[millennial]reideeer

 

let's check in on the [millennial] reindeer and see how life is for the team now that they’re in their early 40’s.

 

dasher

- not as quick as he use to be.
- still talks about the championship reindeer game of ‘99 and how he could have won state had coach put him in.
- divorced from his high school sweetheart, vixen, as she was tired of him constantly talking about his glory days of christmas past.
- recently got into "clausefit"; won’t stop talking about it.

 

 

dancer

- kicked off her college "deerleading" squad for anger issues.
- now a “dance mom.”
- recently joined "click clok" to stay up to date on viral dance trends, it makes her feel hip.
- slightly bitter she’s never been asked to be a guest on “dancing with the christmas stars” but still watches anyway.
 

 

 

prancer

- typical 80’s child star saga.
- one mildly hit movie, then spent most of the 90’s getting “high” with blitzen.
- involved in a high profile trial involving the “hit and run of a senior citizen.”
- after being acquitted in the “grandma case” got his life back on track. he’s now a barista at caribou coffee where he enjoys being recognized…occasionally.
-will also tell you he has the worlds largest christmas album collection, only original vinyl of course.

 

 

vixen

- divorced from dasher and couldn’t be happier….although she still stalks him on IG and saw he recently joined "clausefit"…which she finds…interesting.
- gets BOWtox injections.
- recently referred to as a RILF.
- addicted to “the real carriage house wives of the north pole.”
- has a secret Onlyfawns account.

 

 

 comet

- got REALLY into astrology during the pandemic.
- is attracted to blitzen but wont date him because he’s a stag-atarius….and a “sled head.”
- let’s everyone know she’s now a vegan, which impresses no one…because she’s a reindeer.
- always on the look out for new flavors of organic, vegan, gluten free “caribou-cha.”

 

 

 cupid

- needs to get her love life out of “the rut.”
-tired of meeting guys on “mating” apps only to have them “flake” on her.
-vixen tells her it’s because she has “resting grinch face.”
-but she doesn’t have the disposable income vixen has to get BOWtox every 12 days of christmas!
-wonders where vixen gets that extra cash….
-reads a lot of elf help books.
-tired of being told to get on the dance floor by wedding dj’s when they play “all the jingle ladies.” 

 

 

 donner

- DONner, The DONinator, DONarooskie
-called the “hoof” of wall street.
-bad addiction to “florida snow” in the late 00’s, supplied by blitzen.
-now off the “nose candy” he feels even more “driven” than in his 20’s.
-early investor in NFT’s (Non Flammable Trees)
-needs to work on being “present” outside the office.
-takes “stable tennis” lessons on the weekends to network.
-thinking about starting an investment podcast called “make it rein."

 

 

 blitzen

-huge “grateful sled” and “deer-y garcia” fan.
-still chasing the “high” he had working for big red.
-bakes with mrs. claus.
-nicknamed “bing” for his “white christmas” parties.
-dislikes random drug testing.
-tried to convinced santa to change christmas to april 20th… you know...for the warmer weather.
-now spends most of his time trying to get “magic grass” legalized at the north pole, which basically means doing “research” and commenting on facebook. 

 

 

 

 rudolph (gen z)

- not a worry in the world.
- most “yoke” of all the reindeer.
- hasn’t “burnt” out yet.
- has no real talent, yet has a million youtube subscribers simply by posting his “does it glow” videos.
- because of this, he makes more than all the other reindeer. (who’s laughing and calling him names now!)
- still on parents phone/data plan.
- funny online but extremely awkward af irl.
- swears he saw an old coworker on Onlyfawns.

 

[back to boston] to see an old friend

aaron is arguably one of my oldest friends.  by that i mean, our parents were friends...even our grandparents were friends...

so when he mentioned he and his wife would be in boston for a few days, i didn't hesitate to round up the fam and travel down.  although they were sans their three kids, it was the first time he got to meet my daughter.  the afternoon was spent catching up and making new memories.  

and god willing one day my daughter will become friends with his and the generational friendship will continue!

[city] love in the time of [young professionals]

young professional organizations are wonderful community groups springing up all over the country.  they’re usually started by local city chambers for a several reasons. first of all, many of the older chamber members, baby boomers, are retiring at a large rate and they need to replace them with new members. starting a young professional organization is a wonderful way to attract younger membership and get them exposed to the chamber.  also having a "yp" group in place is a great asset to have when you’re trying to attract large businesses to your city. these groups also take on service projects which benefit cities in many ways.  wichita has its own young professionals group filled with great people who are passionate about making wichita a better place.  these groups are usually made up of highly educated people who have landed good jobs.  it’s not hard to see why cities, when talking about the future, always mention how important it is to attract this demographic.  highly educated people with disposable income are very attractive as far as city economics are concerned

but what about highly talented people with little income?

there seems to be less attention paid to how important artists, musicians, creatives, freelancers and entrepreneurs are to a city.  a group of people who don’t normally consider themselves “professionals” or lack the free time or money to participate in such a group. this is a huge oversight on a cities part.

in his book “for the love of cities” peter kageyama writes about a lecture he attended where he heard pier giorgio di cicco speak. during his speech, di cicco said,

“arts and culture are what make a city fall in love with itself.’ 

reflecting on this quote gives you a wonderful perspective when visiting other cities. what makes new orleans great? is it the "young professionals" or rather the jazz artists, diverse culture and eclectic cuisine. what about austin with its “keep austin weird” slogan? the tag line for the city is meant to reflect its culture of accepting unique and artistic expression. young people are flocking to nashville because the city is filled with musicians trying to make it. local shops and dive bars are constantly filled with wonderful music. san fransisco has always been a meca for all types of artists and denver's craft beer is world renown.  portland has such a collection of artistic, creative and unique people it spawned the tv show, portlandia.

artists, creatives, freelancers and entrepreneurs are the common factor making these cities unique. young professionals give a city substance, artists give a city its flavor.

young professionals can do a great job populating a city and greasing the economic gears, but as i read and hear about where this group of millennials want to live, it seems they’re attracted to unique and interesting cities; places artists and other creatives have worked hard to make that way.

both groups are important to city development. however living in wichita, a city currently reviving it's downtown, it seems they are increasingly focused on the "young professional" aspect. if they're shopping for a unique city, they need to wheel their "idea cart" out the suit and stiletto aisles and head all the way back to the art supplies and musical instruments.  there they'll find the “unprofessionals.” those individuals brewing coffee in the morning and pouring beer at night. those individuals thriving on artistic expression and creative endeavors with little payment.  they’re the ones who are going to make a city unique. they’re the ones who will make a city attractive and a place worth moving to.  they’re the ones who will make a city “loveable.”  a quality hard to measure economically...but easy to feel emotionally.

 

  

 

 

 

 

  

 

living on the [wedge]

last week i joined my friends for dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants.  looking through the menu we noticed several new items many of us decided to try out.  along with the entrees i noticed a new side dish called a wedge salad.  not thinking much of it, i ordered one.  when my meal came out i was surprised to find a very symmetrical salad starring back at me.  i had no idea how to eat eat it, so i picked up my knife and fork and preceded to indulge into this intriguing iceberg item like a steak.  not only did it have an interesting shape, but it kept everything nice and neat and away from my cuban chicken sandwich. a feature a very much enjoyed.  needless to say, i was immediately smitten with this salad.

the next day, i made a joke referencing the salad on twitter saying,

"i like to pretend i'm a cultured, well traveled person, but its obvious i'm not, as last night i believe i ate my very first ever wedge salad"

little did i know of the can of worms i had just opened.  the responses and information that followed were not only entertaining, but extremely educational.


first i learned the wedge salad is nothing new.  it turns out this type of salad was actually extremely popular in the 50's and 60's in most restaurants.  naturally, this escalated my already high feelings for this food.  next i discovered the decline of the wedge salad came about during the 70's and 80's as people discovered more exotic types of lettuce such as romaine, leaf, boston and bibb, making iceberg look boring.  the lettuce for the "unrefined".  not surprisingly, the decline of iceberg lettuce seems to be inversely proportional with the rise of the "yuppie".  not only did the wedge salad loose popularity during this time, but i also discovered a large amount of "wedge" haters on the interwebs. several blogs are devoted to dishing on this dish, solely blaming it for the decline of american cuisine.  although i think they're being a bit dramatic, i can see how its modest ingredients might anger a few.  remember however, this was the 50's, a much different time than we live in now.  a time before trader joes or whole foods, when the availability of fresh produce to any location in america was a miracle in itself.  just like the classic meatloaf, its simplicity is what scares a lot of people, but simple is not a bad thing, so quite hating...hating is bad.

lastly, i learned the wedge salad was making a comeback, even to the point of being considered "trendy". however just like it's decline, its sudden rise in popularity makes sense.  we're still coming out of a terrible recession, a time finding people rediscovering talents and simpler practices our grandparents knew by heart. ideas our baby-boomer parents kicked to the curb with the promise of mass consumerism. activities such as home gardening, canning, couponing, thrift store shopping, cooking from scratch, knitting, up-cycling, and "do-it-yourself" projects.  things considered by many to be "lowbrow" just a few decades ago, now are popular.  the classic iceberg wedge salad, once considered unrefined, now is the leafy mascot of the recession.

just like everything else in this world, that which is old becomes new again.  if you wait long enough everything comes back into fashion.  well....maybe not my "mc hammer" pants, but who knows.

the social [nut]work

the other week, i was feeling nostalgic for the christmas's of my youth. as a child most holidays were spent at my grandparents house visiting cousins, aunts and uncle's. i specifically remember, during the holidays, both sets of grandparents would have large bowls of mixed nuts sitting out. the un-cracked kind, the kind which required a set of dentist-like tools to open them up to enjoy. which got me thinking, "does anyone even buy whole nuts anymore?" for the life of me i couldn't remember the last time i had seen nuts laying out anywhere. with the vast boxes of mixed, already-shelled nuts, that are passed around during the season, i decided this would be how i could bring some nostalgia back into chirstmas. i would buy a big bag of mixed nuts, and have them lying out just like my grandparents did.

first thing i needed to locate was a nut cracker. i have a large drawer of utensils in my kitchen collected from various graduations gifts and past roommates. under the whisk, and to my disbelief, i actually had a nut cracker. i have no idea from who or where it came, but i had one. next, to find the nuts. i visited the local grocer, and sure enough, sitting amongst the fruit, was a huge bin of nuts. as i scooped up an even amount of pecans, brazil nuts, walnuts, and almonds i thought to myself, "maybe this isn't as lost of an art as i once thought". this had all been way too easy.

at home is when the adventure really began. i poured the nuts into a large bowl, readied my cracker and went to town. it went horrible. nuts, as it turns out, are hard to crack. not only did i pinch my fingers and scraped my knuckles, but when i finally got the nuts out, they were nothing but mush. chewing on the few pieces i salvaged, i would occasional hurt my teeth, by apparently biting into a piece which should have been removed. in the end, not only did i have bits of shell all over the place, but to top it all off, they weren't even that tasty. i found whole experience, to literally be, a pain in the nuts.

i related this story to friends and family, who all remembered nuts being apart of the holidays. after laughing at my misfortune, it was discovered i was missing two key elements of the whole nut-cracking art. first of all, i did not have all the tools. i needed a little picker, a tool normally found in a set which would help remove the nut in a tidier fashion. the second item i was forgetting, and probably the most important, was the fact that nut-cracking was more of a social action instead of a simple snacking activity. most nut-cracking sets included one "cracker" and four "pickers". this was so a group of people could sit around a table, crack the nut, and spend the majority of time picking out the correct parts, all the time socializing with the other people around the table.

as it turned out, the social aspect is what made the whole thing nostalgic and a little bit of a lost art. i remember my grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles sitting around the table talking, chatting, drinking, and laughing. the nuts were merely a means to that conversation, and that's the part i miss the most. people still like to keep their hands busy, but in this day in age, it's filled with texting, gaming, or whatever app was recently purchased. activities that kill conversation with the people actually in the room.

that being said, my goal this christmas is to try to get friends and family to replace their iphones and androids with pecans and filberts...but only after i check to see if there's a "nut-cracking guide" app out there.

my best [family] friend's wedding

our grandparents started out as neighbors, and became friends. then my mom, met her dad, and became lifelong friends. through the years and miles, they grew up, and married their spouses, and eventually my parents became dear friends with her parents. three generations later, my sister and i, call ashley and aaron our friends.

last weekend, ashley was the first in our little group of four to get married. it was a beautiful outdoor ceremony with the rocky mountains acting as backdrop. over the past twenty some years, ashley has become a second little sister to me, and in a way, it was hard to see her all grown up and getting married. however, sometime during the reception, i realized, that although she was now an adult and starting a new life with an amazing guy, our friendship was not ending, but rather, like our parents and grandparents before us, it was simply starting a new chapter.

[basement]archaeology

with my grandmother celebrating a milestone birthday the other week, the whole family made a trip to western kansas to celebrate it with her. after meeting up with everyone and enjoying a late lunch, we ended up at my grandma's house to chat. now, ever since i can remember, i loved venturing down into my grandparents basement. when i was younger, i was on a constant search for my dad's childhood baseball cards, which he swore were down there, somewhere. now, as an adult, i go down there just to marvel at the mid century relics still stored down there, paintings, lights, amber colored screens, and radios from another era. i'm sure most grandma's basements are like this, but it takes on a whole new level of amazement when it's from your family, items sometimes identifiable in old family photos.

however this last trip down put things in perspective a bit. like any good museum, the collection is constantly growing and changing, and for the first time, i started noticing items i have memories of, back when they were on the main level. most notably the table i use to eat breakfast at while i watched grandpa play solitaire. items, that to my cousin's kids (the youngest generation in the family), look just as ancient as the old frigidaire did to me.

...and yes, i did look for the baseball cards, and no, i still haven't found them.

thank you [ladies]

it's no secret that i love a good story. decades from now, if the years are kind to me, i hope to be the type of grandfather that annoys his grandchildren with stories from the "good ol days", forcing them to listen to me babble on by tempting them with a bag of werthers original's stashed away in the pantry. their grandmother will eventually come in, chastise me for telling stories, and give them all the candy anyway, but that's beside the point.

i owe a very sincere "thank you" to two ladies whom i've never met. minnie "alberta" leeper, and verna o. turner. even though, i've never meet these ladies, i know a little piece of "their stories". I know that minnie helped her husband, william, run "leeper hardware" in holton kansas until she had to close it in 1984. at some point in the 1950's verna o. turner made a purchase from minnie in leeper hardware. through the proceeding years that purchase served her and her family in the best way any object can, by bringing people together. fifty years later, and passing through the hands of other wonderful people, it's now landed in my possession.

there are a few more details to the story, but it's best told over a cup of coffee...

lost in [translation]

so, we had our first snow of the season today. bundling up to head off to work today, i was reminded of a story i thought would be appropriate for this weather.

it was my first year of college, and winter had set in. living on campus, i walked everywhere. it only took one long walk to history class and some incredibly frozen ears to realize my winter coat was not keeping every part of my body warm. i needed a "dootsy cap".

on my way back to the dorms i stopped at "the derb" to grab lunch. seeing one of my friends, carl, at a table, i sat down next to him. after discussing the food offering that day, we both remarked how terribly cold it was.

"speaking of that" i said, "do you know where in town i could find a 'dootsy cap'"?


[dumbfounded look on carl's face, followed by silence]


"a what?" he finally asked.

"a dootsy cap" i again stated

"i don't have a clue about what you're talking about!"

"you know...like a little knitted hat...you put on your head...to cover your ears!" i explained,

"do you mean, a stocking cap?"

"yeah, i guess you could call it that" i said

after finally getting on the same page, carl told me to check the mall for my "dootsy cap".

later that day, i made the trek to the mall, and eventually found what i was looking for, all the while wondering why i had thrown carl for such a loop.

trying to figure this all out, that night, i called my parents to clear up this little vernacular mishap. all my life, during the winter months, i was told to put on my "dootsie cap". it's what my parents had called it, so that's what i had called it. after laughing at me for just a bit, my parents explained it was a term passed down from my german heritage. my great grandparents and grandparents come from a very strong german community in kansas. after a few generations living in this area, the geman language had been modified, changed, shortened, and broken down, untill it had become it's own sort of german-american slang. one word that still found it's way into my own daily use was "dootsie kopf" which roughly translates as a stocking cap with a "poofy knit ball" on top, to wear on your head. hearing this as a kid, i myself changed it to "dootsy cap". i had no reason to ever question this word, as i had apparently had never used it in public before. i mean really, how often are stocking caps the center of conversation?

after some slight embarrassment, i was sort of proud that this "slang" word had made it down to my generation without question. a little bit of volga german pride came out that day. although in most conversations now, i'll refer to it as a "stocking cap", in my head, it'll always be a "dootsy cap".

so this winter, stay bundled up,...and don't forget your "dootsy caps".

bloggin' bout my [generation]

one thing i don't want to do on this blog, is get political. mainly because i've learned certain subjects, when brought up, automatically create divisions between people, making any chance for a meaningful conversation hopeless. in my own life, i've learned these topics include, but are not limited to, politics, religion, kansas colleges and sports, and contemporary vs. traditional architecture. i feel however this election deserves some commentary.

i'd like to talk a little less about the candidates and a little more about the people voting for them. more specifically those people between the ages of 18 and 30. although it's not an exact date, most of these voters find themselves in "generation y" or the "millennial" generation. i feel that people my age have finally "woken" up and are ready for action. we care. we have ideas. we want to be heard! we want that defining moment that every generation has! our grandparents fought in a world war! our parents rebelled, listened to rock music and brought civil rights to the forefront. what have we done? nothing...yet.

but it's about to change. i feel this is the "millennials" election. it's the first time we have collectively had enough people to flex our political muscle. we have become a demographic. the tools and technology that are second nature to us, have helped us be more informed and more active in politics then past generations! we can debate and share ideas through a multitude of social networking sites, text messages and blogs. even facebook is telling us to vote and can be used to find polling locations! not only has this transfer of information been digital, but it fuels conversations in the real world. i've had more insightful, and spirited political discussions with my peers in the last few months, then guys six to eight years older then me. grown men who have straight out told me they just "don't care" about politics. this is not a democratic/republican issue, it's an attitude! whatever platform an individual in this generation decides to take, they educate themselves, and stand firm in their beliefs. i feel we have become more active than our "gen x" and "baby boomer" predecessors.

in a way this election feels to me like a generational "coming out" party, but it won't be what defines us. i believe that after the election, we face our first big test as a generation. a looming economical crisis. being incredibly stereotypical, our generation, since birth, has been told how wonderful it was. our parents and teachers took great strides to give us anything and everything we ever wanted as we made our way through school. everything was designed to be easier for us. however that all changes in the work place. all the praises, high accomplishments and participation trophies don't amount to much when you're the newest member of an office and someone needs to be cut.

our test has begun.

now as i get off my soapbox, i see that i have several different ideas interacting and intersecting with each other. one idea is the youth vote and how powerful in could be in this election. secondly, the ideas and beliefs that define the millennial generation. following are two sources that do a much better job explaining these two issues.

first, an article written about the youth vote in this election by jonathan darmn of newsweek, who happens to be my age. in the article he states this energy and excitement that has been produced, can't stop on november 4th, but needs to continue for the next four years.

secondly a video of william strauss explaining this new and emerging "millennial" generation. it's an overview of the ideals and beliefs of the millennial generation, and why they came to be. he also begins to discuss how this may change the political landscape in the future. very informative, but an hour long.

although i find myself pessimistic about the future, i'm also very optimistic about the potential our generation holds to solve the problems that will face us.

for now....just VOTE!

the [young folks] talking about the [old style]

is it just me, or does the, "above 65 crowd", know how to party?

i don't know, but every where i go, i see this "crowd" living it up. walking down the sidewalks, gallery crawls, free concerts in old town, music theater, estate sales, and working out at the downtown Y, actually that's one of the reasons i frequent the downtown Y. i find that even with the shape i'm in, i manage to be in the top 50%, fitness wise. actually i just squeak into the top half, because i know there are a lot of old men that could wipe the floor with me at racquetball.

now it could be very possible that i'm just incredibly old-fashioned and i enjoy the same activities as these hipsters, but i'd like to think that it's something else. a love of activity. doing some math, i figure this generation was just prior to the "baby boomers." a generation not raised on televisions and transistor radios. they were a little too old to get into all the individualists ideas, experimentation, and social change of the sixties and seventies. this generation new how to seek and find entertainment through social interaction and other events, for themselves, instead of having it fed to them, in the many modes of media that developed after WWII.

i remember my grandpa telling me about how the towns in western kansas would organize and put on dances during the summer months. events that would draw people from different areas and create interaction. at one such dance he saw a young women that he wanted to dance with, they fell in love, and as they say the rest is history.

i know that i'm being extremely hypocritical here, for the fact that i'm sitting here blogging about this, but the social interaction that takes place on-line today, is sickening. now there are advantages about being so cyberly connected to everyone, but, i'd like to think that some of the best activities out there making our cities lively are because of the values and traditions of an older generations, that i hope we don't loose as the years progress.....

or maybe i should just stop wearing brute.