more about me.. memes, absurdism and gratitude

When I was taking art classes in university one colleague called me Da-da Free John.

She assured me that it was a portmanteau of Pop culture (and drug addled smut) guru Da Free John and Dadaism.

Yes, I took Engineering, but I also took Eastern Religion, Drama, Sculpture and the Manufacturing Practicum (machine shop class) - I preferred the company of Computer Scientists, artists and Psychedelic travellers to most of my engineering colleagues (there were a few engineers I quite liked though) - I faithfully listened to our college radio station, drank infinite coffee, stayed up for days reading things, learned an amazing amount of things and went to a few local raves.

So, yes, I'd rather listen to EDM and Top 40 than Classic rock - I spent too long, too lonely to give a shit about any of the Rock ballads.

I relate to this article and to the nihilism caused by graduating from university in the wrong decade. I got into media theory as a Marshall McLuhan enthusiast and then into Dawkins and Rushkoff and was looking at how memes spread before the 'dank ages' of pictures with words on them. I wrote a paper on competence with prevailing media vs. political tenure in Canada and I shared the dancing baby meme with a strong warning that the command and control based political right will not be able to manage decentralized communication.

In my graduating year, an old friend told me, "You're my hero.." He was commending me on my latest romantic escapade "You jumped generations." I was getting close to 30 and my paramour was a 18 year old freshman, a phenomenal artist and of course an absurdist. As we're sitting under the hood of his vintage C-Body Chrysler sorting the ignition system.

Sometimes I wish I belonged to a single generation instead of being a collage of fragments from the Roaring Rockefeller 1920s where steel is king, dustbowl 30's where food security is a concern, Manhattan project 40's, Leaded- High Octane fueled carbureted can-do 50's greasers and hot-rodders, moon-landing acid star trek Utopian 60's, Ritalin 70's, whiz-kid euro-pop 80's, rising tide of the internet 90's just before 9/11.

9/11 was when everything went to shit - or it was already shit and I grew up - but I didn't grow up. I don't know why I don't 'identify with a generation' - maybe it's autism, maybe my life is so rich and full, maybe something just didn't take.

I live in a 'resource based economy' which is the politically correct term for 'Mining town'. Regrettably, the resource is crude oil and has given rise to some fairly dark forces in the world. Oil goes up - salaries go up, insiders get rich, all other business ventures close. Oil goes down, people get laid off, houses and dreams are abandoned, domestic abuse calls to 911 go up, and life is dark for a while.

We were promised self actualization, jobs, prosperity, freedom - what we got was the military industrial complex, war, privacy conquistadors and trickle-up economics.

So my millennial friends and increasingly infrequent inamoratas, thank you for sharing and for allowing me to feel welcome in your dark times. I'm happy to help you fix your car, help with your college homework, make things, make art, make absurdity and rage (or rave) into the good night. Perhaps work will find us and new industries will blossom - or I'll hold your avocado as nuclear winter erases global trade routes.

And thank you steemit - I really enjoy poetry authored and read by retired cam-girls - this is some new enrichment for me.

https://www.salon.com/2018/02/10/why-millennials-are-making-memes-about-wanting-to-die/