"In this sticky web that we're all in, behaving decently is no small task." -- Novelist Stacey D'Erasmo

Monday, July 18, 2011

Blogging Boomers Carnival # 216

     This week the Blogging Boomer Carnival covers a wide range of topics that will spark your curiosity on a sultry summer day. 

     So Baby Boomer suggests to us that every generation has life-defining moments. For Baby Boomers the questions are: "Where were you when Kennedy was shot?" or "What were you doing when Nixon resigned?" For much of Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980, there is only one question: "When did you parents get divorced?" If this one doesn't get you thinking, nothing will.

     And according to the New York Times 81 percent of the adult population of America dreams of writing a book. If you consider yourself a writer, or have even ever fantasized about becoming one, you might enjoy learning more about the wild and crazy life path the Midlife Crisis Queen took to end up the author of several volumes. And along the way she encourages everyone to reconsider their options in midlife.

     Meanwhile, Nancy at Vaboomer blog asks mysteriously:  Is a rattlesnake one of your kin? Don't be afraid to step over to see what she's talking about.

     At Contemporary Retirement, Ann takes a look at how retirement is the ideal opportunity to look at who does what at home, and if necessary, make some changes. (Just as a side comment, in my household we, as Ann suggests, "gravitate towards jobs and chores we're best qualified to do." Since I have no skills, I wash dishes and take out the garbage; B shops and cooks. She also insists on doing the laundry, which I don't get, because it seems to me it's a pretty simple chore that anyone, even the unskilled, can accomplish.*)

     The Boomer Chronicles wonders why and when you should get a dog if you're over 50, and refers us to a new book for dog-owning Baby Boomers.

     And, finally, for those of you who are in the mood for something a little crustier to chew on, our favorite culinary artist asks: Have you ever tossed a pizza? The catching is the hard part. She learns all about pizza at The Accidental Locavore Tosses Pizza: The Secret  of a Moe's Classico.

     *apparently it's something about dryer sheets and ... okay, I admit it, she is a better folder than I am.

4 comments:

schmidleysscribblins.wordpress.com said...

I know where I was when Kennedy was shot, but don't have a clue about Nixon.

My parents never divorced although they should have and might have done if they had lived in my generation. My kids are Baby Boomers, albeit at the tail end. Dianne

Dr. Kathy McCoy said...

Thanks for the excellent reading recommendations! I wrote a posting last November about the Kennedy assassination: I was a freshman at Northwestern University and, along with my classmates, absolutely devastated at the news that our young President had been killed. We watched the events -- from initial reports from Dallas to Lee Harvey Oswald's shooting on national t.v. to John, Jrs sweet salute (I still get tears in my eyes when I see that picture). Watergate was of major interest to me since my Father was an avid Nixon-hater and I had been hearing his rants from earliest childhood. However, at the time of Nixon's resignation, I was involved in a lovely, torrid summer romance and hardly noticed the history-making event!

Tom said...

This is really John Agno's post from So Baby Boomer. But like you, I certainly remember the JFK assassination, but curiously, do not recall the Nixon resignation. I remember Bay of Pigs, the Moon Landing and Woodstock.

But his real point is about Generation X divorce and how it is likely to be amicable rather than adversarial. My two kids are technically Generation Y, but they nevertheless did go thru our divorce. My wife and I went to a mediator and parted amicably, agreeing to joint custody and we lived in the same town until after our younger child graduated from high school. It all worked out as well as could be expected.

I could never understand why a couple would go adversarial. Hurts the kids, and the lawyers get all the money.

Elizabeth said...

Thanks for the post, definitely going to check these out. That's interesting about every generation having a defining moment. I can think of a few for the more recent ones, such as Where were you on 9/11? or Where were you when our first black president was inaugurated?