1959

I finished 1959 even earlier than predicted, enroute home from Boston. Very quick read. I'd be interested in following up more on some of the cultural aspects of that era--other than David Halberstam's account of the 1950s, I haven't read much of that time. It reminds me of the antibellum era...between the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The time between the end of WW2 and the iconic sixties is somewhat forgotten and not written as much about. Some contend it was not the news-worthiest time, as Americans stagnated or remained in staid cultural mores, as opposed to how much the nation changed during the sixties, culminating in a more modern era. I enjoyed Kaplan's account of that time, at the brink of the computer age, the space age, the age of more "modern" music and film and art. That was fifty years ago, and a time still foreign to me. I wasn't born yet.

But the times were changing, and maybe I do think Kaplan puts a tad too much significance on a year (because he spent a certain amount of time offering background information), the election of John F. Kennedy the following year is a marker for many. Presidential elections are always harbingers of a new time, a new era, "change" if you will. It's been a decade since the election of 2000, and look at how much has changed since then. 9/11, I think, is a defining moment in my lifetime, a moment when everything changed, and the world was transformed. Maybe I'll look back at my lifetime as "before" and "after" that year. The year I met Steve, too.

We're almost half-way through 2010. It's summer and feels like summer now. The BP spill has dominated the headlines recently, and the election season is moving into full swing. I wonder what we'll remember most about this year??