generation blackberry

so what do i spy on an elevator's "captivate" screen when heading into work?

douglas coupland. in an ad for blackberry.

the novelist of "generation x", "shampoo planet", "micro serfs", "eleanor rigby" and several other fantastic novels doing an ad for blackberry. a product that typifies the hyperstressed careerist. a product that implies (if not outright yells) "taking time away from your work email is foolish and you should be accessing your emails 24/7."

the novel "generation x" successfully captured mid-90s slackerdom and 20-something ennui. it, of course, sparked the famous catchphrase (which coupland spurned for quite a while). this is the novel that coined such memorable and lively terms like "mcjobs" (a job you deliberately choose because it is beneath your skill set), "emotional ketchup burst" (repressing an emotion - namely anger - till it bursts outward. like a ketchup packet) and "veal fattening pens" (a work cubicle).

douglas coupland is significant to me for a few reasons. as a very impressionable 15 year old, reading "generation x" made me realize the following:

1. that not only did i enjoy reading but i also loved writing
2. made me realize that my ambition to be a yuppy would suck my soul out of my body and make me a heartless, cruel demon
3. said change in career made me realize i should go into something directly (or intrinsically tied) to being creative
4. most importantly, the characters in "generation x" made me realize that yes - it is okay to be an eccentric (albeit a hot one)

does this mean andy, dag and claire have left their start-up hotel in mexico and given in to corporate culture? do they have blackberrys now? are they stressed out because some intern has not gotten them an excel spreadsheet? or worse - their coffee? such thoughts alternately gross me out and make me sad.

plus, douglas coupland used to be cute (in a "yes, i went to bennington" sort of way). now he looks as if he...i don't know...paints clowns or something.

maybe i'm just getting old.