Beyond Musical Chairs
By Ann Sentilles. September 22, 2008 11:20:44 am

I don’t pretend to fully understand the current financial crisis. But I know what it feels like. It feels like a game of Musical Chairs. You know, the childhood birthday party game where there aren’t enough chairs, and when the music stops, you’ve got to grab yours? As I recall, it was never a game that brought out the best in anyone, and the chaos and uncertainty always made me a little bit sick to my stomach. I never won; I was too easily distracted by the fact that it just wasn’t fair, or that the prize was a worthless piece of plastic anyway.

Except for the worthless piece of plastic part, that’s exactly how the economic crisis feels to me today �“ with debt circulating more and more rapidly around the seats of our economy, with capital dropping out each time a seat is removed, with rules and fairness suspended, and with uncertainty overwhelming virtually everyone, even those who didn’t really want to play the game. But there’s so much at stake today �“ the financial and political security of our country and much of our world �“ that it’s not as if we can simply move on to Pin the Tail on the Donkey or birthday cake. Instead, it seems to me, we need new music and new strategies, an understanding that we must all pay our own way and a commitment to winning with real economic growth and stability rather than with greed. Good luck!
 

 

Messy Empty Nests
By Ann Sentilles. September 18, 2008 1:50:44 pm

Empty Nesters: You are not alone with your tears and your boxes of tissues! Read “When Children Leave” by Lisa Belkin in The New York Times Thursday, September 18. As she writes, “Empty nest. It sounds neat, spare, and tidy, but it can be a messy time.”
 
Please Visit: New York Timrs
 

Not Guilty by Reason of Menpause
By Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant. August 25, 2008 3:05:46 pm

(From an Interview with the Author, Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant)

Interviewer: Can I say right off that you don’t look old enough to be writing about menopause?

Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant: (blushing) Thank you. Actually, it’s all the sweating… it’s a natural moisturizer. Why spend thousands of dollars on something you make for free during a good hot flash?

Interviewer: Your new book, Not Guilty by Reason of Menopause (Ten Speed Press, 2008), is very funny. And it has pictures.

LAJ-B: I know, those are great, aren’t they? I don’t even have to use my reading glasses to see them.

You can see them by ordering Leigh Anne Jasheway-Bryant’s book Not Guilty by Reason of Menopause online from Amazon.com or finding it in bookstores beginning September 1. More laughter on her website: www.accidentalcomic.com.
 
Please Visit: Accidental Comic
 

Mama Mia!!!
By Ann Sentilles. August 01, 2008 09:16:37 am

Mama Mia!! (the movie): Go see it! See it today! Go back and see it again! Buy the soundtrack! Enjoy!! Now, look carefully. You will see no other such endorsements anywhere on this site. And in this one, you will see none of the usual thoughtful (I hope) analysis. This is just a fun, dance-in-the-aisles good time I'm talking about. Meryl Streep is awesome (and she's our age!!!) The show shows what HAPPY looks like -- and makes you want more of it in your life. Go for it!
 

 

Who Are You? Use Six Words.
By Ann Sentilles. July 22, 2008 11:29:55 am

My friend Dr. Mary Anne Reed, a teacher and licensed therapist, called my attention to SMITH Magazine's book Not Quite What I Was Planning a collection of individual's -- famous, infamous, and not -- six word descriptions of their lives -- and to the magazine's continuing contest at www.smithmag.net/sixwords where you, too, can try to condense your meaningful existence into just six words. It's fun and insightful; I'm wordy.
 
Please Visit: Six Words
 

Heavy Blanket of Misery
By Ann Sentilles. July 02, 2008 2:51:42 pm

The New York Times Online launched a new blog for us this month. According to writer Jane Gross, "Thanks to the marvels of medical science, our parents are living longer than ever before. Adults over age 80 are the fastest growing segment of the population, and most will spend years dependent on others for the most basic needs. That burden falls to their baby boomer children, 77 million strong, who are flummoxed by the technicalities of eldercare, turned upside down by the changed architecture of their families, struggling to balance work and caregiving, and depleting their own retirement savings in the process." Her site "The New Old Age" initiates a new search for better solutions and that illusive balance in caring for others and caring for self, the latter being one of the few ways we might be able to save our children from the same burden.
 
Please Visit: The New Old Age
 

Unequal Retirement Rights, Too
By Ann Sentilles. June 30, 2008 7:10:39 pm

Wise women know what's going on financially. And you can develop some of that wisdom by going to www.wiserwomen.org, (Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement) and a study sponsored by the Heinz Family Philanthropies that highlights the inherent inequalities that can impoverish women in retirement unequal pay, different work patterns (leaving the workforce for motherhood, for example), and longer life expectancies and how to counteract them.
 
Please Visit: Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement
 

Finally, they're talking about misogyny
By Ann Sentilles. June 07, 2008 09:34:59 am

Please take time to read Judith Warner’s Woman in Charge, Women who Charge, an “op-ed” column on the New York Times online. It starts in sometimes brilliant fashion (and I use that term advisedly “ fashion, not brilliant) the conversation about misogyny in today's society as reflected in “ get this “ Hillary Clinton's campaign and the movie Sex and the City. I don't care how imperfect the analogies are; it's well past time for the conversation to begin. And it has begun in earnest: the blog was full (no more postings allowed) in under 24 hours! I urge you to add your thoughts here.

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Please Visit: Judith Warner, NYT online
 

Satellite Sisters
By Ann Sentilles. May 20, 2008 09:15:44 am

Check out www.satellitesisters.com. It's a website, blog, show (radio), and online community created by five real sisters who communicate from their various lives around the world and understand that "A satellite sister is the person who gets you through, makes you laugh, and every once in a while, changes your mind. She's the one you just pick up the phone and call when you want to connect." You may want to meet these particular satellite sisters -- and then give a call to your own.
 
Please Visit: Satellite Sisters
 

Ignorance is Not Profitable
By Ann Sentilles. May 09, 2008 3:01:14 pm

The problem with presidential politics moving off center stage (finally) is that I am beginning to pay a bit more attention to the economy. And the problem with that is that I am reminded at once of how rapidly things are going south and how little I understand about it. Don’t misunderstand: I handle all the household finances. I bank online. I keep close tabs on expenses. And I see what’s happening in our portfolio; I just don’t know why. It’s not entirely clear to me that anyone else knows either, which makes me no more eager to trust their instincts than my own. I’ve always meant to learn more about economics and investing , though, so perhaps this is the time, if only because I don’t like feeling so out of control. Besides, there are several new sites targeting responsible, independent women of all ages with information and advice.

See, for example, www.womanwithportfolio.com.

www.msmoney.com

www.womens-finance.com

www.wife.org (really! “ It's the Women's Institute for Financial Education)

Or, for those close to retirement age, www.boulevardR.com

Also, The Girl's Guide to Retirement by Aleksandra Todorova at finance.comcast.net/personalfinance/

If you’ve found others that have been helpful, please add to the list! Thanks!