Lighthearted rants and reflections on baby boomer lifestyle, ageing, retirement, fashion, current events, and more . . . .
Specifically, who’s afraid of driving after dark? We are and most of our friends are, which means that most boomers are now reluctant to drive once the sun goes down. We used to think our parents and their friends were joking when they said they didn’t like to drive after dark, and now it’s us. When did it start? How has it affected our lives?…
Sorry to touch on a sensitive subject, but my friend Margaret has already written hers and even has her tombstone in place. I think it’s about time I did the same thing. Now that we’ve updated our wills and agreed on where we want our ashes interred, I suppose we should tie up the final loose ends. What kind of funeral or celebration of life…
The Covenant of Water is the second book by Abraham Verghese that I have read and it was just as fascinating as his earlier book, Cutting For Stone. At more than seven hundred pages it was more than I could read in my allotted twenty-one days from the library, so I bought the hard-cover edition on Amazon so I could finish it at my leisure….
Every Saturday I look forward to reading Vinay Menon’s Opinion column in the Toronto Star. He’s replaced the late and unbeatable Gary Lautens as one of my favourite light-hearted newspaper-reading pleasures with his gentle humour and wry observations on everyday life. Reading last week’s “Chatting up strangers is good for our health” column reminded me of a blog I posted nearly ten years ago that…
When I open a book with a boomer-aged main character, written by an author I have previously read and enjoyed, then chances are very good that I’m going to enjoy it. The Librarianist by Canadian-born author Patrick deWitt is such a book. I loved his earlier book French Exit. I read it a few years ago and can vouch for that book being infinitely better…
Those new parking machines that have replaced real human parking attendants are driving me crazy. Is it because I’m old and incompetent, or just plain stupid? The grumbling and sweating start while I am still walking across the parking lot toward the scary, big, green and black machine. Will it grant me permission to occupy a space for a few hours? Will it perform its…
There is a new attitude in the workplace and I’m envious. We’re all familiar with the quiet quitting phenomenon. Employees have embraced the practice of doing the minimum amount of work while still managing to keep their jobs. It’s a variation of work to rule. The new slant on this slacker attitude is called lazy girl working. Get a job with minimal demands that allows…
The Last Gift of Time, Life Beyond Sixty by Carolyn G. Heilbrun is a little book that some readers may not have the patience to read, but if you do, you will find it enormously enlightening. Heilbrun was a retired Professor of English Literature at Colombia University. She wrote the book twenty-five years ago in 1998 when she was in her seventies. I recently came…
You would think that by age seventy-six, I would have nailed my personal fashion style. Alas, I am still a work in progress, but who is ever fully confident in everything they wear all the time? Even Angelina Jolie found herself struggling to define her personal style when she recently launched her own clothing line. We always think we would look better if we just…
Lump is a wonderful book for women, written by a man, Nathan Whitlock. The title refers to the dreaded “C” word but this fictional story is not about the ravages of chemotherapy and other treatments, but concerns the ravages of family life surrounding a woman with the diagnosis. The bonus is the author is from Hamilton, Ontario and the story is set in Toronto. New…
Are professional sports affecting your love life, or am I the only one? Last Sunday I saw a good movie advertised and suggested to my husband that we go on a cosy date to take in the matinée. Like Pavlov’s dog, my taste buds were already drooling at the thought of warm, buttery popcorn and an icy Diet Coke. He looked at me like I…
My world as a retired baby boomer is shrinking. Traffic problems in the Greater Toronto Area have become such a nightmare I’m reluctant to go anywhere. It seems easier to spare my nerves and stay home. Our choked road system has reached the point where I often decline opportunities for social outings rather than deal with the stress of traffic to get there. The volume…
If you can get past the seemingly unhappy subject matter and appreciate the great writing, then Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey is a wonderful read. You will appreciate it even more if you have ever been through a painful divorce because that is what this fictional, humorous book is about. The bonus is the author is Canadian and readers will relate to the Toronto…