I just finished reading Generation X and got the strangest sense of nostalgia for those lost halcyon days when we thought we were cynics and knew how bad it could get. When we inherited a blasted economic future from the Reaganites and knew that there was no way to get out of it, when we saw that Bush I wasn't a wimp but he wasn't much of anything else, when the world of America In Decline seemed so simple. And then there was Bill. Bill, like our cool uncle who snuck us out of the house after Thanksgiving to go down to a smoky jazz club and see guys with names like "Hamsteak" play until five in the morning. Bill, who gave all the latchkey kids the hope they were looking for. And then for some of us came the venture capitalists, who back in those naive days were looking for something, anything, on the interweb. The VCs gave the X'ers the kind of approval and encouragement that mom and dad never did, because "here's eighty million dollars, good job" is a lot more meaningful than a vague "that's great, son" over an international connection while reggae thumps in the backround, or mumbled encouragement as mom drifts into Xanax-induced stasis.

We should have known better. We should have maintained our cynical armor, known it wouldn't last, because how could it? Eventually, venture capitalists want to see money from their ventures. Eventually, your cool uncle gets caught with his pants down, and even if it's not a crime, it's really fucking embarrassing, and he's never able to sneak out of the house with you again. And then your mom remarries a really scary guy who seems stupid but is maybe (just maybe) even more cynical than you. It's entirely possible, in fact, that this guy is where he is because he's never thought about anything other than the bottom line, because he lacks a soul. And that's the tragedy of the X'ers. Despite our affected poses, we all just really wanted to be loved, and that makes us easy to manipulate; furthermore when we are confronted with true cynicism, we balk and blanch and just don't understand.

Gaming the System

Talking with Gavagirl this morning, I was reminded of an idea I had a while back: a solution to the gay marriage problem. An individual can incoporate themself, so the obvious solution is for a would-be married gay couple to incorporate themselves and have a merger. Simple. And, as GG pointed out, this can be used for more than just gay couples. In the spirit of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em," the discussion moved to other applications and uses. So what if corporations are evil? Use their tactics for yourself. Incorporate and you can declare chapter eleven rather than the other one. You can get capital easier than if you are just a person with a person's credit report. I'm thinking about doing it myself; I'll keep you all posted.

And, as a side note, so far living with the Girl of Gava is going quite well, and she is not, as her sister warned me, a filthy bathroom hog.