Originally published on BoomerCafe.com March 26, 2010

A much publicized and anticipated two-hour documentary, “Tom Brokaw Reports: Boomer$!” aired on CNBC in early March.

I made a point to watch this venerable journalist recap my life as a boomer. And it was a great report, full of nostalgia of course, but also full of the realism that some boomers are facing today — downsizing with nowhere to go, healthcare costs for 72 million of us, conversation bites with boomers just like you and me and the problems we’re dealing with today.

We all love to look back at ourselves, don’t we? To remember Rock and Roll, hippies and flower children, JFK, Howdy Doody, the first TVs, Elvis, the first personal computers, Woodstock, man on the moon. And it’s good even to reflect back on the times of trauma — the Civil Rights Movement, the Gay Rights Movement, Martin Luther King, Vietnam and/or anti-war demonstrations, the Berlin Wall, the Kennedy assassinations. These events have been the bookmarks of our lives, captured beautifully in this show.

But wait a minute Mr.Brokaw — I think you forgot something! Where oh where in your all-encompassing two-hour documentary is the Feminist Movement, Women’s Rights?

Sure, you did have a 30-second mention that because of feminism, two women in a row have been CEOs of Xerox, but that was it. That was it? Are you serious, Tom? Were you having a ’senior moment?’

The far-reaching effects of feminism in North America include more jobs with equal pay, more equal divorce settlements, introduction of no-fault divorce, control over our own bodies including birth control and contraception, introduction of non-sexist language such as Ms. rather than other titles designating marital status, the word ‘humanity’ instead of ‘mankind,’ a revamping of traditional gender roles within a relationship.

So I have to ask, Why was the Feminist Movement so minimalized in this comprehensive documentary? Does it indicate a mindset from the producers/creators/reporter or from the media in general? Is it indicative of mainstream thinking? Is it possible that much of our population no longer remembers the huge impact that feminism has had on our lives?”

I’m shaking my head here because I have no answers. I can’t begin to explain or understand an omission of such huge proportion.

It’s the fact that Brokaw is so highly respected, such an icon himself, that makes the omission of feminism so much more offensive! It was a pivotal part of our history that marked a major shift for all boomers. To have it so minimized on this worthy documentary speaks poorly of those associated with its content.

Come on Tom! What were you thinking?

© Marcia Barhydt, 2010

All rights reserved

Celebrate Age! www.willowtree.ca

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Bonnie Ross-Parker, Founder of The Joy of Connecting.

Listen in as we talk about Making a Decision Without Retreating!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

“You take what’s on hand and apply to that a little imagination, a sense of timing, to make those ingredients yield what you want.”

by Tamara Kaye Sellman

Laura Kalpakian has received a National Endowment of the Arts, a Pushcart Prize, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award, and the first Anahid Literary Award for an American Writer of Armenian descent. Her novels include American Cookery, Steps and Exes, Graced Land, Caveat, and These Latter Days. Her short fiction has been gathered in three collections, including Fair Augusto, which won the PEN/West Award for Best Short Fiction.

Kalon Kitchen: In American Cookery you include a lot of recipes that I suspect are original family favorites. Where (or from whom) did you acquire these recipes? If readers were to make them, would they succeed?

Laura Kalpakian: They are family recipes, created, tested, tinkered with, and enjoyed in my own kitchen amid the flurry and upheaval of everyday life. I chose them very carefully. I wanted them to reflect the span of seasons and the span of possibilities, from unique desserts to finger food. I wanted them to reflect different cultural and geographical areas, like the Famous All the Way to Memphis Barbecue Sauce from the Arkansas cook, to the Copper River salmon recipe from the Northwest. Then too, I chose recipes that did not require exotic ingredients, exquisite techniques, or expensive equipment. Lastly, I wanted them to reflect the novel’s title and fundamental thematic: they should come from a variety of traditions, each altered by that family’s or individual’s experience. The taste of “home” is a powerful connector to the past, and in that regard, going into the kitchen, you actually can recreate the past. However, there were some foods, like “Emotional Cornbread,” central and pervasive in the novel, but which have no recipe. A taste, texture, aroma that potent in memory (and the novel) would be diminished by a recipe.

There were literary considerations in my choices, too. Clearly, each recipe had to reflect on the character who appears in that chapter. With that in mind, at least one, Kitty’s Resurrection Pie, is meant to tell the reader about Kitty, not to be tried in the kitchen! However, for all the others, yes, they’re meant to be undertaken. American Cookery is an ambitious novel, not to be merely read, but to be experienced. Nothing would make me happier than to know that the reader took it into the kitchen, that the book was splattered, and battered. The recipes are written in a casual, colloquial fashion, as your old Auntie might jot it down for you, so there’s leeway for the reader’s, the cook’s own improvisations.

KK: Why were you attracted to the subject of food for this novel?

LK: Because everybody has to eat! The novel takes the old adage, “Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you what you are,” as an epigram. Food sustains the body, but it also sustains the imagination and the culture and the family and creates a set of values that are hard to shake off as one grows up, grows older. I believe—and the novel echoes the notion—that living and cooking are very much analogous. In each you take what you have on hand (your circumstances, your ingredients so to speak) and fashion it, as best you can, into what you want. Inevitably, there are compromises. Not everything turns out as one hopes. But the effort is daily and ongoing. A process.

KK: If you could celebrate one thing that best epitomizes American food culture, what would it be?

LK: I would celebrate that there is no one thing that best epitomizes American food culture. Authentic in America ought to be plural: authenticities abound. I like to watch the ways in which recipes come to belong to the person who makes them. Passed on to another, she will make her own adjustments and it will belong to her. That too is process. I prefer process to product.

Bio: Tamara Kaye Sellman is a creative writing coach and developmental editor living in Bainbridge Island, WA. She writes the blog, BuzzFood: Feed The Obsession (http://buzzfood.blogspot.com

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Note: The article which follows was originally published in The National Networker Newsletter on 02.07.2010. You can see the original published article as it appeared by clicking on http://twitlik.com/GenXX . You can read the Newsletter in its entirety by clicking on http://www.TheNationalNetworker.com. For a free membership, simply click on http://twitlik.com/IN

Dear Friends and Colleagues:

During the course of the next five years, I have forecast a growing propensity for collaborative entrepreneurship as a replacement for traditional corporate career paths, solopreneurship and the now-ineffective camouflage of non-working or “expendable” middle management. I speak about this frequently in THE GLOBAL FUTURIST and in THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE.

What I had neglected to mention was that this transitional wave is going to become increasingly dominated by the feminine gender. Here are just several of the reasons why:

1. Women now read more than men and retain more of the essence of what they read;

2. Women, physiologically and psychologically are much more flexible, adaptable and adventurous than men;

3. Women are comprising an increasing percentage of the workforce, especially following the growing acceptance of the “Mr. Mom” and “Stay-At-Home-Dad” labor shift;

4. Women are more inclined to trust their instincts, intuition and to avoid rationalizing in matters of business;

5. An increasing number of women (presidential candidates, Supreme Court Justices, professionals and other high-achievers) are being seen as role models. It’s not just Rachel Ray, or Oprah Winfrey, or Sarah Palin, or Hillary Rodham Clinton…it is a geometrically increasing number of exceptional women who are proving that women are not necessarily the exception (what a terrible sentence I’ve constructed);

6. Women are quite comfortable at working in cause-based groups, on projects, and on committees — they are natural networkers and gracefully integrate socializing and conducting business. The founders of Mary Kay, Avon, and (the legendary) Tupperware were truly visionaries;

7. Women tend to be better planners and organizers than men. This is largely environmentally encultured, but might even be a genetic/ gender advantage;

8. Women have a greater facility for retaining a great deal of personal and detailed information, and they generally have a better ability to recall seemingly small but nonetheless critical nuances or words said offhandedly;

9. Women are accomplished users of non-verbal communication, and superior interpreters of body language…they read their quarry with greater accuracy than men;

10. Women enjoy the relationship-building aspects of selling, presenting and sharing. They are, generally speaking, more socially mobile than men;

11. Women bond through compassion, which leads to cooperation;

12. An increasing number of women have become trained and conversant in technological areas of expertise, infused with the quirky spirit of problem-solving and inventiveness;

13. Women tend to be better at multi-tasking, evaluation, moderation and budgeting (despite the prevalent and stereotypically-reinforced perception amongst males that women are manic spenders and are “foolish with money”);

14. Women are more inclined to be vigilant and efficient utilizers of resources (including their female employees);

15. Women (with certain exceptions, of course) tend to identify with other women as an oppressed and underestimated group. This creates a magnetism and a subconscious connection among them which far surpasses the “business friendships” of traditionalist males;

16. Women who also happen to be Baby Boomers are possessed of a spirit of adventure and rebirth through career change that younger, less seasoned women cannot quite match.

The trajectory in female entrepreneurial ventures during the course of the next two or three years will tend to be more horizontal than that of their male predecessors and counterparts, but they will tend to be more persistent and consistent in their attentiveness and achievements. Once a foundation of examples through exemplars and a level of the expectation of success have been built during that timeframe, expect this curve to become more vertical. Women will not only rise to power and influence, but their access to affluence will become more direct and expedient.

As a member of the male gender, I would advise others similarly constructed to look at women not only as adventurous and enthusiastic consumers, but as entrepreneurs, business owners and thought leaders. A few examples of WTWF (”Women To Watch For”) follow, as examplars. Bear in mind that these individuals have already achieved a great deal in their careers, but they are not even close to being at the peak of their rise.

————

*Bonnie Ross-Parker: The Founder of The Joy of Connecting, a brilliantly conceived program which empowers women to prospect and develop their businesses in a non-threatening, social environment. Ms. Ross-Parker’s methods are unique in that they 1) eliminate the “hit-or-miss” superficial frenzy of traditional  networking and business events, while they 2) actually create a potent, time-tested interpersonal means of truly bonding on a deeper, trust-engendering level with the added factor of shared intimacy. At present, there are 70 Joy Of Connecting licensees in 19 states…a number which is expected to grow geometrically over the next two years. The licensing fees are incredibly inexpensive for the tremendous benefits generated by the licensees and all of the professionals and businesswomen who attend these gatherings. Going well beyond mere networking and connecting, JOC is, perhaps, one of the most cost effective ways of developing immediate local business. She is a published author an award-winning speaker, and has her own radio program which may become the nucleus of a women’s media empire. A JOC license is one of the best and surest investments that any female professional, executive or entrepreneur can make. Watch her.

- Bonnie Ross-Parker -

CEO/Founder – The JOY of Connecting

bootgirl@TheJOYofConnecting.com

770-333-7923 www.TheJOYofConnecting.com

www.BonnieRossParker.com

www.42rules.com/42rules/bonnierossparker

www.twitter.com/joyofconnecting

www.ideamarketers.com/experts/networking.cfm

www.quoteactions.com/a/profile/222 www.WINonline.com (radio)

*Sandra Levitin: The Founder, CEO and Editor-In-Chief of Kalon Women, a social and business website which directly addresses the special needs and interests of women 40 years and older [which is a growing and increasingly active segment of the marketplace], with a newly-launched ezine, interactive forums, product and service reviews, and enormous treasure chest of resource, articles, news, and special product and service reviews. In only two years, Kalon Women has built up an emedia subscribed readership of in excess of 60,000 persons, and that number is growing rapidly. Ms. Levitin’s captive audience is a powerful, active consumer group, and I would anticipate that her organization will become a publishing and advertising conglomerate. The content is not only relevant and exciting, but it is thought-provocative and virtually radiates a call to action. Watch her.

Sandra Levitin

Founder/CEO/Editor

editor@kalonwomen.com

www.kalonwomen.com

www.google.com/profiles/sandralevitin

*Ann Barczay Sloan: Ms. Sloan, a published author, interviewer, speaker and a Connectrix Vortex [a lingovation which describes Ann's role as being a catalyst who brings very well-accomplished, successful and powerful women together], is also a Featured Columnist for The National Networker Newsletter. She has unique access to virtually anyone whom she choose to access – I am reminded of Barbara Walters or Larry King, both of whom were incredible in their ability to get interviews with some of the busiest, most important and often controversial people in the world…many of these interviewees who were notable in their elisiveness and reticence, opened up with amazing candor to these interviewers. In sum: If Ann interviews you, it is highly likely you are either already enormously successful, or on the trajectory for great achievement and recognition. Ms. Sloan is in the process of writing two books — one, a book about the success secrets of winning women ["The Power of Passion; Winning Women Reveal Their Success Secrets"], and the other, a volume of poetry. She is currently at work on putting together an e-forum and organization (The Winning Women’s Vortex) which has two game-changing objectives on its agenda: The first is to build a Women’s Venture Capital and Business Financing Fund, and the second is to build a Credit Union which caters to the special interests and requirements of female entrepreneurs. My projection is that she will succeed at both. Watch her:

Ann Barczay Sloan, M.A.

Author & Editor / Creative Writing Coach

www.GeniusUnbound.com

www.linkedin.com/in/AnnBarczaySloan

Featured Columnist,

www.TheNationalNetworker.com

Author of the forthcoming book:

“How to Use the Pieces of a Broken Heart:

Recipes for Rebirth”

http://AnnBarczaySloan.blogspot.com

I would suggest that you Google the three leading-edge female luminaries mentioned above, and click on their links to see what the face of achievement and progress looks like. These are three people to watch. But bear in mind, they are slightly ahead of a wave that is fast coming to shore. And as I have said before, when the tidal wave comes, you can either learn to surf or be crushed in its immensity and force.

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

________________________________________________________

For more information, please visit Douglas’ TNNW Bio.

Published by THE NATIONAL NETWORKER Newsletter. All rights reserved. Subscribe

Free For Your TNNW Newsletter and THE BLUE MONDAY REPORT! – Click

HERE.

The National Networker Companies

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!