Whaddya Think, Dr. Fink?
2017. It sounds more like a movie than a year.
There are movies called 1941 (hysteria in California after the bombing of Pearl Harbor), 1984 (Big Brother), and the infamous 2001 (a space odyssey). What can we expect when 2017 screens? New movies will follow, including The War with Grandpa and Downsizing. If they don’t appeal to you try The Six Billion Dollar Man – a high-cost revival of the Six...Read More
Memory. What? Oh Yeah – THAT!
The trip to the kitchen is fraught with danger. There’s always something in the way. Maybe you have to search for your wallet before hitting the refrigerator. A wrinkled shirt is screaming to be hung up before digging into the ice cream. The lone sock on the floor is wailing for its lost companion. With all those things intervening it’s easy to fo...Read More
Stepping Out
Fitness. It’s the next best thing since fried ice cream. Yet too many of us avoid the upgrade. Today we live longer but not necessarily better. The numbers are up (cholesterol, weight, blood pressure). We spend more time on the recliner than getting lean and mean. Let’s face it – how many Jane Fondas dwell among us? It’s more fun to guess the perp ...Read More
Aargh. Oyyy. Eeeeek.
It wasn’t coming from me. My grandson Johnny was playing make-believe Nana. We all know the aargs, oyyys, and eeeeeks when we get up from the floor, out of a soft couch, or hoist kids onto countertops. They’re the huffs and puffs of after fifty living. Let’s face it – grandchildren, grandnieces and nephews, and other related kids can be our greates...Read More
What’s an Ear To Do?
Beeps. They haunt me like politicians dressed for combat. Remember the good old days when people wore beepers on their belts like gun holsters? They bragged about their pagers. In the beginning, it meant that you were important. Then everyone got one. The day I saw a construction worker wearing three beepers on his tool belt I knew the device’s day...Read More
How Old Do You Have To Be?
How old do you have to be to get only one candle on your birthday cake? How old do you have to be before it’s OK to back out of your driveway without looking? How old do you have to be before the only way to find something lost in your house is to buy a replacement? Let’s face it. Life is funny. We have to laugh about things like body parts ...Read More
Nana’s Storybook
They think I’m crazy. I can name every resident and their address in 17th century New Amsterdam – but only a few of my present neighbors. I can tell you what foods came from Dutch New York – but can’t eat any of them because of my “healthy” diet. Would you like to know what Peter Stuyvesant wore in 1664? No problem – even though I can’t remem...Read More
Time Talk
Time. It’s not what it used to be. Particularly this time of year. Time becomes more intrusive as we approach that day when we stay up late, watch a silly clock slide down a building, and celebrate with champagne in tacky plastic glasses. To make matters worse, we have to change the year in checks, bills, and calendars that have run out of ti...Read More
How I Became Bipolar
Bipolar. That’s what they call people who have traveled to both the north and sound ends of the Earth. No surprise – you have to be a bit manic to even think of going there. It began in Alaska. I was invited to participate in a Native American grant that sent authors to schools in Alaska bush towns. My “town” was Barrow – the northernmost cit...Read More
The Nana Monster
Tech was always my best friend. As the daughter of an electronic engineer, I had the first TV in the neighborhood. When desktops arrived in the 80s, I quickly climbed aboard. I was an author – I had to go digital. My first computer was a 1982 “portable” called Kaypro 2. It weighed a svelte 26 pounds – about the same as my 2-...Read More