Lists! Lists! Lists!
Mar. 5th, 2019 12:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormkeeper_lovedorisI got the idea to make a very personal list of stuff that has gotten better since I was a kid and stuff that has gotten worse. Like I said, it’s personal and just my own opinions and experiences, and “since I was a kid” is vague but I’m talking roughly the past 30 years or so.
The list avoids serious topics like the deficit or environmental degradation which are, obviously, exponentially worse than they were just a few decades ago and make me ill just thinking about….
What’s gotten better since I was a kid?
- TV. Sure there were some good shows back then but usually I just kinda switched the TV on and watched it due to boredom. Rarely did I love any shows. But now I have Agents of SHIELD, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Legends of Tomorrow, The Orville, Star Trek Discovery, RuPaul’s Drag Race, The Expanse, Orange is the New Black, 12 Monkeys, Kimmy Schmidt, Supergirl, The Flash,…and I could go on.
- Fangirling. I used to fangirl before the age of the internet. It was really, really hard. The only thing worse than trying to get your friends to watch TV shows you like and read your fanfic is – I imagine – being that poor friend on the receiving end! (I’m sorry, Ann, and everyone else!!)
- The Internet. Tying in with the above….Although most of us spend too much time on our screens and, yeah, they probably are eating away at our brains, the internet still is great. When I was growing up, nothing like it existed. I was in college when email really started to become a thing. Although I whittle away too much time playing Scrabble on my phone and looking at Tumblr posts on FitzSimmons, I do occasionally use the internet for something productive and meaningful too. (Wait, reading FitzSimmons fanfic isn’t productive or meaningful??)
- Restaurants. It’s a lot easier for me to get veg food at restaurants than it was 30 years ago.
- Texting. I never loved talking on the phone that much, and I find texting so much easier, especially since you can dictate into your phone.
- Working from home. When I started my career, all work was done in the office. If that meant you had to stay till 8pm, you stayed till 8pm. If it meant driving through a snowstorm, you drove through a snowstorm. I know for many people this hasn’t changed, but I’m so glad to work for a company where we routinely work from home. We also dress far more casually than we did in the 90’s.
- Ridesharing. Having to rely on taxis was really hard when you were nowhere near an airport or hotel.
- Being LGBT. I said I’d avoid serious stuff but I gotta throw this in there anyway. There’s still work to be done – like we don’t have an Employment Non-Discrimination Act what the hell – but honestly a revolution has pretty much occurred here within my lifetime. I fought for it but still didn’t see it coming.
What’s gotten worse?
- Magazines. I miss good, progressive, left-leaning magazines made of actual paper. You could grab one and bring it on the train or plane with you and it’d be substantial enough to last a while, but not overwhelming. My favorites were “Ms” (still exists but it sucks), “Bitch” (ditto), “Curve” (still around too but literally nothing but ads), “Shameless”, “The Optimist”, and “Utne Reader” just for starters. A few good ones are still hanging on: “Yes”, “Communities”, and “Herizons” but all are way slimmer than they used to be and I am prepared for the day when they all go under, sadly.
- Livejournal and Dreamwidth. They’re still around (um, obviously), but their heyday is long over and I really miss it. I really miss scrolling through my friends list, reading and commenting on posts. FB and other social media are fine but nothing quite like old LJ and DW exist.
- Rock bands. I used to love fan-girling out to rock bands. Real bands, who came together on their own and who played their own instruments and wrote their own songs. There’s some good music out there but I haven’t really gotten into a band since circa 1992. On the other hand, it is way easier to listen to a song or album I like now, since all I need for that is Youtube.
- Online hate. Dipping back into “serious” territory again, but I do remember being able to read an editorial you disagreed with in the newspaper and not hearing that the writer had received 900 tweets telling her she should be raped and dismembered. Ugh.
- Workout DVDs and videos. I’ve tried the apps and other internet-based workout stuff. But nothing compares to reading through Collage Video’s catalog and picking out a few workout videos that you know you’d love. The excitement of getting it in the mail, popping it into the machine, placing it into your workout rotation…(Anyone? Anyone? No. I guess this is why they’ve pretty much gone away)
Stayed the same?
- Books and libraries. I generally have been able to get my hands on an array of interesting books. Indie bookstores are managing to hang on in many cities too.
- NPR is still awesome. Sane, rational people reporting the news and trying to be objective. And it’s free if you have a radio or the internet!
no subject
Date: 2019-03-20 05:58 pm (UTC)I think, in relation to your first two "better" points, there were not a ton of great shows on, and so sometimes it was nice to watch what your friends were watching not necessarily because it was your kind of thing, but because it was something you could share/bond about or whatnot. I don't think you made me watch anything I hated or anything lol.
Speaking of internet stuff, when I was driving Hilary from a birthday party last week, I gave her my ipod so she could switch songs (I have a "Hilary" playlist on there), and she said "is this the kind of thing you used when you were a kid to listen to music?" and I had to try to explain what a tape was. :) It's so strange to think about just how much has changed in our lifetimes.
On a more serious note about that, in our water aerobics class we were discussing RBG and all of the things that have changed for women even just since the 70s, and I mentioned the whole concept of not being able to have your own credit card. One of the ladies in my class (about my mom's age) said that there was a time when she was younger and she had a good job that had health insurance, and her husband wasn't working at the time, but she wasn't allowed to add her husband to her health insurance because he was still considered the "breadwinner". Like, you know that these things happened and only semi-recently changed but it still kind of blows my mind to think about how this was basically *within our lifetime*.
I also have to say how much I love that LGBT rights have changed SO dramatically even just in the past decade or so. Unfortunately there are still people who are jerks about it and parents who disown their children over it and areas of the country that haven't caught up yet and all of that, but it feels like things have gotten so very much better, people overall are more accepting and supportive, and it makes me so happy.
Also you know how madly in love I am with not having to talk on the phone lol
As for online hate... I don't know, at this point I really just avoid all comments sections. I wonder if I could download something that would allow me to not ever have to see another comments section. Even little things annoy me to no end. Like, not saying you can only post positive things, but even innocuous things like recipes are full of people in the comments section whining and complaining and being obnoxious or snobby.
Your Collage comment made me lol. :) Are they still around? Do you still order from them?
no subject
Date: 2019-03-20 10:19 pm (UTC)Good point; oftentimes we would just watch an OK show so we'd have something to talk about. (And I'm very glad that I never made you watch anything you hated!!)
Wow, that is very interesting about Hilary and her question! I love that she asked the question, seriously.
From the standpoint of progressive politics, sometimes I think LGBT rights are the only area that really made great progress in our lifetimes. So many other progressive ideals (fighting income inequality, trying to have an un-polluted environment) have just been shot to hell.
Collage is still around but the bottom line is that there's way, way fewer workout DVDs being made. The selection is so bad and much of what's available are made by semi-celebrities like Jillian Michaels and are just not very good. (I've tried so many of Jillian's videos and they truly all suck).
no subject
Date: 2019-03-21 01:45 am (UTC)Unfortunately I'm afraid you're right about the progressive ideals.
Sorry that there aren't more workout dvds being made :( I guess it makes sense that people are more likely to do online stuff instead (and that they'd make ones starring celebs - sorry that Jillian Michaels ones suck too, though I'm not that surprised).