Woah! Long time no blog!

No, this is not a post about how I can’t stand the youth.  I can’t stand *some* youth but that’s not important.  This is a post of envy.  Gushing, oozing, permeating envy.  Envy so green you swear it can turn a rat into a kungfu master.

I am just completely in awe of the younger generation and of all the toys, technology, and media tools at their disposal.  Of course, those same things are available to me too, but I can’t stop imagining how awesome my life would’ve been if I grew up in the age of Wikipedia, Ustream, podcasting, social networking, and high-tech gaming.  Not necessarily because I’m a gadget-phile but I truly think all of these media advancements can help kids and teenagers, who are in one of the most awkward stages in life, find their voice.

(Obviously, I am well aware of the disadvantages and dangers that new media can have on the youth culture, but I feel like those categories of dangers exist regardless of the internet or cell phones.  Bullying will always be a facet of human experience, and peer pressure will always exist.  And the uglier things like eating disorders, abuse, pedophilia, and bigotry are existing social issues and they don’t seem like they’ll go away any time soon.)

I am envious of kids these days.

Take my friend Jeremy for example.  Not even legal to drink, Jeremy has made himself a small media empire centered around games and design.  I’m not talking about Mark Zuckerberg and making millions off of Facebook.  I’m talking about a kid who is fearless about modern programs and services and using them to express himself.  He has a podcast, uses live-stream for shows, designs graphics, makes storyboards and film reels…all of this just for fun and for the sake of experimentation.  Granted, he’s a talented guy but you have to see that having the tools to discover what you like and what you’re good at is phenomenally powerful, especially for young people.

If I knew that I could have become a professional cake decorator like Duff from Ace of Cakes, I wouldn’t have suffered through architecture school in hopes to succeed in a  profession I pretended to be interested in just to please my parents.  How much I could have known more about the world if I grew up with Wikipedia!  Or with YouTube!  I could have found solace during bad times on social networking websites.

So bathe in your bevy of new media tools, children.  Find your voice, and yell it out.  It’s good to be young.