Yes, Suzanne and I were on BBC Radio London at 2 40 last Tuesday talking all about our first conference, Rebel Later Life: the ideas party with lovely presenter Shay Kaur Grewal who was very excitable and informal at the same time. We talked about Words and Ageism, about why people like us need to know more about what’s available in the pension domain, also creating work that we love rather than are forced to do, funky funerals and getting our POAs done. It was fun. We’ll be celebrating life as older people on Oct 10th at Cecil Sharp House. Have you got your ticket yet?
An article in the New Yorker took my back to my hippie days… and a trip across the US in 1973 when my boyfriend and I stayed in communes all the way across. The inhabitants were always very friendly and welcomed us in. And there was the naked one in Arkansas. Yes. Arkansas. ‘For a brief moment, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, huge numbers of mostly young people attempted to indulge the urge to slough off the trappings of civilization by fleeing America’s urban centers and heading “back to the land.” Armed with issues of the “Whole Earth Catalog” and books on house- building and homesteading, not to mention a fair amount of illicit drugs, these fresh-faced kids came together with one idealistic goal: to build a new and better world almost entirely from scratch. “Handmade Utopia: Back-to-the-Land Architecture in Northern California” offers a record of the beguiling hand-built structures that were a foundation of the movement. The writer of the book thinks of these houses as “living autobiographies,” inextricable from the eccentric individuals who built and inhabited them. See more photos: https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/2i27o9’
Book Tickets by clicking here.
This article, well, actually this headline not written by Rowan Pelling, created a wild furore in the group. Fulminating went on about the Telegraph itself and about the idea that this beautiful photo could be doing something wrong. But Rowan’s point was that these kinds of photos of older women on social media put a pressure on older women that are not Salma Hayek. Rowan is actually in our group - I don’t think people realised - and she came back with convincing ripostes.
Andrew Logan’s Alternative Miss World took place this week at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. The theme was Gaia. As always it looked stunning as well as beyond absurdity. I wish I’d known it was taking place. There is nothing like Alternative Miss World.
Good things are happening in Hackney. Remember there is a Green Mayor. This is a great initiative where wasteland is make into growing areas. ‘You can now claim unused land for growing
Local groups can now apply to turn eligible council land such as spaces around Council buildings, alongside roads and vacant green spaces into community gardens for growing fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers
To apply, you’ll need to be part of a group of at least five people, including informal groups such as neighbours. You’ll need to provide details of your proposed site, an outline of your growing plans and information about who will look after the space
You can also contact us first to check whether a site is eligible.’
landwaterair@hackney.gov.uk
6. We’ve been supporting the idea that we can do whatever we like with our hair as we grow older. Of course. Long, short, coloured, grey - it’s all welcome. I still henna my hair and I don’t intend to give it up anytime soon.
So much goodness! Loved every bit of this. 🥰