#Agism: @FabOverFifty's Geri Brin's Vision of Aging made me feel ill!

Is there a law against discriminating on the basis of age?  I can't remember. I am thinking this morning that there is no way to control what people think about aging but there needs to be some self-control when it come to writing about it. See I know that being old is not a handicap nor a disease that can be avoided by being clean or eating right. It is a reality that we will all face sooner or later...I for one am hoping to actually live to be old and wise.

So when I read When I'm 84!, a blog post on Fab Over Fifty, I wanted to say "Did the founder of FOF really write and post this?". 


FOF is a website created and is now edited by the 64+ year old Geri Brin. As part of her responsibility on the website, Brin writes Geri's Blog.  The blog is not unlike any of our blogs.  It is suppose to reveal what is going on inside the head of the writer.  She is a very successful business woman.  She says in her short bio....

....I also wrote for publications such as New York Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Town & Country, Parents Magazine,the New York Daily News Magazine and daily paper, and co-authored two books, Kid's Stuff and Figure It Out! I became an entrepreneur in 1998 and published magazines for Liz Claiborne and Charming Shoppes, and launched Bene, a magazine about Italian Life and Style that garnered a silver Folio Award. 

My blog is about what I'm doing and thinking, and gets pretty personal at times. It's about FOFs I meet all over the place. It's about my take on current events and people as well as on things that happened "back in the day." I never plot and plan what I'm going to write. I'm a pretty off-the-cuff FOF. 

Those of us that live in the real world are impressed by this sort of resume and admire such an accomplished women.  I have commented several times on her blog and followed her sporadically over the last couple of years.  I even bought a FOF membership once so I could try out new beauty products.  After applying for a "guru" status I was accepted but never really did anything with it.

These were the images she included in the blog post!

Then Geri wrote the blog post that stopped me in my tracks.  When I'm 84! painted the view she had of old people and how they behave. I cringed because I wondered if that is what people would think of me. I am 71+  She created a list of things she did not want to do when she was 84.  It included things like:

• Have three hairs on my head and no desire to do anything about it,
• Have a crotchety disposition,
• Wear makeup that looks like a two-year old applied it,
• Have a tummy that makes me look like I’m the oldest living pregnant woman in the history of the world,

AND

• Stand at a supermarket, drug store, or any other checkout counter and keep the whole line waiting while I figure out where my money is.

I am trying to understand how she came to a place where she did not understand that saying these things out loud could offend people. Being old is something that we cannot change. 


I think that those of us that might be lucky enough to live to the grand old age of 84, still shop all be it slowly, have any hair left and make the effort to apply makeup can safely say that Geri needs to get out more.  She needs to spend some time with active old people and understand that a lot of what happens to us is not a choice. 


No amount of Pilate's or vegetarian diet can change the fact that 84 or 90 is a different stage in our lives and not so much about our protruding tummies as it is about what goes on inside our heads. Some old people value their appearance and some do not!  

Now this is where the isolation of the elderly is leaving society with a skewed vision of what aging is all about. The boomer generation is under the misconception that they will somehow not get old.  I guess I am begging people like Geri or all of my Studio30 Plus friends to stop and think about what they are saying.  If you are person of influence, think for a minute and realize that what you write about can be very hurtful. That is called being respectful. Ridicule does not work.

Please add this to Twitter, Linkedin or any other social media you subscribe to.  The discussion need to be carried forward. And, if you have any suggestions for what Geri or anyone like her could do in the situations she listed that might help others,  please leave a comment.

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Dude Ranch Give Away...Fab Over Fifty!

 Do you ever dream that you will actually win in a drawing?  Me too.  In this particular case, I am dreaming of a vacation at a dude ranch in Idaho.  The location is enough to make me swoon and adding the $1600 vacation at a dude ranch called Red Horse Mountain Ranch for sure has me ready to faint.  But that is not all...there is wine tasting, log cabin suites, world class cusine, adventures like horse back riding and evening entertainment.  What do you think?  Could you handle all that?  You really should hop on over to Fab Over Fifty, register if you are not already a member and enter the contest.  This cowgirl is recommending it!

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Fab Over Fifty (or Sixty?)

I am 69 years old...no lie!  In certain light I look every bit my age and then some.  In another I can almost find the young person I really am in my face.  Actually, I am not so in love with the mirror anymore. But if you give me beautiful clothes and a date with my husband to go dancing, the years fade away.  When I begin to feel down I remember what 69 looked like when my mother was that age and I am very content.  One of my favorite blogs called Fab Over Fifty published a post called What Fifty Used to Look Like.  Fifty now is what 25 used to be.  I guess it is all relative to how long we live.

One of my new and exciting adventures includes inclusion in a group of women chosen as Gurus for the Fab Over Fifty website.  FOF is a place for experienced women to gather and learn how other women in their age bracket are living their lives.  I have gotten to feel very at home there.  In my roll as a Guru I am asked questions about the Portland area or just about anything that someone needs an answer for and I get to throw my two cents worth of advice in.  It is a lot of fun.

I have a membership that I pay for each year.  In exchange I get to try the best beauty products and share my opinions about their effectiveness.  So far I have received a product for making the eye lashes grow called Lashfood Nano-Peptide Eyelash Conditioner and a filler by Clientele  designed to cover dark circles under the eye and act as a eyeshadow foundation.   I loved them both.  AND it has been so much fun to actually try those products.

As a result of this experience,  I am taking a whole new look at my face and my age.  I am actually embracing who I am with a lot more enthusiasm.  Why?  Because I have found that beauty is not about age...in fact age is not about anything when it comes to our appearance.  I have always been what and who I am.  Whether I choose to feel good about that has always been my choice.  Fab Over Fifty has given me some new experiences that I would not have had if I had not been my age.  How cool is that.  I am doing what young people are not allowed to do!

I feel fabulous and why not?  Get yourself on over to FOF and take a look.  It is a very interesting place to be.

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Help Me...the Noise is Deafening! Writing Online!

Image via Wikipedia

You all know that I like to write...I have been blogging for 5+ years and now the requests for me to join this site or that are coming in.  I have not figured out if they are surprised I am still alive or if they just think I might have one piece in me that would be worthy of their attention.  At any rate, in the world of blogging, we call too much attention "noise".  And today when a request to be a part of the "Sinister Cabal of Superior Writers" at BlogCritics Magazine came in,  it got really noisy here in my world.  In fact, I was a little overwhelmed...I am not even sure if it is an honor or just another job.

I have become a guru at Fab over Fifty and I try to keep up on what is going on with women that share my aging world.  They want input on make-up, clothes and places to eat.  I am not sure if they chose the right guru but I am trying.  Remember, I am the woman that had never been in a salon other than to get my hair done for anything until 4 years ago.  Then I discovered eyebrow waxes, nail extensions and those wonderful pedicure hot water tubs.  I am a newby at what most professional woman have been doing for all of their working life.

Just this last month I was interview by a website called Granny's Briefs and added to a list of "Grilled Grandmas".  While I love being a grandmother, it is not my total life.  In fact my grandchildren get really mad when I cannot remember their actual birth date.  I usually get the month right but...what can I say.  Still, I need to check in on what grandparents are up to...that is what most retired people find interesting.

I have been asked to write about Alzheimer's by a group that is trying to bring attention to the disease.  I have declined to do that right now. I don't want my writing to be about dementia...people with a lot more education on that subject can cover that area.

Of all these writing tasks the BlogCritics Magazine opportunity might be the most fun. BlogCritics is a part of Technorati.com. I don't know how that will turn out but I am going to give it a go. Since I am not so much a critic as I am the person that gets criticized, I am trying to figure out where to begin. The first article will be about my take on being "treated" like I am old when we all know I really am not. It will be about my children, me and the out-laws. I will let you know how it goes.

I can barely get time to check emails and have a conversation with my husband.  When things get overwhelming I go take a nap...I prefer to think of it as "contemplating" but really I just go to sleep for a little while.

We will go out for dinner tonight at a friends. She is sick, invited too many people and we are eating outdoors in the wind! Goodness gracious!

So, if you are the person that can turn the volume down, please do so for just a few minutes. The Masters is on and I want to watch for a while.

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Hot Stuff from Fab Over Fifty + Is My Blog Getting Big? Giggle!

Graphic Image Luggage Tags  $23 each...Fab Over Fifty Premier
Membership gift!

FAB OVER FIFTY PREMIER MEMBERSHIP BENEFIT:  My luggage tag from Fab Over Fifty came yesterday.  I chose the orange one and I think I will hang it on the beautiful gold purse I bought on 22nd in Portland, Oregon.  Inside the classic gift box it came it I found the tag in a soft microfiber sleeve. Classy, classy, classy!   I love it.  Check out the link for more Fab Over Fifty information!

I  will also be testing (beauty?) products for them and giving them feedback on results.  It should be interesting.  I have never done this before.  I do want to be beautiful so I keep trying.

BLOGGING:  This has been a very exciting week for me on the blog...now I am finding that taking care of email business takes up a big part of my day.  I am learning as I go here so I read a lot about working on the internet,  keep up with issues that affect senior citizens and connect with other bloggers that share my interests.  I even follow mommy bloggers.  After all we are in this together no matter our age!

I have been contacted by people asking to place ads on my blog.  One contact has already received my approval.  Another did not sound quite right...I just do not like to participate in a get more members website even if I profit from it.  Does that make good sense?  Hopefully, you my readers, will benefit from what I bring to you.

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