Tag: representation

Don’t Let’s Start #004: Overdue Introductions

Don’t Let’s Start #004: Overdue Introductions

Hi there! Welcome to Pop Culture Squad!

It has occurred to me that I might not leave enough of a personal footprint here on PCS. It also occurred to me that I’ve never sat down with you, Dear Reader, and told you what I and this site are all about.

So in a bit,  I’m going to rattle off a bunch of hashtags, slogans and sayings that summarize the core operating beliefs here at PCS. Continue reading “Don’t Let’s Start #004: Overdue Introductions”

Beat JENeration #006: Neil Simon

Beat JENeration #006: Neil Simon

Being raised in Southern California by New Yorkers used to make me feel like a bit of an immigrant at times. While both my parents had been third-generation Americans themselves, there was still a lingering feeling of Old World from their Italian & Croatian roots for sure, but what seemed to make our family feel like “the other” had more to do with their East Coastness. The accents, the food, the urban neurosis, the constant bi-polar alternating of hyperbolic praise and grumbling pessimism, and the way they were just loud — OMG, at a time in life where you just want to blend in and disappear it was embarrassing. I cringe to admit it now, but I was jealous of all the vanilla families that looked like the ones on TV.   Continue reading “Beat JENeration #006: Neil Simon”