Ok, I know I am not the most up-to-date person on the latest movies. There are so many new ones that come out that even my most avid movie-going friends can’t remember complete titles anymore when they share the latest ones they just saw with me! Or if they can remember, the anmes all sound alike. Persoanlly, I think that all the movie titles have been taken by now, and that the ones that come out are just a random mix of all the previous ones. My husband watches a lot of movies, and usually, only good ones. He said that I had to see “Gigantic”, and I liked it so much that I want to share it with you. I know it came out in April of 2009, so please forgive me. It’s all good and we are all one anyway, right? I have a feeling that you haven’t seen this one though. It has some of my favorite actors in it, and I found it refreshing. Take a look at the trailer and if you get a chance, jot it down to see one day. I think you will enjoy it!
Given all the fuss a post or two ago about Oprah looking for women obsessed with aging and beauty, I am happy to turn that page and introduce you to a beautiful and creative woman over 50 who is far too busy creating cards and more for us women over 50 than being obsessed with aging. Meet Diane English, a self-taught artist who owned a metaphysical book store in St. Augustine, Florida before moving to Asheville, NC 10 years ago. After reading The Artist’s Way by Julie Cameron, Diane decided to follow her dream of combining art with her spiritual path allowing her to embark on the next phase of her life. After visiting her in her studio and seeing many of her cool, cosmic characters, I’d say she is living her dream – minus the downtown condo she covets.
Diane at play, oops, I mean work.
Diane is the owner and creator of The Great Cosmic Happy Ass Card Co,and if you’ve never received one of her cards, send yourself one. Why not? They’re inspiring, whimsical and just plain old kick-ass funny. This is one of my favorites. This beautiful woman over 50 has aspired to achieve a higher consciousness along her journey, and not without some help from “years of deep meditation, medication, fasting, prayer and a few bottles of Merlot.” Having had a subscription to her cards, I knew I was in for a treat when we finally sat down in her lovely bright living room drinking coffee and nibbling scones.
Oops50: What made you finally decide to leave Florida and your bookstore, “Dream Street,” and go into the card business?
Diane: About once every 7 years, I did a painting, and one of them was titled, “Reach for Your Stars.” That became my first card, and it sold out in my bookstore. Then, I made more cards and magnets, and soon those sales were accounting for 20% of my gross revenue. That’s when the big box book stores moved in, and I took that as sign to make a change.
Oops50: Kind of like the movie, “You’ve Got Mail.”
Diane: I really wanted to use smart ass but I didn’t feel I could really do that. So, my customers helped me pick the name.
Oops50: So now I’m going to change the subject a little. What’s your fondest childhood memory?
Diane: My grandfather carrying me on his shoulders while walking me to the zoo. He was Irish and English, and we lived in Philly and walked everywhere. When we got to the zoo, there was a blackbird in a cage at the entrance and he said, “Hi, I’m Joe.”
Oops50: What’s was the first record you bought? Diane: It’s a tie between Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto and Bill Haley and the Comets.
Oops50: Any advice for women over 50?
Diane: Well, I’m well over 50 – 68 in fact. Don’t listen to anyone. Follow your heart and do what you want to do. Don’t be intimidated by the “should’s” in life. Oh yeah, and keep your nose out of other people’s business.
Oops50: Right. I need to remember that. So what turns you on?
Diane: A romantic dinner in an Italian restaurant, with Luciano Pavarotti singing in the background.
Oops50: So you like Italian?
Diane: I had an aunt who married an Italian, and I remember wonderful Italian dinners. And I like to cook Italian food–outrageously delicious.
Oops50: What next? Any new dreams?
Diane: A downtown condo with a large patio and a great view of the mountains of Western NC. It should have a cable railing, a fireplace on the left side, a kitchen behind that, and a loft upstairs. The light will be clean and beautiful. And, don’t forget Rachmaninoff playing in the background.
Oops50: Any must have products you can’t live without?
Diane: My Netflix subscription and Roku, so I can download old movies.
Oops50: So what’s your favorite movie?
Diane: “Casablanca.” And have you seen “Sunshine Cleaning?” A very funny movie.
Oops50: So what’s Roku?
Diane: It’s great. A little black box that lets you stream movies from Netflix. It’s great.
Oops50: I’ll check it out. Last question: Any regrets so far?
Diane: Only that I didn’t know in my 20s what I know now. And, that I don’t have the same body as I did in my 20’s.
I need to give a plug to my very famous canine niece, Winnie, who belongs to my sister-in-law, Ellen, and her husband, Bill. Winnie was recently the featured dog in an article on the website Ohmidog! because of her amazing ability to open and shut the front door in her house. You have to check out the article called “Old Dogs New Tricks Good Times” at www.ohmidog.com. Here’s a picture of Winnie from the article, just to whet your appetite. Turns out Ellen taught her the trick, using dog treats! I wish that were possible with our delinquent (but lovable) dog, Tater.
Here at Oops50, we received notification from the Oprah Winfrey show (yes, we are on her people’s radar!!!) that they are going to do a show on the subject of women feeling “invisible” with age. They wanted us to tell our “Beautiful Women over 50″ readers, in case someone feels this subject speaks directly to her and would like to go on television to talk about it. The application process involves writing your story (2000 words or less) and uploading your picture. Here’s the description from their website posting:
Were you the beauty queen or always the prettiest girl in the room – and now that you’re losing your looks, you feel you’ve lost your sense of self? Did you always rely on your beauty to get what you wanted? Without your looks, do you feel like you have nothing to fall back on? Were you always able to coast on your looks and never had to work hard to get a job or to do well in school? Maybe you felt like you didn’t have to be smart or develop other skills because you were pretty? Was all the male attention you received a big part of your self worth and identity? Do you often think back on how easy life was for you when you were a knockout? Do you now feel invisible when you were once the center of attention? Perhaps now that you no longer feel as beautiful, you feel you have lost your self-worth or self-esteem? Are you or someone you know terrified of losing your looks? Are you having a hard time aging? Are you obsessed with looking gorgeous and feel that without your looks, you are struggling to find your purpose in life? Have you had plastic surgery to try to look how you did in your twenties? If you are a woman who is coping with losing the one thing you always relied on – your looks – we want to hear from you. Please tell us your story.
I listened to Bloomberg News on the radio while driving back from Cleveland this past weekend. That was over 8 hours of pure fascination hearing the latest scandals, news, and interviews on the health of our nation’s economy. I should tell you that I have never listened to this kind of news since I have been living on the edge my whole life, travelling a different path than what might be called “the norm”.
Here is what I heard: there was talk the whole day about the big H-P (Hewlett Packard) scandal that not only ruined CEO Mark Hurd’s reputation (although the 28 million dollar severance package should help get him over the shame of the sexual harassment charges, and I heard he is actually negotiating for more!), but H-P’s stocks fell sharply.
Then the 2nd quarter reports were in and would you believe Goldman Sachs broke a record in that for the first time in 3 years, there were 3 consecutive days of losses!!! After hearing this over and over while driving through towns so depressed that they felt dead, what I suddenly realized was that not once did I hear what Goldman Sachs made in the other 87 days! I have a feeling that it was just too obscene to report. Ok, I just Googled it, and they only posted a profit of $613 million, or 78 cents a share, down from $3.43 billion.
The company reporting the most profit surprised me: it’s McDonald’s! It seems they are hugely popular in Europe, and Japan, and then of course, the US of A, solely because of their “Dollar Meals”! That means that more people are eating a meal for a dollar in America…is that a good thing?
There was a bit of news on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac being in trouble, and mabye even going under, but hey, didn’t they just get a huge amount of money a few months ago from the government to bail them out of something, and are they anyway not government owned?
By now, if you are still reading this, you might be catching my drift…I cannot keep up!
So I think I will do something that makes me happy, like go disappear in my garden for a while and commune with the flowers and vegetables. And the next time I take a road trip, I think I will stick with my own music mixes!
