Skip to main content

My Friends are Awesome

By
We're from the mid- to tail-end of the 1980s, and what are we doing now?  Living the dream, that's what.  Maybe it's not quite the dream our parents had for us, but it's a dream nonetheless.  Sometimes I like to sit back and think about what my friends are doing and give a tiny mental fist-pump for everyone.  Maybe because I never really had a clear idea of what I was going to be "when I grew up," I'm still not quite over the idea that so many of us have "made it" - to jobs or positions or universities where we get to do/study/research/practice what interests us.  And most of what I see written about our generation (apparently we're the "millenials") is that we're all wasting our precious youth, or having it wasted for us by the recession economy: we're working in dead-end jobs with only a fond wish for promotion, sleeping on a lot of sofas, drinking ourselves to death, and looking for love in all the wrong places.  So for once, I'd like to celebrate those of us who are making it.  We're doing ok, you guys, and I think we're going to be ok.

Shout-outs to:
  • Half a dozen teachers, teaching in Oakland and Fairfield and Tallahassee and beyond
  • A good crop of medical students & MD/PhDs, getting ready to go out and save some lives in New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and beyond
  • Several stunning scientists researching chemistry and biology and even sharks
  • Some resourceful religious types helping the rest of us figure it all out
  • So many amazing "intern architects" trying to save the world through design (and black clothing)
  • All those prodigious programmers who keep our computers from taking over the world
  • A watchsmith by day, and artist by evening
  • A composer.  For real.
  • An opera singer who moonlights (daylights?) as a tutor
  • A soon-to-be-veterinarian, reminding us that the world is more than just humans
  • Several social workers, non-profit/NGO gurus, and social-workers-in-training who make the world better for the humans most in need
  • Some lawyers making a difference in international politics, or at least making money!
  • All kinds of engineers (transportation, mechanical, electrical...) making cool stuff and making sure we get where we're trying to go
I know I've forgotten to include some awesome jobs here (policewomen, cartoonists, film & theater folks, arts administrators, astrophysicists), but you get the idea.  Artists, teachers, sciencey-types, humanities-types - they're all there.  I'm so proud of all of you.

Good work, team '80s.  Keep it up.  (And if you want to share your blog/vlog/podcast/whatever, send me a message!)
<3
Labels:

Comments

  1. HannahJune 19, 2014 at 7:02 PM

    So, I just saw this... <3 right back at you!

    (Also, thanks for your confidence in re the lifesaving thing...)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review: "Theory and Design in the First Machine Age"

By
Reyner Banham 's Theory and Design in the First Machine Age (1960) is an engaging overview of the important theoretical developments of the early 20th century leading up to the "International Style" of the 1930s-40s.  Banham does a fairly good job, in my opinion, of avoiding excessive editorializing, although he has a clear viewpoint on the Modern Movement and finishes with a strong conclusion.  In opposition to his teacher, Nikolaus Pevsner , whose own history of modernism came out in 1936, Banham dismantled the " form follows function " credo that became the stereotype of modernism, arguing instead that formalism (a preoccupation with style and aesthetics) was an important, if not overriding, concern of Modern architects.  Two sections of the book struck me in particular: his analysis of Le Corbusier's famous book Vers une architecture (Toward a [new] architecture) from 1923, and his Conclusion (chapter 22), where he breaks the link between functionali...
1 comment
Read more

A Voter's Guide: Local Elections 2016

By
I spent a long time researching different local races and some of the ballot measures here in Santa Clara County.  In case you're on the fence or want some further information to guide your voting, I've compiled my thoughts here. Selection Methodology I have three tiers for selecting  candidates. 1. Alignment on Issues:  I will choose the candidate who is most closely aligned with me on the issues I think are important. 2. Experience and Education:  All other things being equal, I will choose the candidate who has the most knowledge of what is required for the position, either through education, previous experience, or active participation in similar positions. 3. Women and Minorities:  All other things being equal (#1 and #2 above), I will choose candidates who are women or minorities in order to increase the diversity of voices of our elected officials.  It's my own personal form of affirmative action. The Issues We're fortunate enough to li...
Post a Comment
Read more

Housing Affordability in the Bay Area: An Architectural Perspective

By
The Bay Area's housing crisis has gained a status akin to the weather: We can't help but mention it whenever two or more Bay Area residents are gathered together, and we feel there's equally nothing we can do to change it.  But instead of the general praise given to the area's weather, there is general despair about the state of housing.  At least among the twenty-something set and construction industry professionals who make up my peers and colleagues, there are few answers and much criticism for the way we live here.  It's not dense enough, public transportation is a sham, and housing costs are outrageous.  Many of my peers agree that they would not live here at all except that their spouse/significant other works in the tech industry, without whose salary they could not afford to live here, but whose worth is so valued here that it makes little sense economically to live elsewhere.  Here in the Peninsula it's just as bad as in San Francisco ("the city...
Post a Comment
Read more