BLOGGING BOOMERS #93 AND I’M HOST. ELECTION POSTS AND LOTS MORE

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From here in Washington, DC, nerve center of exhausted political junkies and traumatized McCain supporters comes this week’s Blogging Boomers Blog Carnival.


Those two Fabulous After 40 gals (who are fabulous) remind us that if we think we might be shrinking "You’re right.  Starting at 40 we lost half an inch in height every decade."


What’s a boomer gal to do, other than wear high heels? Check out
Fabulous after 40 for fashion advice on How to dress to look taller.

John at SoBabyBoomer has found a new study has found that women have a
greater variety of bacteria on their hands than men do.  So, he wonders,  "Should guys worry about holding hands with
women
?  Find out at SoBabyBoomer.com

Maybe those germy women would feel better if they knew how to manage in today’s economy?  If, so this week’s Vaboomers is for them.  They’re sponsoring a free seminar: How to Manifest What You Need in Difficult Times" for women coping with the current economy.
 

The Midlife Crisis Queen has something different on her mind: 

We
make all kinds of mistaken assumptions about the opposite sex when it comes to
sex.  Here’s some wrong assumptions made by men  and here’s some made by women.   

Boston’s own Rhea Becker, like most of us, still had the election on her mind.  As she says "History was made this week.  A baby boomer was elected president of the United States.  Learn more at The Boomer Chronicles.

Also with elections on her mind, Janet at Gen Plus shares her reaction to Obama’s acceptance speech.  And, like any of you, yes….she wept.

Meanwhile, over at LifeTwo, we’re getting some exciting ideas:  The key to happiness, according to university researcher Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, is the concept of "flow."  Flow are those activities in which you are so deeply involved that you feel outside reality. 

As usual, I Remember JFK has a great social memory to offer:  TV Trays.  "The living room of the 1960’s was a warm, friendly place.  True, times had changed since our parents might have first purchased our modest homes fifteen or twenty years prior.   Most living rooms in the US had a new center of attention: the television set.  That one-eyed monster changed the purpose of the home’s central location from a place of casual conversation, or possible listening to the radio, to the spot where our parents unwound after a long day at work, accompanied by a cocktail, Walter Cronkite and a TV dinner.

Thankful for new leadership in the land, Dina at This Marriage Thing challenges us all to bring that same feeling home with the Gratitude Project.  I’ve actually been there – it’s pretty cool.

Oh and if you can stand one more election post, here’s mine.  It’s about having been in Grant Park during the 1968 Democratic Convention riots, and watching Obama accept the presidency on that very spot.

 


PHONE BOOTHS, MARRIAGE, DRESSING YOUR AGE AND TAXES: BLOGGING BOOMERS CARNIVAL #69

Contemprorary_retirement
From across the sea in the UK Ann Harrison has complied this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival at Contemporary Retirement Strategies. It’s got everything from new tax laws to new fashion advice with plenty of other savvy ideas (including thoughts on marriage!) in between so stop by and see what’s going on!

WEAR IT TO A WEDDING; CARHOPS AT THE DRIVE IN; BLOGGING BOOMERS CARNIVAL #65

Lifetwo The Amazing Riveting Blogging Boomers Carnival hits #65 this week at LifeTwo with pieces on everything from Fifties Drive-Ins to looking great at a wedding this summer to conversion to Orthodox Judaism (that’s mine.)  The Carnival is free; bring your own cotton candy.

HOW OLD ARE YOU? WHO ARE YOU CALLING A ELDER?

Elderly_ladyWe live in a community where many of our closest friends are well under 40 – several the ages of our sons.  Because we are culturally united, age isn’t such a big deal, which is strange.  I’ve always identified very strongly as a Baby Boomer.  Born in the first year of the cohort, I cherish the experiences and adventures and acknowledge the shared rages and disappointments that bind us.  Even so, I’m struggling with my place. 

There’s a group of bloggers led by Ronni Bennett, a wonderful writer and observer, through her blog Time Goes By – and she’s working to build a community she terms "Elder Bloggers."

I hate it.  Hate it.  I admire Ronni; I’ve always been OK with where I stand in age and presence but this is tough.  I can’t decide if I’m being immature and clinging to a world I don’t belong in or I just don’t have the same sensibility.  I moved online in the early 90s, I read science fiction and love Harry Potter; I listen to all kinds of music; I cherish every experience.  When my kids were little I often felt I had more in common with their teenage babysitters than with the parents of many of their friends.

It’s not that I deny my age — or my friends who are peers.  Or my responsibilities.  I’ve had a successful career raised great, honorable and capable kids.  It’s that I cherish the energy, openness and curiosity of those whose lives are more ahead of them than behind.  I remember maybe 20 years ago when a friend of mine was about to take her youngest son to college. Eyes welling up, she said something over lunch that day that still haunts me.  "It used to be that everything in my life was about beginnings, now it seems that most of it is about endings."  It was a devastating moment.  I swore I would never feel like that.

It’s no battle really.  It’s my nature to be curious — I have a short attention span and, as my blog header says, "There’s always more."  Remaining open is easy.  Realizing that it’s sometimes time to surrender some options is harder — even, or maybe especially, stupid ones like clothes.  I have a "style."  It took years to develop – not on purpose just by trial and error.  Often, I was in the fashion moment.  I went through the 80s in leggings and tunics and arm-loads of black rubber bracelets.  Oh and Reebok high-tops and thick saggy socks.  And that was at work!

One day though, you begin looking at those cool of-the-moment clothes with the thought "I wish I were young enough to wear those" instead of "wow how much is that one?"  It’s never said out loud (or at least not by anyone you’d listen to) – you just kind of know it.   A friend of mine with daughters says it happens to moms with girls much earlier because, as she put it "you don’t want to look like you’re competing.")  I, however, resisted as long as I could, then surrendered (except for jewelry and shoes, of course.)

Music too.  I was in the loop until hip hop, then got shoved pretty far into the margins.  My kids send me music now – from Great Big Sea to Jack Johnson to Green Day and I’m grateful. But these days I don’t even know who many of the Top Ten folks are  — and don’t care. 

That doesn’t make me an elder though.  Or a grown-up.  Just a responsible adult, defined by nature and interests, not age.  So Ronni – I’m with you with great admiration as you bring all of us together and continue to build the world’s coolest Boomer+ blogroll.  But the title — the title —  not for me my girl.  At least……..not yet.