posted on July 25, 2000 11:42:28 PM new
Hi Maui.
We're just like good quality furniture, well made and classic! A bit of polish now and then is all we need.
The old girl you saw sounded like she needed to go to the paint strippers every night.
Class beats brass any day.
Bob, Downunder but never down.
posted on July 25, 2000 11:49:32 PM newMaui: I really don't mind growing older. I have gray hair, though it doesn't show up all that well in "dirty dishwater" blonde hair You have to look close to see it. As long as my hair turns a nice white, silver or true gray I won't quibble. But, darn it, if it turns that ugly yellowish white that some blondes get as they grow older, I *will* dye my hair. Not back to blonde--older people who do such things just end up looking silly. No, I will use dye to *make sure* my hair is a nice white, silver or true gray. People who show white dogs use bluing when they wash them to make the white bright & snowy--why shouldn't I?
posted on July 26, 2000 12:08:24 AM new
Maui's salt & pepper hair is beautiful, btw.
Personally I say grow old naturally. There's more beauty in that than 'manufacturing' something that you're not.
posted on July 26, 2000 12:41:56 AM new
Personally, I love to see gawdy made up women - there's a certain free-spirit about them that I really appreciate and admire. I don't know who wrote this - but it's my favorite poem - and I plan to stick to it - when I am old.
[i] 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 the 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 pickles 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.[/i]
edited cause I can't remember how to do the itallics - maybe I'm getting old.
[ edited by mybiddness on Jul 26, 2000 12:43 AM ]
posted on July 26, 2000 12:58:49 AM new
I wasn't talking clothes. I meant older people who try to keep their hair the same color it was when they were 20. Or the ones who carry plastic surgery to extremes trying to look 20 or 30 when they are in fact 60 or 70 (or more). The "cult of the young" has got a strong grip on the U.S., hasn't it? We arebrainwashed into believing that growing older is A Bad Thing. That only Youth has value. Actually only polished, capped, beautiful/handsome youth.
There is a film scene I have found myself wanting to imitate at times. Any one here seen "Fried Green Tomatoes"? I *love* the scene in which Bates' character is trying to park her car & is cut of by two gorgeous babes who steal her parking space. "Sorry," they sneer as they walk away, "Face it, we're younger and faster." They scream as Bates begins to ram their car repeatedly with hers. "Face it" she says with a smile. "I'm older and have more insurance..."
posted on July 26, 2000 01:12:09 AM new
YES! I love that movie!
TAWANDA!
I agree - it kills me to see people put themselves through torture to look beautiful. There's a lady in our neighborhood that has had her face lifted so many times she looks like a wierd frozen mask - but, hey - there's no wrinkles!
posted on July 26, 2000 01:22:52 AM newTammy Faye Bakker Messner RULES!
Tammy Faye Speaks...
"I like eyelashes. I'm probably a little bit more dramatic than most people would like me to be. But I enjoy that...that's just who I am."
"It looked like orange juice to me...said, 'Drink this down and don't stop. Just drink it right down.' So I thought it was orange juice, and I drank it right down. I began to giggle as we took off, and, when I woke up, I was in California."
"(In my purse)...I've got breath savers. Gum. Vitamins. Lipstick. Combs. Keys. Old Kleenex. And a Pizza Hut voucher, medium, any way you want it. I got two Allerest. And I've got three cookies."
"I like to go fast and so you lose your tummy on these bumps. They have these...it's like a roller coaster if you're goin' fast enough. When my grandbabies were here and there wasn't any traffic, I floored it and we were goin' 'Whoo! Whoo!' We were losin' our tummy on these wonderful hills and valleys."
"We're all made out of the same old dirt. Every one of us. There's no one better than the other. That is my philosophy of life. I never forget where I came from."
She's a trip, but she's real. What a gal!!
- Pareau
posted on July 26, 2000 01:26:09 AM new
For me, the saying you're as old as you feel is a truism. I am 45. Don't feel old at all. Just yesterday I was 17 & graduating form high school...well, it feels like yesterday, anyway. I dress the way I want to: t-shirt, jeans & sneakers. Because I like them. They are comfortable. I act the way I want to--which may explain why people constantly exclaim "you *can't* be 45!"--I act like I'm three And I do the things *I* like.
I've never understood the idea that there is some mystical age when people are supposed to suddenly start wearing old people's clothing (which seems to consist mostly of polyester) or to act differently than they did before that magic birthday hit. Just be yourself--and if others don't like it, tough cookies.
posted on July 26, 2000 06:11:42 AM new
I don't understand how folks who think nothing of wearing any or all of foundation, blush, eyeliner, shadow, mascara, lipstick, and control-top pantyhose or get a permanent will, nonetheless, find themselves mired in a quandary over whether to dye their hair.
I was born dishwater blonde. In my soul, however, I'm a redhead, and so I've assisted Nature since my 20's in correcting this horrible mistake. Awhile back I had most of my hair buzzed off (the older I am, the shorter my hair gets), and since I'd been kinda lazy about recoloring, the new growth that was left after the buzz-cut was my "natural" color: dishwater blonde with about 50% gray. I thought "cool, now I have grey hair!" After about three days of looking at that stranger in the mirror I got out the dye kit again. God may have made me a blonde, but clearly He made a mistake.
posted on July 26, 2000 07:44:07 AM new
toomanycomics - I can identify with what your mother told you to do.
When I was 40 and the gray first started showing, I plucked them out. They really really stood out against my very dark brown hair. Then, as time went on I decided I'd be bald if I continued this.
I've tried a couple of those 'wash in' color treatments, never did like the way they looked. Really like the way my hair looks now....gray mixed with the brown. My hair now looks like I paid for an expensive frosting job.
stockticker - Irene. My step-grandmother was that way. She died at the age of 94 and just barely had a few gray hairs around her temples. Genes....it's those genes.
posted on July 26, 2000 08:05:27 AM new
I too have dishwater blonde hair - now about 30% grey.(Most of the grey is right on the top in the center.) In my early forties I had my hair highlighted a couple times each year to hide the grey. Then I got what my friends termed "city hair" - a real short geometrically cut swing. To look its best, the hair cut demanded a solid color - to emphasize the shape. After a couple fry jobs by my beautician, I let my hair grow out in length as well as color. Usually, I do nothing to it, but if I'm going to a party or someplace where I'll make contacts for what I sell, I'll use a temporary color. It's usually darker and more dramatic the first few days. I sell plastic costume jewelry - the wilder,the better. So I find that basic lines in clothes,dramatic bangles, and dyed hair make the statement I want to make.
posted on July 26, 2000 08:40:59 AM new
I love this thread. I have a thirty-year high-school reunion coming up. Because of the age thing I do not think I will go. I wanted to go to my reunion looking like Johnny Bravo and acting like Friar Tuck. I'm afraid it will be the other way around.
posted on July 26, 2000 09:28:12 AM new
HartCottageQuilts; I have this male artist friend who says that after 40 women cut thier hair short and never have it long again. I thought he was full of beans until I cut mine really short last month.
I have never had short hair before and I love it. I cover the gray once a month.
Maybe the hair cut thing is part of growing old gracefully.I look better,lighter and a few people have told me younger.
I know I wear less makeup now, more natural colors.
As long as life stays interesting and my mind somewhat sharp I don't mind growing older.
posted on July 26, 2000 09:37:30 AM new
Grey adds depth to some hair. Others always look as if they'd just rubbed their heads against a chalkboard. There's nothing intrinsically "graceful" about melanin loss, elastin breakdown, or the dwindling of hormones, for either gender. If the changes of age appeal to you, great. If not, why hesitate to make things more the way you'd like them? Too many "shoulds" and checks on choice already, IMO.
posted on July 26, 2000 10:23:53 AM new
I only recently discovered that I no longer have red hair. It still looks the same to me as it did when I was young. A hidden benefit to failing eyesight, I suppose.
My son inherited my auburn hair color and is constantly subjected to comments about it when we're out and about. He's often asked "where'd you get that beautiful red hair". I remember being asked the same when I was a kid (Mom told me to say it came from the milkman!). I was puzzled because I was standing right there. Eventually I realized I just didn't have it anymore. When filling out forms and such I still list red as my hair color. I'm more realistic about the other questions, though.
posted on July 26, 2000 10:33:25 AM new
mybiddness, I LOVE that poem...I've seen it a couple of times before and it always makes me smile
You know, I said before that 'natural' is more beautiful but I also think that beauty is more 'real' if it comes from within. A glow in the cheeks and a twinkle in the eye from contentedness and perhaps exentricity (sp?) as in that poem. If a 70 year old woman feels more alive by slapping on a little rouge, then she should go for it. It's the Tammy Fayes of the world with all of their overage that appears to be an attempt at manufacturing an image.
Btw, I was Tammy Faye for Halloween about 10 years ago...was a blast! Complete with runny mascara and eyelashes, lol
Here's how my sixty something year old mom handles her gray hair! This is her wedding picture from last February. It's also a great testimony to the fact that it ain't over til it's over. My mom was the most conservative (uptight) person in the world - if you'd told me she'd ever even sit on a motorcycle I would have bet the farm you were wrong. Way to go mom! (p.s.) I have more gray than she does.
posted on July 26, 2000 12:42:54 PM new
When I think of growing old, certain images come to my mind:
- A 4' 11" little grey hair old lady of 87. She used to volunteer in the same hospital coffee shop/gift shop that I did. She had an opinion about EVERYTHING and was quite vocal about expressing it. I can see her in my mind now, serving coffee to the doctors and nurses, shaking her forefinger vigorously at them (a captive audience) as she complained about some poor politician or other. I remember when we had a city transit strike. She had a hill to climb to reach the hospital. Boy was she pissed. She could have stayed home, but no, she was there for the 3 days she was scheduled to work that week. During the strike she happened to encounter a bunch of the picketers. As she told me later, she gave them a piece of her mind, and then tore down one of their posters, right in front of them. (Her memory was still sharp too and she use to tell me the most wonderful stories of growing up in Edwardian England. She still remembered the time her "Papa" took her to see Charlie Chaplin and his brother in vaudeville.)
- My mother (when she was 72) decided one day to paint one wall of the outside of her house. She was almost finished when she fell off the ladder. She was hurt but as she told me later, she only had one little patch left to do. So, she climbed back up the ladder and finished. Then she drove herself to emergency. She had two or three broken ribs. I phoned her a week later (I lived in a different city) and was appalled when I found out. She was so casual about it.
- One of the fellows I worked with decided to take early retirement at 60. He was depressed and unhappy at his job. He looked older than his years and had a faded look. About 5 years later he came back for a visit. My jaw dropped with astonishment. There was a sparkle in his eye. His cheeks were rosy (he was living in the country) and he walked with a bounce in his step. He looked years younger than his age!
- Another fellow I worked had a father who died about 5 years ago after a long illness. He was quite concerned about his 72 year old mother being alone in the house. She had health problems and seemed to have no interest in living. She often forgot to eat. He and his sister lived in a different city. He persuaded his mother to sell the house and move into a retirement home two blocks from where his sister lived. At first the woman just stayed in her room. One of the other residents befriended her and slowly she started to get involved in the activities. She really perked up when she found out she was the youngest resident. Then something magical happened. She just blossomed. She takes classes on different subjects and became further involved in the social activities. She is the first to greet new residents and make them feel welcome. The staff consider her the unofficial social director of the home. Her son can't get over how much younger she seems. She still has the same health problems but she simply accepts them and doesn't let them stop her from doing what she wants to do.
- In my old mail order business, my main supplier was a company located on a mountain in Puerto Rico. The firm consisted of the founder (Alex), his secretary, his two grandsons and a number of part time workers. Alex had started the firm, a trading company, in Chicago in 1919. He made a bundle in the 1920s, retired, blew all the money, started up again in the 1930s, made another bundle, retired, etc. His final retirement was supposedly in 1970 but he grew bored after a few years and started the company up again. He liked Puerto Rico so decided to have the business there. I've enjoyed the correspondence I've had with him had over the years. His mind is still very sharp. A couple of years ago, Alex's secretary who was 86, didn't show up for work. He was concerned so he drove to her house. She had had a stroke and was unconscious. He carried her to his jeep and then drove down the mountain seeking medical help. He was 98 years old at the time. Last August he turned 100. He and the grandsons decided to take a 5 year sabbatical from the business last fall. (One of the grandsons was recovering from a heart attack and the other grandson was burnt out from overwork.) Now Alex has gone off to eastern Europe to search for his roots. With luck he thinks he may even be around when the business opens up again.
These people are a constant reminder to me that age is more a state of mind than it is one of outward appearance. Attitude is definitely something within your control, even if outward appearance is not.
posted on July 26, 2000 10:12:44 PM new
My hair started turning grey in my early 20's. I've never tried to cover it, those grey hairs are my battle scars from 15 years of teaching!
As for wrinkles, I won't care as long as they're laugh wrinkles and not from frowning.
You have to look close to see it. As long as my hair turns a nice white, silver or true gray I won't quibble. But, darn it, if it turns that ugly yellowish white that some blondes get as they grow older, I *will* dye my hair. Not back to blonde--older people who do such things just end up looking silly. No, I will use dye to *make sure* my hair is a nice white, silver or true gray. People who show white dogs use bluing when they wash them to make the white bright & snowy--why shouldn't I? 
