Boomers Aren't Taking the Downturn Sitting

Black Baby Boomers reports there are quite a few of us starting new businesses. Read: Boomers Takin' the Entrepreneurial Horns

Boomer Business Launcher has an entire site dedicated to creating "a lifestyle business in mid-life".

Getting Rid of Menopause Belly Fat

The website Enjoy Your Menopause reviewed Dr. Louis Aronne's new book, “THE SKINNY: On Losing Weight Without Being Hungry” (Broadway Books), written with Alisa Bowman today.
So, What exactly is the big solution? Anything new/different on the horizon?

". . . teaching your body to stop craving food and feel full sooner."

Okay, I'll bite (and by the looks of my belly, I've done that a lot). What should I do to remove the added weight that has suddenly appeared and doesn't seem to be looking for a new residence? Among the top tips are:

• Exercise in the morning.
  
• Eat protein for breakfast.
  
• Eat salad and vegetables first.
  
• Look for hidden causes of weight gain - sleep disorders,medications and the like.
  
• Turn off the television.
  

Sounds very familiar. To overcome the obstacle of leptin and insulin levels dropping and pursuant over-eating, he teaches the use of the latest advances in the science of appetite and body weight regulation to turn off the internal biological switch that encourages overeating.

According to the Enjoy Your Menopause blog, Dr. Aronne has said that "the plan is easy to follow, and can help many people to lose between 10 percent and 20 percent of their weight."

Dr. Aronne is director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, a multidisciplinary obesity research and treatment center that he developed and founded in 1986. He is clinical professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Books for Grownups from AARP & Publishers Weekly

This month, PW and AARP bring you a handful of hot summer reads, including hefty novels, notable nonfiction and helpful how-to's to keep you company at the beach or wherever you'll be relaxing.
Books for Grownups: June 2008 - 6/24/2008 11:00:00 AM - Publishers Weekly

Crazy, Profane, and Always Entertaining - George Carlin Dies at 71

"I've been uplinked and downloaded. I've been inputted and outsourced, I know the upside of downsizing, I know the downside of upgrading. I'm a high-tech lowlife. A cutting-edge, state-of-the-art, bicoastal multitasker, and I can give you a gigabyte in a nanosecond..."

That's one of my favorite quotes from my all time favorite comedian who passed away suddenly yesterday, June 22nd, just 41 days after his 71st birthday.

The first guest host of the now iconic 'Saturday Night Live', he acquainted us with the "seven words you can never say on television." Getting a few more acting roles in mid-life, he co-starred in several Kevin Smith films - Dogma and Jersey Girl.

I'm figuring it was difficult to save his life because he had the med staff cracking up. George displayed common genius - an influential groundbreaker that will be missed.

How George Carlin Changed Comedy - TIME
CNN Obit and Slide Show

History Making Presidential Race

What a great time to be alive. I am so proud of my country today. As a Hillary supporter, I was a little bummed that the United States would not have it's first female presidential candidate (and president). It's more than time for that.

However, my youthful pessimism from the 70's Watergate fallout, war and hostage crises has been replaced with some serious Primetime Optimism. My country is finally on the precipice of electing a candidate that actually proves that the American Dream is not a fraud. Any child can grow up to be president of the United States of America. Geez. It makes me weepy.

Wow. It's happening in our time. I dare say that it is probably also because of us and our changing view of our lives, work and country. Yeah, boomers rock!

Another take on Amazon's Sold Out Kindle

Everyone is yelping about the new ebook reader from Amazon.com. The bloggers over at 22nd Century Press did a quick overview of the device. Personally, I think the best advantage besides the free EVDO and overall convenience is the fact that you can change the font size. That's right - NO READING GLASSES! Woo hoo!

22nd Century Press: Amazon's Kindle is Sold Out! Is it the iPod of Reading?#links#links#links#links

FEELING FINE AND FABULOUS AT FORTY-SOMETHING!

Not feeling the love for your slightly older, just a little creeky body? Well you'd better not let Sheritha Bowman know about it. She's a Washington, D.C. author and playwright that is laying it down for anybody not quite in the mood to feel fabulous. Oh yeah, she is kickin' some butt and not bothering with taking names.

Okay. You scared me. I'm leaving this blog RIGHT NOW to walk the dog.
Sometimes we just need a kick in the pants.
Thanks Sheritha.

FEELING FINE AND FABULOUS AT FORTY-SOMETHING! - Black Author Showcase

Bad News for Boomers in 2020

Well . . . at least according to the recent novel Boomsday by Christopher Buckley. Seems his 29 year old heroine has all of the answers - a modern day Cassandra of Troy. Diane K. Danielson has included the author in her blog series on Entrepreneur and it spells 'curtains' for boomers and boys.

This all has something to do with boomers resisting change, like telecommuting and other technological changes (she writes as she works from home on her FIOS connected network). She mentions trends as outlined in the book, Nine Shift by William A. Draves: the demise of corporate America as we know it, working from home, and especially the move from an agrarian society.

Hmm . . . this will take a bit more looking into the matter. Check out her blog entry at
Entrepreneur.com - Blog Network - Top Shelf Reading Picks

Travel Travails - Sharp Carry-ons on Sale

If you've ever lost knitting needles, pocket sewing kits, corkscrews or all-in-one tools to the airport security checkpoint, here's a way to get it back. Well maybe.

Despite 9/11, more and more boomers are traveling and losing a grip on their goods. The TSA has devised a way to profit from your loss, however small. The confiscated items are sent to various state warehouses to be either reclaimed or sold. However, this isn't exactly news. The Unclaimed Baggage Center has been selling lost luggage in Alabama for years. It was even featured on Oprah. http://www.unclaimedbaggage.com/index.html

It's not clear if they are also selling your gels, lotions or other liquids that are over 3 ounces. Many people report seeing them thrown into the garbage. But one man's garbage bag may be another's TSA shipping container on the way to Tucker, Ga or some other state destination. Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania are saving items with some states even collecting for other states and raising money for their own coffers.

According to the Wall Street Journal article, they are now seeking to reunite passengers with their items before selling them. This may come as some relief to those that have lost a precious gift or heirloom. But don't hold your breath - there are thousands of items retrieved each month.

There's Also Help Preventing Baggage Loss

There's a new service that will assist you and the airport in locating your luggage. It's called Bags ReUnited. According to the website it is a free 24 hour Global Recovery system that " . . . has been created to provide an effective way of ensuring that a lost bag or item can be returned to you."

The online service provides luggage tags (that can be printed from the web) and when your baggage is found, it sends an SMS (text)/email alert message to you. The instructions on the uniquely coded tags can even be printed in various languages depending on your destination. There are a few other features like maintaining your address book and itineraries online, but there are lots of other sites that do that. You can report your loss anywhere you can access the internet (smart idea to add the url to your smart phone with data access).

It also touts free lifetime registration and protection of items other than luggage. While registration, tag printing and notification are free, Instant Alert (SMS text message to your mobile phone) carries a $4.99 yearly surcharge payable by credit card or PayPal.

So - maybe you haven't lost that slamming bathing suit (although you had to buy another at your destination) or the custom engraved chopsticks forever. Focus on enjoying your travels and if the luggage security troll eats your stuff, check out these options before you give up hope.

Carry-On Items Taken at Airports Find Happy Homes - WSJ.com

Unclaimed Baggage Center

Bags ReUnited

Happiness University...where you learn to be happy!

Hmmm . . . just in case you haven't figured out how to do this - here's a workbook and a website.

Happiness University...where you learn to be happy!

Don't worry, be . . .

Waltzing Your Way to Physical and Mental Fitness « Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution

Waltzing Your Way to Physical and Mental Fitness « Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution

Seeds of Leadership on a Va. Farm - washingtonpost.com

Seeds of Leadership on a Va. Farm - washingtonpost.com

Restore Your Health & Wealth - Wellness Meetups

Restore Your Health & Wealth - Wellness Meetups

ORAC Schmorac - Just Give me Dark Chocolate!

THIS has completely made my day!
While perusing the Hershey's site (steadily snarfing down dark chocolate miniatures that a colleague shares on his desk) for nutritional information I received some ultra-good news. Dark Chocolate has an extremely high ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity - a measure of antioxidant power) value. This was documented by data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Double WooHoo! I'm so happy I posted the statistics as my screen saver and passed out miniatures to coworkers. Here again is further proof that God must be a woman. Antioxidants - Nutritional Information - HERSHEY'S

PrimeTime Fitness

The past two weeks have been difficult to say the least . . . within two days I learned that my 55 year old cousin Neil died in Massachusetts and a few days later my fiance learned that his 52 year old cousin Denise died in North Carolina.

It's been most difficult for us because we considered them fairly young and of course, entering the supposed prime of their lives. We had to take a hard look at ourselves and ask "Are we as fit as we can be?"

The answer is - needs work. However, as my 82 year aunt has told me repeatedly for the last year - "This is a time for starting over and new beginnings."

That certainly is true - I'm getting married in July and there is no way I'm going to look like an aging wilderbeest in my ultra-fly wedding dress. It's on now!

Check out this site (of course, I'm loving the site name) PT_Fitness
Primetime Fitness. Jill's a personal trainer, but all you can say when you see her is

"Damn, she looks good!"

Steve too, but hey, that's for the guys.

I want that same exclamation when I walk down the aisle. Stay posted.

PARADE Magazine Feature Article 12-11-2005

I'd been banging this stuff around in my head for some time now, but this article woke me up. Gail Sheehy sets a new passage with her article - Live Longer, Better, Wiser: Life Begins At 60.

http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2005/edition_12-11-2005/Life_Begins_At_60

Gen Plus Website & blog

Yet another that's hitting our market. With all this company the next 20 years is definitely gonna rock! Say Hey, Wendy!
Gen Plus -- Re-inventing 50 Plus

Boomers! TV Blog

This is sooooooooo exciting. Like minds are all over the place. This is a great site.Boomers! TV Blog

It's No Cliche

The best is really yet to come. Past generations toiled for years and never got to enjoy the real fruits of their labor. Ours is one of the first to have our cake at not just an earlier age, but for a longer time period. Heck, we've been able to bake the cake, eat it, throw out the leftovers and start another with much better frosting!

Remember when 'middle aged' meant your mid to late thirties? Whew! Am I glad that's over. Personally I consider my middle age to be fifty. How about you?

In one of our many self-centered conversations focused on folks of our age, fellow Primetime Boomer Stafford L. Battle had this to say "Baby Boomers are the first generation to have outlived old age and to emerge into a new adolescence."

I agree somewhat, except this "new adolescence" will be a lot less gangly and insecure.

Boomers Just Can't Be Stopped

I can hear the whines from the Gen X & Y'ers now - "I'll be glad when those fogies finally kick it!"
NEWSFLASH BABIES: We have no intentions of going anywhere! We are definitely the 'live forever' crowd. And if we don't live forever, well . . . we're still gonna party like we will!

I've started this blog because I'm having the time of my life and I know there are others out there just getting started. The greatest gift possible is to have been born in this age. My friend Sharon Hilliard once commented that we were late bloomers because we didn't get around to doing some things until after the big 4-0. That may be true, but we may just have so many more possibilities than any other age group before us.

This site is dedicated to everything that will make our lives exactly what we want them to be and more. Dash in here for a bit of news on anything that interests the boomer gen.