The lede paragraph:

I was told in high school that I couldn't write, that my ideas were unintelligible. My teachers weren't being mean. They were being honest. At the time, they were right. I was better at math. I was great at math. I scored nearly perfect on every math aptitude test, and competed in the Washington State Math Championships held every year at Central Washington University. Too bad I couldn't see the point of math. I could solve for the relationship between X and Y, but the relationship of math to society completely eluded me. It was my gift, but I didn't want it.

via fastcompany.com

Do the math, guys. Eat more meat and veggies. No more grains (even for cattle). Our four-legged friends will take better care of our planet than we have.

The agriculture of grains is killing us, the cattle and the planet. Oh, and plant some trees in this field while you're at it. Or should I say "put them back"?

Generation X Doesn’t Want to Hear It

Earlier generations have weathered recessions, of course; this stall we’re in has the look of something nastier. Social Security and Medicare are going to be diminished, at best. Hours worked are up even as hiring staggers along: Blood from a stone looks to be the normal order of things “going forward,” to borrow the business-speak. Economists are warning that even when the economy recuperates, full employment will be lower and growth will be slower—a sad little rhyme that adds up to something decidedly ­unpoetic. A majority of Americans say, for the first time ever, that this generation will not be better off than its parents.

— New York Magazine

Generation X is sick of your bullshit.

The first generation to do worse than its parents? Please. Been there. Generation X was told that so many times that it can’t even read those words without hearing Winona Ryder’s voice in its heads. Or maybe it’s Ethan Hawke’s. Possibly Bridget Fonda’s. Generation X is getting older, and can’t remember those movies so well anymore. In retrospect, maybe they weren’t very good to begin with. 

But Generation X is tired of your sense of entitlement. Generation X also graduated during a recession. It had even shittier jobs, and actually had to pay for its own music. (At least, when music mattered most to it.) Generation X is used to being fucked over. It lost its meager savings in the dot-com bust. Then came George Bush, and 9/11, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Generation X bore the brunt of all that. And then came the housing crisis. 

Generation X wasn’t surprised. Generation X kind of expected it. 

Generation X is a journeyman. It didn’t invent hip hop, or punk rock, or even electronica (it’s pretty sure those dudes in Kraftwerk are boomers) but it perfected all of them, and made them its own. It didn’t invent the Web, but it largely built the damn thing. Generation X gave you Google and Twitter and blogging; Run DMC and Radiohead and Nirvana and Notorious B.I.G. Not that it gets any credit. 

But that’s okay. Generation X is used to being ignored, stuffed between two much larger, much more vocal, demographics. But whatever! Generation X is self-sufficient. It was a latchkey child. Its parents were too busy fulfilling their own personal ambitions to notice any of its trophies—which were admittedly few and far between because they were only awarded for victories, not participation.

In fairness, Generation X could use a better spokesperson. Barack Obama is just a little too senior to count among its own, and it has debts older than Mark Zuckerberg. Generation X hasn’t had a real voice since Kurt Cobain blew his brains out, Tupac was murdered, Jeff Mangum went crazy, David Foster Wallace hung himself, Jeff Buckley drowned, River Phoenix overdosed, Elliott Smith stabbed himself (twice) in the heart, Axl got fat. 

Generation X is beyond all that bullshit now. It quit smoking and doing coke a long time ago. It has blood pressure issues and is heavier than it would like to be. It might still take some ecstasy, if it knew where to get some. But probably not. Generation X has to be up really early tomorrow morning.

Generation X is tired.

It’s a parent now, and there’s always so damn much to do. Generation X wishes it had better health insurance and a deeper savings account. It wonders where its 30s went. It wonders if it still has time to catch up.

Right now, Generation X just wants a beer and to be left alone. It just wants to sit here quietly and think for a minute. Can you just do that, okay? It knows that you are so very special and so very numerous, but can you just leave it alone? Just for a little bit? Just long enough to sneak one last fucking cigarette? No?

Whatever. It’s cool. 

Generation X is used to disappointments. Generation X knows you didn’t even read the whole thing. It doesn’t want or expect your reblogs; it picked the wrong platform.

Generation X should have posted this to LiveJournal. 

I don't usually coop an entire article and post it here, but this one is too good to cut up. Sorry, Emptyage.

via fastcompany.com

via newyorker.com

The 'money' quote:

But while we are playing this game, let me present my own pet theory. The most striking thing to me about Konczal’s list of popular words is the absence of terms such as “Wall Street,” “bonuses,” “bailouts” and “CEO pay.” None of them feature in the top twenty-five. This absence feeds my suspicion that Occupy Wall Street isn’t primarily an anti-Wall Street phenomenon. It is a generalized anti status-quo protest movement, for which Wall Street serves as the convenient focal point.

If you accept this theory, it makes perfect sense that the protesters don’t have short and snappy set of demands. They aren’t sleeping under tarpaulins to support a financial-transactions tax, a return to Glass-Stegall, or a nationwide write-down in student loans, although some of them would support these proposals, to be sure. They are out there creating a ruckus because they think that things in this country are seriously out of whack, and have been for a number of years, with the politics and policies of both parties slanted scandalously towards the rich and powerful.

HubAustin: South Austin Coworking...finally!

HubAustin Coworking is having an open-house party starting at 6pm on Thursday, Sept 29. Anyone who's interested, please RSVP and then stop by the office to enjoy beer and refreshments, check us out, and get great "sign-n-drive" discounts for signing up on the spot!

RSVP for the launch party!

Our expected official launch date to open the doors is Monday, Oct 3.

Sign-up for updates!

via the99percent.com

Bottom line: just do it.

via vimeo.com

via robbwolf.com