Tips on Aging

8. Make lists, lots of them. Helps with trips to the store, but also for those walks to other rooms.

Your eyesight isn't as good as it once was. When I was younger, and saw an old lady who looked like she was playing Bette Davis' part in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane", I automatically thought that it was because of a neurological problem. Now I realize that these old ladies just can't SEE well enough to put on their makeup properly.

Ah! The infamous lipstick test for dementia, or fading sight!

I am the happy possessor of the knack of putting lipstick on with no mirror...may it never fade....

Roberta ------- you make some very good points re. your aging thesis.
Aging requires a similar dedicated learning curve as did the 1st score & 2nd score & 3rd score years you may have passed thru.
I find that my 4th score of years is quite an exciting venture.
I've retain many of my interests from my younger years & used them in my ongoing daily battle with Parkinson's Disease. I've got my rock & roll music, my computer, writing & I still have my drivers licence & I can still walk short distances. I go to bed with a smile & look forward to the next day. Go with the flo & take as much of what you want with you as you can. As the rock band, Cream said, I Feel Free.
The worse thing anyone can do is doing nothing, such as watching the moving wallpaper that is daytime TV. So the body maybe weak but the head is strong

D'art, What's the point of making lists if I can't remember where I put them? Sigh.

Phoenix, I think it's a combination of failing eyesight and having makeup from a different time, when bright colors didn't have such a startling effect.

Deb, I'm also one of those people who can put on lipstick without a mirror. I can even do it in a moving car. Just watch out for the potholes!

OAK, You have a great and positive attitude. I'm not a positive person by nature. More a pragmatist bordering on pessimism. But I like your style, kid. Sorry to hear about the Parkinson's. You seem to be coping masterfully.

Anyway, ageing is better than the damned alternative....or so I keep telling myself....

"Aging gracefully" is a euphemism, right Roberta?

Just a little reminder from Benet:

MA/CA=IQ

Soooooooooooooooooo. My mental age is now pushing 40.

Age Sticks... By e.e. cummings


Old age Stick
up Keep
Off
signs) &


youth yanks them
down (old
age
cries No


tres) & (Pas)
youth laughs
(sing
old age


scolds Forbid
den Stop
Must
n't Don't


&) youth goes right on gr
owing old.

e.e.cummings

Letty, First, thanks for the poem. Second, I don't understand the formula--MA/CA=IQ. Third, I don't think that "aging gracefully"is a euphemism. From my perspective, it suggests a kind of acceptance. An ability to cope with the changes in mind and body that age hits us with.

Hey, Roberta. Just kidding around. MA/CA is the way Alfred Benet calculated the IQ...mental age over chronological age is supposed to determine how brilliant we are. Actually, my friend, Benet devised his test to determine those who were educable from those who weren't, and he did it by observing the nature of a child's mistakes. Stanford-Benet is the one who created all the trouble. Hey. How's that for a memory. Hot damn. And as for the euphemism... Not one of us should go "gentle unto that good night...." Dylan never meant that to mean death..he meant it to be LIFE..

I've always like the story about the two old geezers who bump into each other at the grocery store.

The first one says, "Hey, how's it goin?"

The other guys just stares at him and starts rambling on about his new hearing aid. "I've got this new hearing aid. It's fantastic. I can hear everything now."

First guys says, "What kind is it?"

"Ten o'clock", says the other guy

gus, Oh my. That's an oldie

Now when you know how to make lace cornbread, that's really a test of Southern IQ... I'm just a child, myself.

Letty, I'm not suggesting that we just roll over and die. But I am suggesting that time takes a toll. And all the kicking and screaming, wrinkle creams, hair dye, plastic surgery, etc., won't stop time. And they won't make us younger. I try to keep mentally sharp. But I accept the fact that my memory isn't as good as it once was. And I'm not as spry as I used to be. And I do hear bones creaking. And getting down on the floor has become a major event. Accepting what happens as we age doesn't mean we've given up on life. I have every intention of raging against the dying of the light--right alongside of you. :-)

I knew about the Benet IQ tests. Just didn't remember the formula. I used to know it. C'est la vie. :-D

Good morning, all.

Roberta, of course your tips are excellent for keeping things organized, but seriously, I learned a lesson in third grade that I have never forgotten. I had read a story in the reader called "The Magic Cottage".
Basically, the little fairy story had to do with the typical "brat" that wouldn't do her chores, sassed her mother, etc. Whereupon her fairy godmother relocated her to a magic cottage. When she allowed the beautiful little cottage to become a shambles, the house rebelled. The broom whacked her in the head; the dish cloth slapped her in the face. At first she cowered, until the onslaught became unbearable. Then she grabbed the broom and swept the floor. The broom returned to it's proper corner. Then she grabbed the dish cloth and washed the dishes. By doing one thing at a time, she restored the harmony of the cottage.

And the moral is? Hmmmm, I've forgotten. lol. Just do one thing at a time, and all else will fall in line.

Told ya, Roberta:

http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17754&highlight=

Heh! Heh!

I thought it was if you divide Massachusetts by California, you get IQ. (There are all those brainiacs in MA after all... )

Ah, but Soz. Then there's the quip about:

What lives in America and has an IQ of 170?

Chicago. Oldie but goodie..

Warsaw's revenge on the states.

Have you ever had a poem dedicated to you? Then check out the link.

Here's my poem dedicated to the sozlet:

When this wee bairn
Appeared in the buff,
She yelled to the world
Enough's not enough.
I've songs to discover,
World's to explore.
If I can't come in frontwards
I'll use the back door.
Ruffles and ringlets and Sozlet's and stuff,
Sweet little girls
Please don't let them grow up.

alas and alack, Letty,
It's MA/CA x 100

Ooooh, I just saw this! Love it! <claps delightedly>

oops.... I almost missed this thread....

Roberta, you have a wonderful talent for writing with humor....

sozobe, I love the "Massachusetts divided by California".... LOL....

"crackle a tune".... what a great concept..... today, my bones are playing "Slip Sliding Away".... LOL....


>>>>
An elderly couple were experiencing declining memories, so they decided to take a power memory class, where they teach one to remember things by association. Later, the man was talking to a neighbour about how much the class helped him. "Who was the Instructor?" the neighbour asked. "Oh, let's see," pondered the man. "Umm...what's that flower, you know, the one that smells real nice but has those thorns...?" "A rose?" offered the neighbour. "Right," said the man. He then turned toward his house and shouted, "Hey, Rose, what's the name of the guy we took that memory class from?"

>>>>

PaL
:-)

Someone sent me this a while back. Tell me if you can't relate...

I was recently diagnosed with A. A. A. D. D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it manifests itself:

I decided to wash my car. As I start toward the garage, I noticed, that there is mail on the hall table. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the trash can under the table, and notice that the trash can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the trash first but then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the trash anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my checkbook off the table, and see that there is only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go to my desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the Coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the coke a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye-- they need to be watered. I set the Coke down on the counter, and I discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote.

Someone left it on the kitchen table. I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, we will be looking for the remote, but nobody will remember that it's on the kitchen table.

So I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers. I splash some water on the flowers, but most of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day: the car isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter, the flowers aren't watered, there is still only one check in my checkbook, I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses, and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.

Do me a favor, will you? Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't remember to whom it has been sent.

Don't laugh - if this isn't you yet, your day is coming! And if I have sent this to you before, ... well, now you know why you're getting it
again.