I’ve had enough and I’m not gonna take it anymore! That’s right. I’m talking about the new “ism”!
AGE-ISM!
I’ve designed Tee shirts for my Age-Aid concert! All funds will be donated to the fight against ageism!
We older, wiser and more sage beings of this earthly universe have basically been put out to pasture like a pack of old cows!
That’s right my little bovine friends. We are all the same! We’ve been put out to pasture too!
Here’s a good example of older women, in particular, being persona-non-fashionable-grata. I received this Fall style guide by the editors of “In Style” Magazine.
Elle Fanning is a beautiful 17 year old actor. HTF does a 17-year old become an expert on style? WTF do fashion magazines INSIST on ignoring older women?
Apparently “style” is only worth it if you are under 21. Where’s the love for the older women? We don’t buy clothing? We don’t use makeup?
Yeah. That’s right!!! We older women need a spokes person like Helen Mirren! Who needs a MILF when you have a great GILF????
What about the politicians who are all planning their strategies to win the competition to be the next President of these United States of America?
Hillary is 67. The Donald is 69 (giggle). Bernie is 74. All seniors. All should be strategizing to gain the votes of their peer groups as well as the younger votes. What about Social Security? What about better healthcare? What about employment for the over 55 crowd? You are all part of this group–take care of your own!
Most of them are older. But wait!! I have yet to hear ANY of them speak of ensuring a better life for older and senior citizens? How come? They want the vote of youth, but don’t want to acknowledge the needs of their peer groups!
We need a revolution! We need a revolution against Ageism!
That’s right. Keep calm–by having peaceful protests, demonstrations and…a concert!!!
Our revolution woud be a bit more peaceful than Eugene Delacroix’s vision! But hopefully, we would have a change for the better!
We need a benefit concert! Just like Farm-Aid, Band-Aid and the infamous Live-Aid, we need a concert for “Age-Aid”!
Naturally, we would need a Master of Ceremonies…and my vote would be for Mo Rocca. He loves old people—especially very old people. Three words: My. Grandmother’s. Ravioli.
Mo’s gray locks also give him that older, more distinguished look!
If you haven’t seen the show “My Grandmother’s Ravioli”, I’ll clue you in. Mo visits grandparents and they cook meals—just like Mo’s grandma used to make. Too bad I’m not a grandma!
My Grandmother’s Ravioli with Mo Rocca. Cooking Channel
An added bonus is that Mo is only 46 years old—he’s a baby, but he can draw support from the younger adults! Am I right????
Anyway, Peggy, from one of the episodes would be great for organizing the food stands. She volunteers in a local church-run soup kitchen. Plus, she could make a ton of scones and soda bread!
Peggy would be a fine choice to run the food stands at the Age-Aid concert. She helps run the church soup kitchen–she knows how to organize!!!
Just think. I can get the Rolling Stones. These guys are as old as dirt but they be bangin’!!!
Mick can run around the stage without assistance! The Stones would be just perfect for Age-Aid!
Can you picture Mick Jagger singing to the tune of “Satisfaction” a new song entitled “Health Care Action”
I can’t get no-o health care action
I can’t get no-o. Doc reaction
And I tried, And I tried, And I tried, Almost died!
I can’t get no….no no no…….
What about the rockstar love of my life, Ray Davies?
Ray Davies is still a heartthrob. Wait. I just MAY need a defibrillator to calm my heartbeat down!!!
He can change “Lola” into “Olda”
I met her at a bar down in North SoHo
Where you drink champagne and it tastes like fiber filled cola
C-O-L-A Cola
She walked up to me and she asked me to dance
I asked her her name
And in a raspy ex-smokers voice
She said Olda
That’s ’cause I’m just Older
O-L-D-A. Oldaaaaaa
What about BRUCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bruce still puts on a great show. I’ll make sure there’s plenty of strong Starbuck’s cawfee for the performers backstage to keep ’em moving!
Here’s a guy who can change the words to “Born in the U.S.A” to this…
Born in the USA
But-I’ve been thrown Away…..
For obvious reasons, it would be of the utmost importance to bring Bob Weir of “The Grateful Dead”.
Bob would bring the “Dead Heads” into the concert. Hey Bob–I’m “Grateful” I’m NOT “Dead”!
And change the “Truckin” lyrics ever-so-slightly!
Truckin’ got my chips cashed in. Keep truckin’, like the ambulance man
Together, more or less in line, just keep truckin’ on.
Arrows of neon and flashing marquees out on Main Street.
Chicago, New York, Detroit and it’s all on the same street.
ATYPICAL60 involved in delusional daydream
She doesn’t give up. She sees what tomorrow brings.
Hey man, SOMETHING’S gotta be about ME! I like the new “Truckin'” lyrics. And if the concert is outdoors, I have to wear a protective hat these days. Old People! You know I love ’em!
I can get Joni Mitchel and Judy Collins to team up for a medley of duets. They can sing my FAVORITE Joni Mitchell song of all time!! CAREY!!…but the lyrics can be changed from:
It would be awesome to have Joni Mitchell and Judy Collins sing a few duets!
Carey get out your cane….
To
Carey throw out your cane!!
I’ll try to book Neil Young. He can do a rendition of “Cinnamon Girl” but change it to “Medicare Girl”!
Maybe Neil Young will use me as a muse for “Medicare Girl”! I can dance around the stage!
Oh I think I’m onto something great and wonderful here!
We will also need songs of protest. Protest against large corporations for not hiring older people. We need songs of protest against health insurance companies!!! Older people DO need better entitlement programs because, dammit—we helped build these corporations and insurance companies and now we are getting a slap in the face and a shovel to dig our own graves!!!!
I’m working on some posters to carry for either protesting or the Age-Aid concert!
We demand the respect and love we do so deserve!!!
Perhaps Jefferson Airplane can come onboard and sing their infamous lyrics. Oh wait. They are now Jefferson “Starship!” Fuggedit. I’ll just have to pry Grace Slick out of retirement and beg her to sing “Volunteers”.
Grace doesn’t want to come out of retirement to sing old rock songs..but I KNOW I can convince her! I think if I threaten her with MY rendition of “White Rabbit” sung at my annoying nasal and high-pitched voice, she’ll agree to perform–only if I shut up!
One generation got old
One generation got sold….
We could get the cast of the great “Grace and Frankie” to make a speech about having more programming about the lives of older adults!
That’s right! We need more great programming geared to Seniors–we should NOT be stereotyped as old farts! Fonda and Tomlin rock their roles! And they look fabulous!
Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston as both the women’s ex-husbands and an attractive older gay couple make the show hysterically funny and touching! Age-Aid could use a speech from this cast!
It would be such a beautiful and wonderful world if we could get together to stop Agesim. It would be great if all of us old people were definitely guaranteed those Social Security benefits that we worked so hard for—even if the tightie righties are trying to stop us from receiving those benefits.
Here’s another poster I created! I AM “Old and Bold”!!!
Let’s DO this! Let’s start an Ageism revolution!!! Old lives matter very much so.
Without the seniors of our country, who would the younger generations turn to for advice? Siri can’t help you with logical, emotional, or sage advice!
Hey. Youth. Siri can’t solve all your problems! Sometimes you need a human who is older and wiser!
Wouldn’t it be great if there was no ageism? It would be a terrific existence if all ages could get along together and work together and not hate each others’ generations…..if only..
Today I’m posting Phil Ochs “What Are You Fighting For?” Still as relevant today as it was years ago. RIP Mr. Ochs. We could use you now!XOXOXOXO!!!
I LOVE THIS! Funny and some great musical suggestions there. I’m only 40-something, but can I come to the concert? Heck, Id even vote for Monicas ex-boyfriends wife if it got me backstage tickets!
Oh yes! By all means you can come to the concert! LOL. You don’t even have to vote. I’ll get you a press pass!! XOXOXO!!!
Catherine, you ROCK! At fifty, I’m discovering a whole new part of my life, and loving every minute of it. Age-Aid concert coming our way!
Francesca–I’ve got to spend tomorrow doing some research on getting in touch with the musicians. But—I do think it is time to start an anti ageism movement. Oh hell ya!!!! XXOXOXOXO!!
Loved it! And yes you are definitely on to something!
…Thank you…and right???? Could I be on to a great new concert event??? I would love to boogie to some Grateful Dead..and be grateful that I’m able to boogie!!! XOXOXOX!!!
It’s a great idea, let’s rock & roll!
Hi Maddy! I’ll bake the brownies. Can you bring the Boone’s Farm? LOL!! Let’s rock ‘n roll to the good times—past, present and future!! XOXOXO!!!
Hell, I’m 72 and slowly…very slowly catching up with my age. I finally appreciate that I’m a late bloomer, a sloooow learner…that my past is my present. (You lis’nin, body?) I’m in!!!
https://minick1943.wordpress.com/2015/09/12/writing-101-day-5-social-media-inspires-me/
Yeah Gina! You are fortunate that your past is your present. Those days of the mid to late 1960’s were an era of change. You made a difference–so let’s rock!!…and roll! XOXOXO!!!
Very timely. Got slapped upside the head with a major ageist slam last week. Love the article. Thanks!
Oh. I can relate to any major ageist slam. It seems to happen almost every day. Everywhere. Ageism is the “silent” ism. It is the ism that is swept under the carpet and it is the ism that can be hidden within other important isms. The sad thing is that nothing is ever done about it. ….I want that to change!
Love it!
I’m so glad you love it! XOXOXOXO!!!!
You do your blogs with so much imagination and humour. I love the lyric changes and your choice of older singers and bands.
Hi Cathy,
Oh…I’m glad you like the changes to the lyrics–nyah ha ha!! Those older singers–they are the ones who need to help me on my quest with Age-Aid. I mean..can you see Mick Jagger in a Hover Round?? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…maybe he can do the next Hover Round commercial……………..XOXOXO!!
I saw the Stones a few years ago and although they all look 100 years old they are amazing!
LOL Ok… So the title of your book HAS to be “The World According to Catherine!” And I think this should be the FIRST chapter!!! I had never heard that song. What a message!
Have you heard about the flack over the book “Black Lives Matter”? The gal who co wrote that for a youth series she does through her editors was given that title to use (it was about Ferguson) and it backfired on them horribly because of the movement by the same name. She has received death threats and hate mail on her twitter and facebook pages. And all this reaction to a book that hasn’t even been released yet! Fox news has really slammed her. No one’s read it! Just the title stirred up all this shit. And guess what! She’s one of OUR own. Her blog is on here. I’ve been following her for months. Her name is Sue Bradford (?) Edwards. She goes by SueBE on her blog. Thought you might find that interesting.
OMG. I’m going to have to check out SueBe’s blog. I love me a good reaction! I want flack over “OLD lives matter”! All damn lives matter for that fact! Speaking of books–Bonaparte is giving me assignments to write so that the writings can be used for a book. He’s SUCH a svengali–or should I say he’s such “le-svengali”! He better behave because the weather is cooling and it’s almost “frenchdessertbakingseason”. I made Madeleines for him today! But back to my ageism. Do you want to be part of public relations????? It’ll be so much fun!!!!!!!! XOXOXO!!
Here’s Sue’s blog, One Writer’s Journey. This is the post she did about the book. https://suebe.wordpress.com/2015/08/31/fox-news-black-lives-matter-and-how-to-deal-with-bad-reviews/
I think that’s so cute that Bonaparte is giving you assignments! At least he’s taking an interest! I could write that I’m having a flaming afraid with someone and his lordship would never know! LOL
Loved this article Catherine, I will turn 58 in a few weeks and I say…who the hell cares? Apart from any prospective employers who see us with a white cane and a hearing aid and totally unsuitable for the “look” of their business. Growing old should be celebrated, I am taking care of my Mum who is 90 and has dementia but is still living in her own home, and is still capable of enjoying a Baileys Irish Cream with me in the evenings at times,and is still able to do her wonderful water colour painting when I give her the tools and prompts. What a world of wisdom we are ignoring in our aged, and how wrong it seems that when they need us most we throw them on the scrap heap and make them fend for themselves on less money than most people us as pocket money
I could rant all day on this he he
Cheers
Adrienne
Hi Adrienne! I agree with everything you said. It’s so true. Corporations, as well as the media, have this vision that we are all cane and hearing-aid bearing. There are many Hitleresque lines of thought on how older adults should be treated. It’s disgusting. You speak the truth when you say that the elderly should be celebrated. My own grandmother passed away at 98 years young–and she had all her wits about her. She was the wisest woman I ever had the pleasure of knowing. It’s a disgrace how older people are treated and it needs to stop!
Sign me up for one of the tshirts!
Done! XOXOXO!!!
You know this is only half-humorous to me. While I love the way you have written it, it really irks me when society does this sort of thing – the future belongs to the youth, they are the leaders of the future, they are this or that and an enormous amount of energy is spent on a vast majority of brainless twits. Ask them about current affairs, nil. Ask them about history, nil. Ask them about geography, nil. But they, hey, ask them about social media, about fashion, about the stars, about their singers and then they are oh-so-intelligent. Well, I often tell youngsters, remember you have only a few more years to know what it feels like… and I AM WAITING…. Hell, yeah, I might be a little older than they, but when they reach that stage, I wonder how they are going to justify their existence bwa-hahaha–
Sorry, could not help ranting 😀 One of these days I am going to catch meself a little bugger by his scrawny neck and torture him with a thousand trivia questions that would be designed to receive stupid answers and I am going to record the entire session and put it on the web 😀
A few lines from Tennyson (from Ulysses): “…… and, though, we are not now the strength which in old days moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are… One equal temper of heroic hearts, made weak by time and Fate, but strong in will; to strive, to seek, to find AND NOT TO YIELD”
(Sorry for the long comment and rant hehe)
Darlin’ you are preachin’ to the choir! Our youth of today may be the future of tomorrow but it’s going to be a future of apathy and selfishness. Have you EVER seen some of the young parents of today? Any time a child farts it is plastered over facebook so proudly. I have no words sometimes…..and it sickens me that today’s young people are not actively involved. There’s more than a “like” on FB to support social issues. Don’t worry about the rant. I’ll join you! XOXOXO!!!
Hahaha… I know.. er.. but you know what? I am … er.. sort of an old father to a little girl.. I don’t know whether I belong in the young parent category or the old.. hahaha..
But yes, I detest these over-indulgent parents.. I hate the way the world is right now.. and yes, in a way, I am old, even if I do not yet qualify for that title, much like you detest being categorized like that.
Where did all the heroes go? (That is inspiration for another post, haha).. but truly.. what is with the self-absorbed world? They know nothing, feel nothing.. just like the zombies they like so much.. (don’t even get me started on their tastes in movies and books, gah!!!)…
Where were you all my life!!!!! Cath… I just cannot believe it I went through life not meeting you 😀 Your frenchman would have wept bitter tears if you had even met me.. hehe…
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Age-Aid – I’m there! 🙂
Hey Spear! Let’s Party!!!! XOXOXO!!!
Hi Catherine – I love reading all your posts, but I have to say, this is my favorite!! Keep on truckin’….ha! From a 61 year old…
Hi Jann! Thanks so much! I’m so glad that this post is your favorite. It touches me to know that we need to put a stop to ageism! XOXOXO!!
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