Tag: Boomers

The Blogging Boomers Carnival (#105) Lands Here Once Again

 

Carnival
It’s Carnival time again; the Blogging Boomers have landed here at Don’t Gel Too Soon, and they have plenty to offer.  From Hole in the Donut, a story of how small the world really is – her blog helped a man discover his lost family roots when she published a present day photo of a storefront in Matten, Switzerland that had belonged to his grandfather.  He was able to match it to a historical photo that ultimately led him to records that confirmed his ancestry.
Meanwhile, Rhea Becker tell us that she’s always dreamed of opening a restaurant.  Would her Amish-concept restaurant survive in Boston?  Learn more at The Boomer Chronicles.
 
Is it possible to go through menopause “naturally”? asks Wendy Lawson, who put that question to a well-respected herbalist and integrative medicine physician, and shares her advice at Menopause The Blog.
 
On another topic, were you part of the Oscar audience?  Over at Fabulous After 40, they ask the question…How do the over 40 celebrities get to looking so sleek and perfect on the red carpet?
 
We all know that I Remember JFK comes up with some great memories.  This time it’s a Buffalo Nickel, in typical 1960’s condition, that he found as a kid. As he puts it:  “It wasn’t often that a kid of the 60’s had change in his pocket. At least it wasn’t often that I did. Come to think of it, I’m short of cash right now. Some things never change.
 
But go back to 1967, and if a fortunate youngster found himself with a chunk of change in his pocket, the odds were pretty favorable that among the coinage was a Buffalo Nickel or two.
 
And while we’re looking back — we all do it, but it’s got a bad name with most mental health professionals.  That might be changing though. What are we talking about at LifeTwo?   Nostalgia.
 
Here’s a nice simple one on Boomer life from the Midlife Crisis Queen:  Behaviors to avoid when midlife crisis strikes!
 
In another take on life, Dina at This Marriage Thing says: Single?  Here’s a bit of advice on choosing the purrfect mate..
 
After reading a magazine article about young entrepreneurs where only 3 of 16 were women, Andrea Stenberg wonders Are Young Women Less Likely to Be Entrepreneurs?
 
On the political side (sort of:) Feeling a bit Obamar-ific, Janet Wendy at Gen Plus, brings you some new online goodies from the White House
 
Add some technology to your politics: Barack Obama does it.  So do William Shatner, Richard Branson and John Cleese…  What is it?  Twittering.
Tweating.  Microblogging…  If you want to get in on the act, head over to Contemporary Retirement.

 

Blogging Boomers Are at It Again!

Contemprorary Retirement
I'm a bit late posting this week; life took over unexpectedly.  But that doesn't diminish the usual value in the assembly known as Blogging Boomers Blog Carnival #103, this week posted by Ann Harrison at Contemporary Retirement.  This time we have everything from the stimulus package to canned food to hormone replacement.  And there's lots more.  Don't miss it.

Inaugural Reflections and Other Stuff at Blogging Boomers 102

Vaboomer
 Great minds definitely think in sync, at least some of them.  Although this week's Blogging Boomers Carnival isn't "all inauguration, all the time" there's plenty of The Big Day top choose from, although the perspectives differ enormously.  Beyond that there's everything from fashion to comic books to retirement in a bad economy.  Stop on by.

Blogging Boomers Carnival Hits 100! Don’t Miss It

Boomer Chronicles
Hard to believe, the the fiercely productive Blogging Boomers offer, this week, their 100th carnival entry.  Among the posts to celebrate this landmark:  life after a tough divorce, supercentarians: what it's like to be 105, keeping all that personal stuff off your "official" Facebook page and much more.  Help us celebrate our 100th effort:  come by and show some love.

Pete, Bruce, Beyonce and Obama: the Changing of the Guard

Brucespringsteen_l

There they are: two of the cultural icons of my political life.  Pete Seeger, close to 90, peer and colleague of Woody Guthrie, creator of We Shall Overcome and Turn Turn Turn, of Abiyoyo and Sam the Whaler, leader of The Almanac Singers and the Weavers.  If there was a civil rights rally or a labor rally or an anti-war rally, he was there. 

Beside him, Bruce Springsteen, a modern troubadour whose songs speak for many Americans whose opinions are never sought, whose voices are seldom heard.

As they stood together at the Lincoln Memorial in celebration of the Inauguration of Barack Obama, they represented, to me, all that I had believed and tried to help bring into being.  To many, though, they were “the ultimate in subtly old-left populism.”  Speaking about the concert early Sunday before it began, I kept talking about Bruce.  A younger friend gently suggested that he was probably not the day’s headliner.  That would be Beyonce Knowles, she said.  I’m sure she’s right. 

As one who was present the last time “the torch was passed to a new generation;” as a strongly defined Baby Boomer, it’s painful to hear anchormen celebrate the fact that “there will never be another Baby Boom President.”  It’ s not that I mind the fact of that; it’s just painful that it seems to be something to celebrate.  So many of us have tried so to be productive agents of change, have spent our lives working either full or part of the time to see that our country offers more to the least powerful, demands quality education, justice and maybe, even peace.  So to hear Joe Scarborough revel in the fact that “16 horrible years of baby boomer presidents is over” really hurts.  All my adult life we’ve been tarred by the brush of the least attractive of us while the work of the rest of us went unnoticed.  For most campaigns, as I’ve written before, we were the secret weapon of the right.

So as exciting as all this is, especially for one who has supported Obama for so long, it’s also bittersweet because I feel the shadow of the disdain in which so many of us are held.  I really don’t know how to respond.  If I were to try, it might be by offering some of the words to Si Kahn‘s They All Sang Bread and Roses.  It’s better with the music, but it does the job.

They All Sang “Bread and Roses (Si Kahn, 1989,
1991)

The more I
study history,

The more I
seem to find

That in
every generation

There are
times just like that time

When folks
like you and me who thought

That they
were all alone

Within this
honored movement

Found a
home.

 

And ‘though
each generation fears

That it
will be the last,

Our
presence here is witness

To the
power of the past.

And just as
we have drawn our strength

From those
who now are gone,

Younger
hands will take our work

And carry
on.

Blogging Boomers Carnival #95!

GENPLUS
 The Blogging Boomers Carnival is here again – this time at the home of the remarkable Janet Wendy Spiegel – GenPlus.  Find links to posts about divorce, pop culture, newspapers, recessions that might turn into depressions, vacations south of the border, job hunting and more.  there's never a dull moment so stop on by.

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

Where_we_blog

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.