The generational make-up of Columbia, per US Census 2010 data

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As one deeply interested in generational dynamics, I’m curious about Columbia, Maryland’s demographics by generation. I find that this kind of information helps with problem-framing and problem-solving. As we frame and solve problems as a community, having a sense of our current generational mix may help us choose better paths to follow. Here’s the Columbia data (plus or minus a percentage point), broken down by blogger Bill Santos.

Columbia’s Generational Make-up in 2010
* Silent (born before 1943), 6,656 people (7%).
* Boom (born 1943-1960), 24,034 people (24%).
* Gen X (born 1961-1981), 29,972 people (30%).
* Millennials (born 1982-2002), 26,076 people (26%).
* Generation-to-be-named-later (born after 2002), 12,877 people (13%).

Party in #theHoco

Blog-tail party coming up.

Details here.

Love to have your company, presence, engagement.

Co-hosts: Hocorising and HowChow.

Please register as it helps us all prep for the event at the restaurant.

Rock on.

The Role of (generations and) Civility in Democracy

My local library is hosting a symposium this week; it’s titled, “The Role of Civility in Democracy.” With mid-term elections, the prevalence of nasty political campaign ads, and the library’s Choose Civility initiative, all these factors add up to a well-timed event. I also believe there is another reason this  event is well-timed, and it has to do with generational dynamics and cultural change. Now, I’m not a historian, but I am well-versed in the generational theory, so come with me on this path, if you’d like to see “the role of civility in democracy” through a generation-theory lens. Here goes –

There are four generational archetypes that appear in a fixed, repeating cycle. They are affected by and affect other generations. They each have their strengths, their value, their weaknesses and their paths. Each generation is approximately 20 years in length, or the equivalent of a phase of life (childhood, young adulthood, midlife, elderhood). Right now, the constellation of generations in America is this:

The Silent Gen are moving into elder-elderhood. Born 1924 – 1942, they are 68-86 years old in 2010, and their numbers, per the U.S. Census, are about 30 million. Their archetype’s principal endowments are in the realm of pluralism, expertise and due process. This is the true Civil Rights generation that fought for rights from a perspective of sensitivity to the weaker among the community.

The Boomer Gen is moving into elderhood. Born 1943-1960, they are 50 -67 years old in 2010, and their numbers are about 62 million.Their archetype’s principal endowments are in the realm of vision, values and religion. They are the “principled moralists, summoners of human sacrifice and wagers of righteous wars.”

The GenX Gen is moving into midlife. Born 1961-1981, they are 29-49 years old in 2010, and their numbers are about 81 million. Their archetype’s principal endowments are in the realm of liberty, survival and honor. They are the get-it-done generation and are “cunning, hard-to-fool realists—taciturn warriors who prefer to meet problems and adversaries one-on-one.”

The Millennial Gen is moving into young adulthood. Born 1982-2004(ish), they are 6-28 years old in 2010, and their numbers are about 80 million. Their archetype’s principal endowments are in the realm of community, affluence and technology. They are a bright, upbeat, team-working generation.

The Homeland Gen is being born now and just entering the K-8 system. They will, assuming the generational cycles repeat, have a life course that is similar to the Silent Gen.

All the quoted text in this post, by the way, is from Strauss and Howe’s work, e.g. Lifecourse Associates.

So, let’s look at “civility and democracy” through this lens … not just that there are generations, but in which phase of life each generation has been, and how it will impact the phase of life it is now moving into and the surrounding generations.

In the past 25 years, Boomers were the primary gen in mid-life. Mid-life is about power. Think about it: it’s the 42-62-years-old people. Families are mostly started and kids, if they are still young, are typically in elementary school or beyond. School is done. Professional capacity and community leadership are realms of directed energy for many in mid-life. Boomers in midlife, per @lifecourse, “preach a downbeat, values-fixated ethic of moral conviction.” In other words, they are argumentative, passionate, focused on their values (one does not negotiate “values”) and more interested in their convictions than they are in solutions. To have even talked of civility in democracy while Boomers were in midlife would have been an argument, in and of itself, about whose values were more civil.

In the past 25 years, GenXers were the primary gen in young adulthood. Young adulthood is about vitality, about serving institutions with energy and the excitement of a life to be experienced. GenXers in young adulthood are “brazen free agents, lending their pragmatism and independence to an era of growing social turmoil.” To have asked GenXers in young adulthood to speak of civility in democracy would have been seen as a joke. GenXers are not trusting of institutions, by and large, to do right by them as individuals or as a generation and, therefore, do not put a lot of faith in democracy and governments to solve problems. Nor would GenXers compete in Boomer turf to gain voice at that phase of life. Boomers were simply too culturally dominant then, both by phase of life and certainty that their values were more relevant and needing to be heard.

In the past 25 years, Millennials were the primary gen in childhood and have been “nurtured with increasing protection by pessimistic adults in an insecure environment.” Millennials in childhood have grown up believing that government is good. All they have to do is turn on the news to hear campaigning politicians proclaim that they are a more child-friendly candidate than their opponent. In their childhood years they experienced a stream of increasing child-focused programs and initiatives being funded. They have no memory of Civil Rights tensions, nor of the contentiousness around the Viet Nam war-skirmish-geopoltical maneuver. They have watched their next-elder GenXers scramble and tumble through McJobs, unreliable contract work and extreme sports-behaviors-attitudes that are a bit too edgy for their tastes.

In the past 25 years, the Silent gen were the primary gen in elderhood. They have lived life by the rules, keeping their heads down in young adulthood, and hitting phases of life at relatively uneventful times to be the age they were. So, in their elderhood, while midlife Boomers slashed society with their moralistic rants, and GenXers rapidly transformed the culture with their take-what-you-can-and-cash-out-quickly approach, the Silent Gen helped “quicken the pace of social change, shunning the old order in favor of complexity and sensitivity.”

OK, “so what,” you might be saying. Well, generations move through time, which is why unless someone is pinging to the archetypes, years and definitions of Strauss and Howe, they are really talking about “demographics” and not “generations.” But I digress. OK, so time has moved along. We are not 25 years back, but 25 years forward. Let’s look at each of these generations and their impact on “civility in democracy.”

Today, Boomers are moving into elderhood where they “push to resolve ever-deepening moral choices, setting the stage for the secular goals of the young.” In other words, Boomers (will) finally have a moment of realizing as a generation that they are the elders and that their legacy as generation is perilously close to being abysmal. And Boomers are about their moral legacy, so this dawning sense that their moralistic rants and red-state-blue-state politics are putting in peril not just the nation, not just the rising generation of young adulthoods (their beloved Millennials), but their l-e-g-a-c-y, as well … this is the wake-up call for Boomers to self-correct and align in a more civil, go-forward direction that is — while not-less-moral — less polarizing. Or perhaps I should say, the Boomers who wish to have their voices included in the coming dialogue about where our nation is going will do so. Those who continue to polarize will be marginalized, which will be a system-shocker for those Boomers who’ve come to believe that polarizing is how to get attention/focus/dollars.

Today, GenXers are moving into midlife with the first POTUS of this generation currently in power. GenXers in midlife “apply toughness and resolution to defend society while safeguarding the interests of the young.” The challenge for GenXers in midlife — long at the edge, the extremes, the fringes — is to come  in to power structures, bring their capacities to solve problems without all the bantering around moral direction and vision that Boomers have done, and to force change toward fixing broken systems, businesses, governments and more. GenXers in young adulthood have been a cranky generation, a grunge-y generation, a leave-me-alone generation. To be included in the public conversation about what needs to be changed and how it will be done, GenXers need to release much of their crankiness and instead lead and make things happen.

Today, Millennials are moving into young adulthood with a trust of government, institutions and corporations do not only do right by them, but do right by their generation, and — by their thinking and the cycle of generations — do right by the nation. Millennials in young adulthood “challenge the political failure of elder-led crusades, fueling a society-wide secular crisis.” Millennials don’t understand (don’t have any personal experience with) moralistic, values-based battles to which many Boomers still cling. Millennials don’t understand GenXers’ crankiness, as they have received the opposite treatment as GenXers got in childhood; they were precious to adults, while GenXers were forgotten. They are being exalted and talked about and supported while they are moving into young adulthood and new careers, while GenXers were met with temp jobs, contract work and a “no vacancy” job market in their young adulthood. More to the point, Millennials like team work. They are bright-eyed and upbeat. They believe their generation to be very capable of solving large-scale problems and don’t need experience to prove this: they already know it to be true about themselves and their generation. Heck, they’ve been getting awards, gold stars and adulation since they’ve been in kindergarten! In other words, Millennials don’t understand Boomers’ nastiness and GenXers’ crankiness. (Was I just cranky in my explanation here?)

Now, are generations the only influence making “civility and democracy” a timely issue? No, of course not. But generational theory does provide some clues as to why “civility” is becoming a more a desired and important value at this point and time. It is time to be civil once again in democracy and politics. Or at least for civility to start to have a stronger toehold in the conversations. Nobody except Boomers cares about Boomer values wars anymore, and, I’d add, some Boomers are growing tired of the same-ol-same-ol from their generation. Nobody cares about GenX crankiness anymore, except equally cranky GenXers. And Millennials are showing up in jobs, in politics, in communities and in organizations, believing that life and work and community and governance can all be balanced and good. It won’t change overnight, for sure, but — and perhaps — a bit more civility will get us there faster.

Rock on.

Checklist for Success: using social media for parties

A fan am I of The Checklist Manifesto. It motivated me to write down the activities I’ve been doing for a (sorta) monthly party I co-host. And the information, I do believe, is helpful for individuals, orgs and businesses as they plan events in today’s option-rich communication environment. Here is the checklist I follow for integrating social media into the local hocoblogs blogtail parties.

Checklist for Success

hocoblogs Blogtail Parties
Logistics, Communications and Engagement

Venue
Secure a cohost.
Select a date.
Select a venue.
Introduce self, explain the blogtail party to the restaurant manager.
Check with restaurant manager to confirm a clear event date and time.
Send the manager the link to the wrap-up doc for our Pure Wine event. http://scr.bi/8YfYcg and the eventbrite.com invitation link.
Get the restaurant’s twitter handle, if it exists. And the website address.
Find out if the restaurant is actively managing its foursquare account.
Encourage the restaurant to do something special for the bloggers at the party.

Invitation
Create the eventbrite registration.
Create a hashtag for the event, or just use #hocoblogs.
Find and include links to Howchow posts about the place, the foursquare URL, Hocoloco-girl post, and other blogger reviews of the restaurant.
Email the invitation to all registered bloggers on hocoblogs.com via Akubo.net.

Communication
Write an event announcement and send it to The Columbia Flier calendar section.
Tweet the event on @hocoblogs.
Post the event on my Facebook page, published to my Hoco list.
Blog about it on Hometown-Columbia.com.
Ask the bloggers to share the news of the party in their networks and on their blogs, where relevant.
Create a Facebook note (but not an event) and tag bloggers in it.

Day of the event
Tweet it.
Post it on Facebook.

On-site
Encourage tweets, photos, foursquare and Gowalla check-ins.
Use hashtags, links and @ to recognize people, places and things.

After the event
Get links to local bloggers who wrote about the event, pre or post.
Take a screen capture of tweets with hashtags.
Take a screen capture of Foursquare checkins.
Create a wrap-up document.
Send the wrap-up doc to restaurant manager.
Post the wrap-up doc on Scribd.com.
Send wrap-up doc link to bloggers via Akubo.net service. Remind the bloggers that as individuals and as a community, we rock.

Pho real.

Zagat’s latest edition is out. And on its list of fab places in #theHoCo are three places that, pho real, are quite a delight.

• An Loi
• Pho Dat Than, and
• Pho Nam.

Pho sure, hot soup in the summer time isn’t always my thing, but give me a rainy, chilly day, and I can think of little better than some steaming, fresh pho. Check out Zagat’s latest for all things #food, #restaurant, #columbiamd and in #theHoco. Better yet: Tune in to HowChow’s blog, follow him on Twitter (@howchowblog) and/or become a fan on Facebook.

Hocobloggers: we rock!

I’m a big believer in social capital and the power we each wield as bloggers in helping those in our network be more connected and relevant. Take a look at the amazing work we did — individually and together — as a community of bloggers. The document I link to is a wrap-up of the Pure Wine Cafe party activity I could find in the blog, twitter, facebook, foursquare and event software realms.

Big thanks to each of you who helped make this party one of the best ever. Whether you tweeted about it, told a friend, showed up and participated, or commented on another bloggers’ site, thank you, thank you, thank you!

And, never one to miss an opportunity to be a broken record –

• I’m always looking for co-hosts for the hocoblogs parties.(Details here.)
• Hocoblogs is a site for all people who LIVE in Howard County to post their blogs and connect with other bloggers. Please help us identify and populate this site with local bloggers (regardless of their blogs subject matter) and invite your friends, colleagues and neighbors to submit their blog on www.hocoblogs.com.
• If you’re tweeting, please consider following @hocoblogs
• And check in — and participate where you can — in Hocomojo‘s site, too! They’re doing great work and are an interesting add-on to the community conversation.

Muchas gracias!

~ Jessie

Hocoblogs BlogTail party at Pure Wine Cafe

Come on by Pure Wine Cafe on Wednesday, June 2, for another friendly and fun Hocoblogs Blogtail party. There you’ll meet other local bloggers, and perhaps a reader or two … maybe even a — gasp — fan of your blog. The parties are usually mostly local bloggers who live in Howard County and a handful of readers; it’s a nice mix. We’ll be at Pure Wine Cafe in Historic Ellicott City tonight from 6:15 – 7:45 p.m. My co-host, Frank Hecker, has been in conversation with the manager at Pure Wine Cafe and told me last night that they’d like to offer our party minglers an informal wine tasting tonight.

And, as always, if any of your friends, neighbors or colleagues who LIVE in Howard County are also blogging (regardless of the subject), please encourage them to post submit their blog for inclusion on www.hocoblogs.com. It’s free to do so and a simple way to participate in the growing group of people who find expression and value in blogging.

Dipping into the melting pot

I’ve never been much of one for politics. Or, for that matter, this thing called “politicians.”

At one point in my younger adulthood life I fancied myself a Democrat because, well, of course, that was the sane and compassionate party, right? But then one day, when I was in my late 20s, someone with whom I was talking asked me if I was a conservative. My head almost twisted off. “Huh? A conservative? You mean, a Republican?” I asked. Aaaaaahh, it couldn’t be.

Years later, Steve Adler, a gentleman whom I deeply respect and admire, decided he was running for the county executive position in Howard County. Would I support him, he wanted to know. Of course I would. Small snag: he was running as a Republican. I had to decide: was it the party or the person I supported? With Steve, it was an easy choice: the person.

This party v. person dilemma became even more front and center for me when I stepped my toe into the local blogging community in Howard County. Two bloggers, both of whom I’d come to know through their writing, perspectives and engagement with their readers, had each decided to run for hyper-local elected positions. I took a stand and announced that I was supporting them both.

At the time, there was a big ol’ contentious development issue raging in local politics. (Go figure.) I realized I didn’t know exactly where either of these men stood on said contentious issue. More importantly, I realized that for as much as I was leaning toward one camp, where these men “stood” was but one part of the picture. The big raging issue was, indeed, contentious. There were going to be many meetings, conversations and compromises. Problem-solving, collaboration and an ability to engage multiple perspectives was going to be a critical skill needed in working toward a solution for the community.

I took then yet another step away from party-centered politics (and any last vapors of a personal identity associated with a party). I took a huge step away from red-state-blue-state thinking and being a single-issue voter. And I took a step toward humanizing politics and politicians, particularly on a local level.

So, the other week, when I heard of a fund-raising event at The Melting Pot for Mary Kay Sigaty, the current Councilperson for District 4 in The Hoco, I decided to attend. Why? I certainly don’t need to curry her favor for anything I’ve got going on. She’s not “my” Councilperson, as I live in a different district. To boot, I know that we’ve been far apart from each other across the spectrum of certain issues I consider pretty important in my community.

I’ll tell you why I went. (It wasn’t the fondue, though I will admit I helped myself to a bit of the chocolate fondue with Rice Krispie(R) treats: a surprisingly good combination, I must say.) I went to the event because I consider Mary Kay thoughtful. I believe she listens. And that she’s able to think beyond the next-around-the-bend election. She’s able to participate in complex problem-solving. And because, frankly, people whom I love and respect, love and respect her.

And as I stepped through the door of this very local event the other night, my transition from a young doe-eyed Democrat who voted in elections along the party lines to a “woman who can make her own decisions, thankyouverymuch” was complete. Now, I know: I’ll support a person in whom I believe over a party and a platform any day.

Big props to Dana, the ever-so-local owner of The Melting Pot franchise restaurant in Wilde Lake Village Center for graciously hosting the event.

Posting rights

I started writing for the Washington Examiner dot com a few weeks back. James Dellinger, who works there and is a web content and content marketing guy, has been on a mission to add a local blogging component to The Examiner online. The new section is called the Local Opinion Zone. James told  me that he’s been reading a number of blogs, liked mine and wanted me to be a part of this new endeavor at The Examiner. So, I decided to accept his offer and take this opportunity for a ride.

Yesterday, while down in D.C. getting my do done, on a whim, I emailed James to see if 1) his offices were relatively close to the salon where I was and 2) if he had a chance to meet for a quick cup of coffee. He did. And we did.

Now, I find James interesting. I like my geeks. Smart, thoughtful, service-oriented geeks are often more cutting-edge and insightful than others may think. James is no exception. He brought to my attention a concept that he believes is key in the new-new media: posting rights.

See, as more people are using/connected in online content publishing realms (blogs, Facebook, twitter, YouTube, podcasts and more), how and where we publish which and what content is going to matter more. While it was most certainly hip and cool to have “just a blog” four or five years ago, that approach is becoming flooded with others who’ve joined the ranks of the hip and cool. This creates an increasing value when someone can post XYZ-related content on a site focused on XYZ, yet post ABC-related content on a site focused on ABC.

Personally, I’m a fan of the “hey, I have a blog because I want to say what I want to say” reason behind blogging. And I express that belief in my own blog, thankyouverymuch. Still and yet, the concept of posting rights and delivering content on more audience-focused sites makes a lot of sense. For myself, as my awareness of and relationship to readers beyond my original vision of my hometown, Columbia, has expanded, this concept of posting rights and placing more of my geo-specific content on a regional site is something I find appealing.

So, without further adieu, here are my first three posts as a WashingtonExaminer.com Local Opinion Zone writer –

• More key lime pie, please. – About the opening of the Stanford Grill.
• How I came to love beets, or a not-so-sly plug for the farmer’s market
• Thank goodness they didn’t card at the door! – About twentyfivefortyfive and their recent mingler (that’s like a mixer, just cooler)

Rock on.

How I met one of the most interesting of men

Back in my early days of blogging, I aimed to have a local blog; hence, the url my blog still has today: hometown-columbia.com. In those early days, I wrote much of local issues as I saw and framed them, and many people — those I knew and those I didn’t — commented and engaged in the conversation on my blog. And, in those early days, one day I had a most interesting and thoughtful comment from someone named Frank Hecker. I’d never heard of Frank Hecker. I’d never met Frank Hecker. But I wanted to. I wrote back to him. We shared a few email exchanges. He commented a few more times, and we got to know each other a bit better … to the point where I wanted to meet him face to face.

Frank is a busy man. He’s got a family, a significant job in the tech sphere and a life to lead. He’s a quiet person. He’s not the kind of person the movers and shakers of the local community would ever know if Frank’s only voice and way to connect was one that required getting out, schmoozing, signing petitions and sitting in long, boring-*ss public meetings where so many attendees seem content to get their three-minutes at the mic to say their piece. Nope, he’s not that kind of guy.

Yet and still, his voice, his thinking, his problem solving, his concern and his willingness to thoughtfully sort his perspective and communicate it in a clear way is an addition to the conversation in and around the community of Howard County. Frank Hecker is one of the most interesting of men I’ve met in the last few years.

I’m going to fast forward here a sec. Frank has, albeit infrequently, written about local concerns on his own blog, and he does, on occasion, comment on other local blogs. Recently, he commented on Wordbones’ blog: one of the more popular blogs in The Hoco. He was attacked as being “smug” and told to yada-yada-yada-and-then-tell-me-such-and-such by anonymous commenters who seemed unable to actually have a conversation with Frank on the subject and issues in his comments. And, Frank, true to his nature, has a solution for such snipers. He’s written a thoughtful piece titled, “

To the anonymous commenters of Howard County.

I recommend reading the piece.

Perhaps, you’ll like his writing and his thinking. Perhaps not.

I, for one, consider him one of the most interesting of men, and I hope more local bloggers will “choose civility” and — at a minimum — adopt an approach to comments that require people to either use an online identity or use a comment identity tracking system such HocoRising is doing by using DISQUS.

My two cents.

Helping an old lady across the street

For the lovely people in The Hoco.

Today, after posting two back-to-back posts about the lack of walkability in the “downtown Columbia,” I was headed  from the East Branch Library back to The Bucks to meet a few friends. Driving on Dobbin Road I spotted an unnerving sight: an older woman, struggling with a not-so-well-made rollie cart, walking in the road. Why was she walking in the road? Because there was no sidewalk, and with her rollie in tow, she needed a flat surface.

Well, I’ve passed lots of pedestrians on Dobbin Road over the years, but today I stopped. Yes, my stopping on a slim road, I created potential danger with other cars zipping by, but I wanted to offer the woman a ride and get her out of the dangerous street. We got her bag and self into my car and , when I asked her where she was going, she told me “just across the street” and that she was already half way to her destination.

As we drove on, we chit-chatted. Without knowing all the details and specifics of her life, this is what I gleaned: she lived in Columbia years back, moved away for 20 years or so, seemed to be coming out of a divorce where she did not fare well financially in the end. She seemed mid-60s or so. She was finding her way in Columbia, wasn’t too aware of roads and distances, and she didn’t have a car. Hence, why she was out walking with her rollie cart behind her.

She lives over by the now-gone? Krispy Kreme place in a senior apartment complex off of Snowden. Got it. I found her down by Frisco Grille on Dobbin and she was walking in pants and a jacket on a hot humid day with a rollie cart in tow all the way up Dobbin (with no sidewalks) across Rt. 175, down the road by Columbia Crossing (Target), taking a left on Snowden, passing the Krispy Kreme spot and on a bit.

This is a woman in her mid-60s, or older! On the sidewalk-less street!

Turns out she needed to get to the post office. She walked there and had done her errand, when I found her. She’d waited for a bus, it was late, she called a service number for the bus service and got an answering machine, so she started to walk.

Now, I’m not planning on becoming the personal chauffeur of every pedestrian on Dobbin Road. I know the problem isn’t going to get solved overnight. I also know this problem of sidewalk-less-ness and no safe bike passage on roads has plagued this vibrant, busy, retail-business-job rich area of Columbia for well over a decade, if not more.

Please, imagine your own mother or father. An older aunt, perhaps. Put a human face on this. Pay attention next time you’re on Dobbin or Snowden. Not only, literally, to watch for the safety of pedestrians, but also to watch their faces, their condition, their lives and their energy. This is shameful that we continue to allow such unsafe conditions for so many people who walk to services and/or jobs in this busy and vibrant part of East Columbia. Bike paths are sweet. But pedestrian safety and the ability to move from home to work, from work to shopping, and to do so with a modicum of safety has got to rank higher in our local priorities. It does for me. Who else is in?

Mortified. Horrified. And feeling righteous.

For my people in TheHoco.

Driving, was I, down a road I travel often, Dobbin Road, when I spotted the umpteenth version of the same problem I’ve witnessed for years. This one was the straw that broke the camel’s back. What I saw was a BABY IN A STROLLER being pushed along the treacherous, sidewalk-less span of Dobbin Road. One sneeze from a driver. One phone call dialed at the wrong time. One quick distraction and but a shift in a car’s direction, and that baby would be seriously maimed or, God forbid, dead.

The man pushing the carriage was elderly, Korean and with the I-wasn’t-born-in-the-US look. Following him in a single file, with the stroller at the lead, was a similarly aged woman, who I assumed to be his wife. They both looked distraught and with good reason: they weren’t safe and the baby they had with them certainly wasn’t either.

The week prior I saw on the same road a couple: white, late 20s-ish, walking up a treacherously inclined, never-designed-for-human-walkability hill trying to get into one of the retail centers off Dobbin Road. The man had a baby in a baby pack and the woman was behind him. At least they looked relatively clad for such a hike with casual clothes and tennis shoes.

I also saw an Hispanic woman, 20s-ish, with two pre-K looking kids, attempting to cross the street from the K-mart side of things to the Starbucks side. This is so dangerous. There are no sidewalks at all along Dobbin Road. The entire area is designed for cars.

I find myself so tired of the endless N0-I-Know-What-Jim-Rouse-Wanted camps in Columbia. “He wanted vibrancy.” “No. He wanted thing to be kept in perpetuity as originally planned.” I’m tired of the insane amount of press, attention, government time, bickering, and values-based camp fights over what Columbia’s downtown should be. I’m tired of the inane amount of press, attention, government time, bickering and values-based camp fights over whether Wilde Lake is gonna get its grocery store.

We have a problem, people.

A primary and key area of retail — which includes customers and SERVICE workers (many of whom bike and walk to work, if you’ve yet to notice) are deeply underserved and put in danger by our CAR-AUTO-PERSONAL VEHICLE orientation to movement in this community. You want a walkable downtown? Oooooooooooh. How fun. We’ll all stroll and shop. We’ll hang out while watching a free concert on the promenade. Yeah, I’m all for it but hold no vision that it’ll happen anytime soon. It will happen, I’d predict, when the Millennials (born 1982 -2002ish) demand it as they are a public, be-seen-by-their-peers generation. It will not happen as long as Boomers (born 1943-1960) still bring their culture wars to everything they lay sight on. And it won’t happen while Silent gen (born 1925 – 1942) and the true settlers of Columbia and a “settler” generation every time they cycle through America are still dominant “pioneers.”

So, screw the downtown plans. Who has the money for this right now anyway?

Let’s tend to the real need. Let’s stop pretending that Columbia is going to “get vibrant.” Take a moment to THINK INTO a vision in which Dobbin, Route 175, Snowden and the retail all in that area was actually walkable? See it. Overlay Disney and Rouse’s monorails (updated to modern thinking). Imagine safe crossing and passage for pedestrians. Imagine being able to park your car in ONE retail location and walk, or take easy-to-access, frequent, looping public transportation that moves you, say, first from some shopping, to a cafe for a bite to eat, to the movie theater and back to your car.)

It’s all right there. It’s all in front of us. All the bits to bring “vibrancy” and “pedestrian safety” to “downtown Columbia.” GenXers (born 1961-1981), where are you on this? The GenX credo: ALWAYS MAKE SURE THE BABY IS SAFE! Your baby isn’t safe. Nobody’s baby is safe on Dobbin Road or Snowden River Parkway: the real downtown of Columbia.

You want affordable housing? Workforce housing? What about an apartment complex with true low-income housing. Not subsidized but small and low-amenity housing. It’s been done for ages and will be done again. Tear down a crappy, endless big-box store and add some low-cost workforce/student/elderly/whatever housing.

Hey, I know I’m spouting. It’s my blog.

But, really, this unwillingness to address the lack of walkability and DANGER of high pedestrian and bike activity on Dobbin and Snowden Road is ridiculous. Please don’t let it take the death of a child to make it a priority. It’s really easy to see that it’s already a problem. And, I’m sure, given coordination, will, true ability to think outside the box and some resources, it could happen.

Freecycle your perennials: give and get

A Letter to the Editor I submitted to the Columbia Flier was published this week. It’s about Freecycling.org and using the site for sharing your wealth of perennials … or about receiving from the abundance of others. I’m glad the Flier ran the editorial. And — just to be super-clear about my hypocrisy on this subject – I hate*hate*hate Freecycle’s culture and style. I won’t go on about why other than to say I pine for the day that another tool pushes Freecycle’s sorry-ass site out the door and into the pastures — or graveyard. Perhaps that will happen when someone with enough balls comes in and takes over the system. Alas, that day isn’t here yet and while Freecycle has the most archaic-we-haven’t-evolved-since-the-1990s feel to it — in ALL respects — it is the only such tool that has any audience to speak of at the moment. *sigh*

So, I had to say that. Yes to the concept. Boo-hiss to the deliverer/delivery/organization/culture/system/tools.

Will somebody please wrest this beast to the ground and force it to evolve or die? In the meantime, it’s available for use inside the local community for moving physical items around in a free exchange.

Achooooo!

For years, right around April 1st, I’d develop the most overwhelming allergies. And, if you’ve ever heard me sneeze, you’re likely not to forget. I’m one of those insanely loud sneezers. I’m thinking this comes from a dinner conversation one evening when I was in elementary school. I remember asking my mom, an R.N., why some people made little sneeze noises and other people made bigger ones. She explained that a sneeze was functional and provided the oomph for the body to rid itself of detritus and other goobery things in ze nose. Upon that explanation, I believe I gave myself full permission to do as needs done, and I sneeze very loudly. But I digress, as I often do.

Well, several years back, I had a wonderful opportunity to try acupuncture for the first time in my life. My appointment was in the winter. Come that spring, my allergies were close to nil. And since then, I go back for seasonal adjustments, especially winter into spring and summer into fall. If you’re in the hoco area, I heartily recommend Laura Mueller for acupuncture. I find her kind, attentive, gentle (even while pricking me, imagine that), wise and wonderfully capable in her art. She does a number of other things, too, and works in a bit of cranial-sacral work and other modalities as need be. All in all, not only are my appointments enjoyable, but my results have been great.

Recently, I had the opportunity to have a Bowen treatment at Bodywise Physical Therapy off of Broken Land Parkway. I blogged about it a few months back and recommend their services as well. I had a lovely treatment and know that they offer a diversity of services, too.

So, if you find yourself achooo-ing and achooo-ing, perhaps, rather than reaching for the drugs and medicines, you schedule an appointment or two for acupuncture, or some other treatment that provides balancing and adjusting at this ever-so-transitional time of the year.

Rock on.

Oh, and remember: aim to sneeze into the crook of your elbow (but not your hands) when you sneeze. Da POTUS thinks it’s a good idea, too.

Mr. Rouse as Daddy

Cleaning up my blog and categories, I found an unpublished post re Mr. Rouse as a Hero, in generational dynamics that is. The full piece isn’t written. I might not ever finish it. But, here’s some bits and perspectives for those wondering about the history of Columbia and how it was impacted by generational dynamics.

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Understanding G.I.’s attitude toward children provides some insight into the origin of Columbia’s vision.

In 1967, Boomers were, at the youngest seven, and a the oldest 24.

But, first, here’s just a little tip about understanding who parents which generation: A generation is parented rather equally by both the next elder generation (those in young adulthood) and the next-next elder generation (those in mid-life). The parents in mid-life, regardless of their numbers, hold cultural dominance in how kids in their children’s generation are raised, as they are farther along in their careers and leadership positions.

So, Boomer children (the Prophet generation in archetypal language) were raised in a culture primarily influenced by G.I.s. (That’s Mr. Rouse’s generation.)

From page 166 of The Fourth Turning

Recalling their own youth collectivism, wincing at the McCarthy hearings, and worried about bland young adults … G.I. peers wanted to raise children self-focused enough to resist peer pressure and “isms” of all kinds.

from page 167 of The Fourth Turning

Mid-life G.I. men placed a huge emphasis on fixing the physical environment to improve their child’s world. Untended nature was the enemy.

and

The parental plan was for these kids to grow up living in modern houses from which they would take speedy monorails to gleaming cities where they would shop, play and (perhaps) work.

and

Boomer children enjoyed the most secure family life in American history. As G.I. dads commuted to work, G.I. moms invested endless time and energy in Boomer children. … Only 2 percent attended institutional day care. … American schools enjoyed their all-time peak of institutional confidence, thanks in part to a powerful mutual support network between mothers and teachers.

I’ve heard this data point often, but only quietly: Columbia’s vision of utopia was designed based on the G.I. mid-life view of the world: that mothers would stay at home with their kids. And it worked, in the beginning, when many mothers — both G.I. and the next gen (Silent) were at home.

Mr. Rouse was a Hero

In cleaning out and organizing some of my blog posts tonight, I came across this draft I never published. I have spent some time thinking into and understanding where and how the original vision for Columbia came to be, through the lens of generational theory, that is.

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James W. Rouse, in the archetypal language of generational theory, was a Hero. Born in 1914, he was a member of what later came to be called the G.I. Generation (those born 1901 – 1924).

In 1967, Columbia’s “birth” date, Mr. Rouse was 53, solidly in mid-life. I don’t know when he started putting his thinking and peeps together to create what eventually became Columbia, but being really generous, I’d give him five to seven of thinking and prep time.

Going back seven years in time would put Mr. Rouse at age 46, which is early into his mid-life. From The Fourth Turning, p. 151, As powerful Heroes replace Nomads in midlife, they establish an upbeat, constructive ethic of social discipline.

Their ears ringing with post-Crisis accolades, midlife Heroes become builders and doers, confident of their ability to make big institutions work better than their Lost predecessors. They energize and rationalize every sphere of life, from science to religion, statecraft to the arts. At their mid-life peak of power, they expect to propel civilization over an unprecedented threshold of secular progress–toward wealth, happiness, knowledge and power. Others regard them as the most-competent, if least-reflective, generation of their time.

From Overview: Seven Cycles of Generations and Turnings: The Angl0-American Saeculum as written by William Strauss and Neil Howe.

The G.I. Generation (Hero, born 1901-24) developed a special and “good kid” reputation as the beneficiaries of new playgrounds, scouting clubs, vitamins, and child-labor restrictions. They came of age with the sharpest rise in schooling ever recorded. As young adults, their uniformed corps patiently endured Depression and heroically conquered foreign enemies. In a midlife subsidized by the G.I. Bill, they built gleaming suburbs, invented miracle vaccines, plugged missile gaps, and launched moon rockets. Their unprecedented grip on the Presidency (1961 thru ’92) began with a New Frontier, a Great Society and Model Cities, but wore down thru Vietnam, Watergate, deficits, and problems with “the vision thing.” As senior citizens, they safeguarded their own “entitlements” but with little influence over culture and values. Representative members: John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Hazel Bishop, Judy Garland, Joe DiMaggio, John Steinbeck, Walter Cronkite.

So, while, no doubt, the vision and creation of Columbia was grand and wonderful, when I look at it from a generational perspective, the grandness and the bigness of fixing the outer world to make for good social order was appropriate to the time and the man. G.I.s (Hero generations) typically do a very few HUGE things very well, e.g. they

1. built gleaming suburbs,
2. invented miracle vaccines,
3. plugged missile gaps, and
4. launched moon rockets.

Columbia falls rather comfortably into category #1, I’d say.

By the way, today’s Millennials (born 1982-2002ish) are the same Hero archetype as Rouse, Disney and the GI generation. They orient toward civic activities, big engineered projects, being visible and out, and being very, very interested in their peers, not only in their teen and college years, but throughout their lives, and into elderhood. They vote in blocks, big generational blocks. And then tend to lean Democrat.

Bowen. Made me smile.

I had my first-ever Bowen treatment this evening. The therapy had been recommended to me a few years back, but I couldn’t find a local practitioner. Then my path crossed with BodyWise Physical Therapy, off BrokenLand Pkwy in Columbia. Ariana, the key gal there, offers Bowen. So, I scheduled an appointment.

Now, for as much as I’m an adept researcher, I often don’t research things before I experience them. (I once went to Namibia for three weeks and did nary a bit of research before going.) I discovered that Bowen is simple and small muscle rotations with gaps of several minutes where the practitioner leaves the room while the practionee’s body recalibrates to the new experiences. Doesn’t sound terribly impressive, but I’m a fan of the concept that small changes can make big differences, so I was game.

I loved it.

It was so gentle. So simple. And deeply, deeply relaxing. I found myself feeling unexpectedly peaceful and happy, not a buoyant and jumpy happy, but a calm and easy happy. And I feel good.

Ariana, the biz owner and Bowen practitioner, is also very pretty. She has a prettiness that is inside-outside-and-both. Looking at her face and eyes, watching how she moves, experiencing the space she’s created for her business, there’s an authenticity which runs from who she is to what she does to how she does and why she does it.

If you’re in the DC-Balt-VA area and are looking for a Bowen practitioner, I recommend Bodywise Physical Therapy in Columbia, Md. Here’s a short video explaining Bowen for pain relief –

It was an awkward moment.

It was an awkard moment. But it opened to new possibilities, I believe.

See, I was at the Columbia Foundation’s annual dinner last night, introducing a friend to our library’s exec director, Valerie. Valerie and I go back a few years, particularly when I co-worked with my BFF at the branch hosting the library’s administrative offices. Valerie and I may not be chummy friends, but I find her to be vibrant, on-it, engaging and smart … and I enjoy our conversations. Several years back, Valerie asked, and I gladly, participated in first-ever presentation at the annual county “Beg-a-thon,” where citizens speak in favor of county funding they find important. I spoke on behalf of and the need for library funding. This was probably in 2005 or ’06.

Anyhoo, the gal I was introducing to Valerie made a light-hearted and truthful comment about waiting quite awhile in the library’s queue to get some books she wanted to read. Valerie, charming and not missing a beat said, (paraphrasing), “Tell your County Council member that the library needs more funding. We had a 1.9% budget cut last year.” She was right on target with her role and mission.

Me, not missing a beat, and moving right into the “awkward” part of the “awkward moment,” said, (paraphrasing), “I don’t think the library should be exempt from budget cuts. I don’t think any agency or service is sacred. Not in this time. Not in this age.”

Now, I have my own relationship not only to the concept of The Library but, in particular, to My Library, the Howard County Library System. As a seven-year-old, new in a very new town, in an era pre-dating video, zillions of TV channels and an exploded commercial environment, going to My Library (Miller Branch for you Hoco Old-Skoolers) was akin to going to church. I’ve grown up, somehow feeling personally exalted by My Library’s successes and national rankings as one of the best (sometimes The Best) in its class. There’s a longer story here, but in short, My Library has been a sanctuary and church to me.

But I don’t think its endless upward funding is sacred. Regardless if the county population is expanding.

So, back to that awkward moment. My brain/heart/soul/mind, realizing that Said Awkard Moment had just been created, knew I needed to provide context to my statement.“What if, for example,” I said, “rather than getting more funding for more books and resources, the Library put out a weekly call to the local citizens. It might look like this:

Hey, we’ve got people out the wazoo waiting in our queue for these 10 books (listed). If you’ve purchased and read this book, are done with it and don’t really need/want to store it on your shelves, consider donating it to us. Now!

“Perhaps some funds need to be set aside to figure out how to create a system for bringing donated books into the library’s inventory system*. Perhaps staff time can be redirected to promoting this message and enrolling the community’s support in this initiative. Personally, I don’t believe any business model — for government agencies (including schools) and businesses alike — will do well in the next decade to assume that funds/financial resources will be expanding. But that doesn’t mean services and value has to go down. Just that we have to find new solutions.”

Now, in props to MY Library, they are already there: using open source tech and moving expenses away from high-cost software licenses to less-costly/free resources. They’ve embraced the free tools of social media like no other institution in the county. And they just rock. My statement/belief has little to do with My Library. It has do with the archetypal season Society is in now, and that’s winter.

Personally, I’m rather excited to see new solutions emerging. Old problems framed in a new light. Creative energies that find the will and way to move inside of a contracting and shifting economy. Winter is winter. Winter, in a temperate climate, is when deciduous plants/trees/shrubs cut back on their green and pretty flowers. Winter is a time of pulling in deep nutrients in preparation for Spring.

From what I understand of generational cycles and the feelings that emanate from my cellular structure of the Life I’ve Lived, we are in Winter. Winter doesn’t cycle back to Fall. It’s Winter for its full course, then — and only then — does it move into Spring. No one’s exempt. Those who frolic about as though it’s another season will feel the cold. Those who deny it’s Winter and hope for warmer times, will come to know otherwise. It’s cyclical, folks. Natural. Go with the energies of the season, not against them.

This isn’t a missive against or about The/My Library. Simply a point from which to offer a perspective about cycles and energies that can be fought or used.

Rock on, beautiful people, rock on.

* I’m assuming the library doesn’t move select donated books into its inventory. I could be wrong.

Azul 17, my new local fave

Finally. That pretty much sums it up for me: Finally. Finally, in Columbia, there is an upscale place with a vibe and decor to match, music that makes the place  feel much more urban than suburban, great (as in absolutely awesome) drinks and an in an intimate space, to boot. I’m talking about Azul 17. Oh, and they’re open til 2:00 a.m. on Thursday night, ladies night, where drinks are half price off for ladies after — yes, AFTER – 10:30 p.m.

Grand opening Oct 8th, 7 pm – 2 am. Plus a grand opening weekend of celebration, Fri., Oct 9th – Sun. Oct 12th. To read more about the place:  City Paper and HowChow.

If you tweet, the hashtag is, naturally, #azul17.

If you use FourSquare, the place is loaded in …

If you’re on Facebook, you can become a fan.

See you there.

Tapulanga: Close to home and far away

A reader of the hocoblogs? Kindly, if you would, consider a donation to Tapulanga Foundation. Robin Abello, one of the founders of hocoblogs, works diligently with his sister, who is in The Philippines and running a school there, to raise funds for a school scholarship program, a micro-credit program and a health-care program.

In addition to your supporting a local man doing a world of good, you can be in relationship to this group without getting lost in a mega-organization where mega portions of your donations go to raise more money. (Only 3% at Tapulanga.) This is a small-scale org providing direct and specific benefit to the people in a specific region of The Phillipines.

Their annual event/dinner/silent auction is coming up Sept 20th. I often go. The people are friendly and the food is interesting. Plus, one of the items highly coveted and available is a Macbook Pro, possibly yours for a $25 raffle ticket, which you can conveniently purchase online.