Tabishland

You mean you are just now struck by this? Come on! All this commisserating about events from 25 years ago didn't sink in until now? You obviously don't have 'progressive lenses' yet on your glasses. That kicked me in the pants three years ago.

I know the big five-oh is comin', but I'm a little busy with other stuff to let it loom too large. Plus, I need to get my eyes checked again...
 

BTW, my wife sez fifty is GREAT!
 

Oh man, I get it/got it- Just never put a number to it and wanted to get it out in the open.

and I'm never too busy be hopelessly self-indulgent.
 

I can honestly say that I am enjoying my forties far more than I enjoyed my twenties. There is a certain wisdom that comes with age that I wouldn't trade for anything.

Having said that, the reading glasses thing is no fun for me.
 

Being one of the babies of this blog (44 - pfffft) I'm more concerned about why the man on that magazine is using a welding torch without the proper eye protection.

BTW, I've had bifocals for two years - they're cool.
 

Maybe I should buy a truss- not that I need one, but just to try it on and wear it around the house.


Okay, so I feel like Woody Allen here, but doesn't turning 50 mean "we're all gonna die!!"? Yeah, yeah, I know we're all gonna die. I'm aware of that- but "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!" Is that it or is the having trouble remembering what youth was like?

Also, don't anyone try and say that childhood was all so innocent and easy and carefree and all that stuff- 'cause I don't think it was. Was it?

I gotta go, my GPS is ringing.
 

Alas, poor Yorick, such a nattering nabob of negativism.

In 1900, the average life expectancy was 46 (33 if you were poor). People routinely died of appendicitis, gallstones and influenza. Now they die of CCT (chronic Cheetos toxicity).

40 used to be something my dad was.

First they took away cookies, milk and nap, then recess, then summer vacation , then weekends. Only thing to look forward to now as a benchmark is the screening colonoscopy at 50. And welding without proper eyewear.
 

We're all in this together.

As The Divine Miss M sang,"Ya gotta have friends..."
 

Well said. And nobody gets out alive. And nobody's promised a tomorrow. So approach things with wit, awareness and a little humor, eh? And enjoy the change of the seasons.
 

I didn't mean to be anonymous...
 

A more true statement was never typed by your fingers Doc.
 

It never occurred to me that there are a gazillion new jokes that could be written that start "a man says to his doctor...."

and one punch line could be "No, It's Tull, not Toll you nimrod!"

now to write the middle part

I just found out a friend of mine who does a gazillion things also writes for Univision! She is now my total and complete hero.

Giant Cockroach:
"Tu esta muy guapo!"
Wierd Old Guy:
"Ay-yi-yi No esta bien!"
 

This is a good subject, Ian. Jokes aside. Here are my thoughts:

Being young was not easy, but I think it WAS more fun, and that's what we miss sometimes, and need to have more of. Hence: Tabishland.

I don't love the changes my body is going through as I age. I don't love the brushes with serious illness, seeing my friends die. It's HARD.

But I am a more balanced person than I was in my 20's. I have more stress, but in some ways, I've learned not to worry so much. I'm wiser. I appreciate things more than I EVER did....from stupid e-mails to the birds outside my window. I sing better now than I did then. I know more. I laugh more.

I cannot control which illness or accident will get me in the end, but I do try to control what I CAN to be a healthier person and extend my life. I eat right and exercise and try to live responsibly, although I don't get enough sleep.!! Again, Tabishland, to an extent!

Most of all:

I think the antidote to aging is trying new things. I felt like an idiot, I mean an IDIOT, when I started taking fencing classes with the kids. 15 kids and me, and the other moms on the sidelines. And I was so used to be competent, in my adult complancency, I hated being bad and insecure at something. But when I started to develop skill at this brand new thing, WOW, what a heady feeling. It sounds cliche, but I really DID feel younger. So go take a class, take a risk, do something new. It sucks to grow older (despite the brave fronts we're all putting on) because of the loss, so you have to balance it with gain.
 

Geoff, my question is- was I supposed to leave a tip?
 

"toast to the screen colonoscopy?" what are you, a proctologist now? Just how many lives are you living, Geoff? Isn't being a jet-skiing podiatrist dancer enough for you? You have to get in on the colonoscopy action?