Get Up Offa That Thing
Filed Under All Posts, Connie Stetson, Group Posts | 10 Comments
Get up, warm up and get funky with Connie Stetson’s choice for post-holiday cheer.
Urghhh…It’s after Christmas. I feel fat like a stuffed Christmas goose. I need to feel the funk…. So, let’s “Get Up Offa That Thing” and dance so we can feel better in 2010. 2010???? I feel so space-age.
Much love and luck to all in the coming year.
Thinking Outside the Box: Holiday Gift Ideas
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Last year, Fifty is the New contributors and readers submitted unusual ideas for holiday giving. Because they’re wonderful and timeless, lean and green, we’ve republished them, and we invite you to share more of your own.
Prudence Baird
Two incredibly useful gifts for the holidays…these are great as reciprocals, too. You give one to me and I’ll match yours!
Your Girl Friday (or Saturday). On a day that works for both of us, I’ll show up at 9:00 a.m. at your home with your choice of caffeinated or decaf latte. You provide rubber gloves and I’ll provide my discerning judgment, unbiased reasoning and brute strength as we clean out your closets and organize your junk drawer(s). At the end of eight hours, I solemnly swear never to reveal what we did that day or what we found under your bed.
A Make-Up Spree. Make a date to have your friend’s make-up done—for free at the cosmetics counter of a posh department store or boutique vendor. When it’s all over, buy her the lipstick of her choice and surprise her with one of those little retractable brushes that will allow her to get the most out of her new gift when it’s down to the nub. Bring your camera for before-and-after snaps and celebrate afterwards at a hip espresso bar because she looks so fabulous.
Christie Healey
Teaching someone to read is a very special gift, check out Literacy Partners for more information on how to get involved.
Offer to take care of a friend’s pet during vacation because we all worry about our little furry pals and want to know that someone we love and trust is taking care of them when we go away.
Cathy Fischer
Send a subscription to an unusual magazine, one that the receiver would be interested in, but may not know about. I like these uncommon publications: The Week (international weekly news, bite-sized), Cooks Illustrated (for the food chemist, kitchen gadget guru and/or chef of the house) and Modernism (for 20th century design divas). Read more
One Loyal Friend is Worth Ten Thousand Relatives
Filed Under All Posts, Connie Stetson, Family, Group Posts, Relationships | 15 Comments
Connie Stetson muses on friends and relations, relatively speaking.
Not to speak ill of relatives, of course, but Euripedes got that right. I’m grateful that my sister and have become good friends, and I’m glad I only have one sister to work my shit out with, but we never had a choice. It’s the combo-pack with family. For good or ill, with deeper issues to work out, old wounds to mend; we’re all so invested in the story we made up about when we were kids that it’s nearly impossible to show up as changed, or better, or over that, ya know?
Ah, but our friends… To be able to say to someone, “I absolutely support your change and growth, but you never have to change for me to love you.” Knowing that there are a select few out there who hear your truth and your inconsistencies, and you theirs, is a mighty, mighty force indeed. To allow a dear friend, in all loving honesty to say, “your ass looks like a giant bag of potatoes in those pants, take them off now!” To stand with a friend as she walks through loss, illness, change and all of the boundless joyful stuff too—well, this is what helps keeps me anchored. Read more
Friends and Friendship
Filed Under All Posts, Christie Healey, Group Posts, Relationships | 7 Comments
Christie Healey reflects on true friendships and “china plate” mates.
Just as I started to think about this blog, an old friend from New York sent me a long email. Barbara is one of the most energetic women I have ever met. She has 13 grandchildren, plays tennis and golf and keeps well abreast of the political scene (her opening line was to congratulate me, as a Minnesotan, on the seating of our second senator after eight months of legal whining). I have not seen Barbara in over five years, but every six months or so we correspond. She comes from a nearly extinct breed, the letter writer, but now I see she has discovered email.
I have friendships of over 30 years and of less then three. All of them stroll into my mind at unexpected times and are in my most oft-visited memories.
What brought me together with my friends is still a little mysterious to me, sometimes there is an instant connection and sometimes it takes longer. Read more
Friend Request
Filed Under All Posts, Group Posts, Prudence Baird, Relationships, Technology | 21 Comments
Prudence Baird reflects on midlife connections in the age of social media.
I know why baby boomers are joining Facebook faster than Bernie Madoff’s victims are moving in with their adult children.
We’re not done yet. We’re not done dominating popular culture as defined by our presence in the media, including the “social media” like Facebook and MySpace.
We’re not done with—even though we’ve long exceeded—our 15 minutes of fame. Each. We’re not done prancing in the spotlight—even if for some of us, it’s our first time. Read more
Indelible
Filed Under All Posts, Group Posts, Melissa Howden, Relationships | 7 Comments
Studies show that people with pals lead longer, healthier and happier lives. For our group post this month, we’re each sharing thoughts on friendship.
Melissa Howden reflects on the enduring impressions left by friends, real or otherwise.
Cindy Atkins had a long blond ponytail that swung from side to side. Invariably the bow in her hair matched her dress. At six, Cindy Atkins was my first real best friend. During the course of our friendship, which lasted until about third grade, I spent hours trying to coax my curly frizzy hair into a ponytail like Cindy’s. In the bathtub I would lay my head in the water and swish my head back and forth to get the feeling of a swinging ponytail. For a time, while my hair was wet, my ponytail would be smooth and organized like Cindy’s, but then one by one, a frizzy curl would pop out of my tight ponytail, all my effort defeated by nature. Be it for our friendship or her ponytail I have never forgotten Cindy Atkins. Read more
Oh Daddy-O
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With Father’s Day this Sunday, we’re thinking about men. We hope you’ll enjoy reading or re-reading last year’s timeless Father’s Day posts.
Cathy writes about being the daughter of a hard-working immigrant, who now well into his eighties, keeps on keepin’ on with a joke repertoire powered by Mac. Connie gets real about how her handsome musician father took a powder in her youth. Melissa reflects on being a child going through divorce and coming out the other side. For young Prudence, her father was an impressive presence, but he had other priorities. Carine paints a picture of her colorful dad and their spirited relationship and Christie’s loving portrait of her son speaks to the responsibility of raising boys.
Read more about heartfelt and heartbreaking experiences with men both close and far >> (Scroll down the page to see all the posts.)
