It is so weird to think was a vastly different world we live in than 10 years ago. There are the obvious markers like 9-11 that changed the world forever. There are less subtle things as well. For instance, a decade ago cell phones where still somewhat of a status symbol. I remember in college getting my first one and calling one or two friends who also had one. Usually it was from across the room and we would think how silly it was to call someone you could obviously walk up to and strike up a conversation. I guess in a word, they were still a novelty.
The internet was fledgling as well. Hardly anyone had a website. Today every taco stand in America has its own website. Back then we’d wait for an hour or more to use the handful of computers at my college library attached to the internet. Of course the things that power the internet now were around back then. I remember the classic email forwards and urban legends. There’s Kiki the exploding butt hamster, the rednecks who went frog gigging and shot their junk off and of course the fabulous website devoted to proving Hasselhoff is the anti-Christ.
Ten years ago we were excited to have a college radio station at our command and it broadcast across town when most college stations barely surpassed their parking lots. Now that same station is available online with streaming audio. The only problem is today the music sucks. The Cardigans, Cranberries and Counting Crows are replaced by bands with five words in their name who scream about nothing important. Most of today’s music owes a debt to the past. Sure Green Day and Weezer pop up now and then, but their just one of hundreds of bands rocking the same sound. Originality, harmony and song writing are gone.
I suspect all this curmudgeon retrospection is normal. The culture has to move on and slowly you become less of the target demographic. MTV isn’t making shows for you anymore. You’re trapped between the buttoned up semi-casual of midlife and the frayed jeans of youth. Unfortunately as time goes on I find myself reflecting on the past, complaining about the present and having little hope for the future. As a wise prophet once said “I guess this is growing up.”
The internet was fledgling as well. Hardly anyone had a website. Today every taco stand in America has its own website. Back then we’d wait for an hour or more to use the handful of computers at my college library attached to the internet. Of course the things that power the internet now were around back then. I remember the classic email forwards and urban legends. There’s Kiki the exploding butt hamster, the rednecks who went frog gigging and shot their junk off and of course the fabulous website devoted to proving Hasselhoff is the anti-Christ.
Ten years ago we were excited to have a college radio station at our command and it broadcast across town when most college stations barely surpassed their parking lots. Now that same station is available online with streaming audio. The only problem is today the music sucks. The Cardigans, Cranberries and Counting Crows are replaced by bands with five words in their name who scream about nothing important. Most of today’s music owes a debt to the past. Sure Green Day and Weezer pop up now and then, but their just one of hundreds of bands rocking the same sound. Originality, harmony and song writing are gone.
I suspect all this curmudgeon retrospection is normal. The culture has to move on and slowly you become less of the target demographic. MTV isn’t making shows for you anymore. You’re trapped between the buttoned up semi-casual of midlife and the frayed jeans of youth. Unfortunately as time goes on I find myself reflecting on the past, complaining about the present and having little hope for the future. As a wise prophet once said “I guess this is growing up.”
1 Comments:
Well said. I ponder the same stuff myself... We're just getting OLD!
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