My Year of Turning 50

If this is your year of turning 50 years old, then this is NOT your birthday. Why? Of course, because it’s Feb. 29, a leap year, and 1958 was not a leap year. Of course, this could be your 100th birthday — or, I guess you’re 25th birthday, and if so, congratulations. (Like, 2008, 1908 [...]

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Score one for us 50-somethings. Apparently the character of Dr. Paul Weston of HBO’s In Treatment is a hottie. As played by 56-year-old actor Gabriel Byrne (shown in HBO photo from series), the psychotherapist is, in the words of one woman in today’s NY Times article “a hunk, totally. He’s hot” and, the article says, [...]

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Something else turning 50 this year? The peace symbol, first used, according to an On the Media segment, on Feb. 21, 1958 at a British anti-nuclear march. (Photo from Flickr user Dragonoak, used under Creative Commons license.)… AARP came after me again today. Sigh…Guess what else is 50 years old? The Smurfs. NPR asks, “So [...]

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A bit like my year of turning 50 years old and beyond…my life feels halfway over, but still some things to find on the dark side of the moon (dang, never saw Pink Floyd)…this is from tonight’s lunar eclipse.

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My colleague Matt Simantov made a set of Valentine’s Day e-cards to send to those you love — and those you don’t. The one here reminds me of my mother, who hated cut flowers since she felt it was killing something live. I’ve always used that as an excuse…I mean reason…not to buy flowers. I’m [...]

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AARP sent me another solicitation on Friday. Hey, AARP, it’s not you, it’s me. Leave me alone…OK, I’ll be honest, I would love the hotel discount and fantasize that I’d be carded each time I try to claim the AARP discount…NY Times has an article today on Eons, the baby boomer site you used to [...]

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Another scary thing about turning 50 years old — now I find out my heart will inevitably and, as the article says, inexplicably strink — something researchers are calling the “age 50 effect.”
Note to researchers: You need to be more creative with your names. How about “The Reverse Grinch Effect” — your heart strinks three [...]

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I am still getting used to my year of turning 50 years old. Today, an ad on the back of the New York Times Week in Review says “Hallmark sold 85,000 ‘Happy 100th Birthday!’ cards last year.” (It’s an add for retirement planning.) Of course, estimates are there are about 40,000 to 50,000 centenarians in [...]

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