Generation X Holds Up

brian — Wed, 06 Oct 2021 21:14:40 +0000

The moniker “Generation X” can carry some weighty expectations. Latchkey kids, fighting between generations, the ability to program both a VCR and a cell phone. Those things all define my generation.

But at one point, Generation X only referred to a book by a first-time author from Canada. I recently re-read Douglas Coupland’s influential novel, which I purchased when it came out in March 1991. This was my 25th book of 2021.

Back then, I was working for a weekly newspaper and harboring my own writing aspirations. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life at the time. Being laid off a few months later didn’t help much.

I never really broke out from journalistic writing for a number of reasons. I don’t have real regrets because I love the life I live. Reading Coupland’s book again, however, took me back to those feelings of limitless possibility.

The premise of the book is simple. Three people in their late 20s – Andy, Dag and Claire – tell each other stories and consider their place in the world. You can get a lot deeper, but that’s the crux of the story. Andy is the first-person narrator.

In short, I loved the book all over again. I certainly saw some ways that it impacted my conversational writing style. I loved the little definitions and pieces of art throughout the margins. It really managed to tell a story in many different ways.

A few things that jumped out at me:

“Dag says he’s a lesbian trapped in a man’s body.” I know of at least one college friend who used to say this. So trite, but on point for some late 80s, early 90s guys.
“To borrow a phrase from a popular song, he’s loyal to the Bank of America.” You will definitely get in my pants – metaphorically speaking – when you refer to a deep REM cut like “Exhuming McCarthy” as a “popular song.”
“101-ism: The tendency to pick apart, often in minute detail, all aspects of life using half-understood pop psychology as a tool.” He basically predicted social media.
“He owns the marketing rights to those two little buttons on push-button telephones – the star and the box buttons astride the zero.” Before “pound sign” or “hashtag” took over our life.
Cryptotechnophobia: The secret belief that technology is more of a menace than a boon.” Still working this one out, Douglas.

I highly recommend reading the book if you have not, but especially if you have. Sure, pretentiousness abounds, but that is what early 90s Gen X life could be like.

Wrestling with Pain

brian — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 12:27:10 +0000

As I hobbled around last week because of a sore knee, I realized that this summer marked a pretty important anniversary.

I thought about this because I tried to trace the root cause of my pain. I hadn’t taken a fall or had anything else serious happen. I had been exercising, but didn’t think overuse was a concern since I just came off a week without exercising while on vacation.

A few theories popped into my head, but one thought lingered in my head. I can always blame a lifetime of wrestling when something like this happens.

My career on the mats started about 35 years ago. That’s when I began competing for the first time, but I had goofed off with my older brothers before that.

Since that time, I have had some consistent connection with the sport. I coached for 11 years after finishing my college career (including a couple of years where I still competed) and have officiated for the past four or five.

The few years between those stints mainly consisted of covering the sport for the paper, my non-contact phase. But the injuries still lingered, including my latest issue.

I can’t directly connect my sore knee to what happened 30 years ago this summer, but it does count as part of the cumulative problem. In 1984, I made a long car trip to wrestle in my first national tournament.

The Junior National wrestling tournament pits the nation’s top wrestlers (plus guys like me) in Greco-Roman and freestyle, the two international styles. I never wrestled in the Greco tournament, but competed in freestyle three times.

When I headed to Cedar Falls, Iowa to compete at the huge domed arena on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa, i had no idea what to expect. That winter, I had my first strong season as a high school sophomore and hit the summer wrestling circuit to get even better.

The Maryland contingent at that time defined the term “rag tag.” I made the drive with two wrestlers and two coaches in a Dodge Colt. I sat on the back seat hump. For 24 hours. Next to a guy who never stopped rocking from side-to-side.

I ended up on the hump because both the other guys in the back had won state championships, but I hadn’t. The picture they took for my ID badge when we registered was frightening.

But we got to meet world champion Greco wrestler Steve Fraser there when he showed up to register at the same time. Then I went out and won my first match, beating a guy from New Mexico. At least I think he was from there.

I lost my next two matches and was eliminated. I went 2-2 the next year and 0-2 after my senior year, losing only to guys who were among the top wrestlers in the country. Three of the four guys who beat me in my final two visits ended up winning some sort of national title in their career.

So I can at least say some pretty talented people rubbed my face in the mat. And it all started with that long car ride 30 years ago.

I wonder if my knee hurt as bad after that ride as it did last week. I know I probably recovered quicker than I do these days.

Getting Old – Regular Guy

Generation X Holds Up

Wrestling with Pain