Outposts In My Head

Aging issues....beautiful

2011-04-11T11:26:00.000-04:00

So my post yesterday was really about issues around aging. I realize as I head swiftly towards age fifty at the end of this year, that I've got some issues percolating about aging...so I'm gonna process them in the way I do, off and on, here and there, until I can integrate the joy of life these two share in this video:

The Art of Aging-Alice and Richard Matzkin-oomphTV.com from oomphTV on Vimeo.

Body image - the good, the bad, the not sure what to call it!

2011-04-10T21:01:00.001-04:00

I am starting to think I need a shrink for body-image stuff. I CANNOT seem to stick to healthy eating. Ok, it's only been a week and only a day of bad eating, but it seems like the same old broken record....it is VERY TEMPTING to be satisfied with my 15-20lbs overweight, 50 year old body just the way it is. I mean, I can do most everything I've been wanting to do. I can run the Muddy Buddy, I can ride the BikeMS ride, I can do a sprint triathlon, all with my current level of weight and fitness. My husband thinks I look great, and nobody has said I look unhealthy. My bp is low, my cholesterol is right, and I'm well into menopause so no hormonal crap. I take the right supplements, and I don't eat a lot of junk food or sweets, just too much good stuff. I don't drink coffee. I have a glass of wine at night, sometimes two, but never more. Maybe this is just how I am supposed to look and I can quit FIGHTING it.

and then I see a picture of myself and think - I could do better....

Washington DC with A(11), T(9), A2(8)

2011-03-30T18:40:00.000-04:00

Today we saw - Washington Monument, WWII memorial, Lincoln Memorial, empty reflecting pool (under construction), Vietnam Veterans Memorial, statue of Albert Einstein, frozen rain, and a lot of metro trains and stations.

A - It was awesome
T - I really liked the Lincoln Memorial, all of it, especially the speeches written on the walls
A2 - The Washington Monument was super tall, super cool, and super awesome!
The A's Dad - My shoulders hurt

more to come...

Thoughts on Tron: Legacy (an open letter to Bill Gates and Steve Jobs)

2011-02-28T06:07:00.000-05:00

We were those 20-something computer whizzes of the 1980s who saw it all go to hell in a blaze of cheap memory and storage, bloated programs and resource sucking code. We sat on our cushions lamenting, or in boardrooms profiting, or in management guiding armies of cheap, offshore, uncreative sheep-like developers - or abandoned ship altogether for a cozy life in the suburbs as soccer moms.

And now the world has gone to hell in a handful of social media sites and clouds of data, while young people die in the streets for a taste of the freedom we so carelessly threw away. And they look to us for enlightenment, or guidance, or some sort of clue about what to do next with the world we've created and left them.

What are we going to do about it now?

Embrace oblivion or stand behind them as they dream something better before the memory of sunshine is all we have left?

We must ENGAGE NOW.

My Happy Song.....What is Yours?

2011-02-20T08:01:00.001-05:00

My Digital Cleanse: What I'm doing instead of Facebook/Twitter

2010-01-01T20:10:00.005-05:00

1/1/09: This morning I woke up, popped the email, and rearranged my home page to NOT show me FB or Twitter. While I was in the email, I unsubscribed from a whole slew of junk email stuff. Then I went and meditated, sitting quietly and looking out the windows as the rest of the house slept. Afterwards I did 20 minutes of yoga. All time that would normally be spent 'catching up' on Facebook and Twitter.

Throughout the day I found myself wandering by the computer, sitting down, and then getting back up because I really had no need to be there. I realized quickly how much of a habit it has become to spend countless minutes (hours) on these social media sites, with no clear agenda or reason for the time or connections with people there. I like the idea of making my relationships more meaningful, or at least consciously connected.

My mind was quieter as I was able to turn off the inner narrator who constantly captures the day in 140 character quips.

And, I spent a lot of time with my son, working on the gingerbread house kit that we had never quite got around to doing before today. We still have some work on it, we went for a rather complicated design!

So far, I am feeling grateful that I've decided to give myself this gift of time, and hopeful that the nagging pull of these sites can stay dimmed after the week is over.

1/2/09: Day two - I feel a little disconnected from the folks I've reconnected with on FB, but seriously, if we made it 20 years without each other, what's a week of updates? Today I finished de-decorating, cleaned the kitchen, finished the laundry, and worked some more with DS on the gingerbread house.

I also managed to get myself out to the gym and did a run on the treadmill and a strength circuit.

And filled the car up with gas. And watched a few home improvement shows, just for fun!

And finally, I read an interview with John Mayer, who started this whole thing, and in which the interviewer seemed to take umbrage with the fact that JM is intelligent and likes to give thoughtful, detailed answers and explanations. It brought home to me again how FED UP I am with the anti-intellectualism that seems to be so prevalent in our society these days. Grrrrrrrr.

I finished out the week and was thrilled with the extra time to connect more deeply with others, but to be honest, it felt a bit strange - and reminded me of when I didn't watch TV for several years, as friends would comment on things seen and shared on Facebook or Twitter, and give me a pitying stare when they remembered I was doing the cleanse. I'm back on, but hope to be more aware of the wasted time, and use the social media tools for true connecting with purpose. Thanks for the idea John Mayer!