Annice

Oops.  I did a really stupid thing.  I was driving around doing errands on Saturday when I looked into the rear view mirror and saw how ghastly my hair looked.  I was in the middle of a hair emergency without an appointment.  I haven’t been happy with my stylist lately, and in fact I’ve been shopping around.  I’m tired of paying a lot, and not being satisfied.  All that to say, I ended up driving to the nearest cheap hair salon I spotted on the highway, and walked in.

After all, aren’t all the stylists in those kind of places recent grads who know the latest techniques?  Aren’t they just working at these cheap places to get experience, build up a clientele, and move on?

I walked in.  “Hi, can someone cut my hair now?”

Behind the desk, the receptionist, sporting a great haircut, looked up.

“Sure.  Give me your coat and take a seat.  I’ll get Terry (not her real name).”

.

Sitting in Terry’s chair, I looked around.  The place was dumpy, looking like the low-end salon it was.

Out walks Terry smelling badly from cigarette smoke.  Her face was covered with deep wrinkles and when she smiled, she was missing a few teeth.  I won’t bother to detail the many different colors of her hair ranging from burnt orange to caramel.

OMG.  I had a sick feeling in my stomach as I sat in Terry’s chair, a prisoner, held hostage by my own stupidity.  It was too late to turn back.

I tried to imagine the best case scenario.  Maybe she was a recovering addict from NYC and came to the mountains to get her life back together.  She wouldn’t be the first.  Or maybe she was a super stylist from NYC.  Anything was possible.

“Is that a natural curl?” she asked.

“Yes, and I happen to have a photo of the cut I like in my wallet.”  I handed the photo to Terry.

She looked at it for a second.

“No problem.  I’m great with curly hair, been cutting hair in Asheville since 1994.  Raised four kids as a single mom cutting hair.”

“Ever been to New York?”  I could only hope.

“Never been out of Asheville.  Never had the desire.”

“Never.  Not even for a visit?”

MY NEW HAIRCUT

“Nope.  I’m gonna  cut your hair dry.  It’s the best way to cut curly hair.”

I knew that was a fair statement and such technique existed, so I did not argue with Terry.

Chop, chop, chop.  Terry cut away until I was left with a short pixie.

“What do you think?  I think that looks about right.”  Terry picked up the photo and held it up to the mirror next to my image. “What about color?  We use a very good color here.”

I could not speak.

“Would you like to schedule your next appointment?”

“Next appointment?  Oh, well, I won’t be needing a next appointment until April – 2013.”

THE LIGHT OF AUTUMN

We belong to the local “Swiss Club”, where we get together every so often to eat good, traditional Swiss food, chat, watch a movie, and generally have a good time.

One of our friends is a cook in one of the resorts here, and we started to talk about “Rot Kraut”, a favorite fall dish.

Then the whole table took turns telling how they make their version.

Every person had a different way to make it, and everyone was excited and thrilled to hear how.  I love those kind of conversations…so much better than trying to top each other on the latest bizarre news of the moment!

I don’t remember eating “Red Cabbage” while growing up in Cleveland.  I did eat it in Switzerland though, where people went crazy over it, as a side dish to other fall specialties, like homemade “spaetzli”  served with wild boar sausages.

MITSOUKO by Guerlain

So if you like “Red Cabbage”, I think you will love this “recipe” I got from a French house guest we had staying with us.  She also was the one who introduced me to the Guerlain perfume house, and my favorite perfume, Mitsouko.  I can’t remember her name, it was over 20 years ago, but I will always remember her.

She got this recipe from her great-great grandmother that is absolutely delicious.  Funny, but when I told the friend who’s a cook about how I make it, he said he had never heard of doing it like this before with garlic.

By the way, he uses apple sauce…something I will be sure to try in the months to come.

Sadhvi’s Red Cabbage Recipe

1.   Take a head of red cabbage and wash, remove any outer leaves that don’t look good, core it, and cut it up into the desired size.

2.   If you use a pressure cooker for everything like I do,  then you know how to do the timing, etc.  If not, throw the cabbage into a big pot with a tight fitting lid.

3.   Take a whole head of garlic (or so), peel, and put one or two whole cloves into each piece.  This makes taking them out very easy after cooking, because you don’t want the cloves after it’s done.   Place them amongst the cabbage in the pot.

4.   Now sprinkle some good balsamic vinegar over the cabbage.  It’s maybe a cup, maybe a bit more?  It doesn’t matter!  We have a store around here that has really cheap prices on really good condiments.  So I understand if you don’t want to use your really expensive Italian Balsamic Vinegar.  Use whatever you have on hand.  No need to go out and buy anything special for this recipe.

5.   Now sprinkle some salt over the cabbage.  And now some nice olive oil. 

6.   Cook.  Voila!  Enjoy…now wasn’t that easy?  It’s even better the next day, by the way.

"ROT KRAUT"

SADHVI

There’s a lot of time and money spent on face creams.  Both by us women, and in advertising dollars.  To make us look younger, flawless…perfect!  Just pick up any magazine while you’re waiting to check out at the grocery store and flip through the pages.  The beautiful faces that look at you are simply stunning, aren’t they?

As I see myself getting older, I’ve noticed that there has been the thought that if I get this or that face cream, I will look like I did when I was younger, or at the very least, better.  I have tried samples of Estee Lauder and felt like I’ve been putting something with silicon on my face.  Interesting, but too weird.  I’ve tried Lancome, and nearly got knocked out by the strong perfumed scent.  I’ve tried Chanel and Guerlain, and could not justify the price tag.  Then I thought the drugstore products, like Roche or L’Oreal would be good.  They stung my face, and smelled too strongly of synthetic perfume.

I’ve been big into the natural and organic movement since the ’70′s, way before big companies got interested in the movement, and bought most of them out.  Those were the days when being a vegetarian was considered very odd…cult-ish even!

WILD SAGE BOTANICALS Rose Geranium Face Lotion

So I just wanted to let you know that one of my 2 favorite face creams* is made by Wild Sage Botanicals.  Every product is hand-made by Garima, the woman behind this very cool “company”.  I think I have to say that again:  every product is made in small batches, by hand, by Garima!  With most of the herbs from her own garden. Pretty incredible, really.  With wonderful smells that are euphoric and make me happy.  Wild Sage’s Rose Geranium Face Lotion is my pick for the best moisturizer for my skin.  Check out Garima’s site and see if you don’t just love her products.  She has drawn all the plants and things on the site herself too.  And her prices are very affordable.  Which is so important these days when most of us are watching every penny that we spend.

If you do happen to order some of Garima’s products, please let me know.  I wonder if you will become a loyal fan like I have been for the past 20 years!?  When something is good, I don’t think you have to shout it from the top of a mountain – you just know.

And if you have a few moments, check out this informative clip below.  I think we need a little reminder on why the stuff that is being mass-marketed and fed to us, and readily available is not something that we want to buy!

 *P.S.:  The other face cream that I use is one that is not available for sale, yet!  It’s made by a close friend of mine,  in small batches, and it is what I call, “The Perfect Cream”.  It’s based on a recipe by one of my favorite herbalists, Rosemary Gladstar.  It smells like a bouquet of roses (real ones), and it goes in and makes my skin feel so good.  I keep saying she should sell it.  Maybe one day she will…  I will let you know.  

I'm so challenged

I spent the last two weeks at home with a terrible case of bronchitis.   Too sick and contagious to work, I vegged out on the couch and spent my time watching daytime T.V.  Now that’s an experience, especially for us baby boomers.

Really!

I watched the last episodes of the Oprah Winfrey Show, lots of Dr. Oz (both shows are great for women over 50); morning talk shows; afternoon talk shows; The Lifetime Channel; The Classic Movie Channel; and of course all the commercials – and there are many.  All this shows led me to the discovery that our country is obsessed with challenges.  Why? I ask.  Isn’t living life itself challenging enough?  Why do we have to break it down?  Give it a name? The media is so good at seducing us with “challenges” and the products we need to overcome them.  Here are some of the tempting challenges even I contemplated while lying on the couch.

• The weight loss challenge (by far the most numerous) I was particularly drawn to the Dr. Oz challenge to reboot your body in just two weeks!  He also has the ultimate anti-ageing challenge, and the sleep challenge, too.
• Jillian Michaels fitness challenge
• Dr.Phil’s family weight loss challenge
• Here’s one I like, it’s twofold: anti-ageing and it will give you a new career while going to Botox school:
• Suze Orman has the ultimate financial challenge, plus  mini ones where you can save $100/mo:
• The teeth whitening challenge sponsored by Arm and Hammer:

Well, here’s my response to all this.  Really people?  Just take an anti-depressant and get on with it.

Here's a Dare!

KATINA

I’ve known Katina since 1983.  We were young and had no fears about anything, and, we laughed a lot.  We share the same guru, we share astrologically, the same degree of moon and sun, and we share that wonderful connection of being loved and accepted by each other, no matter what.

I hope you enjoy what I found out about Katina that I didn’t know before this little interview.

1.  What was the name of the first record you ever bought?

I remember buying the Beatles album with the song, “I wanna hold your hand”.

2.  Who did you like more, The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?

The Beatles.

3.  What is the one thing you have to put on or have on that makes you feel good before leaving the house?

My push-up bra from Chantelle!

4.  What’s your favorite lipstick?

I like lip glosses instead of lipstick.  I like to go to Sephora online and try different ones.  I like one now that’s called “Sephora: Nectar Shine”.  It’s in a tube.

5.  What is your favorite comfort food?

I would have to say it’s a glass of Shiraz or a Zinfadel.  Lately I really like the Predator 2008 Red Zinfadel that’s around $13.99 a bottle.  Oh, and Archer Farms Cheddar Sourdough Twists!

6.  What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about being over 50?

My favorite thing is that I still feel and look OK.

My least favorite thing is that I have been dealing with a back problem for the last 7 years…and thankfully it’s getting better and I am starting to feel like my old self again.

7.  What is your most favorite thing to do that is “creative”?

Meditation is my most favorite thing to do because it makes me feel so good and connected and I’m creating awareness within.

Ah This!

Jane

But it’s heaven.

Here’s my schedule: I wake up with the sunrise in the morning and go out and sit on the deck, watching the ocean, maybe sipping a cup of decaf coffee.  A little bit later, after the family wakes up, I have some breakfast, lovingly prepared by someone other than myself (beach vacations include freedom from cooking!).  Then, I take a morning walk on the beach, stopping every now and then to pick up a shell or pat a passing dog.  When I get back to the cottage, I might read a book for a while or do an acrostic puzzle from the book my husband gave me for Valentine’s Day.  Then, what do you know, it’s time for lunch!  One of the kids is on lunch duty, so I wait to eat what they prepare.  Later in the day, I might sit on the deck for a little longer–or take another walk–depending on my energy.

Josie in the Water

Sometimes, I take a nap in the afternoon, listening to the sounds of the waves breaking on the beach and the seagulls flying around, calling to each other.  I’m often hungry here–something about the ocean air!  So I have to be careful about not eating, eating, eating, every spare minute.  I’ve been good so far.

Double Rainbow at the Beach

Later in the afternoon, I read my book again–or write–or have another walk.  It’s difficult sometimes to choose!  There are no phones ringing.  No emails to be answered, since I don’t look at them.  No places to go or people to see.

Then, before you know it, it’s time for dinner, once again prepared by someone else, followed by a board game with everyone or, perhaps, a rented movie on the t.v., with popcorn.  Then, time to go out on the deck and look at the stars before climbing into bed.

There are ways to spend lots of money down here.  We could go go-carting or eat at fancy seafood restaurants or take a ferry over to Ocracoke Island for the day.  But why bother?  We’ve got the ocean out our front door, carrying away months and months of stress each morning and lulling us to sleep each night.  Oh, and did I mention the moon over the ocean at night?

I recommend it to all women over 50!

guest writer Kathryn Wilson

Following Kathryn’s story on Monday, we’re continuing with Part II of E., One Intrepid Senior

E. worked as a model in post-war Manhattan for the Elizabeth Arden Salon and lived in the famous Barbizon Hotel in the mid 1940’s. This glamorous part of her life led her to meet Gloria Vanderbilt, Marlene Dietrich, and her first husband, D.      

After marrying D. and living in New York and Cincinnati, E. returned to her hometown of Louisville after the death of D. to start Louisville’s first finishing school. Once the charm school was successful, E. moved on to pursue her true love—art.  She and two friends started Talents Unlimited, a company that sold art supplies, taught classes, and specialized in unique Christmas dioramas that E. designed and crafted.  These wreaths were hot ticket items, frequently requested and often selling for more than $300 a piece.  Each wreath was highly specialized, electric, and musical, and featured detailed Christmas scenes.  E. even had one of her more elaborate wreaths, modeled after the Kennedys’ last Christmas in the Blue Room, accepted by the Kennedy Memorial Library.  The wreaths have been showcased in museums and craft shows across the country, winning many awards.

Eloise's wreath

E. has traveled to many exotic locales, including Paris, Hong Kong, Haiti, and Thailand.  She has had many adventures abroad, including meeting Maria von Trapp and, in a separate instance, nearly being kidnapped.  E. and I spent an entire day viewing slides of these beautiful trips to near and far.  She will soon be leaving for her yearly sojourn to her condo in Highland Beach, where she will wait out the icy Kentucky winter in the peaceful warmth and light of Florida.

In short, E. has had an amazing life, one worthy of transcribing and well-deserving of the title she’s chosen: Yes, I’ve Had a Life.  She is an admirable woman who has made the most of her life.  I have found myself inspired continuously throughout the process.  Yes, I hope my life will be just as exciting as E.’s, but I also hope to never forget the importance of each person’s life story.  I know now that these small anecdotes are always worth observing more closely, no matter how high the pile of surrounding souvenirs may be.

Kathryn Wilson

Our friend, Kathryn Wilson is not one of us.  She is NOT a woman over 50,  but we want to introduce her to you anyway.    She lives in Louisville, Kentucky, and is currently enrolled in Pacific University’s M.F.A. in Fiction program.  She is an aspiring writer and editor.  She hopes to one day relocate to the Pacific Northwest with her boyfriend and two cats.

Kathryn is writing an autobiography of a beautiful woman 85 years old, so we’ve invited her to share part of her work with us.  So, sit back and read Part I of this lovely woman called E.

Eloise Then

For the past two months, I have been assisting a charming 85 year-old woman with the writing, formatting, and editing of her autobiography.  As you can imagine, this is no small task.  This lovely woman (let’s call her “E.”) is a somewhat disorganized and very busy woman with mountains of newspaper clippings, photographs, and other detritus that must be incorporated into her story in some way.

Why, you may ask, did I take on this arduous task?  There are two reasons.

First, I have always gotten along with elderly folk; I love their stories, their idiosyncrasies, their endearments, and free cookies, so getting paid to spend time with someone from my favorite demographic seemed too good to be true.  Secondly, I have always been inspired by my own grandmother’s stories of her life in the coal country of southern West Virginia.  My grandmother was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, so I have quickly learned the importance of recording memories.  I related to E.’s wish to record her life story for future generations.

E. is, on the surface, just as sweet and amicable as your own grandmother; she frequently calls me “honey” and shares delicious Modjeska candy.  But it was in working on E.’s story and delving into the details of her life, that I found she is so much more than a delightful, polite elderly woman who just happens to live in a condo with seven bathrooms.

E. has witnessed a great deal of tragedy in her life.  She married three times; her first husband, the love of her life and a famous radio and television personality, died in a car wreck after they had only been married nine years.  Her son contracted polio, but luckily survived.  Her second husband, who she was married to for over thirty years, died after a lengthy and painful illness.  E. lives now with her third husband, J.  They were married in their childhood church and just happened to be the oldest couple ever wedded in the chapel.

E.’s adventures were not limited to her love life, however.  To read more, stay tuned for Part II.

Eloise Now

Jane

Why is it that keeping weight off seems to be the hardest part of losing weight?  It doesn’t make sense.  It seems that, once you’ve reached a hard goal you’ve set for yourself and lost the pounds you wanted to lose, you would then easily do what you need to do—no matter how difficult—to stay there.  After all, why in the world would you ever want to go back to where you were before? Why?  Because it’s so much easier to be fat! It requires no effort, no discipline, no early mornings, no record-keeping!  No conscious thought.  You can do it with your eyes closed!

And because there are always millions of voices in your head, pushing you to gain that weight back.  Here’s a sampling of what my voices say:

1)     (From inside the Snickers bar left casually on a counter or a delicious fudge dessert pictured on a menu): “I’m here!  Come get me!  What fun!”

2)     “Damn it!  Why shouldn’t I eat that bag of Cheetohs?  After all, I’m 95 pounds thinner than I was before!  Why shouldn’t I reward myself?”

3)     “You’re going to gain back that weight anyway, so you might as well just go ahead and get it over with.”  (This is a very discouraging and depressing voice.)

4)     “It’s too cold/dark/hot/miserable/boring to exercise.  Just turn over and go to sleep.”

5)     “You really don’t look as voluptuous as you used to look.  You’re starting to look a little scrawny.  Eat that ice cream, for God’s sake! You owe it to yourself.”

6)     “Join the crowd.  Don’t be a stick-in-the-mud!  Eat that pizza like everyone else and enjoy it.  Don’t make people feel bad by turning it down!”

7)     “Life is too hard/short/stressed to diet.  Go a little easy on yourself.”

8)     “Well, there you go:  you’ve eaten one caramel cluster, you might as well just eat the whole bag.”

9)     “Who’s going to know anyway?”

10) And, finally, the overwhelming one: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to eat something this incredibly scrumptious!  The chance may not come again!  Eat up!” 

Not one of these voices is really as articulate as I’m stating here.  They are subconscious murmurs, and maybe that is why they have so much power over me.  If I saw a shady looking character come up to me on the street, offering me my drug of choice, chocolate, by saying, “Buy this!  This is some great chocolate!”—I’d be able to resist that.  The problem is that all these voices don’t come to me looking like drug dealers.  They sound totally reasonable and very persuasive—and they speak in a voice that sounds just like my best self.

I’m not sure how to fight them, but I’m working on it.  I have learned that one defense is to come up with a new goal, a new plan:  “I will start exercising 300 minutes a week.”  or “I will not eat anything after 7 p.m.”  But I think the best defense is to force the voices out into the open, into the light, to show themselves by making them conscious—so that I, in turn, can have a conscious, thought-out, well-planned response ready—which will include throwing out all the caramel clusters left over from Christmas!

Annice

How far you would drive for a great AFFORDABLE haircut?  Would you drive 2.5 hours?  I confess, I did exactly that.  Included in that haircut was color to banish the gray, a few caramel-colored highlights that my sister says is needed to lighten up the face, and since I had to wait for the color anyway, I went ahead and had my eyebrows waxed.  So there, I drove 2.5 hours up and over the mountains (round-trip) from Asheville, NC to Unicoi, TN for a day of high maintenance.  On the way, I picked up my friend Betty in Marshall where we had breakfast  at Zuma’s before heading out to the Dragonfly Salon.

Me, Betty and Zuma's

“Why do it?, my husband asks.  “You’re crazy.  You mean to tell me there is not one hairdresser in all of Asheville who can cut your hair?”  Of course there is, but I don’t feel like paying two hundred dollars every time I need a cut and color.  You see, I was spoiled by Mari, who is not only a great haircutter and colorist, but does it very affordably.

The Infamous Dragonfly Salon in Unicoi, TN

Me and Mari - the process begins

When Mari first moved to Tennessee I told myself I would never drive to another state for a haircut.  That was before I spent two years in search of the perfect hairdresser, stopping women everywhere asking them who cut their hair and how much they paid.  I had no shame.  I want to tell you, no one has ever accused me of being cheap.   I completely support stylists getting as much as they can for their haircuts.  It’s just that I can’t pay those big city prices, and let’s not forget that the economy tanked and without any cost of living increase over the last three years, my salary has been going down instead of up.  And yes, I’m happy to have a job – no whining here.

So, after considerable introspection, I embarked on the Big C (the big compromise).  I opted to go local and accept a mediocre haircut and color at half the price.  That lasted for two years until my mediocre stylist turned what was supposed to be brown hair (with caramel highlights) totally blond.  I screamed.  I had no one to blame but myself.  Why did I tell her to leave her lazy husband who hadn’t worked for two years and forced her to pay the mortgage, the loan for his houseboat, and his kid’s vacation at Disneyland?   No doubt, my blond hair was  punishment for giving out free advice when not asked!

So that’s how I ended up driving 2.5 hours to Tennessee with my good friend Betty,  only to return to North Carolina at 4:00 in the afternoon, nicely coiffed and colored.  And in case you’re wondering why I  just don’t go gray, let me tell you, if the economy gets any worse, I will have to because I won’t be able to afford the gas.

Annice and Betty looking good!

Sadhvi

Being a woman over 50, I thought I might want to write something about Menopause every now and again.  It isn’t taboo, but I think that for me it’s just been so intense that I don’t know what to say.

Really.  I mean, who wants to hear someone write about how they don’t know who they are anymore?   Besides, I have a funny feeling that dealing with this Change is kind of like trying to find the “perfect  bra”, having the “perfect job”, or communicating clearly with my husband: there really isn’t an answer, it’s just a mystery and a challenge to be lived on a daily basis!

Not only is there the pressure to look good these days, to be thin enough not to be considered “fat”, to not be negative, but rather positive, to be politically and socially correct, to work out or do some sort of Yoga or Pilates to stay in shape as I get older, but every morning there’s the challenge of facial hair.

Susun Weed

I have a book, “New Menopausal Years, The Wise Woman Way: Alternative Approaches for Women 30-90″  that I opened from my bookshelf to see what herbalist and Wise Woman Susun Weed had to say about it: you can just click HERE to go to that information online. 

If you find the time, you should go to one of Susun’s events, and most definitely, buy any of  her books.

In a nutshell, I can tell you that it’s not going to go away and I will have to keep up with the daily maintenance of it, well, for the rest of my life.  And for everyone’s sake I really hope I don’t forget.

My mother, who is still alive, has not really spoken much about her Menopausal years to me…maybe the whole topic was as mystifying to her as it is to me now.  Mom?

In the past couple of years I have had all the symptoms associated with this Change and I am thankful that they didn’t all happen on the same day, because then I wouldn’t be writing to you via this blog post, but rather from a prison cell somewhere in Missouri.

When it gets brought up with girlfriends, there is always someone who didn’t have ANY symptoms, who is having wild sex all the time with her husband or new, younger lover, or someone who just started taking some hormones from horse urine and swears it makes her look 20 years younger.  Then there are my girlfriends who are in their 60′s who tell me that their menopausal symptoms have never gone away.  So there ya go!  It’s like I said before, it’s all a mystery.

Maybe it just comes down to accepting this new me as I get older, just as it always been throughout my life of being OK and enjoying what is, no matter what age. 

Amen, and seriously now, may you have a good night’s sleep and awake with no facial hair in the morning!

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

(Reinhold Niebuhr: American theologian 1892-1971)

Belgian Blues

Oops 50 interviewed Flavia Bacarella recently, so that we could introduce our readers to this wonderfully gifted artist and her work.

Oops 50:  When/how did you become a painter?

Up on the Hill

FB:  I started painting after graduating as an English major from college.  As a child, though, I always was drawn to ‘coloring’ and was totally passionate about my 64-color crayola set.  I drew with these crayons non-stop as a kid.  But I didn’t study art other than an occasional art course in grade school and high school until after college.  When I started studying, I took a drawing course, and the teacher encouraged me to become a painter.  I started studying painting at night until I was able to take a fellowship leave and a couple of special leaves without pay in order to participate in both a full-time studio program at the Studio School in NYC and later earn a graduate degree from Brooklyn College.

Buckwheat

Oops50:  What does painting do for you?

FB:  I love mixing the colors, and I am always surprised by the exciting things that happen on the palette and on the canvas that are totally unexpected.”  I enjoy making a painting that takes liberties with the subject.  I should say that I am mostly a perceptual painter which means that I paint from nature, or from life.  But I don’t feel I want to copy what I see so in that sense my imagery is not strictly realistic.  I like to straddle the fence between abstraction and figuration.

Field of Buckwheat

 Oops50:  How do you know when a painting is finished?

FB: I’m never quite sure when a painting is finished.  But, when working, sometimes I just inexplicably feel that I have to stop, or I’ve had enough, or I need to look and think about the work.  Stopping then is generally a good idea in my case because either something is brewing or the thing is done.  So I don’t always know if a work is done but often when I don’t know what I could do next, I realize it is finished.  It is easy to overwork.

 Oops 50:  If you had more than one life, what else would you like to do/be?

FB:  This week I’ve been watching a series on my computer that was aired on our local PBS channel on Charlie Rose all year long on “The Brain.”  I’m totally fascinated and I think that I would turn to that –research on the brain.  The mysteries and the unknowns—it’s like a giant puzzle.  And I think that it could easily keep me going for a lifetime.  One researcher who spoke on the show is a 91-year-old woman.  She’s still excited by the field.  So that’s what I think today.  And maybe if I weren’t teaching and a painter also, I might go into something like film-making for which I have no talent whatsoever, but being with people at work is something I enjoy.  Painting alone in the studio can be a little lonely sometimes.

Oops50:  How has your painting changed over the years?

FB:  I don’t know that it has changed a whole lot.  Maybe it shows more confidence thought I am not sure about this.  I want it to be looser and sometimes it’s tighter, so you know I can’t say anything too definite.  I have explored other areas like collage and woodcut and these two areas show different sides of my esthetic sense.

Flavia Bacarella

A little more background on Flavia:  she was born in Brooklyn, NY and, in addition to studying at the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture, she holds an MFA from Brooklyn College.  She has a 4-page resume full of group exhibitions, solo shows, publications, reviews, and awards (including a New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship in painting in 1986 and grants from CUNY in painting and printmaking).  Her day job is as an Associate Professor of Painting and Chair of the Art Department at Herbert H. Lehman College (CUNY) in the Bronx, where she teaches painting, drawing and woodcut.  Since 2005, she has been doing woodcuts in addition to painting. In May of 2006, Lohin Geduld Gallery held a woodcut exhibition featuring her illustrations for It’s a Long Road to a Tomato:  Tales of an Organic Farmer Who Quit the Big City for the (Not So) Simple Life, written by Keith Stewart.  (A new, updated edition of the book, with 14 new woodcuts, was just published in August of this year.)  Here’s what Flavia had to say about woodcuts for a catalog of a show that included her work at the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design. 

“A drawing, for me, has always been a distillation of observation and some more intimate connecting truth about my subject.  Through the medium of the woodcut, I have found that I can pursue this approach to an extent greater than pure drawing will allow.  When carving directly on wood, with handtools or with a dremel, there is an immediacy and spontaneity which I find totally engaging.  I like the resistance of the wood—it imposes limitations that encourage an essential simplicity.  In making a woodcut, I am often able to subdue my intellect and sustain a somewhat meditative state of creativity.”

To learn more about Flavia Bacarella, you can visit her website at www.flaviabacarella.net.  To see more of her woodcuts or learn more about Keith Stewart’s book, go to http://www.longroadtoatomato.theexperimentpublishing.com.

Annice

When Charlie Rose interviews someone, I watch and listen.  I guess that makes me a Charlie Rose groupie (I rely on Tivo to get my fill).  So, when he interviews Joan Rivers about the documentary, “A Piece of Work,” I go see it.  The film, by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, spans the 40 year career of Ms. Rivers.  At 77 (she’s actually 75 in the film), we see a tough broad who is not afraid to bare all.  In fact, she thrives on it, needs it, like an addict.
Watch this great trailer:

I’m not exactly sure when I stopped liking Joan Rivers, but I’m guessing it was back in the late 80s with everyone else.  Falling from grace due to a series of professional and personal blows such as being blacklisted by Johnny Carson/NBC, and the 1987 suicide of her husband/manager, she struggled to find work in her beloved show biz.

The Young Joan Rivers

Circumstances and age seemed to have turned Ms. Rivers into a comic whose jokes seemed more like cruel jabs aimed to hurt the likes of  Liz Taylor and her battle with weight.  I find it very ironic for Joan to be hassling Liz when she was perpetually under the knife of her plastic surgeon re-figuring her face, and who knows what else.  I know it’s none of my business how many face lifts this Grande Dame of comedy endures but frankly, I think her face lifts turned me off when she started to look like a caricature of herself standing in Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.

Now, here’s the big BUT – after seeing this film, and her journey back to glitz and glamour, I actually like Joan Rivers again!  She’s one smart woman who climbed her way back to legendary status selling her jewelry on QVC, and her red carpet attacks (with her daughter) on celebrity T.V.  And don’t forget her latest gig on Donald Trump’s reality show “The Celebrity Apprentice.”  No, I didn’t watch it but I was not surprised to learn that Ms. Rivers won the competition, which by the way, meant she had to beat out her own daughter, also on the show.  Needless to say, the mother and daughter relationship is strained.  Nothing new here abut mothers and daughters.

The many faces of the Queen of Comedy

In spite of her obsession to be a star and stay on top of her game, I couldn’t help but admire Joan Rivers.  Like I said before, she is one tough broad, and she’s not afraid to fight tooth and nail to keep her dream alive.  Aging gracefully?  Not her.  Aging any way she can is more like it.

Annice

Read The Wall Street Journal.  I’m not kidding.  I found the most fascinating article on bras there.  Don’t know how many of you beautiful women over 50 read the WSJ, but I get it daily, and Christina Binkley’s May 13^th article, “Bra Building: New Engineering for Bigger Curves”  is a gem.  Why would the WSJ feature almost a whole page on bras?  Well, bras are big business–and getting bigger.  It seems that bra sizes have gone up in the last decade, and D or DD sizes are not uncommon.  In fact, manufacturers have been cranking up cup sizes to KK.   

The article says baby boomers need a lift to support their sagging breasts–thus the need for the “engineered” bra.  But I, for one, have been observing the young girls with bovine breasts who feel the need to bare beaucoup cleavage instead of hooking up a little more engineering than their mothers or grandmothers.  I’m convinced it’s all the hormones in their burgers and chicken nuggets, not to mention the milk they drink that’s injected with rBGH to speed up production.  

But never mind them, it’s all about me, and I’ve been looking for that perfect bra where the underwire doesn’t gouge my chest after two hours and doesn’t cost a week’s earnings.  And bras aren’t cheap.  It seems a good bra can cost up to $100.  And why is that, you might ask?  Because, what do you know, good bras have over 24 working parts, and all that engineering costs money!  So if you have good information on a great bra at a great price, please come forward and share that information with us women over 50. 

In the meantime, visit the WSJ video, where the journalist interviews a bra maker and seller – there’s a 12-second ad you’ll have to sit through first, but it’s worth it.   And here’s the link for the article:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703339304575240382280390218.html

Content coming soon.

1)    What was the first record/album you ever received/bought for yourself?

“Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys.  It was a 45 and I bought it at Woolworth’s.  It probably cost 89 cents.  At the age of 8, I experienced the word “psychedelic” when I listened to that song.  It literally put my mind into another place.  I loved it and played it over and over and over again.

2)    What is one of your most vivid childhood memories?

The first thing that pops into my head is “falling in love” with Elvis when I was very young.  I had a dream of him and felt that physical sensation that one gets when one is “in love”!

3)    What lesson would you like to pass on to younger women, now that you are a woman over 50?

Hmmmm… what have I  learned to be able to pass along?  Well, I don’t know if I have completely got it yet, but maybe the most important thing is to try to be OK with how you are, how you look, how you react…everything.  Why?  Because everything changes so quickly, that to try to hold onto ideas of how to “be”, how to “look”, etc. are so irrelevant and a complete waste of time.

4)    What turns you on, as a woman over 50?

That’s a good question…not much!  Since I don’t have good sex any more, I would have to say my garden, painting, and being with friends.

Yum!

Oh, and a good bottle of wine actually turns me on too…  I can always count on La Crema’s Pinot Noir to make me feel something divine.

5)    What is one of your dreams for the future?

To be able to get away with my husband and dog more often, instead of working all the time.

6)    What is one product you can’t live without that other women over 50 might enjoy/benefit from?

I cannot go out without having my favorite lipstick on, and that is one by Chanel.  I have tried all sorts of different brands over the years, and this one puts me into a sensual frame of mind that I can say I enjoy…I think they use roses and raspberry and vanilla and I really like that smell.  Plus, the texture is perfect.

Thanks Sadhvi…that was fun!

Sadhvi

This past weekend we were snowed in.  Last Tuesday and Wednesday we had a blizzard with constant winds of about 50 mph, night and day.  The weekend before we had 3 solid days of non-stop rain, with a little mud slide thrown in nearby.  Now I know, I could be 6 feet under rubble in Haiti, so believe me, I am not complaining:  I am just noticing things!

So if I could get away, it wouldn’t be to the Caribbean, it wouldn’t be to Mexico, it would be to one of my favorite thermal baths in Switzerland.

When I lived in Switzerland http://www.myswitzerland.com, I got such a thrill out of taking the train and going to one of the many beautiful, clean, and affordable hot springs.  I liked to visit and experience the different minerals that made up each of the hot springs.

It was very interesting to find that the salt-based hot springs made me feel like I had just been disinfected; very clean, and all cuts were healed.  The baking soda mineral bath was a true delight!  It made my skin feel like silk, and it was the most relaxing.  In the little town of Vals was a smallish pool that had mountain meadow herbs like fresh-cut hay and lavender flowers that was very nice.

But maybe my most favorite was the one in a little village called Scuol in an area that speaks a language that is a mixture of German, French, and Italian, and that language is called Romansch.  It is supposedly a dying language, which makes it intriguing right there.  Listening to people speak Romansch, which is Latin-based like English, made me feel as if I was not on the planet Earth, and I like that feeling -  a lot.

I wish I could take a few weeks off and go to Switzerland, where they are also having record amounts of snow and cold.

But at least they have these incredible mineral baths that you can escape to!  Where dipping  your toe  into 38 degree Celsius water (that’s 100.4 °F) and feeling the body turn into liquid relaxation as you slink into the waters that make you feel like you have gone back to a primodial place called  “Aahhhhhh” … yes, I’ll take one of those right now, please.