We're drowning in quirk. It is the ruling sensibility of today’s Gen-X indie culture, defined territorially by the gentle ministrations of public radio’s
This American Life; the strenuously odd (and now canceled) TV sitcom
Arrested Development; the movies of Wes Anderson; Dave Eggers’s
McSweeney’s Web site; the performance art, music, and writing of
Miranda July; and the just-too-wacky-to-be-fully-believable memoirs of
Augusten Burroughs. It’s been 20 years of beneficent, wide-eyed gazing upon the oddities of our fellow man.
David Byrne probably birthed contemporary quirk around 1985— halfway between his “Psycho Killer” beginnings with the
Talking Heads and his move to global pop—when he sang the song “Stay Up Late”: “Cute, cute, little baby / Little pee-pee, little toes.” (As it happens, Byrne appeared on July’s recent book tour.) Jon Cryer’s “Duckie” Dale in
Pretty in Pink came a year later, and quirk was on its way.
posted by psmealey
on Sep 5, 2007 -
176 comments
'Yep, life'll burst that self-esteem bubble' says USA Today This article can't seem to decide whether it wants to discuss Gen Xers or Millenials. And it quotes Neil Howe (Of The Fourth Turning) toward the end, about the characteristics of Millenials (people born after 1982).
What may be the most interesting aspect of this article is that the author seems uncomfortable speaking negatively about the millenials. The writer is hesitant to criticize the Millenials, and so she initially suggests that the cry babies finishing college who are now entering the workforce were born in the 70s and early 80s. Of course, if that were true, those recent college grads would be in their late twenties to mid-thirties.
And I particularly like that improved self esteem is bad because it leads to "enhanced initiative, which boosts confidence, and increased happiness."
posted by schambers
on Feb 16, 2005 -
57 comments
'Gen X' Parents would like to see a return to more traditional standards inside their newly-purchased homes and impart to their children the value of hard work, according to a new study in American Demographics. Could it be that we 'Slackers,' are more motivated than the moniker suggests?
posted by keith
on Jan 25, 2002 -
23 comments
Generation X washed up? Okay, so it became a marketing term for a demographic I'm part of, and I usually cringe when seeing something described as 'Gen-X', but I still saw some truths while reading this. Was that it? Was the 90's Internet revolution and crash our time in the sun, and now we're "so over"? (And do Gen-Xers really range from 20-38 years old now?) [via obscurestore]
posted by kokogiak
on Apr 25, 2001 -
56 comments
