GENERATION X or GEN Xers

Although the changing between generations takes some years to happen effectively and there is no agreement on the start and end date to define generations,  the Gen X  is a generation born from early 1960s through early 1980s ( a little bit less or a little bit more). If compared to the Baby Boomers, this generation is much more heterogeneous concerning to religion, sexual orientation and more willing to change jobs. It is also the first generation to grow up with computers. They are often described as working to live rather than living to work as their parents used to. Members of Gen Xers are individualistic and according to TIME magazine, they described Xers in different ways on different times:

"They have trouble making decisions. They would rather hike in the Himalayas than climb a corporate ladder. They have few heroes, no anthems, no style to call their own. They crave entertainment, but their attention span is as short as one zap of a TV dial. They hate yuppies, hippies and druggies. They postpone marriage because they dread divorce. " (Time, 1990)

On April, 2012 we could read at the same TIME magazine

" Gen Xers are a lot more conscious about their food than their parents were — especially the men, who are cooking and shopping more and watching food TV as much as women".

Teachers playing in the garden

On a sunny and cold morning in July,after the first meeting of the semester, teachers have fun in the school garden. Watch the video by clicking in the link below.


http://animoto.com/play/7OxwGadKGyemTm3nbSdKGA#embed?utm_source=trigger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mp4_ready

BABY BOOMERS

Traits and characteristics 

Last Sunday, talking to a family friend about  labeling  generations by their age I decided to take a look  on the stuff. Some findings, starting from mine: the so called Baby Boomers. It´s useful to say that a generation, from this point of view, represents a group of people living in the same period, sharing values and attitudes which might be controversial since the length of time between the first and the last to be born can make all the difference.

Baby boomers/ Generation Jones

This refers to a person who was  born between 1946 to 1964, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The oldest baby from that generation is now 66 years old and the youngest, 48. They were coined so, because of the incredibly high rates of  births  in that period. Men, at that time have returned home from war and started making children! The"Boomies”, as Canadian calls them, were a generation completely different from those who were born before, the Silent Generation. The Boomers grew up during a strong social and cultural change, redefining and transforming every single fact on their life comparing to their parents`: from access to education to family relationship and workforce participation. I came of age in the seventies and  my group of age is called “Generation Jones” and according to specialists on classifying this or that characteristic of a Generation,  they study attitudes, and the focus given on things on  the period. Taking into account what they say I may consider myself a "boomer stuck in the middle", that is, not engaged in ideological battles. By the way ,I was playing " Kings and princesses" and  my Dad passed away at that time.  I have heard about Vietnam after it was over, missed Woodstock and the protests from the sixties and had my visa denied in the seventies, during the Watergate scandal, more precisely when Richard Nixon renounced as president. By the way, President Obama and his wife may be considered part of this group. The concepts of workaholic, superwomen, less ideological and more pragmatic came with this generation. According to  msnbc.com  “ Generation Jones…In the tech world, Jonesers are known as the “early adapters,” the ones with the knowledge and the cash to jump on the latest tech trends”. Am I? 

http://www.history.com/topics/baby-boomershttp://www.history.com/topics/baby-boomers

http://geography.about.com/od/populationgeography/a/babyboom.htm

http://www.newswise.com/articles/defining-an-aging-baby-boom-generation

Philosophy for Old Age by George Carlin

SWEET MEMORIES

FAMILY RECIPE

      I have made my own personal cookbook. It´s a kind of scrapbooking with pictures of my family´s favorite recipes, and my first intention on doing it was passing on family traditions and keeping them alive through it. And then, after a time I found out that I could keep it virtually and stopped using so expensive papers because scrapbooking papers are very, very expensive.

  Well, turning back to my book I´ve just found on it what we call in Portuguese “ Sonhos” or  “Dreams” in English. But our “ dreams” are quite different from the ones we can find in São Paulo State open and filled with vanilla cream. Ours are closed and filled with guava jam.  The recipe comes from my hometown in Paraná State.

Donana or Dona Donana, as children used to call her, was the woman who used to sell her dreams on a big straw basket . Ours are closed and filled with guava jam.  The recipe comes from my hometown in Paraná State.

Donana or Dona Donana, as children used to call her, was the woman who used to sell her dreams on a big straw basket covered with the cleanest and whitest dish cloth I have ever seen.

And the recipe goes like this:

Ingredients

45 grams of yeast

1 coffee spoon salt

 3 cups warm milk ( almost cold)

3 tablespoons of sugar

2 tablespoon of butter

3 eggs

750  grams of flour

1. In a small bowl, add the yeast and the salt. Stir until is dissolved. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl,   add the warm milk, the flour, the butter, the slighted beaten eggs and the yeast. Mix it all together and knead the dough  in a clean and dry well-floured surface until it becomes smooth and satiny.( This should take about 10 minutes).  Let it rest for 30 minutes or until it doubles its size.
3. Stretch small amounts of dough into shape leaving a hole in the middle, fill it with guava jam and press it to close it.
4. Heat the vegetable oil and fry them ( not more than 3 or 4 at a time) until you get golden brown color on both sides. Quickly drain to any excess oil and immediately roll them in the white sugar. Serve while warm and enjoy.

The family secret: Add a small smashed potato while kneading the dough.

The role-playing: I´ve asked my husband to make this recipe on Mother´s Day.