Monthly Archives: January 2011

It’ll come to me in a minute

Posted on January 30, 2011 by stillalife

More on the brain and aging.  Since The New York Timesarticle by Barbara Strauch* that I referenced recently is only accessible to subscribers, I went to the Pomona College Aging and Cognition website to supplement what I read in the Times article about … Continue reading →

Posted in aging, health | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Cookies, chaos and connections

Posted on January 28, 2011 by stillalife

The ringing of a doorbell.  The sound of a beater creaming butter and sugar.  Orders shouted every few seconds muffling the cracking of the eggs.  “I need a spatula.” “Give me two more mixing bowls.”  “These have to be very, very … Continue reading →

Posted in friends and family, personal reflections, volunteering | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

How and why you should scramble your brain

Posted on January 27, 2011 by stillalife

Just when most people my age are convinced that they have already lost an excessive number of brain cells that can never be retrieved, new research about the aging brain tells us a very different story.  The latest findings were … Continue reading →

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Sticking to the past

Posted on January 25, 2011 by stillalife

Six months after retirement I’m starting to think about my next life.  I am already doing many of the things I wanted to do — writing, seeing friends, and teaching English as a Second Language as a volunteer — yet … Continue reading →

Posted in letting go of work, stress | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Recovering memories

Posted on January 22, 2011 by stillalife

Sometimes you don’t know someone’s life until he or she has died.   We attended a memorial service today for a man named Tak, whom we met eight or nine years ago when he was in his late seventies.  We … Continue reading →

Posted in friends and family | Tagged | 1 Comment

She enjoys “not getting old”

Posted on January 18, 2011 by stillalife

Joyce Turner is the best possible argument for keeping your body flexible as you age. She is my role model.  I can’t say exactly when I came to this conclusion, certainly not as a result of our first encounter, which … Continue reading →

Posted in aging, exercise, health | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

“Pen pals” create global community

Posted on January 16, 2011 by stillalife

Saeide is my email pal.  She’s the first email pal I’ve had, but that’s because in the age before computers we had pen pals, people to whom we hand wrote letters.  My first pen pal lived in England.  I was … Continue reading →

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Love the one(s) you’re with

Posted on January 15, 2011 by stillalife

A simple tweet from a group I am following led me to re-think my expectations regarding people who will be my friends after retirement.  I missed the news when it was widely covered in 2009 that, according to a Dutch … Continue reading →

Posted in changes after retirement, friends and family, personal reflections | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Rainy day distractions

Posted on January 14, 2011 by stillalife
Posted in seasons, touring town | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Advice from a woman who makes stuffed animals from socks

Posted on January 12, 2011 by stillalife

As one might guess from reading about my sock animal sewing adventures, I have never seen a craft I didn’t want to try.  I have had a lot of success making greeting cards and binding small books and have taken … Continue reading →

Posted in arts and crafts, humor | Tagged | 4 Comments