jenX67: are you there, God? it's me, generation X.

small works of art make awesome christmas presents

noreply@blogger.com (jenX) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:54:46 PST

by Oklahoma artist Brent Learned
Some lucky person got there quick and bought this!

On Friday night, Robert and I popped into the JRB Art Gallery in Oklahoma City's Paseo Arts District. The gallery's exhibits are always fantastic and this one is no different.

Currently on display are painting by Jim Keffer and paintings and sculpture by John Wolfe. In addition, the Gallery is holding it's 7th annual sale of small works by noted artists. Each of the 100 paintings measure 8x8 and sell for $180. This favorite event is designed to give people the opportunity to collect affordable treasures for themselves or purchase the art of established artists as gifts. The smal works include a diverse mix of painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics and mixed media.

Robert checking out 100 8 x 8 paintings in the

Small Works Exhibit at JRB Art Gallery
in Oklahoma City's Paseo Arts District.
Each painting sells for $180.

This is such a brilliant display!

I always think of the work that goes into hanging them just-so.

This is the work of noted Oklahoma artist Michi Susan.

It's already sold, too, but there were still many available

when we left on Friday night.

underdog! saturday morning cartoon from the 60s, 70s

noreply@blogger.com (jenX) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:21:26 PST

Underdog! was a favorite cartoon among older Gen Xers. As you watch this episode, note Native Americans depicted as gopher savages; Army officers depicted as lacking common sense (despite a spoof on Teddy Roosevelt) and the curious naming of the evil, mad scientist, Simon bar Sinister. A Barre Sinister is a diagonal line on medieval family crest, which indicated a person was illegitimate at birth. I was too young to know any better as a kid, but when I watched this episode this morning and heard the scientist's name, I immediately thought of three famous historical Jewish figures: Simon Bar-jonah and Simon Bar-Giora and Simon bar Kokhba.

It's interesting to note the subtle racial stereotypes Generation X was exposed to during childhood. I'll never forget the night I sat down to read a Little House on the Prairie book to Juliette and had to take pause because of the overt and negative depiction of Native Americans.

Looking back, Sweet Polly Purebred was the first character to introduce me to journalism. Unfortunately, I'm sure her need to always be rescued planted seeds in my four-year-old brain, too. Ugh.

Despite this adult perspective on Shoeshine Boy, I did love me some Underdog!, along with plenty of older Xers. I didn't get to watch it very long. Syndication of Underdog! ended in 1973, the year I turned six. I bet my brother, who was born in 1962, can quote every episode, and Robert, a Gen Xer born in 1966, remembers far more than me.

a must read: dallas morning news op ed on the guilt that grips gen x working moms

noreply@blogger.com (jenX) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:30:45 PST

Tina Fey and her daughter in an American Express ad.

You have no idea how much this photographs depicts my days.

From the Dallas Morning News
November 5, 2009
Opinion Editorial by Deborah Mitchell

"Generation X girls grew up believing that we had the same opportunities as our brothers, and, for the most part, this was true. The college graduation rate for Gen X women is almost twice the rate for baby boomer women. And more than half of the bachelor's and master's degrees conferred in this country are now granted to women.

"Mothers, however, are a different story. No matter our level of education, we accept underemployment so that we can take the kids to the doctor or run them to soccer practice. We take jobs where we won't have to travel so that we can be home to help our kids with homework and to watch their games. It's not glamorous, but it needs to be done."

Are you a working mom, be you Silent, Boomer, Gen X or Gen Y? Did or does guilt grip you?

oklahoma's pulpits fall silent despite rising tide of child poverty, neglect and death

noreply@blogger.com (jenX) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:22:44 PST

photochiel

And you know, their little lives can become such a mess.

--from Pat Benatar and Hell is For Children

National Public Radio calls them driveway moments. You're driving to your destination listening to public radio and you hear something so compelling, you sit in your car in the driveway until the story is over. This happened to me about a week ago. I was on my way to the store when I caught an interview on KOSU with reporter Michael Cross and founding editor of the Oklahoma Observer, Frosty Troy.

Troy, a recipient of the Walter Cronkite Faith and Freedom Award, was talking about newly elected Oklahoma Speaker of the House Kris Steele, who is also a Methodist minister from Shawnee Oklahoma. Steele has an impressive record for helping Oklahoma's most vulnerable citizens, children and the elderly. Troy spoke quite highly of him and his work to provide help to seniors struggling to pay for prescription drugs.

Grim Statistics

Troy went on to quote the latest rash of grim statistics regarding Oklahoma. Before I reveal them, please note that I try to stay positive on this blog in regard to my home state. I recently knocked myself out for an article published on Technorati highlighting a dozen or so of the state's fantastic accomplishments over the past year. Many of these, however, focus on Oklahoma City, which out-ranks numerous cities nationwide for a variety of things. We're number 1 for small business. We're the most recession proof city in the nation. As conservative of a state as this is, we still rank #4 for the best places for artists and designers. I'm really proud of all that. But, the story is different for the state as a whole.

Alas, we are ranked #1 in the nation for CHILD POVERTY. Last year, there were more than 13,000 confirmed cases of child neglect in Oklahoma. We rank #7 in the nation for CHILD DEATH. I'm a little superstitious. I hate repeating negative stories and statistics. But, good grief! Our children are dying at a rate faster than they are in 43 other states.

Where are Oklahoma's Pulpits?

Then Troy said something that has been bothering me for a very long time. He asked, "Where are the pulpits?" He said our state was full of churches, but the pulpits were silent. He said we must start addressing social needs, but churches hadn't because Oklahoma is a fundamentalist state and the pulpit was afraid of hurting feelings.

Afraid of hurting feelings? You've got to be kidding me. Are pastors in Oklahoma worried about being kicked to the curb if they repeat the teachings of Jesus? Are members becoming investors relegating clergy to CEO Status?

Two weeks ago, my home church celebrated its centennial anniversary. In this day and age, most churches, if they're lucky, only last about 40 years. Reaching the 100-year milestone is a big deal.

700 Unwed Mothers

Part of the celebration included a tribute to five founding members of the church including two who were women, Johnny Jernigan and Mattie Mallory. Mallory began an orphanage for children in Bethany, Oklahoma, and Jernigan began a home there for unwed mothers. This was during the 1909-1916 timeframe. During these early years of Oklahoma statehood, the Church of the Nazarene in Bethany helped more than 700 unwed mothers through their pregnancies. This makes me so proud I could bust a seam.

I wanted to weep at the sight of an old picture of Jernigan with a half a dozen or more little babies flashed on the big screen. One hundred years ago, most people would have regarded those precious babies as little more than bastards. To the people who founded my church they were the cause of Christ.

The Hell Holes and the Yards of Hell

On centennial Sunday, we were reminded that we are missional and called to go into the dangerous places in our world. My father was a Nazarene minister and he went into such places, preaching to small gatherings of wayward sailors out to sea and in the "lowest down" of L.A. He proclaimed a message of hope to drunkards and homeless men, and he took me and my sisters and my brother and our mother with him. He could have taken us to Disneyland, and I suppose on some level we wish he had. Yet, I know all five of us will agree that there was something about Peniel Mission, a Nazarene ministry in downtown L.A., that was even more exhilarating than the Matterhorn in Anaheim.

During the celebration, we were reminded that we were called to minister in the hell holes of our world. We were challenged not to live cloistered lives in fear simply awaiting for Christ to return. Our senior pastor shared this quote by CT Studd (from the pulpit, mind you): "Some wish to live among the sounds of chapel bells, I wish to run a rescue mission within yards of hell."

***

More than 10 years ago, I was influenced by a book written by Jim Cymbala called Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire. One of the most memorable parts of the book for me was when Cymbala described visiting heroin addicts in the former salt mines of New York City, and inviting them to Brooklyn Tabernacle. Many such people in the salt mines and other byways of New York City responded to such invitations. They heard the words of Jesus and their lives were transformed through hope. Some received supernatural help and blessings.

Is the pulpit at your church silent? What about the pews? Oklahoma, like every state, has its fair of share of hell yards. Unfortunately, ours appear to be filled with a disproportionate number of children.

today's afterschool special: soylent green is people!

noreply@blogger.com (jenX) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:55:44 PST

If the threat of nuclear war wasn't enough to darken even the sunniest Generation X childhood, there was the doom of Soylent Green, a 1973 science fiction movie about overpopulation, poverty and unemployment in the year 2022. The movie, starring Edward G. Robinson and Charlton Heston, scared the crappola out of me as a kid. I saw it when I was 6-years-old on our 13-inch color Panasonic TV while sitting on the living room floor in our house on Sigman Street in Hacienda Heights, California. For years, my sisters and brother would jokingly repeat that line, "Soylent green is people!" before it became popular to do so. My sibs are cutting-edge funny like that. =)

one of the most effective prayers anyone will ever pray

noreply@blogger.com (jenX) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:42:59 PST

photo via Firefighter with a camera

When I worked as the public information officer for the Emergency Medical Services Authority in Oklahoma City, I had access to information about every call EMSA responded to through Computer Aided Dispatch. This assisted me in responding to media queries about major accidents and other emergencies that news outlets became aware of via scanner traffic.

After working at EMSA for awhile, I began to notice that 9-1-1 calls from homeless shelters in Oklahoma City routinely resulted in emergency transports by EMSA to local hospital emergency rooms. The major complaints documented in the CAD ran the gamut of healthcare concerns, but one kept showing up that I'd never heard of before. (Don't laugh.) The complaint was PID.

I had no idea what that was, so I asked my boss, the COO. Thank goodness he wasn't just a COO but a former paramedic. He told me PID was pelvic inflammatory disease. That made sense. Another common complaint on these calls was vaginal bleeding. (Stop wincing.) Apparently, homeless women go through menopause, too. I understood a little bit about this. When I was 16, my mother was hospitalized for four days from blood loss. Her condition was serious and we weren't sure she was going to be released in time to see me perform the lead in my high school music, The Boyfriend.

So, I began to do a lot of thinking about these women and I started talking to medics about them, and they told me stories about how awful the women were treated in emergency rooms by healthcare providers, including nurses and doctors. Although PID can be caused by many things, it is most commonly associated with sexually transmitted diseases.

I tried unsuccessfully to launch a program with a local hospital to provide pelvic exams to women at homeless shelters. While I had the overwhelming buy-in of one of Oklahoma City's most well-known gynecologist's, the hospital administrator the OBGYN asked me to work out details with poo-pooed the project. I knew the project had the potential to become a national news story, which would have been good for everyone, but that administrator did not understand the only thing she cared about - the public relations benefits. What stumped her was how we were going to get homeless women on a bus and to the examination room. After all, it was easier to put a man on the moon.

***

When people say they aren't for universal healthcare, I wonder if they think ambulance services should stop providing advanced life support to people without insurance. Because whether you realize it or not, if you call 9-1-1 and ask for an ambulance, lights and sirens are going to show up on your doorstep despite your ability to pay or not.

When people say they aren't for universal healthcare, I wonder if they think emergency rooms should turn away homeless women who are suffering major blood loss - the result of some horrible STD or worse, an abortion she attempted to perform on herself.

The issue of universal healthcare is infinitely complicated. Sometimes, I don't even know where to turn to find accurate information. But, what I do have that I think too many people who call themselves Republican or Democrat don't have, are fixed ideological principles. Am I the only one surprised by this?

What I've discovered is that too many people have registered with a political party based on some perceived religious or familial heritage. Their political party of choice was determined through inheritance or perceived religious attribute or the need to be accepted by people in a set group. Alas, people have signed up for clubs and they don't even know the bylaws. Just try asking someone today why they're Republican or Democrat. Most people can't give you three solid reasons why.

So, the challenge in knowing where you stand on the issue of universal healthcare is not eased by the likes of Glen Beck or Rachel Maddow. The challenge is eased by knowing yourself and what you believe. Then and only then will you be able to define your ideological principles. If you are a Christian, then the teachings of Jesus will frame your ideologies.

More than a decade ago, I heard a prayer and I think it's one of the most important and effective prayers anyone can ever pray: Lord, replace my heart of stone with a heart of flesh. Only then are we compelled to help find the right solutions for society's most vulnerable people, many of whom are infinitely responsible for the horrible problems that plague them now.

God, give me a heart of flesh. Without You, it's just not possible that I have one.

michelle obama, google celebrate the 40th anniversary of seasame street

noreply@blogger.com (jenX) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:47:32 PST

November 10th marks the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. How cool of Google, the top ranking Web site in the world, to honor this favorite TV show among Generations X Y and now Z with a temporary re-design of its logo. Today, the L in Google is Big Bird's legs!

A special book, 40 Years of Life on the Street will be released in stores on that day. On November 11, Michelle Obama is scheduled to appear. Other celebrity appearances are also planned.

Who was your favorite Sesame Street character? I really loved Big Bird, but I liked Cookie Monster and Bert and Ernie, too. Like most kids, Oscar the Grouch scared me.

In Oklahoma City, Sesame Street airs on OETA (Cox Cable Channel 14) at 9 a.m. Monday-Friday.

marketing to gen x: punk torah, church pr, genxtinct and squirrel nut zippers

noreply@blogger.com (jenX) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:13:37 PST

Excerpt from the The Church Whisperer:
"The ministry of church communications is not a trend. It is not something that will go away with time. It is an honest reflection of some large shifts in our society. If your church wants to spread the gospel to multiple generations, it must get intentional about telling God’s story in ways each of those generations is communicating. Let’s face it…it has been several decades since story-telling was a “one-size-fits-all” phenomena. Understand your calling as a church, then understand the story-telling format of the culture you are trying to reach. Then tell God’s story (and each others’ stories) in a way they can be engaged. That is the communications challenge before all of us."

Nirvana
Nirvana's "Live at Reading" a concert film (often bootlegged) was recently remastered under the supervision of Kurt Cobain's estate and the remaining members of the band and has been released for the first time in 5.1 Surround Sound.

Introducing an Awesome New Gen X Blog!
You've got to check out GenXtinct, a new blog about the "the lost toys, tastes and trends that raised a generation." The writers of this blog have a book coming out (Publisher: Penguin Books) that features everything near and dear to generation x "from pudding pops to perms." Enjoy!

Power Jeans!
The Wall Street Journal has an article on a new fashion trend among high-powered executives and even world leaders - power jeans. Everything old appears new again. Sort of. (Where's Calvin and Gloria when you need them?) The likes of the 501-clad Steve Jobs has helped carry the trend forward. In this day and age of corporate greed followed by meltdown it appears that dressy slacks may now create suspicion!

Gen X Blog Posts
How Forgotten Gen X Changed the World and Me, The Internet and 69.

Punk Torah
CNN Reports on the "New Jews". The article includes a link to Punk Torah, a Web site for new and emergent Jews. They list 30-something (gen X) hipster parents as among their demographic.

Squirrel Nut Zippers
The Squirrel Nut Zippers, a swing revival band that formed in 1993, are back together. In fact, they performed in New Orleans on Halloween. They've just released a new album The Lost Sea. Popdose offers an interesting commentary on the Gen X band's ir return to the music scene.

Gen X Women Taking Cues From Gen Y
Media Post reports that two-thirds of Generation X women are taking pop culture trend cues from Generation Y. Gen Y in turn discovers new brands, style inspiration and product recommendations via blogs and social media.