had an interesting discussion last night with friends at the local McMenamins pub in Bend. We were talking about the 90's cultural phenomenon said Seattle of the 90's with its Microsoft, grunge music and clothing, and tech revolution equated with Chicago of the 1930's, with its big-band era, jazz, and mobsters. We tried to pinpoint the cities that served as focal points for that time period. 60's was San Francisco, 70's we couldn't really identify, but maybe new york with its summer of sam, reggie jackson, and disco era couldn't really be overlooked even though it definately had some problems so did the rest of the nation.

My question: what about now? How will some future generation or us when we're grayer and sadder look back on this time period of the 2000's. someone at the table suggested new york because of the wTc and terrorism, but how do you credit that event with making a city great? Another fella said it was Austin, texas with its cool cultural scene, but no way. Slacker got done in the 90's-we can't say it's changing the nation. I suggested half-jokingly Crawford Texas, but no one really agreed. People did concede that maybe the red states have the upper hand over the blue states in terms of relevance these days, and I know that most of American television is geared towards those states. But, nothing really caught the imagination as being the city that's hip or relevant to our present time.

Then, I realized-there's a place out there that's beyond a place. it's not limited to where people are at physically, and maybe this is the beginning of the spiritual revolution-it's called the internet. People often inhabit these forums called blogs when they want to meet, see others, and express themselves unabashed. tonight, it's saturday night, and where am I? Not in the bars squashing another beer and saying all the wrong things, but online, communicating with my peers of myself, me, and I in a forum that i control. It's safe here-there's no terrorists online, and there's no rejection (other than silence).

that's my thought on where it's at right now. You can be anywhere in the world to enjoy it. All you need is a modem and a mouse. That's how we'll look back on this decade. Sorry Crawford.