Boomerangs and Boomer Rants

 I dont think of myself as mature. My parents are mature. Often, with a combination of horror and humor we Baby Boomers realize how we have screwed up as well as what we have possibly succeeded at. With the benefit of age and adversity we can look back and recognize how we too in our youth lacked a balanced understanding of “both sides”  and may have been at times both rude and reckless. But that is also why we have some great stories to tell around the collective campfire! Furthermore, that same admixture of grandiosity and self-deprecation is one of our defining Boomer traits. We (most often) dont regret our stumbling, bumbling, anti-authority, rock and roll, Beatle mania, Led Zeppelin drug induced journeys to aduIthood. The paradox however, lies in our conscious awareness of our now obvious hypocrisy, a human weakness we once railed against yet now are forced to accept as we struggle to keep our kids in line and off drugs, etc. Growing up for Baby Boomers has been a Karmic form of purpose and penance, one part narcissistic validation (which we love) and one part sad-sarcastic confessional for our unique brand of “hindsight wisdom”. We like to make fun of the world and we dont mind making fun of ourselves. That is our gift, and why many of us enjoy The Daily Show as much as our college kids.
 

Why the blog title Boomerangs? Because a lot of stuff we “threw out” into the world came back to bite us in the ass (and other places)…and we know it. Now we can laugh about it and still remain the unrepentant fools who came up with flawed mantras like, “Dont trust Anyone over 30!!” Now is the time to celebrate our many blunders as well as our irrepressible joy and optimism. We really wanted the world to be a better place with more Peace and Love and Rock and Roll. Through Facebook and other new-fangled forms of social media that we barely understand, we continue to connect and  share our common ground, a Mad Magazine inspired way of seeing all things using our generation’s warped lens and twisted sense of humor (think Mystery Science Theater crossed with Beany and Cecil). Let’s be honest, those indelible parts of our formative years and everything we smoked, ingested, and especially listened to on our stereos have never really left us and continues to haunt us like a beautiful, magical dream that is still not quite over. Indeed, some stuff we see today is clearly not of our generation, like Reality TV, but it still cracks us up because of what it represents. The world is still inhabited by mad tyrants, bombastic fools, snake oil salesmen, poor shlubs, egomaniacs, schlemiels and schlimazels.  The good news is that Show and Tell is not over yet and we still have a few good years before we have to circle the scooter chairs and fend off the Geritol salesmen. I for one would rather laugh, laugh until the dying of the light, and to accompany the light show there is an endless amount of awesome music.