Tag: Aging

Supermarket Music Sounding Good These Days

Meirl
byu/Contemporary_Scribe inmeirl

cutedorkycoco
I heard Fall Out Boy on a classics station once and wanted to cry. Spotify made me a playlist called divorced dad rock alternatives and I don’t understand the need to be so violent. I’m not even a guy or divorced!

INeedReasons
Omg this made me snort laugh so loud. The divorced part is so unnecessary yet perfect

cutedorkycoco
Yeah I was so mad because I knew what it meant, but I didn’t like it. Like, just let me listen to The Killers in peace.

lordretro71
Jammed out to Sk8tr Boy at Walmart this morning…

Particular_Ticket_20
The oldies station in my area that played doo-wop and motown and 60s pop now plays the music I listened to in college and high school.

My local grocery store just plays cheesy over the top patriotic music now.

i_should_be_coding
I got out of the car once just as Everlong finished playing. Went inside the store and Everlong started playing. Took me a second to recompose myself.

alphi10
I remember this change literally happened the day I graduated high school. I worked in a grocery store the last three years of HS and had to listen to Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand all day. The day I graduated and quit they started playing TLC, Destiny’s Child, Britney and Christina. I was like, I guess I’m an adult now

Strength Training – Live Longer and Better

Regular physical activity promotes general good health, reduces the risk of developing many diseases, and helps you live a longer and healthier life. For many of us, “exercise” means walking, jogging, treadmill work, or other activities that get the heart pumping.

But often overlooked is the value of strength-building exercises. Once you reach your 50s and beyond, strength (or resistance) training is critical to preserving the ability to perform the most ordinary activities of daily living — and to maintaining an active and independent lifestyle.

The average 30-year-old will lose about a quarter of his or her muscle strength by age 70 and half of it by age 90. “Just doing aerobic exercise is not adequate,” says Dr. Robert Schreiber, physician-in-chief at Hebrew SeniorLife and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Unless you are doing strength training, you will become weaker and less functional.”

Want to live longer and better? Do strength training
Harvard Health Publishing

Diet and Healthy Aging

Participants were asked to provide regular surveys of their diet, assessing whether they adhered to eight healthy dietary patterns as well as their intake of ultra-processed foods that are high in sodium and saturated fats.

The study found that 9.3% of participants aged healthily, being able to avoid chronic diseases by the time they reached their 70s.

The study used the Alternative Healthy Eating Index score to determine a person’s diet quality. The score graded people based on their high intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, and healthy fats, and low consumption of red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages, sodium, and refined grains.

Those who scored in the top 20% were 86% more likely to avoid chronic diseases than the rest of the population.

Healthy eating habits in midlife may prevent chronic illness in later years, research finds

Thoughts on Aging – Reddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1hu5iy9/what_were_you_doing_the_day_you_realized_you/
What were you doing the day you realized you entered middle age?

caddis789
A buddy of mine and I were driving around. I don’t remember why. I remarked about how we had changed over the years. In the years before, we would have noticed pretty women, or cool cars. What were we noticing? Nice yards, and shrubbery.

Busty-Girl
Had to zoom in on my phone to read a menu at a restaurant. The waitress noticed and brought me a large print version without me asking. The worst part? I was actually grateful for it.

i-classycouture
I fell over in the pub and instead of laughing and jeering, people were concerned.

Candle-Jolly
I’m 42.
I’ll let you know when it happens.

DeadpoolLuvsDeath
Same age but had 2nd heart attack at 40 so I’d say then.

DucktapeCorkfeet
I’m 50 and I still don’t feel middle-aged.

kingalingadingadongo
48 (I think) and feel the same way.

ravenous0
I was waiting in line to pick up prescriptions to lower my high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

wedeservethis
Statin gang checking in!

DrawThink2526
At my mailbox, on my way home from the gym, holding a letter from my insurance carrier informing me of a rate hike due to my upcoming birthday. I lost my shit.

Mental-Employment701
When I started my first job

Rock and Roll Longevity

I believe we’re staying young longer because of rock and roll. Because of the generation that decided they weren’t going to die before they got old. Instead of dying young, they just didn’t get old. Fifty is the new thirty—or, twenty-nine, really—because the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Iggy, and Motörhead keep touring. They provide a template for the rest of us. They show us how good, how seasoned we get as we age. They show us how many good times can be had after our forties.

The trick to staying young in any era—and in any profession and relationship—is to have something to strive for. I’ve seen Aerosmith many times since the Rocks tour, and every time you can just tell that they are pushing themselves to play that perfect show.

We all have our down moments. We all have that thing in the middle of the night that my mom used to call the “3 a.m. blues.” You can’t always kick ass. I’d be a liar if I said I was batting anywhere close to a thousand. But you have to try. You have to recognize the times when you’re falling down and pick yourself back up. For me, that means going to see Motörhead, Iggy, and Aerosmith—guys who have saved my butt time and again.

Aerosmith have somehow kept themselves current and relevant through countless fads and eras in rock and pop music, and they do it by constantly writing songs. They definitely have that “thing” to strive for, and they are, at seventeen or more years older than me, ageless.

The Stones are almost a generation older (in age, that is) than the boys in Aerosmith. But they were still filming high-definition concert films during their 50th Anniversary Tour. We in the audience can see the creases, scars, warts, and all. They don’t give a fuck, and they are a quarter of a century older than I am. I’d be an asshole at this point to think fifty was anywhere close to old. The Stones have single-handedly raised the worldwide bar of how we, as men, think about ourselves in terms of age.

CHAPTER 22 – DON’T DIE YOUNG, YOU’LL MISS OUT ON BEING FIFTY
How to Be a Man: (and other illusions)
Duff McKagan, Chris Kornelis

Probation Officer on the Perspective of Youth

Sheila missed the action of the drug trade. She was having lifestyle withdrawal. She still went to parties and was still dating an up-and-comer in one of the neighborhood gangs, but she worried that her peers didn’t look at her the same way anymore. Her boyfriend said that her holding down a day job reflected poorly on him. It made him look like he wasn’t a good earner, like he couldn’t provide for his girl.

You want to tell young people that the things they care about now won’t matter in a couple of years. They’ll make new friends, meet new people, see new places, gain and lose a half dozen jobs before they’re settled, but this insight, like so many others I’d hoped to bring to the job, was tied to my own experience, to class if not race, and hopelessly inapplicable. Most people on probation and parole in the Seventh Ward didn’t go away to college. They rarely left the city limits for any reason. When you don’t go far from home, the local ecology is the only one you care about.

The Second Chance Club: Hardship and Hope After Prison
Jason Hardy

Rock and Roll Rasputin – Holocaust Survivor to Rolling Stones Insider

He was born in Krakow, Poland, in 1923. When he was 15 years old, Hitler’s forces came through his Jewish neighborhood, torching homes and shooting people in the street. Freddy, along with his entire family, was rounded up and sent to a nearby concentration camp.

He attempted an escape one night, and it worked. He left his family behind and made his way to Russia. But when the Communists got hold of him, they shipped him to Siberia. They then sent him to England during World War II, because the Allies needed translators in London. Freddy spoke English, Polish, Russian, German, and Yiddish.

When the war was over, he returned to Poland to search for his family, but learned they were dead. The house he grew up in was no longer standing.
Freddy had to start his life over.

…

The more I got to know Freddy on the Steel Wheels tour, the more I understood why he needed to be there. People labeled him a dope pusher, star-fucker, bullshit artist, and dirty old man, but he was a lot more complex than that.

“Hitler killed my family,” he reminded me one night. “My mudder, my fadder, viped out. But vot can I do about dat now? Sit in de house and cry? Vait for my blood clots to kill me? I gotta live, baby! I gotta prove dey couldn’t finish me off.”

The groupies, glamour, and fast pace offered Freddy a vibrancy he couldn’t find anywhere else. While folks his age were playing shuffleboard, Freddy was hangin’ with the Stones. Every line he snorted and every groupie he laid was an affirmation of life and a proclamation of survival. “Look vehr I am today, and look vehr you are, you Nazi cocksuckers!” Every time he danced at a Stones concert—and man, you should’ve seen him—it was like he was dancing on Hitler’s grave. “I’m gonna dance not just for me, but for all my relatives who can’t.”

Under Their Thumb: How a Nice Boy from Brooklyn Got Mixed Up with the Rolling Stones (and Lived to Tell About It)
Bill German

Freddy = Freddy Sessler. From chapter 25 – rock and roll rasputin

Weight Training and Aging, ChatGpt on

Can you list some of the benefits of weight training, in particular for older people

Certainly! Weight training, also known as resistance or strength training, offers numerous benefits for older individuals. Engaging in a regular weight training program can significantly improve the overall quality of life for seniors. Here are some specific benefits:

Increased Muscle Mass: As people age, they tend to lose muscle mass. Weight training helps older adults maintain or increase muscle mass, which is important for mobility and daily activities.

Improved Bone Density: Weight training places stress on bones, which can increase bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis and fractures.

Enhanced Metabolism: Building muscle through weight training can boost metabolism, making it easier to maintain a healthy weight and manage body fat.

Better Joint Health: Weight training strengthens the muscles around joints, providing better support and reducing the risk of injuries and arthritis-related pain.

Increased Strength and Balance: Weight training improves overall strength and balance, reducing the risk of falls and enhancing stability in everyday activities.

Improved Insulin Sensitivity: Regular weight training can improve insulin sensitivity, which is important for managing diabetes and preventing metabolic disorders.

Enhanced Mental Health: Exercise, including weight training, releases endorphins, which can help alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety. It also promotes better sleep, leading to improved overall mood and mental well-being.

Better Heart Health: Weight training, when combined with cardiovascular exercise, can contribute to better heart health by reducing blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Pain Management: Weight training can alleviate chronic pain conditions, including back pain and arthritis, by strengthening muscles and improving flexibility.

Increased Independence: By improving strength, balance, and overall health, weight training helps older adults maintain their independence and continue performing daily activities without assistance.

Social Interaction: Participating in group weight training classes or exercising with a partner can provide social interaction and support, reducing feelings of isolation and loneliness.

Cognitive Benefits: Some studies suggest that regular physical activity, including weight training, can have positive effects on cognitive function, potentially lowering the risk of cognitive decline and dementia in older age.

It’s important for older adults to consult with a healthcare provider or a fitness professional before starting a weight training program to ensure it’s safe and tailored to their specific needs and limitations.

Growing Old Together – You and What You Fear

..here he was on Broadway, his hair iron-gray, his stare wild, his walk unsteady, his hands flailing at the air. His clothes were out of the men’s shelter, and his face so ill-looking you wanted to put him in a hospital for a month before we even discussed the situation.

My mother looked curiously at me. “Why were you afraid of him?” she asked. “You could knock him over with one hand.”

“Ma, he didn’t look like that twelve years ago. Believe me. She continued to stare after him as he shambled down Broadway, bumping into people left and right.

“You’re growing old together,” she said to me. “You and what frightens you.”

Fierce Attachments
Vivian Gornick

Proust on Adolescence

But the salient feature of the absurd age I was at – an age which for all its alleged awkwardness, is prodigiously rich – is that reason is not its guide, and the most insignificant attributes of other people always appear to be consubstantial with their personality. One lives among monsters and gods, a stranger to peace of mind. There is scarcely a single one of our acts from that time which we would not prefer to abolish later on. But all we should lament is the loss of the spontaneity that urged them upon us. In later life, we see things with a more practical eye, one we share with the rest of society; but adolescence was the only time when we ever learned anything.

In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower (In Search of Lost Time)
Marcel Proust

At what moment did you realize “Fuck I’m old”?

At what moment did you realize "Fuck I’m old"? from AskReddit

tamedreckless I’ll add mine since it was the reason I thought to ask this question…. Last week I sneezed and it threw my back out.

–eDgAR– If it makes you feel better, I was 19 when that happened to me. I was so embarrassed I told eveyone I was helping my mom move something heavy when it happened.

ThisIsToMarkResearch They played Green Day and The Offspring on the “classic rock” radio station.

dangnabbitdamnit When I see popular reddit posts mentioning celebrities with weird ass names and I’m like, who the fuck are these people?

philman132 This isn’t just age, it’s also a product of the internet era. It used to be that everyone watched the same shows on the same few channels or listened to the same few radio stations, or whatever, so everyone knew the same celebrities. In this age where the monoculture has been shattered, everyone is watching different shows on Netflix, YouTube, etc, it’s so much easier to find niches, no one knows the same set of celebrities anymore.

Walshy231231 I’m 21 and in college, and I feel like there’s a new whack ass celebrity every day It’s just the internet I think

leafsblow When I mentioned Mr. T to my wife’s friend and she had no clue who I was talking about.

maxdarmawan Did you pity the fool?

RRuruurrr I was teaching a class last week and told my audience that they may need to MacGyver a solution if they come upon a certain problem. No one knew what that meant.

pcaltair I was born in 1999 and, while I’ve never actually watched it, I’m well aware of what that means.

Ienjoywearinghats I had to explain to someone how we used to organise meeting up before cell phones became a thing. That and having to use encyclopedias and other books to complete homework. I’m mid 30s. The reactions I was getting, It was like I was explaining how to split an atom using two sporks.

mlc15 I was literally just talking to my friend about that. Neither of us could wrap our heads around how you’d plan anything? If someone didn’t show up to your meet up did you just assume they couldn’t make it? How could you even call if there were a change of plans if you weren’t at home to use the phone?

Límites / Boundaries – Borges Poetry

Límites
Hay una línea de Verlaine que no volveré a recordar,
Hay una calle próxima que está vedada a mis pasos,
Hay un espejo que me ha visto por última vez,
Hay una puerta que he cerrado hasta el fin del mundo
Entre los libros de mi biblioteca (estoy viéndolos)
Hay alguno que ya nunca abriré,
Este verano cumpliré cincuenta años;
La muerte me desgasta, incesante.
—de Inscripciones (Montevideo, 1923), de Julio Platero Haedo

Boundaries
There is a line by Verlaine that I will not remember again.
There is a street nearby that is off limits to my feet.
There is a mirror that has seen me for the last time.
There is a door I have closed until the end of the world.
Among the books in my library (I’m looking at them now)
Are some I will never open.
This summer I will be fifty years old.
Death is using me up, relentlessly.
—from Inscriptions (Montevideo, 1923) by Julio Platero Haedo

Poems of the Night: A Dual-Language Edition with Parallel Text (Penguin Classics)
Jorge Luis Borges

Saul Bellow Interview on The Connection

Saul Bellow’s “Ravelstein”

“Saul Bellow is on every critic’s top ten list. John Updike has called him our best portraitist, he is a mentor to the British writer, Martin Amis, and his Chicago has become as familiar as Joyce’s Dublin. He has received three National Book Awards, the Pulitzer Prize and, in 1976, the Nobel Prize for Literature. You could read Bellow’s new novel “Ravelstein” for clues about his real life friendship with Allan Bloom, the controversial and flamboyant author of the 1992 bestseller, “The Closing of the American Mind.”

You could also read it as a Saul Bellow meditation on friendship, writing and dying. Abe Ravelstein is a larger than life philosopher at the University of Chicago, who chain smokes, lives extravagantly, and is as much of a gossip as he is an intellectual. Before Abe dies, he asks his friend, Chick, to write his biography. Saul Bellow’s “Ravelstein,” on this Connection.”

The Connection, Hosted by Christopher Lydon

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