50… and it sucks

Victor Hugo once said that “forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age”. And yet another great man, Mark Twain, I believe, quoted that ” age is an issue of mind over matter.  If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter”. Well, in a few days time (June 22 in case you’re interested) I will be celebrating a half century of living in this crazy crazy world, and I can tell you honestly and without batting my short eyelashes that it sucks to high heavens. Yes, you read it right, IT SUCKS! I mean, who would actually believe that having lesser energy and having chronic back and joint aches are a good thing, and that an advancement in age (and in this case, over advancement) is just in one’s mind? I tell ya, all those nicely written quotes extolling the virtues and joys of getting old are pure, unadulterated BS — sayings that I think were just to ease up the usual jitters and anxiety of the awful realization that things are not going to be what it’s used to.

Funny, when I was younger (well, ok… A LOT younger, like when I was a teenager) I wanted to be older so that I can finally do things that I wanted like drive around without anyone looking over my shoulders, spend my money on things without worrying what my parents would say (and do to me if they find out I’ve been spending on useless things). In short, do anything, and I mean anything, stupid or not, without asking for consent. Do things on my own terms and best of all, go watch an adult movie without the guilt, hah!

Know what? Now that I’ve practically done all those things I suddenly realized that getting old isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. Sure, there are some benefits to getting older but health-wise, you’re just a few steps away from having heart disease and all sorts of life-threatening ailments that, like it or not, comes with getting old. You come to grips with fear, and anxiety as years pass and you dread every minute you spend inside a doctor’s clinic thinking, “what the hell is it this time?”.

Oh sure, 50 is still young and am still 15 years away from being qualified for a senior citizen’s card; while some may even go as far as to say that 70 years old is still in the distant future, but you if you think about it, 20 years isn’t that far off — at least not for someone who spends the day counting the days — remember, we’ve just celebrated (is that even the right way to say it?) the 20th anniversary of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption. It was an event that is still fresh in everyone’s mind like it was only yesterday — at least for those over thirty years of age.

Perhaps, if I had my own family to fall back on I’d be thinking differently about getting older. But I don’t, unfortunately, and the reality that I will spending the last days of my life alone and not unlike the grumpy old men that one sees in the movies — complaining and ranting about practically everything — in an old folks home is fast becoming a reality as days pass quickly. And unless one is filthy rich (which I am not), or is financially well-off (which I hardly am, by the way), the odds of finding someone who will love and care for you for the rest of your miserable years is, well… nil. It would indeed be a miracle if someone comes along and accepts you, warts and all, for what you are and not for what you have. But that’s really stretching things too far since I ain’t lucky, and have never been good, with women anyway.  Ah well, that’s just me being selfish that’s all, always thinking about me, me and me. The sooner that I accept the reality that things are, in my case, going to go down the drain in the years to come the easier, perhaps, it will be for me to settle into this thing called old age.

Ah well, that’s just life for you…

Anyways, now that I’ve let things out of my chest, back to blogging… again. It’s been a while since my last post, obviously as one can see, and just as well since there’s not much happening in my life lately… at least, nothing worth blogging anyway. Oh sure I’ve lots of things to rant about (notice I didn’t include “rave” since there’s not much to rave about these days) like the ongoing senate brouhahas, the RH Bill and the events of the past two months like the execution of three Pinoy drug mules all the way to the current issue in the Spratly Islands, but somehow I just didn’t feel like writing about them, or my take on those events. Either I’m too Goddamn tired of writing or my muse just wasn’t doing her job inspiring me these days. Heck, even my writing stint at the POC is greatly affected by my bout of laziness.

Anyways, in an effort to show some normalcy in my blogging (as well as this long-neglected blog) life I decided to  post some pictures that, well, sort of tell the story of what’s been happening lately in my less-than-significant and boring life.

Meet Elmer, the recent addition to our family.

He’s a purebred dachshund that I acquired more than two months ago, and who is now creating havoc around the house with his antics. A teething pup isn’t really for the impatient, but dang, he is really cute and lovable when he wants to be.

And what about our diva slash hound Arabella? Well, she’s gone now. Nope, she’s still alive and well but we’ve sort of dispatched her to another and much better location that would, I believe, better suit her hyperactive nature. Late last year we asked a dog-loving family friend to adopt her after she became somewhat difficult to handle (I guess moving to this tinier place was a bit too much for her) and she would sometimes resort to nipping at other people, the maid especially. The large compound where she now resides have been good for her and she can run (and boy, she really loves to run) around freely. And the good news is, ok, it’s a surprise, really, is that she became pregnant and later bore four pups. Unfortunately though, only two survived. Even the family friend was surprised as Arabella, at  seven years of age, isn’t exactly THAT young and this was her first litter. He resorted to calling the pups, menopause puppies.

Anyone who’s been following this blog would by now know that I frequently post pictures and write about my food trips… oh well more likely food binges. Most would recall that many of the grubs that I sample from the different food places I visit would consist of greasy, and yes, mostly unhealthy but sooo delicious foods that, if consumed daily, would in all probability lead to a heart attack. Well, all that has changed lately. Not only have I started to cut down on my food intake (that is, if I can help it), I’m also trying to wean away from the fatty, greasy foods that I loved so much. These days, I limit my rice intake, as well as meat and rely more on veggies and fish. I guess old age and the ever-looming threat of a heart failure contributed to my 180 degree turnabout.

While I do consume a good amount of veggies in the past, nowadays, I tend to double the intake and whenever possible, I order salads instead of the usual fare of meats whenever I eat out. Like in CYMA, the Greek/Mediterranean resto that I patronize for instance, I prefer this tuna salad over the meat and potatoes that I usually consume and man, does it taste good! And yes, that’s raw tuna meat and some fish (also raw) that I couldn’t identify (have to check on the menu for that) and an assortment of fresh vegetables and olives, plus feta cheese and potatoes. If that ain’t healthy for you, I don’t know what is…

Oh, and in addition to TRYING to eat healthier, quitting cigarettes (but you know about that, don’t you?) I started to exercise as well — and that is after about two decades of inactivity. Since late last year I’ve been spending time walking and running and sweating it out on my treadmill (yes, I also bought one for the purpose) for 30-35 minutes, four to five times a week. Am still far off from qualifying for the marathon though and equally far off winning the battle of the bulge around my waistline, but I do plan to continue and is still aiming for that holy grail of middle-aged baby-boomers: losing twenty++ pounds. I may have increased my resistance on the treadmill but still suck at the weight-loss department. I’m not really that fat, as some of you who have met me know, but I do need to lose a few inches as well as poundage on the midsection. So, any suggestions, aside from having liposuction??

And last, but not the least, here’s something that I caught while inside a supermarket…

With it’s size and financial might, you’d think that SM Supermarket Inc. would have hired a proofreader just for this purpose.