'Oregon Trail' Gen X Nerd

Art by altocello for https://sites.google.com/view/thehuntforbensolo Role-modelling through entertainment to save lives: Why Superman (2025) felt so good, and why making films like The Hunt for Ben Solo matters by Jen Davies, nerd Nov 26, 2025 Trigger warning: Suicide and mental health concerns. Spoiler alert: Plot points of the Superman (2025) film, and possibly The Man of Steel / Snyderverse. Star Wars sequels plot points. Note: I will likely use terms and fail to define them because I’m integrating a lot of ideas here from diverse contexts, for example, emotional dysregulation (which refers to being a state of unmanaged high emotion) - not something we usually talk about in literary/film analysis. At my home we are reaching the end of Movember, and I’m so glad because my spouse’s moustache is out of control. Every year for at least the last 7+ years, he has shaved his face at Halloween and proceeded to fundraise on behalf of the campaign by growing a thing on his face...

  Making decisions with guidance from Babylon 5's Key Questions by Jen Davies, nerd Nov 19, 2025 In the metaplot for sci-fi epic TV series Babylon 5 ( B5 for short), set on the eponymous space station built by humans as a diplomacy and trade gesture with the rest of the known galaxy, we are introduced to (more than) three sentient species, each of which is characterized by a key question: Vorlons: Who are you? Shadows: What do you want? Humans*: Why are you here? * This question is gifted to humans by the last surviving member of the most ancient alien species at the peak of the meta-level action in the series. Let's examine these questions through the lens of the B5 origins of each question and how those scenarios are a lot like real life. As a counsellor I walk people through these questions fairly often, without the sci-fi spin (usually). Then we’ll examine how anyone can use these questions to make better-informed decisions about life. Vorlons: Who are you? In the B5 se...

  Photo from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X:_Tales_for_an_Accelerated_Culture   What is an Oregon Trail Gen X (or Xennial)? by Jen Davies, nerd (and social scientist) Nov 12, 2025 Note: There is no Google Maps here! This is demographics. In demographics, generational patterns of attitude and beliefs are formed by major events and social trends during formative years (typically childhood and teen years). Looking at these generational patterns is sometimes helpful for discussing prevailing attitudes and social trends among large groups of North Americans. Some of the same trends can be seen globally, but my knowledge of these phenomena extend primarily to the USA and Canada, so that’s who I’m talking about. Generation X - a name which was made to stick thanks to a book by the same name by a Canadian author, Douglas Copeland (see link above, it’s a great read) - is made up of people born at the end of the 1960s up to about 1980, and they became teenagers in the late 1...

Photo from https://theplaylist.net/v-for-vendetta-science-fiction-20200730/  Why the ace up my sleeve loves V for Vendetta, and the limits of English for describing feelings by Jen Davies, nerd Nov 5, 2025 A lot of folks were introduced to Alan Moore through the movie versions of two visual novels, Watchmen and V for Vendetta . Me too. I have since been watching the free YouTube videos associated with Alan Moore’s BBC Maestro series recently released, highly recommend you look those up if you aspire to writing. I watched them because I admire V for Vendetta (both versions). V is extremely relevant in 2025 (see article above - Christian Nationalism is even scarier right now than it was), and there are so few film portrayals in science fiction (or other kinds of fiction) of asexual love that I have to take what little I can find. I blame the limits of the English language for the struggle writers have with describing the nuances of the human experience, especially feelin...

Screenshot and info from: https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/rabbit-rabbit-series-adam-driver-release-date-photos-news   A counsellor's ethical question about “tactical empathy” in the context of new Netflix show Rabbit, Rabbit , and how much luck has to do with success by Jen Davies, nerd Nov 1, 2025 Note1: I'm curious to see how this show treats the science here, because the announcement very specifically decided to include a social scientific element (“tactical empathy”). Note2: There are likely more experienced ethicists in the field of counselling who can speak to this issue, that these communication skills were not identified and fine-tuned in order to be used for “tactical” purposes, but I don't remember finding much written about this when Chris Voss’ Masterclass came out. Maybe there have been things written since then. If not, I'm happy to muse further! Let me know if that's of interest.  The name Chris Voss will almost certainly come up so...