’s Why.

I love how Newton describes the old Flickr. It’s easy to see why amateur photographers (like me) loved the site so much.

Flickr was founded in 2004 and quickly grew to the most recognizable photo sharing site on the web. Eventually they lost that title, but remained a staple for people who took photography serious. While they were never the place to go for hosting random photos, they were the place where you could build up a “portfolio” and almost instantly they attracted legitimate photographers to their website. What Flickr also built up, was a huge collection of hobbyists who weren’t “pros” necessarily, but who were interested in photography, art, composition and all the things that make taking photos great.

Soon Flickr implemented many social media aspects, long before they were commonplace on the internet. Yet despite these changes and somewhat highbrow content, Flickr never went too far outside the box. Flickr became something rare, a community. What was great about Flickr was that people with $2,000 cameras could share photos with those who had much simpler point and shoots, while developing a common bond and interest in the medium.

I learned so much about photography on Flickr. One thing that random users probably don’t know is that many accounts doubled as blogs. They were unique in that they included personal reflections on photos, and often details on shooting technique. There is some great writing associated with many Flickr accounts, but good luck finding any of it now.

The old Flickr was a great search engine. Many nonprofits, schools and government sites host archives on Flickr. Check out this post I wrote in September 2011: 50 Years of High School Photos. These accounts are very tough to find now. This makes me think the terabyte of space Flickr now offers users is just an illusion. They’re actually limiting access to their site with difficult navigation. I don’t know why they’d do that. Maybe it’s a means of dealing with all the dormant Flickr accounts — there are a ton! Check out this post I wrote in November, Pictures of a Couple in Love for 45 Years.

Dear Marissa Mayer, The New Flickr Sucks

Are the new changes to Flickr Marissa Mayer’s first big mistake since taking over Yahoo?

Nah. Her first mistake was saying her baby was easy. And, then she killed Yahoo telecommuting, but not before she built a baby nursery next to her office. Most recently, she dissed working moms. I wonder if the media is making us dislike Mayer or if Mayer is making us dislike Mayer.

Marissa Mayer perceived to be the one to kill Flickr. From Bárbol via Flickr

I hope they bring the old Flickr back, but even if they don’t, I’m confident the marketplace will take care of us and bring us something we like just as much. Maybe 500px? Interestingly, they’re hooked up with Klout. Based on my score are offering me 50 percent off the membership price. Cool, huh?

Hopefully, whatever takes over where new Flickr leaves off will have built-in import capability, because I need to figure out what to do with the 3,600+ photos I have in 110 sets on Flickr dating back to 2008.

Here is the “graphic” I threw together in protest of Flickr’s recent updates.

Flickr is seriously messed up now.

Also, I’ll be keeping an eye on Flickr’s Alexa rank, the Nielsen rating equivalent for blogs and websites. Although it was in decline prior to launch of the new site, it has only continued to fall. I bet the page load on this site has decreased dramatically. This kind of proves that not everything can be retrofitted for mobile technology. I used Flickr for storage, study and research. Social sharing was always an afterthought. It was never the juice that fueled the site or my interest in it.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Monday, June 10, 2013

When Your Favorite Site Shuts Down

The social web was launched in December 1998 with the Open Diary. I created my first blog on that account in January 1999, thanks to a tiny blurb about it in SELF Magazine. Although we didn’t call it blogging then, in time, we all came to understand that we were little pioneers in a movement that was revolutionizing journalism and advancing democracy.

There have been so many advancements in the social web over these last 15 years. Many sites have been launched and many have shut down. Here are a few recent losses:

Google Reader was discontinued in March 2013.

EveryBlock shut down in February 2013.

Posterous was shuttered in April 2013.

Have you seen one of your favorite websites shut down? Can you think of other failed or embattled web relaunches?

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But, I could feel it last week in the empty parking spaces at the mall and sluggish traffic.  The skip in our step, the unconscious gait, both replaced by mindful movement. Everywhere we went we thought of the storm.

The kids are out of school for the summer now. I pray to do more than endure the hot days ahead, but fully embrace the season, and my children: Juliette at 15. Sully at seven. And Bridgy, still five.

Sully, June 2013

Here is my boy Sully. He’s getting so big! He loves to play baseball, basketball, soccer and run track. He is very athletic, poetic and spiritual. A very good friend of mine calls him Father Sullivan. =)  I try not to think about that, but I have started writing down all the amazing thing he says. The other day, we were in the car and he said, “I love God first, Jesus second, Mary third, the foster father Joseph fourth and Charlie fifth.”

Charlie is our Border Collie. As you can see, the rest of us rank quite high.

You’re right up there with Jesus, sweet Charlie!

Mud Pie Faces

Bridgy’s Mud Pie Face

Here is Bridgy at five. This morning, she called to me from the porch, “Mommy, come look at my mud pancake.”

Bridgy makes a face out of mud, pecans, leaves and sticks.

I think about all the years God knew her before I knew her. How long did her soul roam the earth before she was born into my arms? Too often during the daily challenges of parenting I completely forget she was not sent only for me to raise, nurture and love, but to teach me the things I struggle most to know and believe. I love you, Super Bridgy!

Keats on Summer

“I almost wish we were butterflies and liv’d but three summer days – three such days with you I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain.”
― John Keats, Bright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne

P.S. Pictures of my beautiful teenager shall be posted again someday. When she is 35. And, once again lets me take her picture!

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RFK pictured here with his wife and 10 of his 11 children.

Today, is the 45th anniversary of the death of Robert F. Kennedy. He died on June 6, 1968. On June 6, 1966, he said the following in the Day of Affirmation speech to university students in Cape Town, South Africa.

“Few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of the events, and in the total of all these acts will be written the history of this generation…Thousands of unknown men and women in Europe resisted the occupation of the Nazis and many died, but all added to the ultimate strength and freedom of their countries. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage such as these that the belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

Ethel and Robert Kennedy

Abraham, Martin and John

Here’s Generation X rocker Jon Bon Jovi singing Dion’s Abraham, Martin and John. It’s about four assassinated Americans who were agents for social change: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. King was a member of the Silent Generation. JFK and RFK were both members of the G.I. Generation, sometimes called the Greatest Generation.

Didn’t you love the things that they stood for?
Didn’t they try to find some good for you and me?
And we’ll be free
Some day soon, and it’s a-gonna be one day …

Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
I thought I saw him walkin’ up over the hill,
With Abraham, Martin and John.

–From Dion and Abraham, Martin and John

RFK Family Pictures

Robert F. Kennedy’s children (minus two). He had 11 kids.

RFK and Ethel with seven of their 11 children.

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