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The Algorithm of Outrage: Not Every Headline Deserves Your Peace
We live in a time where outrage is currency. Social media feeds us headlines designed to spark emotion, arguments, and clicks. The more heated we get, the more the algorithm wins. But here’s the truth: not every headline deserves your peace. Parasocial Relationships and the Illusion of Intimacy With the rise of social media, we’ve…
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Tuesday Tip: When Identity Becomes Religion and the Revival That Follows
I’m 51 years old, a Gen Xer who grew up believing in liberal ideals. For most of my life, I thought I understood what it meant to be a Democrat: fighting for fairness, standing up for the underdog, and pushing for progress. But over time, I began to see a shift. For me, the change…
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The Weight of the World and the Rest We Were Promised
In April 1999, I was one month away from college graduation when Columbine happened. My younger brother was still in high school, and watching teenagers his age running for their lives, or not making it out at all, was terrifying. Two years later, I stood in front of the TV with the rest of the…
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From Trauma Bond to Fractured Trust: A Nation’s Lament
I still remember September 12, 2001. The day after the towers fell, we were all glued to our televisions, hearts heavy, eyes swollen, minds trying to grasp the horror of what had just unfolded. It was trauma bonding on a national scale. For a fleeting moment, grief bound us together. Flags waved from porches. Strangers…
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Wednesday Wisdom: Pop Culture, Love, and the Truth About Marriage
Having to navigate the shattered shards of my parents’ marriage made me skeptical about love from the beginning. Their subsequent debacle of relationships left the kids as casualties, and I carried that distrust into adulthood. Later, working in VIP Services on the Las Vegas Strip, I saw another side of broken vows—men gleefully repeating the…
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Throwback Thursday: What Are Words For?
Last night, my husband played Words by Missing Persons, and it was a blast from the past. I honestly feel like I haven’t heard it in forever. But this time, instead of just bobbing my head to Dale Bozzio’s wild vocals and new wave synth, I actually listened to the lyrics. And it hit me—forty-plus…
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Throwback Thursday: From Cedar Point to Social Security—Gen X and the Retirement Time Bomb
The year was 1992. June. Just one day after I graduated high school, my father dropped me off at Cedar Point, Ohio’s crown jewel amusement park, to begin my first real job as a restroom attendant. Potty Patrol wasn’t glamorous, but it was honest work. Minimum wage: $4.25/hour. My housing and food were deducted from…
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Wednesday Wisdom: Navigating Economic Uncertainty—A Recession or Just a Bump?
Wisdom for the Week: The economic climate has been a hot topic, and it’s hard not to notice the tension in the air. We’re feeling it in many places across the country—Las Vegas, for example, often feels the effects of a recession before the rest of us. And right now, we’re seeing the familiar signs:…
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Life is a Bento Box: Back-to-School Shopping and the Art of Intentional Living
It’s hard to believe that it is already the end of July, and many kids are going back to school as early as NEXT WEEK! Time to gather up the requisite school supplies including cool backpacks and stylish lunch storage options. Gen X remembers the metal lunchboxes of our childhood. Mine held a PB&J sandwich,…
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When the Lights Go Down: What a Jumbotron, Coldplay, and a Slow Fade Reveal About Us
It was meant to be a magical moment. The glow of the Jumbotron, the swell of the music, and an interactive moment with the crowd. But as Coldplay’s Chris Martin scanned the audience and cheekily remarked that the couple ducking the camera was either “shy or having an affair,” the stadium erupted in laughter. But…
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“Slow It Down: A Gen X Wake-Up Call in a World Spinning Out”
In a world where time speeds like a bullet train, sometimes you just want to jump off, especially when the destination feels like a sure derailment. I’m a Gen X woman. I was raised in a world where we were warned about stranger danger, but still roamed the neighborhood until the streetlights came on. We…
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Made in America (Once Upon a Time): A Youngstown Kid’s Take on Trade Wars and Steel Town Ghosts
I was raised on the clang of steel and the scent of molten metal—before that scent was replaced by silence. My dad worked at one of the mills in Youngstown, Ohio. A man of grit and calloused hands who wore his hard hat like a crown. We didn’t have much, but we had pride—because what…
THE OUBAITORI EDIT 