2011 February | Oops50

Archive for February, 2011

Plea to Women Over 50: Take Action against Genocide!

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

Jane

I heard again this morning from my dear friend in Ivory Coast. He sent me the article below, with just this simple message:

Hope you all are doing fine.
Please find attached report on the ordeal
we are going through.
May the Lord help us.

I read the article and was filled with hopelessness and frustration. I believe that Ivory Coast is becoming another Rwanda in front of our eyes, and the world is standing by, not taking action. I urge our readers to read this painful story and then contact their congresspeople and their senators, asking them to do something to bring action from the civilized world. It’s such a small thing, but if we join together, perhaps we can have some effect!

By RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, Associated Press Rukmini Callimachi, Associated Press –

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast – The entrance to the morgue is like a mouth through which comes an awful smell. It hits you as far back as the parking lot and makes your eyes water. From a dozen yards away, it’s strong enough to make you throw up.

What lies inside is proof of mass killings in this once-tranquil country of 21 million, where the sitting president is refusing to give way to his successor. Nearly every day since Laurent Gbagbo was declared the loser of the Nov. 28 election, the bodies of people who voted for his opponent have been showing up on the sides of highways. (more…)

Tags: genocide, Ivory Coast, political action, Rwanda, women over 50
Posted in Beautiful Women >50, Home, Other Voices, Politics, World | No Comments »

Nawal El Saadawi: Egyptian doctor and militant writer on Arab women’s struggles

Monday, February 14th, 2011

Annice

I was first introduced to the writing of Nawal El Saadawi, Egyptian doctor and feminist, as early as 1980 when I was in college and reading all the feminist literature I could get my hands on.

Nawal El Saadawi

After reading one of her first books, The Hidden Face of Eve, Women in the Arab World, I was captivated by El Saadawi’s disturbing account of religious and political oppression of women in her country as well as in the region. It was through her writing that I first learned about female circumcision of young girls. Living in exile for decades, she finally returned to Egypt. I was thrilled to read an interview with her published Feb. 11^th, in The Root. We wish Dr. El Saadawi well on her journey for liberation in her homeland.

Tags: beautifulwomenover50, Nawal El Saadawi, women's journeys, writers over 50
Posted in Beautiful Women >50, Books, Interviews, Main, Other Voices, Politics, World | No Comments »

Laugh Lines: A Rare Medical Condition

Saturday, February 12th, 2011

A RARE MEDICAL CONDITION

A man and a woman were sitting beside each other in the first class section of an airplane.

The woman sneezed, took out a tissue, gently wiped her nose, and then visibly shuddered for ten or fifteen seconds.

The man went back to reading his book.

A few minutes later, the woman sneezed again, took a tissue, wiped her nose, then shuddered violently.

Although assuming the woman might have a cold, the man was still curious about the shuddering. A few minutes passed when the woman sneezed yet again.

As before she took a tissue, wiped her nose, her body shaking even more than before.

Unable to restrain his curiosity, the man turned to the woman and said, “I couldn’t help but notice that you have sneezed three times, wiped your nose, and then shuddered violently. Are you okay?”

The woman replied, “I am sorry if I disturbed you. I have a rare medical condition. Whenever I sneeze, I have an orgasm.”

The man, more than a bit embarrassed, was still curious and asked, “I have never heard of that condition before. Are you taking anything for it?”

The woman nodded and said, “Yes, black pepper”.

Tags: funny jokes, oops50 humor, women humor, women over 50 on facebook, women's humor, womenover50humor, womenover50jokes
Posted in Entertainment, Humor, Laugh Lines, Main, Sadhvi Sez | 5 Comments »

Parenting: Things I Wish I Had Known (Or Believed) Earlier

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

Jane

Now that all 4 of my kids are either adults or within spitting distance of adulthood, I have moments where I actually get a glimpse of the things—good and bad—we did in raising them, and the things I wish someone had told me when I was starting out. (“Oh, so that’s how it works!”)

I’m never going to write a book on the subject, since I still feel pretty clueless on the whole subject. (Being a parent offers you such a host of ways to feel like a failure at your job.) But I do have some off-the-top-of-my-head suggestions for young parents (not in any logical order, since raising 4 kids has destroyed any logical sense I may have ever had before):

1) No matter how bad things seem when your children are infants and toddlers (and you are a) sleep deprived b) at your rope’s end with frustration over ‘potty training’—I put that in quotes because I no longer believe in it—or c) ready to blow up at your child’s pediatrician/teacher/fill in the blank because they don’t “get” your kid, keep in mind that some day you’re going to look back on these days as the glorious time when you still had control over their physical location!

At the beginning: my husband, Tom, with Lizzie

(more…)

Tags: Beautiful Women >50, beautifulwomenover50, Humor, midlife journey, oops50, oops50humor, Parenting; Life Lessons; Teenagers; Toddlers; potty training, women over fifty, women's journeys, womenover50, womens, writers over 50
Posted in Beautiful Women >50, Family, Home, Journey, Living, Love, Main, Parenting, Relationships | 3 Comments »

A Big Pain in the Hip

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

Annice

It’s not supposed to snow a lot in Asheville, but this winter (like the rest of the country) we were covered up. During the last snow storm, my husband decided to shovel his car out of the driveway even though I told him there was a huge sheet of black ice and it was too dangerous, and in fact stupid. However, my dear husband was determined to get his car out of our driveway no matter what. Did I say I live on a mountain 2200 ft. high and our driveway is one hell of a steep slope?

I won’t bore you with all the details about our driveway and the fact that a standard 8 ft. plow is too wide to go down it. So, on that particular day, two weeks ago, my husband slipped and fell. He said he didn’t hurt himself and proceeded to walk around for almost a week with pain that eventually got so bad he had to go to the doctor. The next day, he was in surgery for a broken hip and 3 pins.

broken hip with pins

(more…)

Tags: Beautiful Women >50, falling on ice, feeling overwhelmed, hip surgery, midlife journey, shoveling snow, women baby boomers, women over 50 on facebook, yoga
Posted in Annice'sAngle, Family, Health, Home, Journey, Love, Main, Recuperation, Spirituality | 6 Comments »