Talkin' 'bout my generation

A few days ago, bethje had me read an article that she had to read for one of her classes, which discussed differences between generations in the workforce. One thing that was mentioned in it is the stereotype that members of Generation X switch jobs a lot. I don't believe the authors of this particular article were actually ENCOURAGING this stereotype, but it's something I see mentioned a lot. I don't really know that it's fair to lay the blame on the youth, though. I mean, we live in an era where employers seem to be making whatever efforts they can to avoid hiring permanent, full-time employees. I mean, we're always hearing about downsizing, outsourcing, and companies only hiring part-time and/or temporary workers. How can a worker have job loyalty when the employers have no WORKER loyalty? That's not necessarily to say that there's NO truth to the stereotype, but it kind of seems like blaming the victim, you know?

I'm not even really sure that I'm part of Generation X. I was born in 1977, which means that some cut-off dates place me there, while others say I'm actually part of Generation Y/The Lost Generation/Generation Next (even though I don't drink Pepsi). Not that I think that kind of thing really matters anyway, but hey.

I think I've just about worked out the track list for my end-of-the-year mix. So far, revme, slfcllednowhere, and obsessical have expressed interest in receiving copies of my recent mixes. Does anyone else want to get in on this? If you do, let me know which mixes interest you. I have the religion one and the end-of-the-year one, and I'd probably be willing to make a more personalized mix for anyone who's interested (preferably if I haven't made one for you before, which isn't to say that I won't make a second one, just that it would probably have a lot of the same artists as the first one).

( Star Wars personality test )

The end is near

I finished reading Lemony Snicket's most recent book, The Penultimate Peril, this evening. The books have been getting progressively longer as the series goes on, but they're still pretty quick reads. This one brings back a lot of characters from earlier books, which is a nice touch. I also like the idea of a hotel arranged by the Dewey Decimal System (maybe sometime I should look in the books I use for cataloging, and see how appropriate the numbers are), and the running joke about Count Olaf being a bad speller. Not surprisingly, there are mentions of Beatrice and the sugar bowl, but no more information as to why they're important. There's also somewhat of an additional mystery involving Olaf's and the Baudelaires' parents.

I have to wonder how much of the mystery aspect to the series was planned from the beginning, and how much was just made up as the author went along. Certainly, The Unauthorized Autobiography of Lemony Snicket introduces a lot of information that would come into play in later books, and adds an element of mystery to seemingly inoccuous events from earlier volumes. But I get the impression that these earlier events weren't originally intended to have hidden meanings. I think The Austere Academy was the first book in the series that gave the impression that there was something going on beyond a villain's outlandish plots to steal a fortune from three orphans. It included the first mention of V.F.D., and I think the first reference that connected the story of Lemony and Beatrice to that of the Baudelaires, as well. Maybe I should take a look back through some of those earlier books, especially The Unauthorized Autobiography, to see whether there are any clues or connections that I missed the first time through.

Hmm, this year saw the release of the next-to-last volumes in both the Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket series. I suppose it's an auspicious year for such things.