Category: Nostalgia

Surviving the Cold War (Again): A Gen Xer’s Guide

If you were a Gen X kid, you remember the Cold War and may be having a familiar feeling right now. Global tension you didn’t fully understand but could feel. We didn’t learn about the Cold War from history books. We learned it from Sting songs, Stallone movies, and being told by our teachers that…
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June 24, 2025
Phil Collins and the Long Long Way to Go Now

Is the world too hard to handle? Do we need to face the suffering? What happens when we turn off empathy? Phil Collins’ “Long Long Way to Go” is a punch to the gut, a reminder of the world I came of age in and how it shaped us. Whenever I hear that haunting chorus,…
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April 21, 2025
Cruising With Gary Neuman on Uncertain Roads!

I couldn’t sleep so I took a drive just now. Then I deleted what I was going to publish, and wrote this instead. I’m not sure what this is going to become, but the drive felt peaceful and I was awash with familiar memories which grounded me to be present. Gary Neuman was on the…
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March 17, 2025
How to Celebrate National Retro Day

Happy National Retro Day! We talk about healthy and unhealthy nostalgia at Gen X Watch often. Today is the day to have fun with nostalgia, lean into it, and have a little bit of fun. Why Does National Retro Day Exist? In 2018 Hermelinda A. Aguilar and Robert and Tina Duran founded national retro day.…
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February 27, 2025
Zen and the Art of Origami Texting (Passing Notes)

Before there was texting there was the art of passing notes. Experts who are teachers and teenagers report that the artform has not completely died, but is on life support. What made the notes special and what can we learn from them? Note Genres There were various types of notes that Gen X passed in…
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February 13, 2025
Hearts of Glass Living in the Real World

Hearts of Glass living in the Real World is almost here! It is the first YA novel in the Hearts of Glass series! 3 books and a series of short stories in an expanded universe based on the Fem Fridays we have written about here at Gen X Watch! It is unique and we need…
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February 6, 2025
The Beauty and Horror of Groundhog Day!

Groundhog Day is one of the most amazing movies made. This movie was made in 1993 and has endured the test of time and is beloved by many! It has everything. It is a love story, a comedy, science fiction and philosophy that Buddhists love. But it is also a horror movie. Groundhog Day Synopsis…
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February 3, 2025
Here’s a Quarter! Call Someone Who Cares! Now!

The other day a young person I’ve known for years died tragically in a car accident. My child’s friends called this young person Ghost. That is how Ghost is listed in my phone. My last text with Ghost was more than a month ago. There will never be another with this delightful young adult taken…
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January 23, 2025
Charlie Brown Stresses Out But Doesn’t Fail

39 years ago Happy New Year, Charlie Brown! premiered on CBS. It was the 30th network prime time special based on Peanuts and the last project helmed by Peanuts animater Bernard Gruver due to his passing away in June of 1985. Charlie Brown, as always, has something to teach us. He was stressed out, he…
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January 2, 2025
Gen X Watch’s First Year & Future on the Past

In January I started an experiment. Use nostalgia as the vehicle to have important discussions about now and the road ahead. Would people want to take this deeper journey beyond memes about the past being awesome? You came and a lot has happened and more is going to happen. The Idea Nostalgia is comfort. The music…
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December 31, 2024