Generation X (The Blog)

The Holes That Can't Be Filled

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer James) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:06:53 PST

Centennial Land Run Monument | Downtown Oklahoma City | Spring 2011

"...Throwing off everything that hinders us and...entangles us, let us keep running with endurance the race set before us." --From Paul, once Saul of Tarsus

Over the last few days, a lot has been made over Governor Mitt Romney's statement about the poor. Romney is seeking the Republican nomination for President. During an interview with CNN's Soledad O'Brien he said, "I'm not concerned about the very poor. They have a safety net. If it needs repair, I'll fix it."

The thing is, there are some holes that can't be fixed and no safety net so satisfying that we can ever surrender in the battle against poverty.

In 1979, at the dawn of my adolescence, my parents moved to East Texas to pastor a little red brick church on the corner of Tyler and Bradford Streets. We lived in a white parsonage with circus-orange trim, particularly devastating to my Yankee mother.

Still, in many ways it was a magical time despite the sawdust floor of our lives. In the fall, I attended football games where majorettes in short white boots and bodysuits bedazzled with sequins and fringe inspired me to learn how to twirl a baton.

In the spring, the town streets filled with Dogwood blossoms. I'd ride my bike to Bealls, a department store on the town square. My dream was to own a pair of Jordache or Gloria Vanderbilt jeans. I regularly visited the homes and farms of our parishioners. Mr. Brown taught me how to milk a cow. I constantly made lists of clothes I wanted to buy and dreams I wanted to realize.

My brother joined the Marines that year. My older sisters had already left home for college. The family left behind was full of hope and pride despite an annual household income of less than $8,000. The poverty threshold at the time was around $6,000.

I never want to swim so deep in nostalgia that I chlorinate the past. Our years in East Texas were difficult, even grim at times. The anecdotes doom an otherwise innocuous narrative. These awful yarns don't reveal catastrophe, but collectively over decades underscore the tragedy and obscenity of poverty. Two minutes with a brown rat can dramatically change the course of your life.

Lexington, Oklahoma | Spring 2011

Gratefully, I, none of us, were ever rooted in the poverty culture. We were like drops of water dancing on stiff cotton. We were proxies steamed into this unfortunate fabric by the hot iron of my father's sacrifices. I'm not saying they were all noble, but I'm not saying they weren't either. He was smart and talented and had the ability to make a lot of money. Sometimes, he did, but it was rare.

Mostly he dispossessed himself from the impoverishment material pursuits can bring. He was the first to admit he was nothing like the Christ, and also the first to admit that he wanted to fully identify with Him.

Twenty years ago, when I landed my first job out of college, my income exceeded the combined income of my parents. This was their American dream. Over the years, I've bought houses, cars and experiences, but I stopped making lists.

Nevertheless, my eyes remain open to the abject poverty around me. There is tragedy in the resignation I see, and confusion over the trail of cause and effect. Poverty in America is either a mystery or a secret. Because I experienced the pea-soup fogs of its disappointment, I understand how much the poor need us to worry about them. Visibility is low and there are few lights unto the path illuminating escape.

The Winner! by Glenna Goodacre | JRB Art at the Elms

This is rather sidebar, if not self-indulgent, but this is one reason why I choose to work in arts advocacy and why I think the government should fund the arts. The arts are a fog lamp that can cut through a particularly dense smog as well as the net that fortifies a culture marked by low visibility, pernicious and obscene.

Gen X Film Teaser

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer James) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:02:06 PST

I've been so busy with work lately, which is great, but it means I haven't had much time to do what I really love most and that's write and take pictures.

I know blog posts of videos are incredibly cheap dates, but not this one. This is another teaser from the Gen X Film project. Click here and here to read more about the film and see another teaser.

The director/producer is Manny Merchan of ManMade Films.

Sex, Marriage and Fairytales

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer James) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 05:12:24 PST

I wanted to share this rap about marriage and divorce by Jefferson Bethke. My friend, Debbie, who recently renewed her wedding vows after 20 years of marriage, posted this on her Facebook page.

Bethke is a popular speaker and contributor to Chisel Season. My favorite line in this video is "You don't fall out of love as much as you fall out of repentance."

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Last summer, CBS aired a story about Generation X and marriage. Surprisingly, divorce rates are at their lowest rate in 40 years, and Generation X is largely responsible for this trend. Click here to watch the video.

This Oklahoma Life: Chinese New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer James) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:54:10 PST

Goong Hey Fatt Choi! That's Happy New Year in Chinese!

This Oklahoma Life™ | Chinese New Year | Dragon Dance | 23rd and Classen | 1.28.2012

This Oklahoma Life™ | Chinese New Year | Drums | 23rd and Classen | 1.28.2012

You know you're Generation X if...

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer James) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:17:24 PST

Steve Lackmeyer is a reporter and columnist for The Oklahoman. He's the author of three books and he's part of the inspiration behind Retro Metro OKC. I've been following his stories for 20 years, and I'd basically run barefoot across a blistering urban heat island for him.

A fellow Gen Xer, Steve has comrade-in-arms status since he long ago escaped OKC's brain drain. I swear, I think half of all Gen X college grads blew out of here in the 80s and 90s. After my Savannah Smiles cookie/movie post, he spontaneously penned the following bit of hilarity and gave me permission to give it a permanent home. Enjoy, Gen Xers, preferably with a pizza kit and Pop Rocks and some Jolt Cola to wash it all down.

You Know You're Generation X If...

When you hit the video store or search Pay-Per-View listings for the movie Savanah Smiles. And you celebrate when a fellow Gen Xer and friend independently writes a blog post in tribute of the movie.

You mention “Grizzly Adams” and immediately correct yourself and explain you meant “Mountain Family Robinson” (expect a bewildered response if the other person in this conversation is NOT a member of Generation X).

One of the most exciting moments of your career was getting to interview Joe Camp, creator of the Benji movies.

You forever regret not having had the chance to interview George Kennedy.

You fondly remember seeing “The Bad News Bears” and “Car Wash” as a 10-year-old kid but would never let your own 10-year-old watch the very same movies.

You thought grandma was the coolest character in "My Bodyguard."

You briefly considered learning to speak Italian after watching "Breaking Away."

You briefly considered a career as a truckdriver - but quickly dropped the idea after learning from Dad that you wouldn't get to drive around with a monkey named "Bear" and you were prohibited from asking people to refer to you by your new nickname, "B.J."

You cried when you learned “Chico” died. You cried more when you saw “the man” try to continue on without “Chico.”

You spent ages 7 through 16 dreaming of owning Jim Rockford’s car, only to experience ultimate disappointment in realizing you could only afford a used Chevy Chevette when the time came to buy that first car.

You can still sing, start to finish, knowing all the words, to “Pure Imagination” from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and “Toot Sweets” from “Chitty, Chitty Bang, Bang.”

You know you’re Generation X if … it drives you crazy that you rarely if ever see these movies and shows available on DVD, on PPV or on television.

Follow Steve on Twitter and Facebook.

Is Ferris Bueller is Back?

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer James) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:35:11 PST

How can I handle work on day like today?

As one person commented, "and just like that, the head of every Gen Xer asplodes."

What does it mean? I think it's a commercial for a Superbowl commercial. The 46th Superbowl is February 5.

Rock on, Ferris Bueller! It's about time you had another day off.

FiPath launches SaveGenX.org

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer James) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:34:13 PST

Screenshot from FiPath video

"In a perfect world, Generation X wouldn't have to worry about retirement. But, sadly that's not the world that Generation X lives in. Their financial future is much more grim..."
--FiPath video on Social Security and Generation X.

Many Generation Xers (like um, me) aren't prepared for the future and believe that social security will be around when they retire. As I've blogged about before, my annual Social Security statements tell me that right now, without any changes by Congress or the U.S. Government, there will only be 77 cents on the dollar available to fund my Social Security benefit.

Moreover, in a magically undelicious way, a program I have paid into since I was 15 years old is constantly referred to in the pejorative: entitlement.

This week, FiPath, an "unbiased financial services website" launched SaveGenX.org. Get a load of these statistics provided in a new video posted on their site:

70 percent of Generation X doesn't have a plan for retirement.
89 percent will have a lower standard of living when they retire
82 percent don't have the information they need to plan for retirement

In an effort to help pay down Social Security debt, for every new member, FiPath will donate $1 to Social Security up to $20,000. While they know this contribution won't solve the ginormous problem, their efforts to bring attention to this issue are impressive. Join here.

From the FiPath website
Solutions for fixing Social Security
Social Security Planning for Generation X
Generation X's Fears About Social Security

Disclosure: No compensation was received in exchange for this post.

No flu shot for Gen X?

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer James) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:10:24 PST

A man on a scooter gets a flu shot during a "drive flu" in Napa, CA., October 2011. Image by Getty Images via @daylife I hate to admit this, but I made sure every person in our family of five got the flu shot except me! I don't know if I think I'm flu-immune or what. I'm terrified of the flu because it actually does kill people every year.

Several years ago, I caught a news story about an Oklahoma mom with several young children who died from complications of the flu. The flu really is nothing to mess with.

There is a recent article on Science Daily about Generation X and influenza, and it turns out, I'm not alone. Only about one in five Gen Xers in their late 30s received a flu shot during the 2009-20 swine flu epidemic. A University of Michigan report details the behavior and attitudes of Generation X in relation to epidemics like the flu. Check it out.

Hat Tip: Shawn!

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