Strauss and Howe illustrate their choice of beginning Generation X (they call it the 13th Generation, but whatever) by citing how many college professors started to notice that, as opposed to the Baby Boomers who had the professors lining up to introduce themselves to the students, those going into college in the fall of 1979 were lining up to introduce themselves to the professors. My brother was born in June 1961, and he definitely is more X-er in behavior.

The Silent/Boomer line is demographically 1946, but S&H put it at 1944 instead, which fits with my aunt who was born then and was very Boomer in behavior, in big contrast to the rest of her (older) siblings.

I had a student recently who never did reading, never spoke in class, failed the mid-term, got poor grades on his written assignments, and then emailed me the last week of class to say he was worried about his grade and what could I do about it.

Point and laugh?

My mom has been weirdly apologetic in recent years about not giving me a bunch of material things when I was growing up. Bwuh? I had a happy childhood wherein I had plenty to read, was encouraged to draw whenever I wanted to, and learned to apply myself in school. What's there to apologize for?

Wimbledon: Man. I hope that they show the Henin/Bartoli semi. I want to know what happened to Henin. Did Bartoli just outplay her?

First, much love and peace to Sue and her family. I am so very sorry.

However, watching and reading the X'ers here bitch about it and vow to not be "that kind of parent", it gives me a bit of hope that we will raise children who are terrified of us, as we were our own parents.

The thing is, most of the parents of kids in school now *are* Gen X-ers. Research shows our generation as a whole has erred on the side of leniancy because we were raised with the "you are special" mentality by parents vowing not to be the type of distant parents they grew up with. Not sure if I agree with that theory totally since my parents raised me to feel very special, but also raised me to be respectful...but there ya go.

And yeah, I've seen an increase in entitlement in high school (not just in LA--equally badly in New England). Hence the needs for books like this: Blessing of a Skinned Knee by Wendy Mogel. She spoke at my school this year, and I was really impressed.

But, honestly? I don't know; I've been teaching a decade, and I haven't seen all that much of a change. The kids who are entitled are ridiculously so, but I've always had many students whose parents teach them respect and accountability.

Finally, Vroman's just emailed me to say I could come pick up paperdol's book! Whee!

I have THE BOOK! In my hot little hands! I was too impatient to wait for THE AUTHOR to send me a copy. I had to see it for myself.

It's totally real. I walked into my B&N, and it was on the main new releases table, right near the front.

And the guy ringing up my purchase said he liked the cover, and the title, and he was going to go check it out himself!

to the students, those going into college in the fall of 1979 were lining up to introduce themselves to the professors. My brother was born in June 1961, and he definitely is more X-er in behavior.

I'm also June '61 - and we were definitely Not Boomers and Not Gen X.

We're post-hippie, pre-Internet. We missed free love and then AIDS hit. We invented punk and rap and zines and made a lot of indie comics and movies. We didn't have any wars during our draftable age. That's my demo.

I'm creating an account on a networking-type site and it asks me to choose the industry that best fits my "primary expertise," but the closest I can get is "Education Management." Buh? I get that the site is apparently geared more toward the high-powered 3-martini type of business playa, but it's got "Alternative Dispute Resolution" as an option but not "Education" or "Teaching/Training"! It does have "Higher Education," but not "Lower Education," so that doesn't exactly help. The heck?

Is there a way to find out online whether a particular B&N has a particular book, or do I have to haul my sorry ass to the store to find out?

I'm also June '61 - and we were definitely Not Boomers and Not Gen X. We're post-hippie, pre-Internet.

I think that's how my youngest uncle (born Sept. '61) would describe himself too.

I remember taking this gen ed course in college. Professor pulled me aside and asked why I'd missed the last exam; I explained that I had no excuse, I'd had a sinus infection and just slept through my alarm, but it was okay, since only 2 of the 3 exams counted toward my final grade, right? I think she was so taken aback by my honesty that she let me take a make-up exam.

And require, uh, special handling. More guidance, more mentoring, more babysitting, basically. Fun.

If there's one thing I hate, it's being handled. I require no babysitting, thank you kindly.

I was born in 1961 and don't feel any connection to Boomers.

We need our own damned Gen designation. W? 5? Some really cool Prince-esque symbol that can't be pronounced, only seen?

I don't need AARP spekaing for me, but I am not a fan of rap and hip/hop. My favorite music is on the "we don't dare call it the Oldies" station. I want my trendy generational designator! I want my MTV!

I suspect I may be hormonal. Please ignore any unseemly overexuberance and posturing. The seemly stuff is purely intentional.