Subway Station. 110th Street and Broadway. Manhattan.
… some of us are more than halfway to 110 years old.
Think About It …
19 Friday Sep 2014
Posted in Concepts
Category Archives: Concepts
The Ceramic Couple
02 Tuesday Sep 2014
I’m not much for tchotchkes, but we’ve got a set of ceramic salt-and-pepper shakers that’s close to my heart.
You’ve probably seen them, or some version of them: it’s a married couple, in “Before” and “After”poses.
“Before” shows the couple young, happy, and dressed for their wedding day. He looks handsome in his gray tuxedo and red bow tie, sporting a mustache and glancing sidelong at his rosy-faced bride. She stands proudly in her white wedding dress and headpiece, with golden curls spilling out the sides, demurely holding a bouquet at her midsection. Her lips are pursed in a hopeful smile and her blue eyes gaze brightly ahead, focused on the future.
When you turn the figurines around, the legend on the bottom reads “AFTER,” and the changes are striking.
The groom is now wearing a strappy T-shirt and boxer shorts, and he’s gained at least 30 pounds. Frowning, he’s lost most of his hair and the dapper mustache, and he’s glancing sheepishly at his wife as if expecting recriminations. She, too, has gained a few pounds, as evidenced by her jowly face and plumper middle. She’s wearing a bathrobe and curlers in her hair, and instead of flowers she holds a rolling pin. Her young bride’s optimistic smile has been replaced by a scowl as she glares at her spouse, apparently considering where to slug him, and how hard.
I bought these when Maria and I had been married around twelve years, when we weren’t far removed from the “Before” picture of the happy couple. We’ve been displaying them on the windowsill over the sink for the last 20 years, and I’ve since come to identify with – if not resemble – them more and more.
They’ve taken a beating over time – his hair, and her veil, are badly chipped on the “Before” side, and both of their noses, “Before” and “After,” have been marred by falls from the window ledge. We, too, bear scars from our three decades of life together. And like the figurines, neither of us is in quite the shape we were when we were married, but we’re still standing.
Sometimes I’m in a miserable mood and she’s just fine, the “Before” to my “After,” or I’m feeling just fine and she’s in the dumps. We can arrange the figures accordingly.
But usually the couple on the windowsill isn’t mired in “After.” They’re facing front, smiling warmly in their wedding regalia; a much more pleasant image. Like our ceramic counterparts, we’re hopeful we can carry on living happily ever “Before.”
OBEY is Not a Command. It’s a Status Symbol
25 Monday Aug 2014
Posted in Concepts
Tags
I saw a man wearing a black t-shirt with the letters OBEY emblazoned in white.
All I could think was who wants to wear a t-shirt that screams I’M SUBSERVIENT? I envisioned a dog teaching this guy new tricks.
I mentioned this to Lois. She tuned me in: OBEY is a pop culture status symbol, albeit she was not sure exactly what it symbolized. It didn’t matter, at least she knew it was out there in the cultural zeitgeist of cool and hip.
It’s a clothing line. But more interesting is the fact that the man behind OBEY, is the same man as behind HOPE, the iconic poster of the 2008 presidential election. But the poster created issues for the artist Shepard Fairey because the Associated Press claimed he had not obeyed the copyright laws. The snafu was settled, and I just read that Fairey is about to start working on a new mural on the Bowery.
So the point of the story is (a) I was reminded of how far right of 30 I am, (b) I am abreast of copyright lawsuits; and (c) I know what’s happening in the art world.
Summer Reruns
18 Monday Aug 2014
Posted in Concepts
When The Write Side of 50 launched in November 2012, Julie was recovering from hip replacement surgery and Lois stated often, that, unlike many people her age, she had never had back pain.
Well, twenty-one months later, Julie has a new hip that’s as good as new, has traveled to remote corners of the world, and may very well hold the record in all of Manhattan for museum, art house, and restaurant visits.
Lois has had back pain due to trauma for nine weeks now, has moved twice, and got a divorce.
And the blog has remained afloat. (In no small measure, thanks also to the contributions of Frank and Bob.)
But they need a real vacation – a veg-out; a brain and body recharge. Maybe even a departure from the grid entirely – no e-mails, no worries. A beach bingo.
So they put the blog in charge of itself for one week. Starting tomorrow, The Write Side of 50 will be reposting four of its favorite and most popular pieces from that first year.
And also worth repeating – thank you! to all readers, followers, and contributors.
Remembering Mesopotamia
07 Thursday Aug 2014
Tags
Cuneiform writing, Iraq, Julie Seyler, Mesopotamia, The Cradle of Civilization, The Fertile Crescent
The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
There are many things to be said about Iraq, and the political pundits are weighing in non-stop on MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, FOX, PBS from the left to the right. (This is in-between keeping us abreast of what’s going on in Honduras, Syria, Israel, Gaza, Ukraine and Afghanistan). I am speechless over the terror gripping virtually every continent, but with Iraq, I cannot help but remember sixth grade history when we learned that it sits amid the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, otherwise known as “The Cradle of Civilization”.
The heritage of Iraq is one of greatness. It descends from the Persian Empire, a civilization once populated by the Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians and Akkadians and their sophisticated comprehension of the world should be celebrated, not forgotten. The Sumerians recorded the first written word, (circa 2900 B.C.), figured out that a circle was 360 degrees, and grasped that the planets circled the sun and not the other way around:
Constellations that we still use today, such as Leo, Taurus, Scorpius, Auriga, Gemini, Capricorn, and Sagittarius, were invented by the Sumerians and Babylonians between 2000-3000 B.C. These constellations had mythical origins, the stories of which are common throughout the western world.
From excavations and archaeological digs we know that these earliest urbanites brewed beer, wrote poetry and were savvy commercial traders. We also know that they were craftsmen. Within the ancient tombs and buried cities, archaeologists have discovered golden filigreed crowns, necklaces of delicately chiseled leaves, and beautifully sculpted silver spouted vessels which were used either for libations or cult objects.
Jewelry found at the Royal Tomb of Ur. 2600-2200 B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Kneeling bull holding spouted vessel. 3100-2900 B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art.
To remember all this and to balance it against the knowledge that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, “ISIS”, now known simply as the Islamic State, has not only eclipsed Al Qaeda as the world’s most powerful and active jihadist group, but seeks to monomanically annihilate history is beyond heartbreaking:
In areas that fall under their control, the jihadists work carefully to entrench their rule. They have attracted the most attention with their draconian enforcement of a fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic Shariah law, including the execution of Christians and Muslims deemed kufar, or infidels.
The goal of ISIS is to destroy. It boggles the mind, but perhaps it is not so novel or exceptional, given that it was war and violence that ultimately brought down the Persian Empire.
And yet there is wisdom being spoken and hopefully it will prevail. Ali al-Nashmi, a professor of history at Mustansiriya University in Baghdad, was quoted in The New York Times on July 27, 2014:
The world lost Iraq, but we must fight, you and me and all the friends, to do something, something mysterious and very far off. We must teach history in the primary school and show our kids Iraq’s great civilization.
Before Birds Flew, There Was Changyuraptor
25 Friday Jul 2014
Posted in Concepts
Now for something really far beyond the right side of 50 – specifically to the right side of 125 million. Yes, we are talking about an extinct species – the Changyuraptor. It puts getting old into perspective.
About 125 million years ago, before birds were birds, there existed dinosaurs with aerodynamic capacity. They are called microraptors, and in northeast China, dinosaur hunters have discovered the remains of a four-foot, nine-pound microraptor. The new species has been baptized Changyuraptor.
Unlike scaly dinosaurs, like Tyrannosaurus rex, “Changy” was covered in feathers from head to hind legs. But who knows if they were soft and downy; drab or colorful. The thing that makes “Changy” special, besides its wings and grand size, given that most microraptors weigh in at two pounds, was its tail. The paleo pundits calculate that the 30cm tail, (roughly 11 inches) was the control panel. It drove the up-and-down pitch of the animal, and made it possible for this pre-bird of prey to swoop down on its victims without crash landing.
So now we have a little more info about early avian flight, which means a little more understanding about how birds came to be, which ultimately led to Leonardo Da Vinci’s vision of a flying machine, and then Wilbur and Orville Wright’s powered airplane, up to today’s annoying experiences of flying commercial flights.
Anyway you look at it, flying is connected by six degrees of separation.
Senior Citizen or Almost a Senior Citizen?
22 Tuesday Jul 2014
Posted in Concepts
Last year I visited the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory in Vermont. They have a nice tour there that ends with ice cream, and so I went with my son and his father-in-law. I only bring this up because they had a senior citizen discount that kicked in at age 60. I thought that was an odd age to pick, but some restaurants like Denny’s and IHOP give senior status to anyone over the age of 55.
Last weekend I visited the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, New Jersey with my wife, my grandson and his parents. There was a $3 a ticket discount for seniors, but they defined senior as age 62 and over. I have also come across movie theaters where the senior discount doesn’t kick in until 65.
All this led me to think, why can’t everyone agree on the age at which one becomes a senior citizen?
I think this should start with the AARP. The RP of AARP stands for Retired Persons. As anyone over 50 knows, the AARP is second to none in finding people around their 50th birthday and asking them to sign up. I don’t think the NSA could find those of us on the right side of 50 as fast as the AARP does. But how many people are actually retired at age 50? I don’t know anyone. Perhaps in 1958 when the AARP was founded there may have been a sizable minority, but today the number must be a single digit percentage.
A few months ago, Gallup released the results of a poll that indicated that retirement age has been increasing over the last decade. The average retirement age is now 62 and the poll showed that those of us who are not retired do not expect to do so before age 66. Surprisingly, 11% of 18-to-29-year olds said that they expected to retire before they hit 55. The poll showed that this percentage dropped to 3% when they asked 30-to-49-year olds, and 1% when they asked people over 50.
So if we are not going to retire until somewhere between 62 and 66, why does the AARP open its membership at 50? Well I think that has more to do with the power that comes with larger numbers. If the AARP restricted its membership to “retired persons,” it would be a much, much smaller organization. And in fact, you will have to search very hard to find the words “retired persons” on the AARP website. They are just AARP now. They have pretty much disavowed any meaning in the letters.
Social Security allows people to retire at age 62, but Medicare does not kick in until age 65. So even the government can’t make up its mind when one becomes a senior citizen.
If the reason for senior citizen discounts is that seniors are living on fixed incomes, then perhaps we should set the senior age at the average retirement age of 62. That way, most of the people getting the discount will be retired.
But maybe the reason for senior discounts is not tied to income. After all, many seniors, particularly of the “Greatest Generation,” are quite well off in retirement. Maybe the reason for senior discounts is simply to court the business of this rapidly-growing demographic who have time and ability to spend.
Whatever the motivation, those of us in the 55-65 limbo area would certainly appreciate it if there was some consistency about the senior discount age.
It’s Friday … Drinks Are on Us
18 Friday Jul 2014
Posted in Concepts
We wish we could invite everyone to Rolf’s for a Friday cocktail hour, but as usual we are off to the beach. Let another summer weekend commence.
We are 238 … Let’s Contemplate … and Celebrate!
04 Friday Jul 2014
Posted in Concepts
Here’s to the Birthday of the USA. On Thursday July 4, 1776, the final draft of the document declaring the colonies’ independence from Great Britain was approved by the Continental Congress. Technically one could look at these founding fathers as a motley group of rebels, but they had a vision and it was beautifully laid out in the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson was only 33 years old when he wrote these words. (I am amused that I write “only 33” when I once thought 33 was “old”).
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–
However yesterday’s New York Times turned the whole story upside down. There is a great debate about the period that appears after the phrase “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Some cognoscenti say that that period may be a HUGE mistake and to understand the real meaning of this phrase, it must be read in immediate conjunction with its follow-up sentence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, —
Danielle Allen, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. and a scholar of the Declaration of Independence, maintains that that dot of ink may not have been present on the original Declaration and if it was not, there is a shape shift in the message:
The logic of the sentence moves from the value of individual rights to the importance of government as a tool for protecting those rights,” Ms. Allen said. “You lose that connection when the period gets added.
How fascinating. With the period the individual is celebrated, without, these inalienable rights fall under government jurisdiction. Personally, I prefer the period.
So whether you’re a with-y or with-outy, enjoy this weekend where we celebrate the day we declared independence from the motherland. We are 238 years old. Let’s raise our first toast in honor of the groundbreakers of 1776 who struggled to write a paper setting forth their ideals and the second toast to us because it is true that while mistakes have been made, (and depending on one’s political stances, are being made today), the framework initiated by the drafting of the Declaration of Independence has steered us right these many years.
Ugh…
02 Wednesday Jul 2014
Posted in Concepts
It’s only Wednesday, but…it’s not raining…yet!
7:54pm- now it’s RAINING!
The Write Side of 59 