Originally Posted by Seminomad

from working with kids in that age range I'd say that the first wave of Millennials ends in 1991

The birthyear of Blueman18 and Ian Brombacher (even though when Ian Brombachers was listening to the Offspring most of his classmates were still listening to the BS Boys. But then again the BS Boys are too sexualized to be good "Hero" music . . . I don't understand WHY S&H consider the BS Boys and *N SUCK to be quintessential Millennial music). Blueman18's description of his birthyear as a wave shaped by the cynicism over the War on Iraq rather than by patriotism doesn't sound very "core Millie".

- and as for where to begin things? I want to say 1975 because Jorge Cham (whose PhD Comics chronicles my life so well) was born in that year - and many people say 'last wave' X begins around 1975...

That's where Eric Meece begins his "Explorers"!

When I look at Avril (has she done anything in the past few years since, say, 2003?),

Well, she had a song in the movie Eragon called "Keep Holding On".

I see someone from my cohort whose partying behavior seems no different from countless members of the tumultuous 1981 cohort

The same as Kirsten Dunst, Leelee Sobieski, Thora Birch and those other 1982 cohorts (Kirsten Dunst was once featured as one website's "Very Important Pothead" of the month.) And L-Lo (1986!)

yet her audience is clearly people quite a bit younger than you or I - but in general I'd say Yers (along with late core Xers, and early core Millies, for that matter) are portrayed in this interesting split: while individual members may be portrayed as optimistic, successful, etc, in the aggregate (though maybe this isn't true for people born closer to 1990 than 1980) they are treated as pretty much stereotypical Xers with maybe a little more tech savvy!

Well-observed. I'd also like to add that since the Battle of Seattle, and again since the War on Iraq, there's been a liberal, politically active element in the image of our generation. This doesn't go well with S&H's Axess article, in which they say that this generation stands for "security, not radicalism" (blechh!)

Of course, I'm probably missing something here... and for obvious reasons I no longer have the same desire to argue generational boundaries (it feels like trying to argue why Maryland or Virginia is not part of the North)

Everyone knows Maryland is part of the North! But Virginia is part of the South. (That means S&H's Fairfax County Millennials are Southerners . . . does that skew their ideology a little bit?)

Originally Posted by Neisha '67

Hmm, I'm not sure what is meant by "get serious." What I do know is that most of us are deep into the childrearing phase of life, which means that we're more focused on family than on outer-world issues. This is a lot like Boomers in the '80s and '90s.

"Most of us" Are you counting 1981 cohorts, or even 1979 cohorts, as Xers?

Originally Posted by 1990

That is, specifically, are Xers working to broaden gender differences again? Are they working to stabilize social mores rather than raise hell? Are they realizing that the days of "touchup politics" are over, and that grand problems demand grand solutions? Are they taking action, at least on a local level, to better society, or is apathy still the rage at PTA meetings? etc. etc. etc.

I agree with you that we're really not seeing this yet. IIRC S&H say that 13ers are supposed to bring back social conventions in midlife. They also say that Millennials are supposed to bring back social conventions, so that actually makes two generations. We don't see either generation taking on that 4T role right now. Instead, we see Baby Boomers trying to hold onto existing social conventions and refusing to watch them die.

Originally Posted by Jesse Manoogian

Everyone knows Maryland is part of the North! But Virginia is part of the South. (That means S&H's Fairfax County Millennials are Southerners . . . does that skew their ideology a little bit?)

Everyone in the DC area and in Ole Virginy knows that Northern Virginia (which includes Arlington County, Alexandria City, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties) isn't really "part" of the "real Virginia".

Originally Posted by Jesse Manoogian

Suppose a bunch of eighties cohorts hold a history-changing protest at Agoura Hills in 2009 and some people start memorializing the watershed event by calling the kids who did it the Agoura Generation.

At least it would be authentic unlike a name based on the assumption of the continuation of past trends.

Meanwhile, the "Millennials" term invented by S&H is rejected because people view the S&H characterization of this generation as being about bringing back conventionality, fighting for the causes older people choose, preferring stability over radicalism and celebrating the status quo, and they don't see this generation doing this (rightly or wrongly, this is what most people who read S&H believe the authors say about Millennials).

The new civic generation is an open book at this point. If a critical mass of those we now call the millies come to believe that the so called choices offered them are all bad, the 4t could turn very internal with perhap a charismatic X'er leader rallying the younger generation to put the boomers into an early political retirement, much like happened to the transies after the civil war.

I've written before, an unhappy civic generation, with its knack for organized activity, is a lot more dangerous than a bunch of angry "lone wolf"idealists.

Someone could write a new book or script a new movie or put out a new Broadway musical and name this generation in the work, the way Coupland named Generation X in his book title. If it receives critical acclaim, this opus could give the generation its permanent appellation.

That would be one heck of a cultural event that would be well worth seeing.

Originally Posted by herbal tee

That would be one heck of a cultural event that would be well worth seeing.

Thoroughly Modern "Millie" ?

Originally Posted by The Wonkette

Everyone in the DC area and in Ole Virginy knows that Northern Virginia (which includes Arlington County, Alexandria City, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William Counties) isn't really "part" of the "real Virginia".

What county is Fredricksburg in? That's about the closest area to DC where I've felt any substantial hint of "Southernness".

Originally Posted by Roadbldr '59

What county is Fredricksburg in? That's about the closest area to DC where I've felt any substantial hint of "Southernness".

Spotsylvania.

Driving down from my house to Fredericksburg, you pass through Arlington County, City of Alexandria, Fairfax County, Prince William County (home of Potomac Mills Mall), Stafford County, and finally Spotsylvania County.

Originally Posted by Jesse Manoogian

"Most of us" Are you counting 1981 cohorts, or even 1979 cohorts, as Xers?

Children, no. Married? Yep. A decent chunk of my fellow high school grads are married now. A significant minority have children. The girl down the street from my folks house has two. I am about to add number two this month. We are talking about people born in 1979-1980.

Originally Posted by The Rani

My 1979-born cousin dislocated her shoulder skydiving last year. Then she had surgery, started skydiving again, and last week dislocated her ankle. She's an Xer all the way.

But I think expecting everyone in their late 20s to "get serious" by getting married and pregnant isn't quite realistic. Again, I don't think it's what the authors have in mind either, based on their comments.

I hate to mention it, but being married doesn't mean you are 'serious' nor does procreating. There are plenty of deadbeat fathers my age out there who need to put in some serious child support payments.

Likewise there are my friends, a 31-year-old mom of two who plays Rollerderby while she is not changing diapers, and her 36-year-old husband who plays in a scream-metal band while he's not programming websites.

My childless Brooklynite friends like to complain about all those pesky hipster families who crowd the bars on Sundays with their two kids, "Peyton" and "Porter" (in New York we have a lot of family names as first names for some reason these days).

Speaking of New York, I guarantee you that this guy will be the next mayor. Xers will turn out in droves to vote 1964-born "Mayor Weiner" into office. Plus he used to live with Jon Stewart. Which means he inhaled.

Anyway, if that's not serious politics, I don't know what is.

Plenty of young flower children got pregnant, but never got serious. Lots of Xers got pregnant but didn't get serious. I believe the two are largely unrelated.

I'd have to agree with The Rani in that "getting serious" probably means something more. Possibly a shift in world view that moves the individual to a place where the course of society, nation, neighborhood, family future become a part of the personal realm. Before one "settles down" or "gets serious" all these issues seem to go on around you, Items on the evening news seem to be what's happening "out there in the world of others. But, when you "get serious" you view these same things as happening to you/impacting you personally. All of a sudden the news has a much more personal feeling. You respond by reacting to it in a serious way. Instead of rolling your eyes you run for city council. Instead of breathing an apathetic sigh, you take steps to save money for your family's future.

Getting serious, to this Xer anyhow, represents a shift in world view. A sort of gnosis that causes you to act..................serious on issues you may have previously seen as distant and no count.

very deleted

Originally Posted by 13thGenLawyer

Skabungus - I find myself in a very similar boat. As my name implies, I am a lawyer and I work in the private sector for now. In both firms that I have worked for, my ideas have been pushed aside as 'too radical' for my Boomer bosses. you will find this humorous - my radical ideas included:

- advertising the firm on the internet or increasing web-based presence to bring in younger clients
- producing advertising brochures that are able to be mailed so that businesses could read about our experience in business-related services
- reducing our overhead of political contributions/ political clients and focusing on expanding our private sector business.

As I said, the Boomer partners look at me like I'm insane for challenging their business model that "has worked for 30 years".

1. Remember the "Agassi principle". "Image is EVERYTHING". While the above are of course not "radical", the fact remains they were perceived as such. Thusly, the purpose of a workweek is to peruse emails , do what they say to do, and find your favorite websites to browse or local games to play if the company keeps tabs on internet usage. You'll be occupied for six hours with the latter, with 2 hours of real work. That is how my workday goes. It helps to have something like asteroids or space invaders as a screensaver, so nobody knows if you're keeping yourself occupied by playing games for old time sake. I'm sure the Nintendo wave can do likewise.

2. Boomers are *always* right. (They think). CYA policy is needed. If you ever see something that gets you to thinking "hmmm...., if X isn't addressed soon, I might get ensnared in some political bullshit." CYA. Write an email to your boss just *suggesting* Y be done about X. Copy yourself and your home email address. Ass has been properly covered.

3. Useless/Stupid/Lame meetings which waste time. These include diversity, "our values", "new company gym", etc. junk. This is easy to fix. Use the buddy system. Have another X'er send a severity 1 page to you right before the meeting starts. Now , you have to attend to something important. I.E. in my case, some server just crashed (in folks' minds, but I really need to make top score.

Of course, this is exactly my point. My Boomer bosses (and other Boomer policy makers) are practicing law, fightng a war, and governing the people based on practices that have worked for 30 years; however, these practices/policies will not work any longer since society has changed.

By the way, I am a Gen Xer with a 4 year old son. My wife and I are taking our lives very seriously and are turning into the over-protective parents that S & H describe. I see many other Xers in their early 30s behaving the same way we are, so I suspect that the rise of the Xers is just around the corner.

Of course. This gets to line item 4. "Home/family supersede employers".
It gets down to the loyalty principle. You are just another line item for corporate America. Us elder X'ers do in fact remember when corporate America was part of family with Xmas parties for us and Easter egg hunts. These and other "family" ties no longer exist (see 30 year time line of Boomers). Thusly, since the relationship is platonic and strictly economic in nature, only 40 hrs/week max. of labor shall be rendered for paychecks.
Since playing Atari games is a direct result of them wanting to run everyting, well, OK by me. I'll take boredom over stress everytime.

It seems to me that if you want to know about people of a particular age group you can begin by not assuming you know what they're doing or going through let alone what they have gone through based on someone's theory of history. You can begin by asking more questions about them than making comments about them.

Originally Posted by kochevnik

You're all mostly putting the cart before the horse re: serious Xers.

The cycles shape the generations, not the generations shaping the cycles. Xers won't be 'serious' now because there is very little to be serious about.

Not really, the generations are shaped by the cycles, and serve to shape the cycles. It's a symbiotic thing don't ya know!

Very little to get serious about is relative. If you consider the threshold of seriousness to be pandemic plague, total economic collapse, or something on that scale I would have to agree with you. The proverbial pooh pooh has yet to hit the propeller.

On the other hand, if you consider it at the personal level....family, individual level.........I would disagree. As I and many my age ('61 cohort) watch things "go down the tubes at a very slow pace" we know all to well the pooh is airborne and propeller bound. We're taking serious steps because, we are in positions of responsibility be it as heads of households, bank VP's, CEO's, mayors, etc. I think that you'll also find some of us in positions of authority/power as well----heading up state government agenices, federal bureau offices and law firms. Not as many as you'll find in the future, but, its starting. Watch xers in positions of responsibility, authority and power right now and see them as a harbringer of things to come.

I dont believe any of this generational cyclic stuff happens in the blink of an eye. Pivotal events yes, and they serve as bench marks yes, but the situation and the mindset capable of recognizing the event for what it is needs to develop over time. The disorganized, tail chasing of the post 9/11 period we're in now is essential so people (particularly xers) can get disgusted enough to take action.

A lot of searching of gray-haired grandmothers and in the meantime Osama Bin-Forgotten is still out there somewhere.

And if xers where in power do you think we'd go chase him down and try him? It sounds too much like a Roy Rodgers episode to me. Rather, I think an Xer solution may be to just ignore the individual (Osama)and focus on crushing any state that supports (actively or tacitly) terrorism, or, possibly nixing him when convient/possible but not focusing a whole lot of resources on making it happen. Then again, he might be worth talking to. Give him some recognition and co-opt him. After all, he started out on our side, remember? Or, maybe I'm just pulling your chain.

So as a society, and especially as an Xer, you might want to do some pondering as to what form this pivot event will take (so many possibilities out there ) Things, overall, are really not that bad right now. I think that is about to change quite a bit - and clearly, the most useful bit of info that the theory provides is an insight into just how out-of-whack-bad it can get. We had serious wars in ALL of the last three 4T's - to forget that aspect or to minimize it is absolutely foolish in my book.

Yes, there are a number of interesting threads on this issue. Check out the Modern Winter Era 2001-2024 thread in the Generations forum, or the Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment thread in The Future forum for some dicey talk on things to come. Personally my money's on deforestation, desertification and drought leading to pandemic plague and famine. Now if that doesnt kick off pandemic warfare I don't know what will!

Originally Posted by Justin '77

He's 7 since mid-May. But yeah, pretty much the same age.
So was Ari in grade 1 this past year? Schools out this way start at age 7, so Zack got a year's worth of language practice before having to hit academics; but he's way chomping at the bit to formally join the ranks of 'big kids'.

As for responsibility, we do try to strike a balance with him. Once school starts, he'll most likely fairly quickly be taking care of getting himself from school to either music lessons or aikido (depending on the day and how the after-schools break down).
The main thing I've seen is a focus on manners that the Boomer crowd didn't seem to stress. I bet, as far as overprotected goes, it's not something that ay parent-generation can see. After all, the level of protectiveness they are applying is "appropriate", not "excessive".
It's for their kids (once they've grown up) to say when and how they went too far.

Ari starts first grade in the fall (September 1 cut-off and October birthday).

I'm huge on manners. They're kids, not barbarians. Although, I don't think everyone else is, but that could just be Portland.

Good point on overprotectiveness. What I'm not seeing, though, is any difference between Xer parenting and late 50s cohort Boomer parenting. If anyone is seeing something new in Xer parenting that wasn't done by 55-60 cohort Boomers, please post it!

Originally Posted by Jesse Manoogian

"Most of us" Are you counting 1981 cohorts, or even 1979 cohorts, as Xers?

Younger Xers aren't most Xers. The Xer age range is 26 to 46. So, yeah, most Xers have pretty well settled down. Most of the Atari-wave is pretty stable and a great many Xers over 30 (which is most Xers) are focused on family.

Originally Posted by Neisha '67

Ari starts first grade in the fall (September 1 cut-off and October birthday).

I'm huge on manners. They're kids, not barbarians. Although, I don't think everyone else is, but that could just be Portland.

Good point on overprotectiveness. What I'm not seeing, though, is any difference between Xer parenting and late 50s cohort Boomer parenting. If anyone is seeing something new in Xer parenting that wasn't done by 55-60 cohort Boomers, please post it!

I'm kinda lucky, I watched as my 55-60 siblings were raising their kids and opted to stay in suit with my parents system. The majority of our friends are following in suit with our parents vs following suit with our older brothers and sisters. In my highschool class, one was either the first or second born or the second to the last or the last of families with four to six kids. Our older siblings were prodominately 55-60 boomers.

Originally Posted by herbal tee

At least it would be authentic unlike a name based on the assumption of the continuation of past trends.


The new civic generation is an open book at this point. If a critical mass of those we now call the millies come to believe that the so called choices offered them are all bad, the 4t could turn very internal with perhap a charismatic X'er leader rallying the younger generation to put the boomers into an early political retirement, much like happened to the transies after the civil war\

I've written before, an unhappy civic generation, with its knack for organized activity, is a lot more dangerous than a bunch of angry "lone wolf"idealists.




That would be one heck of a cultural event that would be well worth seeing.

Or, alternatively, a Boomer faction that is very unhappy with the status quo.

In the book T4T, the authors indicated that come the 4T Boomers would emerge from their cocoons and become activist again. I am not seeing too much of this so far, except for fringe groups such as those trying to protest things such as food processing habits or the wearing of fur. I have mentioned on this forum in the past that many of the things associated with Xers have already been true of Boomers, and that Boomers were the ones who, when they reaching the thirtysomething years, said "been there, done that" when it came to activities such as late-night partying and casual sex.

I am one who is very unhappy with the status quo, and am very concerned with such things as gridlock in all forms be it political, traffic or retail. By retail gridlock I mean the intense formulacation with so many stores all looking just the same and not allowing individuality, which IMO is a supreme irony giving that we are supposedly in the age of individualism, although we are on schedule to exit from it anytime. Yet we tend to concern ourselves more with events such as Paris Hilton going to jail. It's so ironic that we face both a staunch resistance to change at the same time we are being told that the only thing constant is change.

Originally Posted by K-I-A 67

I'm kinda lucky, I watched as my 55-60 siblings were raising their kids and opted to stay in suit with my parents system. The majority of our friends are following in suit with our parents vs following suit with our older brothers and sisters. In my highschool class, one was either the first or second born or the second to the last or the last of families with four to six kids. Our older siblings were prodominately 55-60 boomers.

Yeah.

Here's something that may be new with Xers. S&H said we'd use technology to overprotect our kids.

So far we have spearheaded the trend of using technology to talk about them. Here's a local example I check on occassion:

http://urbanmamas.typepad.com/

There are also a million mommy/daddy blogs out there, national web communities like urbanbaby, and we all use the net to share photos. It's pretty obsessive, and maybe that's an indicator right there. Not sure. Too close to home for me to evaluate objectively, probably.

There's no way to manage it. You're friends are nuts.

Originally Posted by The Rani

So here's a comment about Xer parenting. My cousins, who have a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old, don't let them watch a whole lot of T.V. or play computer games. They live in a house with a small yard, and on a busy street, so they can't "run outside and play." So now, their kids are starting to drive them nuts, running around the house screaming and wrestling each other (both boys) while they try to get housework done.

Without being able to send the kids to run around the neighborhood for safety reasons, or using T.V. as a babysitter, is there any other way for full-time working parents to manage this stuff? Other than getting a nanny or something.

Anti is right.....your cousins are nutz....but that's beside the point.

We have a 13 year old boy tweeb (- he's not a tween anymore, but not truly exhibiting difficult teen manifestations, so, he's a tweeb), a 2 1/2 year old boy and a girl that is due to arrive in early December.

* We permit TV as long as its "worth watching" which means, Frontline, Nature, Signing Time, History Detectives, or some other educational/interesting program that mom and dad deem the whole family can enjoy. No Sponge Bob, CSI, 24 or other purposeless trash. Typically though, its not network TV at all (we don't spend money on cable) but instead a DVD or VHS we got for free at the library.

* There is no parking your ass in front of the TV by yourself to idle away the hours. Any single dose is limited to 2 1/2 hours a day max. Only one dose a day. This applies to everyone mom and dad included. TV is a family device only. Typically though we only ever have it on for about 4-6 hours a week total. Remember, the whole family has to be available to watch it!

* Because these are THE RULES, and because mom and dad apply the same rules to themselves, its fairly easy to enforce. I can count on one hand the tweeb has complained he couldn't watch something his friends talk about at skewl. If, however, we were to make exceptions, I am sure it would become a slippery slope. Viewing the TV as a family tool for entertainment removes it from the realm in which most people view it ---as a giant cathode ray nipple feeding them a way to waste time and feel engaged with the world. Our TV is not a baby sitter.

* Computer games, (something dad and the tweeb dearly love) are treated differently. 1. The game must be something that requires serious strategy, 2. the game must be played after all chores are done and only when it doesn't interfere with family interaction. 3. computer gaming is a reward, not a right. 4. Time is limited to 1 hour - 3 times a week. That means you can play chess, Go, Age of Empires or an online game like Galactic Conquest all by yourself for a total of 3 hours a week, if you can fit it in. There are no endless hours of gaming on line in our house, though back in college dad could game for 24 hours straight with only coffee!

* We have developed some great family games that keep everyone entertained and don't interfere with housework. They're called help mommy and daddy games! My wife stays home with the kids (note: I didn't say "my wife doesn't work" the way my Silent parents always say) so she is there to interact with them all day. This saves our having to pay for daycare and, gives her some help around the house. Believe it or not, our 2 1/2 year old picks up his toys when told; goes and gets his sippy cup of cold goat's milk outta the fridge himself, and puts it back when he's told to; can dress himself, and helps clean the house when asked. He finds this all to be a really fun game! The tweeb has fits of rebellion on these issues (I'm sure he'll get more rebellious as the testosterone sears the hemispheres of his brain in half) but knows that its all part of the routine. We have found the key to be consistent demands/rewards and inflexible (no, not harsh) discipline. We've also found that the payback to us parents come in the form of engaged, managable/helpful, kids who are more often than not, exhausted at bed time.

* We augment play choices with all kinds of puzzles, book (1 hour a day required over the summer break), ongoing experiments (in the garden, in the wood shop, etc. and other things that we as parents "suggest" or the kids choose. The only rule is that the activity be challenging, and stretch the child's brains and/or muscles. We are the kindest form of dictators, but we are dictators none the less, dispensing choices on issues where choices are appropriate. Doing what you are told to do, when you are told to do it is not one of those areas.

* We are fortunate that we live on a farm where outside play is a possibility. That doesn't mean its safer than a busy street corner ( a quick review of insurance stats will show farm-related injury/and death for farm children is high) but it does mean field, woods, water and animals are plentiful making play options virtually unlimited -- particularly for the tweeb who builds forts, races bikes and other boyish activities with his friends. The 2 1/2 year old is allowed to play in the yard, in a 20' x 30' portable "kid pen" in front of the kitchen and dining room windows where mom can watch his every move. Our baby monitor works to keep an ear out for him when mom is away from the window. In other instances he helps mom and dad, weed, milk goats, feed chickens (he's the best hen catcher in the family) and do the other chores around the farm. He is engaged, active and happy.

Here's why I list these things out. We have adopted a strict set of rules for raising our kids that our parents would never have dreamed of imposing on us. Its not even the level of strictness applied to them when they were kids. We figured out that the kids behave better when the guidelines are clear cut and consistent. We also figured out that when the + and - concequences were consistent and delivered quickly, that they worked. There are no "maybe" issues. This makes it clear to them and saves mom and dad a lot of wind explaining things. To make things easy to figure out, mom and dad follow most of the same rules, as noted above. Exceptions include bed times, alcohol, and the usual "adult" privilages.

I remember growing up under parents that would routinely restrict me from activities that were kid activities that they didn't approve of (like reading comic books) but who would permit me to do other things (like have a beer with dad after splitting wood) which were adult activities. The rationale, as they explain it nowadays, is that they wanted to introduce me to these "adult things" early so they wouldn't be novel when I came of age. So, according to their logic, if I got these adult experiences under my belt before I was an adult, then I'd be a well seasoned adult, by the time I was 18. Funny, they said the same thing when they let me sleep over at my girlfriend's house when I was 14.........but comic books were still out of the question!

Our style requires a lot more sustained interaction with our kids. More than either of my parents would have tollerated! It also requires that we obey some rules and some schedules that we, as adults would not abide in if we didn't have kids.

I know (before ever encountering S&H) that my parents were underprotective, but I don't see our style as being overly protective.

Originally Posted by The Rani

So you're saying it's the attitude that's important, not the activities. Which is kinda what I was thinking too.

Yea, I think "attitude" may be a bit broad, but close enough.

I can find anything stressful, if I really try......so the converse applies as well.

In otherwords, raising children is what you make it. If you want it to be stressful and without options, then that's what its going to be. If, on the other hand, you take the perspective that parenting opens up a whole new world of "challenges" and the number of potential solutions is limitless, then you're bound to move forward creatively. For me, the key to remaining positive has been to actively purging the word "can't" from my vocabulary. If you take that word out, then you WILL find a way for your kids to play safely on your urban lot near the busy intersection.

Okay The Rani, you asked......

Skabungus is a word of my own creation, or discovery, or........it was given to me by..........something. It can be understood in the following terms.......maybe.

• The moment of gnosis, or, the verbal exclamation to the moment of gnosis. “The thought occurred to him and SKABUNGUS….he had the answer to his life long quest.”……. or………”the though entered his head and he cried out “SKABUNGUS! I KNOW THE ANSWER!!!!!”

• The physical evidence of an attempt to make sense of chaos. “When they entered the tiny study, the skabungus was everywhere, even dripping from the ceiling and hanging in a heavy mist about the corners of the room. Clearly it was here the gnomes had gathered in their attempt to decipher the meaning of the ancient text.”

• The green glow found among the hemlock forests of Northeast Ohio at just around sunrise when its 93ºand mist covers the ferns and moss below your feet and you’ve been standing there all night in the pouring rain.

• A tag I picked up during an event similar to that described in # 3 above.

• The end result, when you eat, all at once, more than your fair share of the little brown mushrooms a friend gave you for your birthday.

• All of the above.