Disclaimer – This column is PG or PG-13 rated, due to its excessive use of bathroom (farting) humor and the two YouTube videos. Trust me, the humor in this column is much tamer than what you find in most contemporary television sit-coms and current movies such as “Bridesmaids” and “The Hangover.” But, as my readers cover the gamut of family values, and I respect you all, I offer this warning.
A recent George Will column, “Lost In Electronica,” started me thinking about how often kids says they’re bored. “Are you kidding me,” said in my best Robert DeNiro accent! If anything, I find there aren’t enough hours in the day for me to begin to do all that I want to do.
But, it’s evidently a fact that many in this current generation are often bored, even with all that is available at their fingertips. Of course, every child doesn’t have access to all our current high-tech devices, but most libraries do have computer “labs.” Why is boredom more prevalent today? My first answer is MTV. Yes, MTV, which if you’ve forgotten stands for “Music Television.” When it began, in August of 1981, it ushered in a whole new world of fast-cutting short videos.
I did a video interview for Bill Vick (BoomersNextStep.com) who is a terrific guy and more so for allowing me to ramble on and on and then edit the video without showing himself once! At least he could’ve cut away and showed his handsome self when I was picking my nose! Seriously, he promotes helping boomers to help themselves, instead of falling into the trap of looking back at their “Glory Days” to quote another B.S. (my initials), Bruce Springsteen. Following is the whole unedited, unadulterated, unfiltered, rambling me:
For some of us, “of a certain age/generation,” every new tech thing is yet another time we can get flummoxed and frustrated. How often have you opened that new tech device, camera, digital picture frame, or new “smart” phone, and felt anything but “smart?” I sometimes put the “thing” aside, stare at it a few days, and then finally get the courage to open it up.
What often follows, more often that I’d like to admit, is something doesn’t work right. Even learning the so-called simple things, like attaching and sending a photo via e-mail can sometimes be confusing. My favorite is when the only help you can get is online, but you can’t get online because of some connection problem. Or better, when you take their suggestion to call them for help before you return the darn thing.
To some degree, all parents live vicariously through their children. The question however is a matter of degree–how much? It’s normal to want the best for our kids, but when we project our own failed opportunities or fantasies, we may be crossing an inappropriate line.
That was happening to me when my son’s musical ability blossomed and I was that parent beaming while I taped every performance of his. Then, when he got his 15-minutes of fame and jammed with his rock ‘n’ roll idol, Chris Cornell (http://bit.ly/ay3IRx), I tried to milk it for all it was worth. Was that for him or for me?
This past Monday and Tuesday (October 4,5), I attended a fantastic conference oriented to people who use Twitter, work in Social Media, teach, want to learn and grow, and so much more. I also got to speak and my topic was (surprise surprise), “Dads Are Parents, Too.”
There were dozens of incredible speakers and it was all organized and created by Jeff Pulver (@jeffpulver) with assistance from the tireless (mom of three, I might add) Melissa Pierse (@melissapierce).
There are so many cliché’s about how giving back, doing charitable works, and thinking and doing for others will bring you happiness, satisfaction, and maybe even bring you out of a depression. As with most cliché’s, this one is generally true and I wish more people would heed the wisdom of “repairing the world” as it is often expressed in my religion.
While my writing and focus tends to be gender-biased, from the man’s point-of-view, I will assert that in this regard, “giving” is something that is inherent in both men’s and women’s DNA. Men, as we well know, have the “fix-it” thing built into them while women have the “nurturing” one wired into their DNA. Before you yell at your computer, I am again making a generalization as, of course, this does not apply to every man or woman.
Is there a difference between a blog a column, or an article? I fervently believe so, though I’ve read nothing about it (not that it hasn’t been written). As a fan of the #blogchat TweetChat, which is all about the world of blogging, I often find myself thinking about these definitions. I assert each form of writing is quite different and has its own distinctions. I write all three and am quite aware of their differences (to me). Let’s start backwards with the blog.
To me, when I blog, I follow these general rules. I keep the length between 250 – 500 words. I care less about perfect sentence structure, even grammar, though I always try to spell-check. Again, for me, I like my blogs to be funny whenever relevant. I use colloquial language. I might even swear though generally I avoid that given my “brand” as a parenting writer and radio show host. And, most of all, I have fun. Blogging isn’t work for me. For examples of my blogs, just read some of the “Just A Guy” blogs I used to write for momlogic. There are other samples of blogs there as well.
