Boomer Randomness

My depression is probably not the same as clinical depression.   I have some of the symptoms, I’m sure, but I am not in therapy (although it probably would help) and I’m not on any drugs.   My life is generally awesome, I am generally happier than I’ve been in years, yet there are days like today during which I feel depressed.   My idealistic view of the world collides with disappointing reality and I fall into an emotional slump. I encounter this scenario a few times a year.   I hike through the valley for the better part of a day, then return to the mountain top. Sometimes this feeling occurs as the sum of several small factors that on their own merits would not bother me, but when combined, lead to depression.   Unexplained health issues + unfair divorce-related issues + a cluttered apartment = today’s depression. Simple, right? The solution? I’m getting more medical tests this week that might lead to explanations.   I’m using my usual positive attitude to deal with th

A Montana State Representative recently introduced a bill that would change the state’s indecent exposure laws to ban yoga pants in public, among other things.  The law would regulate various types of clothing, mostly women’s clothing, but would also ban men from showing their nipples … in other words, men would have to wear t-shirts at the pool.  This proposed law would, as I understand it, give police the power to arrest women and men for violating certain clothing regulations, and not just for nudity or skimpy thong type clothing.  People who violate the law would be subject to fines of up to $10,000 and life imprisonment after a third offense.  Wow!!  Sounds a little like the Middle Eastern laws we regularly ridicule.  I thought Republicans stood for less government interference in our personal lives.  This particular Republican seems to want his state to mimic some Islamic countries.  Am I the only one who sees the irony in this?  Another irony that bothers the hell out of

Oh well, I did not win Power Ball.  You didn't either?  The odds were against us anyway.  In fact, here are five things that are more likely to happen than winning Power Ball ... Dying from being struck by lightning Being attacked by a shark Becoming President of the United States Being crushed and killed by a vending machine Hitting a hole-in-one on two consecutive, par-3 holes

Two words … Power Ball. The 3 rd largest Power Ball jackpot amount is on the line in tonight’s drawing … an estimated $500 million.   The cash lump sum payout for a single winner is around $337 million.   The odds of winning are 175 million to 1, but who’s counting? Five hundred million dollars. Three hundred thirty seven million dollars. Nice numbers, right?   And the ticket is only TWO dollars. Two questions:   Did you buy a ticket today?   What would you do if you won the jackpot? My answers … Yes, I bought a ticket.   Actually, I bought two tickets, one for me and one for a friend. What would I do?   I’ve actually thought about this a lot, even though the odds are against winning.   As soon as the check cleared, I’d pay down all of my debt, all of my sister’s debt and all the debt of my two closest friends.   I’d contribute money to many of my favorite charities.   Then I’d buy a car … I know, everybody says that.   Ultimately I’d buy a few properties in pla

A question for boomers: Have you kept up with technology?   If you’re reading this, you’ve heard of the internet.   Smirk.   Are you on Facebook?   Twitter?   Instagram?   Snapchat?   How do you hear your music?   Movies?   Where do you get your news? Adjusting to technology is a daily thing for me because I edit and produce audio for a living.   By my observation, I am ahead of the curve in boomer circles but barely keeping up when compared to Gen X, Gen Y and Millennials.   How about you? This topic hit me as I was making a playlist on iTunes.   This particular 12-song list includes everything from Frankie Valli to Blake Shelton to Bruno Mars, a very small representation of my diverse music tastes.   What hit me, however, are the adjustments I’ve made in how I hear recorded music.   Thanks to my sister, who is even more of a pack rat than I am, I still own the very first record I ever had.   It’s a kid song on red vinyl and if I had a 50-year old turntable with the 78 rpm sp

I’ve been taking guitar lessons for just over a year.   I still don’t play very well and I struggle to find time to practice, but I enjoy it and I am starting to make progress.   I have learned some things about music and about myself. One thing I already knew before beginning this musical journey is that older people learn differently than younger people.   We process things in a different way.   Our brains run a little slower, of course, but I think we also learn in smaller bits of information at a time and we often over think things.   Or maybe that last part is just me. There are many components to learning guitar, especially if you want to read music as well as play it: where individual notes are on the instrument, where they are on the sheet music, what each is called, how to play chords, what each of those is called, tempo, technique, etc.   My brain can absorb a couple of those things at a time, but not all.   I think that is partly due to aging.   The second-guessing and

When an elderly person dies, do they know it's coming?   I don’t mean that they are old and know they will die some day; I mean do they sense the end within a few weeks or hours before it happens? Two relatives of a close friend have died within the past two months.   One of them, a 96-year old woman, was in frail physical health but incredible mental health.   She was smart, aware and communicative right up till 15 minutes before taking her last breath.   Of course she knew she would die one day, but she seemed to be wrapping up her life during her last few days.   My friend called her to say she’d be over to visit one afternoon and the woman told her she had really done plenty and she should take time for herself that evening.   The woman died the next day.   It was as if she knew the end was about to happen and wanted my friend to remember her the way she had last seen her a few days earlier. One month later, this friend’s ex-husband sounded very sick during a phone conver