Japanese Comic Gets Rich Making Fun of Boomers
Now that I’m in my early 60s, I keep wondering what I can do to make enough money in the next few years to retire comfortably. There aren’t a lot of income- earning years left in me. What’s going to get me a beachfront condo in a gated community? It would be nice if it was something I could enjoy — an expression of the real me.
Same-Sex Marriage: Lessons from the Ghosts of the Abolitionists
For 14 years I lived steps away from the historic Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston. I was reminded of the cemetery the other day, when President Obama endorsed same-sex marriage. I know this may sound strange, but hear me out.
Located in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood, the 175- year-old cemetery is where many of America’s most influential abolitionists are buried, including William Lloyd Garrison, whose newspaper, The Liberator, served as the voice of the anti-slavery movement for more than 30 years.
Why I Went AWOL From Exercise Boot Camp
On the brink of turning 63 last fall, I was determined to prove that I had outfoxed the aging process. So I signed up for boot camp class at my neighborhood health club. I figured I could still do an hour of classic military exercises: squats, thrusts, jumping jacks, planks, sprints and more. I was a boomer whose body hadn’t gone boom. Or so I thought.
Senior Living: My Home Sweet NORC
If you drive down my shady, tree-lined street in Richfield, Minn., you might think you’ve been transported back in time. The houses look exactly the same as when they were built just after World War II. No one has added on to them, or replaced them with McMansions that take up entire lots. One of my neighbors has a 1952 Lincoln coupe with shiny chrome bumpers parked out front.
How I Got My Short-Term Memory Groove Back
The other night I was talking on the phone with a friend in New York when she had what many of us know all too well as a “senior moment.” She was trying to tell me the name of a late-night comic, but couldn’t think of it. “It’s not Jay Leno or Letterman,” she said. “It’s, it’s. . .” “Craig Ferguson?” I asked. “Yes, that’s who it is!” she exclaimed. I nearly fainted.
So how did I come up with Ferguson’s name so quickly?
Long-Term Psychoanalysis: Does It Really Work?
Here’s hoping that psychotherapist and advice columnist Jonathan Alpert signed on for the Whistleblower Protection Program before he wrote the opinion piece in Sunday’s New York Times entitled “In Therapy Forever? Enough Already.”
Alzheimer’s: Sometimes Humor Helps
Shortly after my mother received her diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, my parents sold their retirement house in the golden foothills of California and, to be nearer my brother, moved into an assisted living facility in San Jose. For Ruth and Clint, the place had a lot to offer: excellent meals, live concerts in the rec room and a professional staff that couldn’t have been more sensitive. The front-desk receptionist’s title was director of first impressions.
Oscars: Don’t Bet on ‘War Horse’
I was initially surprised to find The Artist and The Descendants running neck-and-neck for best picture at Sunday’s Oscar ceremony. Not that they aren’t worthy of the gold statuette. What I found curious is that the over-50 Oscar voters didn’t seem to be going for War Horse. It is, after all, the sort of movie that made a big impression on us as kids.
I had this crazy interview with Sylvia Miles
I spent almost a decade at People magazine in New York in the 1980s, interviewing countless stars, from Cher to Butterfly McQueen. I cannot post these articles as they, like Butterfly, are gone with the wind. I did find this one, though, with the outrageous Sylvia Miles.