According to some, I’m a RINO. What the past eight years have taught me, I am now a man without a party. I began to feel this way immediately the moment Trump won the primary election for the 2016 presidential race. This was before the truly bat shit crazy hit the fan. I just couldn’t … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: You Happy Puppet – 10,000 Maniacs
I wish there was an accurate GPS for life. Not like Waze that takes me through the most dangerous parts of LA at midnight. I need something a little more reliable to guide me away from the potholes of everyday life. Unfortunately, there isn’t anything out there so I just make sure the essentials are … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Fade Into You – Mazzy Star
I wouldn’t call myself a worry wart, but I’ve done my share of worrying. It doesn’t come from a single source. Sometimes it’s spawned by my need to be in control, when I’m not. Other times it’s being overwhelmed with an overload of responsibility, wondering how I’m going to carry the world on my shoulders. … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist : Brave – Sara Bareilles
Christmas. It’s one of the few holidays we have the entire family together. It’s also a time for my mom to be grandma and love the grandkids. Our Christmas is all about family. In 1984, a collection of musical artists came together to raise money and awareness for a good cause. They recorded Do They … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Do They Know It’s Christmas – Band Aid
As I got older, I came to the realization that I was no longer in shape to continue playing basketball. A few other friends found themselves in the same boat and we looked for other means of exercise. We landed on hiking, camping and backpacking. Our first camping trip was an eye opener. A bunch … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Ring of Fire – Social Distortion
So my initial draft of today’s prompt took some time, but ended up in the trash. I gotta tell you, I wasn’t really inspired by the prompt. In fact, less so with this prompt than any other. When you look at it, the topic is not entirely bad, but it’s not that good either. It’s … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: Get Off Of My Cloud – The Rolling Stones
When I was a kid, I learned I was born in the year of the monkey. I don’t know much about the Chinese zodiac, but I thought that was pretty cool. Since then, I’ve always had a appreciation for monkeys. I haven’t really embraced emojis, except maybe when I send out a family text. Occasionally, … Continue reading My Gen X Playlist: The Monkees Theme Song – The Monkees
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
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