I always love fortune cookies. If we do takeout, I sometimes can’t wait until the end of the meal. I’ll open my fortune cookie before we dig in. Typically, the fortunes are cheesy and I toss them aside. Every once in awhile I get a good one, so good that I feel compelled to save … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: I Predict – The Sparks
So, I’m currently taking a career break. For the first time in years, my days are not filled with stress. I don’t wake up in the middle of the night thinking about work. I’m now sleeping 6-7 hours per night. I’m not putting in 10-12 hour intense filled days at the office. My blood pressure … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Lay, Lady Lay – Duran Duran
Life likes to throw you water balloons filled with mixed emotions. That’s what happened when I had my first mortgage. I bought a small condo downtown. At that time, the area hadn’t quite been gentrified yet and nobody was really living in downtown LA. Smart move? I wasn’t sure yet. I worked downtown, had been … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: In Between Days – The Cure
I’d want to be Noel Gallagher at this very precise moment singing this song. It doesn’t get much better than this. He says “feel free to join in on the chorus. The crowd, “no we’ll sing the entire thing.” Incredible. YouTube comment by wesleymercer2184 Having 70,000+ people sing your song word for word back to … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Don’t Look Back In Anger (Live) – Oasis
Our handyman is awesome. Well, to call him a handyman is misleading because he actually is a retired Cal Tech scientist who enjoys fixing things. He’s a down to earth guy that amazes me with his knowledge. He loves electrical and plumbing projects, but I have full faith that he can literally fix anything. I … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Scientist – Coldplay
This is pretty similar to a prompt we had before. My choice hasn’t changed since then. I’m not a fan of the word phenomenal. I don’t hear it as much these days, so we can skip the ban. Banning words sounds a little odd anyway. Brown Eyed Girl is a classic Van Morrison song. It’s … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison
Like everyone else, I have a few challenges I’m working on in the coming months. They are important to me and I’m confident I can work through them. I’ll just put my head down and power through it. Recently someone put everything in perspective for me. I know someone who is struggling with his mental … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Everybody Hurts – REM
There are a lot of things I’d like to tell my teenage self if I could. I’m not sure I’d want to change the trajectory too much. Both the good and the bad eventually lead to the me standing here today, and I’m OK with that. Even the bumpier parts of the road played their … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
I watched a foreign film about two comedians and their lives as performers. I thought it would be a mix of struggle, laughter, heartache and redemption. Nope. It was a flatline from the very first scene. And I thought to myself that there has to be a turning point in this film where this thing … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Longview – Green Day
There was a time when the only two liquids I mainly drank were coffee or alcohol. OK, maybe throw in an occasional ice tea for lunch. I thought liquids were liquids and surely I was still being hydrated. Wrong. This went on for over a decade. No, not very healthy and no, not recommend. Good … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Have A Drink On Me – AC/DC
This past weekend we went to an open house in our neighborhood. We aren’t looking to move or buy a new place. We were curious about our neighborhood’s real estate market and wanted to check it out. As we perused the house, we bumped into another viewer who confided that she lived down the street … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Hands – Jewel
Before business casual, choosing a pair of shoes for work was easy. Black dress shoes. If I wore a suit for a client meeting – black dress shoes. Slacks and a shirt to the office – black dress shoes. Regardless of the color of my pants, black matched everything. When one pair wore down, just … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: For What It’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield
The first time my father shook my hand as an adult was one of my favorite days. The handshake was more than a transition from a father/child to father/son. I felt acceptance, equality, respect and love. Thereafter, whenever I’d see my father, we would always greet and say goodbye with a warm handshake. These were … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Most of All – Brandi Carlile
When I was younger, I used to think that debt was a part of life. I had multiple credit cards, student loans and a car loan. I also had rent, insurance and enjoyed going out with friends. Let’s not talk about my Vegas runs. More was going out the door than coming in. I felt … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Money (That’s What I Want) – The Flying Lizards
I remember as a kid, we used to say the pledge of allegiance every morning at school. It was a big deal to be the one assigned to lead it. It’s funny, because all that kid had to do was stand in front of the class and say, “Ready, begin.” But I guess at that … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Near Wild Heaven – REM
Mine is a pretty unremarkable story. I don’t lead an exciting life of crime. But I remember a time I unknowingly broke the law…a tiny bit. I was making a grocery run, stocking up on food during the Covid lockdown. Once as I was loading up my car, I noticed a taco seasoning packet at … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: I Confess – The English Beat
I sat here giving this some thought. I bounced a few titles off the walls, but none of them seemed quite right. Nothing seemed to stick. I think the hesitancy is I’d like to live a bit more before putting pen to paper. Ask me again in another ten years. I think I’ll have something … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Story of My Life – Social Distortion
My parents were always busy, but found some relief when they finished putting four kids through college. My father was still running his small business and playing basketball and tennis on the weekends. My mother had her hands full teaching third grade. Both were not grandparents yet, but that was right around the corner in … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: She – Green Day
We need to make necessary changes to reduce gun violence. I’m not advocating drastic changes that remove guns altogether. I’m just asking for common sense changes that put some guardrails down. Are there any changes that will solve the problem of gun violence? No, probably not. But there are some that will have an obvious … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Glycerine – Bush
I’ve always been interested in Eichler homes. Joseph Eichler was a developer that built Mid-century modern homes in California between 1949 and 1966. His designs were inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright. Eichler homes are examples of Modernist architecture that has come to be known as “California Modern”, and typically feature glass walls, post-and-beam construction, and … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Back to the Old House – The Smiths
I’m going to Disneyland! In 1987, New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms was the first to say the now-famous phrase after beating the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl. It wasn’t spontaneous. Both Simms and Denver quarterback John Elway agreed to say it on the field if their team won … in exchange for $75,000. … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Dizz Knee Land – Dada
I miss playing poker with the guys. Back in our twenties, we’d have card games once or twice a month. Drinks, junk food and shit talking until the wee hours were all on our all-you-can-eat menu. It was more about hanging out with the guys and less about the poker game. The memories bring a … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Creep – Radiohead
I didn’t always have a sweet tooth. It wasn’t until we moved three years ago. Our first Halloween, we bought two Costco bags of candy. That year we didn’t have any trick or treaters. We figured Covid kept people at home. Next year would be different. The second year, we bought two Costco bags of … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Lips Like Sugar – Echo and the Bunnymen
This is the first time in a long time that I can say, “No, thanks. I’m good.” Maybe for the obvious reason of already being on a break. But this is a recent feeling for me and I’ll gladly savor it. How long has it been since I’ve felt this way? Decades, if I had … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: A Long December – Counting Crows
Rotary phone. Touch tone phone. Digital phone. Cordless phone. Cell phone. Flip phone. Blackberry. Smart phone. Man, phones have changed during my lifetime. It’s not only the phones, but also the different ways we’re able to communicate at the tips of our fingers. Phone calls. Emails. Text messages. Tweets. Video calls. The majority of the … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: South Central Rain – REM
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