BS: Going to embrace it why fight it

Subject: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: olddude
Date: 23 Jun 18 - 02:49 PM

I am a geezer no longer going to fight it so I’m going to own it. I already have the rv and required little dogs to go with it. I need shorts and white socks and sandals. I have my born to nap T-shirt. Help me out here with what else as i will own it

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 23 Jun 18 - 03:35 PM

Embrace it only when you need it!! If it's a walking aid, hold on to it.

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: keberoxu
Date: 23 Jun 18 - 03:36 PM

An old geezer
is expected to
walk around hunched forward with his mouth hanging open.

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 23 Jun 18 - 06:48 PM

A bucket hat. Don't let the sun burn your bald spot. (If you have one!)

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: wysiwyg
Date: 23 Jun 18 - 07:39 PM

You'll want a reacher/grabber in every room.

Of course you know to never trust a fart... but real geezers don't give a damn-- go for it.

I qualify now for the free cleaning help I'd needed for so long-- amazing benefit NOT to be missed.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: olddude
Date: 23 Jun 18 - 09:05 PM

Lol

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jun 18 - 10:08 PM

A supply of popcorn and cheap beer to share around the RV when you have the lawn chairs out and neighboring campers pull up their chairs to shoot the breeze.

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 24 Jun 18 - 02:57 AM

This says it for me
Jim Carroll

“Warning” by Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple,
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves,
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired,
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells,
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain,
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens,
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat,
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go,
Or only bread and pickle for a week,
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry,
And pay our rent and not swear in the street,
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised,
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Or this

Let me die a youngman's death
not a clean and inbetween
the sheets holywater death
not a famous-last-words
peaceful out of breath death

When I'm 73
and in constant good tumour
may I be mown down at dawn
by a bright red sports car
on my way home
from an allnight party

Or when I'm 91
with silver hair
and sitting in a barber's chair
may rival gangsters
with hamfisted tommyguns burst in
and give me a short back and insides

Or when I'm 104
and banned from the Cavern
may my mistress
catching me in bed with her daughter
and fearing for her son
cut me up into little pieces
and throw away every piece but one

Let me die a youngman's death
not a free from sin tiptoe in
candle wax and waning death
not a curtains drawn by angels borne
'what a nice way to go' death
Roger McGough
Poems by Roger McGough

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 24 Jun 18 - 03:24 AM

Or even this story recorded by McColl, Seeger and Parker while making the Radio Ballad, The Big Hewer
Jim Carroll

THREE OLD MINERS, Dick Beamish, Pontypridd (?) , Glamorgan, Wales
Well, er, you see the miner's life is a mixture, like it is in every other phase of life, a mixture of tragedy and humour; and I don't think you'll find anywhere where humour is richer in character than it is in our industry.

Here's a story of the three old miners who had retired. One was well over seventy, the other one was eighty some odd and the oldest was ninety-six. And they were in the eventide of their life; summertime, sitting on the council seat enjoying the sunshine, watching the traffic going back and fore, and they suddenly discussed how they'd like to die.

The youngest, now, of the trio was well over seventy. He said, "Well boys bach," he said, "I've been watching these red sport cars," he said, "that these youngsters have got, travelling back and fore," he said. "I don't know nothing about cars," he said, "but I'd like to get into one of those," he said, "rev up," he said, "that's what I think they call it; sixty, seventy, eighty miles an hour, bang into a lamp post, everything at an end," he said. "That's the way I'd like to die."

"What about you, John?" he said, now, the one who was over eighty, now, the second oldest of the trio.
"Well, boys," he said, "I'm a bit more modern than you are," he said. "I've been reading about these sputniks. I would like to volunteer to go into one of those sputniks," he said. "They tell me they go up into the sky, thousands of miles," he said. "I'd like to be up there," he said, "ten thousand miles up, something go wrong with the works, explosion, everything finished; that's the way I would like to go out," he said.

Now the oldest of the trio of these old miners, he was ninety-six. So they said to him, "You're silent, Robert; haven't you got some suggestion how you would like to die?"
"Ha, boys," he said, "I've been listening to you two here. Do you know the way I'd like to go out?" he said.
"No, Robert, which way would you like to die?"
"Well, boys, bach, to tell you the truth," he said, "I'd like to be shot by a jealous husband!"

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Senoufou
Date: 24 Jun 18 - 04:06 AM

Hahaha olddude! Don't forget to rabbit on...and on....and on about things you remember when you were young. Recount all the same old stories people have heard dozens of times already. (I win prizes for this)
And I suggest a huge grubby handkerchief stuffed in your pocket, which is already full of mucky bits and pieces such as a half-finished sweet, a bit of string, some unidentified keys and the bottom half of some dentures.
Big hug mate!
Eliza x

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Will Fly
Date: 24 Jun 18 - 04:55 AM

Baseball cap, vest with 992B tucked away in a side pocket, Martin lying on a corner of the porch - next to the rocking chair...

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: leeneia
Date: 24 Jun 18 - 08:32 PM

Wear wrinkled clothes.

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Donuel
Date: 24 Jun 18 - 11:41 PM

You've got a good start but you could do better.
Giant sunglasses over prescription glasses. Belt 6 inches above navel and slowly pulling them up to armpits as time passes.
Complain about the deep state full time. Never match socks.
The only thing better than an Hawaiian shirt is one too tight.
Whenever there is a quiet moment, hum an indistinct tune.
A great final touch is to have a band aid somewhere on your face while trying to fold a road map.

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Jos
Date: 25 Jun 18 - 03:42 AM

My mental image of an old geezer in summer includes a knotted handkerchief (large cotton hankie with a knot tied at each corner, worn on the head to protect the bald patch from the sun). You just can't get the same effect with tissues.

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Senoufou
Date: 25 Jun 18 - 03:48 AM

In winter, you absolutely must have a 'dewdrop' on the end of your nose.

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 25 Jun 18 - 04:09 AM

We had a long late-night conversation with Sean Nos singer, Joe Heaney in a tatty caff on Euston Station shortly before he died.
Just as he was leaving to return to his hotel, he turned around and said, "One of the problems of growing old is that it takes you all night to do what you used to do all night"
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Senoufou
Date: 25 Jun 18 - 04:26 AM

It's strange. I'm sitting here at this very minute with my laptop, looking out of our sitting room window. Across the road, our centenarian Dougie just got into a neighbour's car. She put his suitcase into the boot and helped him into the front seat.

He's been very active and chipper up until a few days ago. Now he looks terribly frail, and I reckon he's going into hospital or a car home for respite. Lots of neighbours were outside to see him off. I wonder if we shall see him again?

(Sorry to cast a sombre shadow over your funny thread olddude)

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Jun 18 - 12:24 PM

You'll need some new vocab:

Lumbago

Carbuncle

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Senoufou
Date: 25 Jun 18 - 12:51 PM

Update: our Dougie has only hurt his arm and the neighbour was running him up to A&E for a check-up. Phew!

Another tip olddude, don't forget to groan a bit every time you get up out of a chair or bend over to pick something up. Obligatory!

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Donuel
Date: 25 Jun 18 - 06:52 PM

indeed
Don't use uh, ung is good for getting up. Ahhh is good for sitting

Guy Lombago, Rocky and Carbunkle ?

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: olddude
Date: 25 Jun 18 - 10:21 PM

My dad use to make that noise when he would poop. Out of the bathroom you would hear ahh

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: theleveller
Date: 26 Jun 18 - 08:21 AM

Noooo!!!. A few years ago I decided to absolutely refuse to conform to the stereotypes of ageing and "go gentle into that goodnight.". I started going to the gym again on a regular basis, took up yoga and pilates. I refuse to grow a beard and when my hair started to thin I shaved it all off. I use moisturiser. Instead of baggy, 'comfortable' clothes I prefer skinny jeans and muscle t-shirts to show off the latest ink. I'd really like to buy a Harley Davidson but I've never ridden a motorbike and I'm scared stiff of them, so that might be a no-no. It probably stems from seeing my dad die of a stroke and my brother go into long-term care with Parkinson's and dementia in his mid-70s but it's hugely enjoyable and there are a lot of people who have the same idea.

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Jun 18 - 09:27 AM

Dan, you'll have to stock up on hearing aids (and batteries that don't go with them), and cheaters (reading glasses), none of which can ever be left where easily found.

The fun side will be keeping friends off balance, never knowing which side is your "good" ear day to day, to shout into-- and they'll enjoy treasure hunting for those glasses. You might want sparkly chains to hang a couple pair on your neck. :-|

Then there's the ID tattoo so police can get you home when you're lost, and don't forget to sign up for a panic button today.

A new fitness regime: start following people closely, talking to them, as they try to wind up your little chats and start edging away. You'll get lots of nice slow exercise that way.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Senoufou
Date: 26 Jun 18 - 09:38 AM

On our way to the village shop I initiated a random chat this morning. Old fellow in his garden getting some washing in. I asked him if he was going to iron it all as well and he laughed like a drain. No, his wife did all that stuff. Long natter about housework, birds messing on clothes on the line, how hot it is, how his wife is (been poorly lately) and on and on and on... yap yap yap...

My poor husband was sighing loudly and hopping from one foot to the other. (He's not a natterer)

This is a mini-lesson, olddude, in how to be a blooming old nuisance!

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Charmion
Date: 26 Jun 18 - 10:13 AM

I'm 63 and my hair is still blondish-brown; if I'm to fit in with my demographic, maybe I should have it dyed lavender, like the sweet young things at the gym? Himself, who is two and a half years younger than I am, has sparkling white curls and bushy silver eyebrows. He started going grey in his 30s. Hah.

But you know you're in the company of old women when your new shoes attract the comments I got last week at choir practice: "Oooh, those look so comfy. Do they come in wide fittings?"

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Jun 18 - 12:04 PM

Obesity?

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Raggytash
Date: 26 Jun 18 - 12:14 PM

Sandals AND socks !!! ............ Urrggggg !

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Little Hawk
Date: 26 Jun 18 - 12:47 PM

Oh, I've been doing that for years, and I'll tell you why. The socks keep your feet from getting sunburned...which can be an important consideration if you're outdoors all day at a folk festival. And they can help prevent mosquito bites too. I find that wearing socks in really garish and shocking colors increases my general level of charisma considerably, attracting much admiration from the hoi polloi, but I never wear mismatched socks in public, because THAT is just going TOO far!

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Senoufou
Date: 26 Jun 18 - 01:00 PM

My feet are terribly scarred from mozzie bites. The rest of me was always covered, but my feet were bare, and at night the blooming things had a feast. There are now purple blotches and small lumps all over me feet!

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: leeneia
Date: 27 Jun 18 - 11:02 AM

I crossed the bridge when I gave up on cute shoes. Now I wear oxfords or sandals, depending on the weather.

Since the sandals cost $130 a pair, I wear socks with them to keep them cleaner and make them last longer.

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: leeneia
Date: 29 Jun 18 - 11:10 AM

Would I want to be find a magic spell and become part of the generation that walks into traffic while absorbed in a phone, that doesn't know which direction Mexico is, that's too intimidated to sing in public, whose fertility is down 30%?

No.

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Senoufou
Date: 29 Jun 18 - 12:11 PM

I quite like being old. But then, I seem to have enjoyed every decade of my life, which is lucky.

The only thing I truly miss is my energy and oomph. I get tired easily now, it's very frustrating.

Another thing I've noticed (and you need to start doing this olddude) is that I like the same things, not changes. I tried to find some sandals to replace my old worn-out ones, but it appears they don't make them anymore. I can't bring myself to choose a different style, I want the same ones as before.
(They're called Hotter, and the style is called Scarlett, size 5, in khaki)

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: leeneia
Date: 29 Jun 18 - 12:19 PM

As long as you can, keep making music. It will stimulate your intellect, your pride, and your enjoyment of life.

Senoufou, just go ahead and choose some new ones. New shoes are good for the soul.

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Jos
Date: 29 Jun 18 - 12:33 PM

You could try ebay for sandals, but beware of buying second-hand (or even just old, stored unused in a cupboard) sandals or shoes with those polyurethane soles beloved of Hotter, Ecco, Clarkes etc. If unused for a while they are liable to suddenly crumble like bread when worn again, which can be very disconcerting..

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 29 Jun 18 - 12:54 PM

ALL USED UP
Try this
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Senoufou
Date: 29 Jun 18 - 01:12 PM

Oh Jim, that song is so sad, it brought tears to my eyes.

I'm going to stick with my old pair of sandals for now. (They're still serviceable) A shop in a village quite near us sometimes has old stock of Hotter shoes. I'll see what they've got. (The village is called Bawdeswell. In the Canterbury Tales (Chaucer) it's where the Reeve lived.)

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: keberoxu
Date: 01 Aug 18 - 11:35 AM

Yesterday I believed it was the first of August.
It wasn't. It was the last day of July.
It's today which is the first of August.
I showed up for my dental cleaning a day early.
Or was it a month early.
Senior moments anyone?

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Jos
Date: 01 Aug 18 - 12:26 PM

Well I spent most of yesterday convinced it was Saturday - though whether I thought it was last Saturday or next Saturday is anyone's guess.

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Senoufou
Date: 01 Aug 18 - 12:52 PM

I've started to make lists. Lists keep me on the right track. I make a list of what we need at the supermarket.
Then I leave the list on the table at home....

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: olddude
Date: 02 Aug 18 - 01:29 AM

I find myself saying what a lot. I think it takes a long time to get from the ears to the brain for processing.

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 02 Aug 18 - 01:56 AM

"Oh Jim, that song is so sad, it brought tears to my eyes."
Strange Sen - I find it just the opposite
Anybody who understands why things are what they are and still hopes to change them to the extent of singing about them is far from sad.
Jim

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 02 Aug 18 - 02:02 AM

Probably the most powerful few words ever said on the subject
Jim

"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
Dylan Thomas

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Senoufou
Date: 02 Aug 18 - 05:42 AM

I'm not really feeling the need to 'burn and rave' though Jim. I must be rather placid and docile (bovine?) because I just accept what comes, and I reckon Death will find me fairly complacent, if there's not too much physical pain involved.
The dying of the light needn't be something to fear or resent. It can be a welcome arrival of the next stage of existence.
It helps to have some sort of faith though.

We had a new double-glazed window fitted yesterday in our sitting room. It's very nice, and will keep out the winter draughts. The design is slightly different to the old one, as now there are regulations as to the size of ventilation (ones that open) windows which have to correspond to the size of the room. (Nanny State in action)

It's only a tiny bit different, but I'm looking at it as I type this, and thinking I rather preferred the old one. I also feel sorry for it languishing in some industrial skip, rejected and unwanted, after years of loyal service being a nice window.

I seem to get more sentimental as I age (and completely daft).

I think it's time to look at care homes for the senile!

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Thompson
Date: 02 Aug 18 - 05:59 AM

First thing is to get a new mirror that actually shows your hair as grey or white, rather than your normal one that shows you as you've always looked. I'm always startled when people refer to my grey hair. Looks brown to me.

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Aug 18 - 10:22 AM

As usual, I agree completely with Eliza (Senoufou). I don't feel like burning and raging at all; after having spent much of my life on the cutting edge of social change (not a comfortable place to be), I have resigned from all forms of strife, including the mental kind.

Some of you older folks will immediately chime in to say that, at a month short of 64, I'm too young to make such decisions. To that I say, easy for you to say. When my mother was my age, she was 13 years dead. At 64, my father had only 10 years left before the day when he suffered his last dizzy spell and the resulting fatal skull fracture.

On the whole, I would rather not waste the last good years of my life resenting the inevitable -- i.e., creeping decrepitude and eventual death. I would rather feed the cat, read the paper, and enjoy a pot of tea.

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: olddude
Date: 02 Aug 18 - 10:47 AM

Or it’s my daily ‘son of a bitch’ did i take two of the green pills again or was it the yellow ones

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: olddude
Date: 02 Aug 18 - 10:50 AM

Me I am going out with a fishing pole or rife in the woods eatin by a bear or shot by my mrs being caught with Stormy Daniels

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: olddude
Date: 02 Aug 18 - 10:55 AM

My hunting trips 2 boxes of ammo and 50 pounds of fucking meds ugh

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 02 Aug 18 - 12:13 PM

We never met him (but Joe put up one of his outrageously bawdy songs up for me fairly recently) but one somewhat outspken old farmer is reputed to have told his family from his dying bed, "When I go bury me face down so they can all come and kiss my arse"
Jim

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: olddude
Date: 02 Aug 18 - 12:19 PM

Jim or he could have taken a bottle of viagra and be buried upside down and strike oil

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Jeri
Date: 02 Aug 18 - 01:41 PM

I'm with Charmion. I will enjoy the hell out of life while I can, and when I die, I hope I'm ready to go. Raving is not on my list of things that are fun.

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 02 Aug 18 - 02:27 PM

"Jim or he could have taken a bottle of viagra "
Had the stuff been around in those days the population of this town would have been twice what it is now
Jim

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: keberoxu
Date: 02 Aug 18 - 04:59 PM

If there is a Mudcat proscription on Old Testament quotes,
then I'm in for it.

When I look at this, I hear Johannes Brahms, auf deutsch.

O Death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee
to a man that liveth at rest in his possessions,
unto the man that hath nothing to vex him,
and that hath prosperity in all things:
yea, unto him
that is yet able to receive meat!

O Death, acceptable is thy sentence
unto the needy, and unto him whose strength faileth,
that is now in the last age,
and is vexed with all things,
and to him that despaireth and hath lost patience!
--Ecclesiastes 41:1,2


Martin Luther's German is more touching somehow, in places:
O Tod! wie bitter bist du!
...O Tod, wie wohl thust du. Which means, O Death, how well you do.

Subject: RE: BS: Going to embrace it why fight it
From: Donuel
Date: 05 Aug 18 - 08:41 AM

Sure I embrace growing 'older' but the death part I will fight.
Let me count the whys. I do not want to die under an administration where the President is entering the final stage of syphillus. I do not want a world of a change of hope for racist fascism when I die. I do not want to depart in a world unseen except by screens or where people only talk by typing.
Artists have longevity disciplines like breath control in singing, painting, playing and even professional shooting when we practically control our heart rate.
Musicians are often poor so they eat to live and don't live to eat. Beyond that everything feels like luck. I used to worry that everything I did was only practicing for life and not living it but thats just the way learning feels to me. If there is one unavoidable thing to embrace it is, you will be misunderstood in and after life.