Saturday 9 18

(Link in meme-roll)
My Generation

1. What do you think is the most unique thing about your generation?

Wow, this question is a doozy! First of all, I have trouble with this because I was born right on the cusp of End-of-Baby-Boom and Whatever-Came-Next. Three siblings are/were squarely baby-boomers, and my older sister is pre-boom. If "My Generation" means people born in the 60s, then I'd say we're a fuckin' mess: our kids are still living at home, we're going to be paying into Social Security with probably no chance of seeing a payback, and we may be the first generation in awhile to live shorter lives than our parents. Yippee.

2. Do you speak out as often as you should?

Up until recently, I would say I speak up MORE often than I should, but I'm getting better, though still pretty mouthy.

3. How often are you tough and unreasonable?

I think there are those who would say that I'm not enough tough, but plenty unreasonable.

4. Do you believe that sometimes you learn more from a failure than a success?

Hell yeah! Not only, and not necessarily, my own.

5. Do you feel that you always have to win?

I really like to win. I'm not always a very good loser. But I know that I don't always win, so I'm better than when I was younger.

6. Do you think tradition matters?

Yes. But tradition mired in the past is useless if not translated and integrated into the present.

7. Do you tend to root for the underdog?

Almost always. Unless they are playing against the Packers. ;-)

8. Have you ever felt that you want to exceed your parents’ successes?

From a material standpoint, I have. From a 'life' standpoint, I'm not sure that's possible.

9. Of all the cartoon characters that you know of, which is most like you?

The teachers in the Peanuts cartoons (on TV)? Pogo? Wile E. Coyote?

I'm So Excited

10. What was the last event or situation that got you really excited?

I'm pretty excited about the fact that my boss is leaving, in less than a week now!!

11. How old were you when you started working and what was your first job?

From before I can remember, it was my job to clean my room up every Saturday morning while Mom did the rest of the house. Of course, that wasn't a paid job! I started babysitting at about age 11 or 12. My first applied-for job was working as a shelver at the local library at age 16. I was working before I had a driver's license, even.

12. Tell us about your grandparents.

All of my grandparents were born in or before the 1880s. My dad's parents were homesteaders (you know: 5 acres to prove in 5 years) in western Colorado when my dad was born. My mom's dad worked for the railroad in southwestern Colorado after immigrating from Canada; he left home in his early teens and married my grandmother, who was a schoolteacher in Montana, when she was in her early 20s and he was in his 40s. I never met him; he died in 1941, weeks after my parents were married. The other three surviving grandparents were all gone before I turned 12; I really don't remember much about any of them except that mom's mom had cold hands and beautiful long white hair, and dad's mom was deaf as a post.

13. Do you procrastinate or are you usually on top of situations?

I'm a great procrastinator, unless it's something I enjoy doing.

14. What would others say about you?

Ask them. (Let me know what they say?)

15. Do you believe in life on other planets?

I believe it's possible, even likely, but I'm not sure we'd recognize it as such necessarily, nor is it likely to look anything like us.

16. When was the last time that you were called too thin?

My parents were actually concerned about my weight as a kid, but while I was pregnant, that all ended. When I was in my 20s, one of my coworkers' husband called me "Skinny" whenever he saw me...creepy old fart.

17. Do you work out? Have you ever joined a gym and quit almost immediately?

I don't work out. I should, but I'm lazy. And I have indeed joined gyms and lasted just a few weeks or months.

18. Do you feel that you utilize all your intelligence in every situation?

Nope. That sounds very exhausting. I use a LOT of my intelligence in a LOT of situations, though. And then there's the majority of my time, when I'm on autopilot.