Last night I spent time with my niece. She is a high school senior and will be going off to college next year. You wouldn’t know it if you met her today, but she used to be shy. Even she describes her younger self as painfully shy. Back then, she only had one word answers. … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Counting Blue Cars – Dishwalla
When I was younger, I was more open to risk and adventure. I jumped out of a plane, aimlessly backpacked through Europe, lived in a foreign country. Then life began to take hold and without notice, things changed. I jumped into a career, traded my backpack for a mortgage and crossed the border into a … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: To Love Somebody – The Bee Gees
About ten years ago, I decided to take a chance and joined start up. A few former colleagues had been trying to persuade me to join their fledgling company for a few years. They were in their infancy stage and I wasn’t quite sure about the business model. After a few years, they made some … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Turn! Turn! Turn! – The Byrds
We planned our Europe backpacking trip around the running of the bulls in Pamplona. We arrived in the city without reservations and couldn’t find a place to stay. We found a place a few cities over and then took the train into the city. It was almost midnight when we arrived and we were immediately … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Running on Empty – Jackson Brown
I knew something was wrong when I received a welcome letter from Infinity congratulating me on my new car. The problem was, I didn’t buy a new car. I called the number on the letter to let them know they had the wrong guy. They said it must have been a mix up on their … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Been Caught Stealing – Jane’s Addiction
When I was young and single, I used to have a rule. If I worked past 10 pm, it was too late to eat, so I’d walk to the local neighborhood bar and drink dinner. Not the best plan, mind you, especially since my first stop the next morning was to Starbucks for a venti … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Good Life – OneRepublic
I admire social media influencers who are unafraid to spill their entire life stories online. I think it’s brave and bold, but definitely not my style. I don’t dislike social media, that’s not why I don’t play along. I just prefer to stay under the radar. When Facebook first came out, I waited on the … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Creep – Stone Temple Pilots
The first thing that came to mind was What the F? Just being honest. This reminds me of a friend in Japan who also taught English at the same school, but in a different city. We went through teacher training together before we were sent off to our respective schools. Part of our training was … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Don’t Stand So Close to Me – The Police
I was walking in Tokyo one day and met a random Japanese stranger. We chatted and she said she had a cousin that lived in the US. It turns out her cousin was a classmate of mine in high school. I was a little surprised because number one, what are the odds of that happening. … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: People Are Strange – Echo and the Bunnymen
Being self-aware is an ever evolving process. The downside is you come face to face with some hard truths. For one thing, I’m stubborn. Many people don’t really know this about me because my outward appearance says otherwise. But for those who really know me, you’re either nodding your head yes, or shaking your head … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: You Learn – Alanis Morrisette
I never knew I didn’t like tight spaces until my first MRI. It sounded harmless when the doctor first ordered one. I thought how fun, I’m going into a little tube. How sci-fi that’s going to feel. They hit the button and I moved deep into the tube. I had my eyes closed at first. … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Keep Breathing – Ingrid Michaelson
When I was a little kid, my grandfather would take me out for root beer floats. I used to think it was just grandpa giving me a treat. As I replay the scene now, I remember him enjoying that root beer float just as much as I did. He’d give his tall glass a good … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: So Quiet in Here – Van Morrison
Living in Japan became a little daunting once the plane actually hit the ground. I took a Japanese class in college, but overall, I didn’t have a clue. After a few weeks trying to acclimate myself, I overcame my fear and decided to enter a restaurant by myself for dinner. From the markings on the … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: More Than This – 10,000 Maniacs
When I was ten, the thought of being twenty never entered my mind. I was too busy eating chocolate chip cookies and thinking about what I was going to do at recess. When I was twenty, thirty might have crossed my mind. I was busy having fun in college, but began thinking about what direction … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Black – Pearl Jam
Here is my list of everyday things: coffee, family/friends, music, sunshine, blueberry scones There is something about the Cowboy Junkies. Maybe it’s the sound of alternative folk rock, their lyrics or the tone of Margo Timmons’ ethereal voice. I’m just a fan. I was thinking about sunshine songs and was reacquainted with Sun Comes Up, … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Sun Comes Up, It’s Tuesday Morning – Cowboy Junkies
High school tends to be cliquish. It’s natural for kids to be at that age. We don’t have kids so I haven’t seen up close what it’s like these days, but I’m guessing it’s still relatively similar. Kids are kids. Early on in high school, I fell into this mode. As a freshman, I was … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Pretty in Pink – The Psychedelic Furs
Smoking is relaxing. I wish it wasn’t so bad for you. Long time ago, I used to chain smoke two or three cigarettes when I got home from a stressful day. I didn’t smoke everyday, but when I had a tough day, I’d light up. And I made a deal with myself I’d only smoke … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: I Hope I Don’t Fall In Love With You – Hootie and the Blowfish
The WordPress gods have asked this questions a few different ways. Here are my past responses. Rocky Mountain High – John Denver Jump Around – House of Pain Instead of being repetitious, I think I’ll just pick a good song instead. When I was in junior high school, Foreigner released Urgent. My friend and I … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Urgent – Foreigner
When I was in high school, I found a box of old books in the garage. There was a yellow paged, worn paperback that caught my eye. It was John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, In Search of America. Travels with Charley: In Search of America is a novelistic travelogue written by American writer John Steinbeck, … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Hey Jack Kerouac – 10,000 Maniacs
Long ago I had a roommate that read Tom Clancy novels. I tried reading The Hunt for Red October, but lazy me opted for the movie. Sean Connery, why not? When I heard Jim from The Office was going to star in the Jack Ryan series, my initial reaction was Whaaaat? I was used to … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Nobody Does It Better – Carly Simon
One day, I discovered I had a new pet. It wasn’t something I looked for. It just snuck up on me and made itself comfortable. Initially, it hid in plain sight. But after awhile, I couldn’t help but notice. I had a pet bot on my blog. Strange. One day I recorded an extra 100 … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Rock This Town – Stray Cats
I’ve been involved in various volunteer activities over the years. Habitat for Humanity, assisting at local food banks, engaging in language exchanges to assist others learning English, helping others with interview skills when applying for jobs. While sporadic, I did enjoy them all. But the question posed is about a job that I’d do for … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: The Freshmen – The Verve Pipe
I’ve always enjoyed watching track and field. With the exception of the relay races, this is essentially an individual sport. Sure they add up team points at the end, but when you are competing out there, it’s just you. And when I mention an individual sport, I don’t mean it’s you against the other participants. … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: I Alone – Live
A big part of the fabric of the community are the mom and pop stores in the neighborhood. When I lived downtown, I patronized the local businesses as much as possible. I loved living in a walking neighborhood, with storefronts just outside my front door. The more I got to know them, the more neighborly … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: This Town – The Go Go’s
This silly question assumes we were given a choice. I don’t think there was a conscious decision to adapt. It’s just something that happens when in survival mode. I remember the days of stocking up on groceries and then wiping everything down when we got home. In the early days, we stayed indoors for days, … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: I Melt With You – Modern English
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