This Week in Elder News: 10 January 2009

In this regular Saturday feature you will find links to news items from the preceding week related to elders and aging, along with whatever else catches my fancy that I think you might like to know. Suggestions are welcome with, however, no promises of publication.

Various versions of a list of humorous benefits of old age have been around the web for a long time, but they still tickle me. In this one, my favorite is the last: “Your supply of brain cells is finally down to a manageable size.” (Hat tip to Lia of Yum Yum Café)

Another hat tip to Lia for this video, circa 2000, from star Canadian slam poet, Shane Koyczan. It's terrific and it's titled, Grandma’s Got It Going On. [3:26 minutes]

David Pogue, the Thursday technology columnist at The New York Times, has an excellent story this week on ways to save thousands of dollars annually on your tech equipment. Well worth the read.

Crabby Old Lady had been planning a blog post along these lines, but Kevin Drum at Mother Jones beat her to it with his top ten whiny, blog-related pet peeves.

Although untrue, it is a common belief that people need less sleep as they age. A new study from researchers at the University of Chicago reveals that “too little sleep can promote calcium buildup in the heart arteries, leading to the plaques that can then break apart and cause heart attacks and strokes.” More here. (Hat tip to Melinda Applegate)

Relatedly, researchers at the University of California have found that “traits associated with conscientiousness, like persistence, industriousness, being organized and disciplined, are linked to longevity and health.” Not only that, such people also tend to be happier and have more stable lives. More here.

Darlene Costner of Darlene’s Hodgepodge sent along a link to this Lay’s potato chip commercial. What’s that old saying? Age and craftiness beat youth and skill every time. [:22 seconds]

Saul Friedman contributes two Reflections columns each month here at Time Goes By, but his day job is his Gray Matters column at Newsday published each Saturday. Last week’s, titled, Growing Older By Indulging Pleasures of Life, is a lovely way to start the new year.

Marian Van Eyk McCain, who blogs at elderwomanblog, and I share a meeting of the minds on many topics related to aging. In her New Year’s Eve post, she argues against those who say they don’t feel as old as they are:

“Your heart is the same age as the rest of your internal organs. It may beat strongly and you may be full of joy and zest and enthusiasm for living, but that doesn't make you young. It simply means you are full of joy and zest and enthusiasm for living, and so we should all be, whether we are 5 or 50 or 93 or any other age.”

Read the entire post on feeling one's age.

The oldest person in the world seems usually to live in the Peruvian mountains where he or she has eaten only yogurt during a long life. Currently, however, the world’s oldest person is a Los Angeles woman, Gertrude Baines, who is 114. She is a resident in a convalescent hospital now, but she lived alone with the help of a caretaker until she was 107. More here. (Hat tip to Donna Woodka of Changing Places)

Many elders (like me) grew up not with television, but radio. I have many memories of evenings at home playing board games or whatever with my brother while Mom knitted and Dad fixed a broken toy or something similar while we all listened to such shows as Inner Sanctum, The Shadow, Lux Radio Theater and many more. There is a website with 12,000 episodes of dozens of old-time radio shows available for free listening. (Hat tip to Melinda Applegate)

January must be Old Folks Month at book publishers. I’ve been swamped with news of new releases. Among them is Somewhere Toward the End by 91-year-old British editor Diane Athill. Ian Bertram of Pancromatica pointed me to this excerpt in the UK Daily Mail plus a video interview with her.

A new survey from AARP reports on how boomers and elders are coping with the recession. Fifty-two percent, they say, are having trouble paying for such necessities as food, gas and medicine. More numbers here.

Four-and-a-half million people have watched this video on YouTube so you may have seen it. I hadn’t and I couldn’t stop laughing. It has nothing to do with elders – just fun and silliness. God, cats are weird. (Hat tip to Jeanne of Cooksister) [1:07 minutes]

Comments

[kenju]

A very interesting compilation, Ronni, with something for everyone. I love Kevin Drum's list and agree with all of it! The potato chip video is amusing and the one about being industrious and organized leading to longevity and health - GREAT - because I am nothing if not
organized.

[Darlene]

I could really relate to much of what Diane Athill said. She spoke to me on many levels and I just might write a blog on death. Not a pleasant topic, I admit, but one that we all face sometime.