Hi everybody . . . Joan here.
So we just did our taxes and got the bad news, but Spring is in the air and that means shopping for groceries is not such an onerous task in Manhattan.  (Nothing like schlepping through the snow with “man bags").  I am determined to get our food budget under control, so I decided to grit my teeth and take the “Granny Cart” out for a real grocery run.  That meant health food store, super market and produce store . . . and carrying my own eco-friendly bags.  I was glowing with self-righteousness.  However, by the time I finished with the health food store and the “super” market (a term we use loosely in the city - an aisle can barely accommodate 1.23 people) my cart was full to overflowing with Cottonelle, Raspberry seltzer (Norm’s favorite drink), Dannon Activia (thank you Jamie Lee Curtis) and other odds and ends that make our day to day lives complete.  So, I decided to head home and do the produce shopping today.  I headed down the sidewalk and as I crossed 89th Street going uptown I juuuuuuuust missed the curb depression for handicapped, baby strollers and granny carts . . .my foot caught, my cart spilled over and I shouted SHIT Time stood still for a moment. Passing by me were two lovely young thirty-somethings chattering away.  They paused to gawk and walked on in all their loveliness.  An older woman stood and watched me struggle with my groceries and cart and then scolded me with a “tsk tsk.” Was it for my curse word or because I looked furious that no one had even attempted to help me up?  And then one of my fellow “50ToDeath” citizens suggested that it would have been easier for me if I pulled my granny cart behind me rather than pushing it.  “Ah Ha!  If only I’d known!” I guess being an inexperienced granny just bit me in the ass.  But I couldn’t help but think that this whole event reminded me of the ABC News’ show “What Would You Do?” NO ONE OFFERED TO HELP!!  Maybe I should take it as a compliment. I looked like I could take care of myself.  Or maybe my ferocious face and curse word scared everyone away.  Anyone else ever have this happen?

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Got a text message and a phone call on Saturday, the 11th.  Friends letting me know “The Norway Guy” is back.  Apparently after a six month hiatus, my Citicard commercial is back on Network.  For those who don’t watch TV or often Tivo past commercials, it’s the one where the son takes his dad to Norway, their ancestral home, only to find out they’re actually Swedish.  And essentially for me, that means a few things . . . my 15 minutes of fame may extend to 30 minutes, Citibank rekindles their generosity to my “not-yet-ready-for-retirement fund”, and most importantly, we could get a lot more traffic for our 50todeath website.  So perhaps this is the perfect time for the premiere weblog entry.

A little background . . . 50ToDeath was created to celebrate the plight of all of us fifty plus somethings who far too often are lumped into one big “old people” category.  Our lives are often filled with nothing more than mundane everyday non-events.  But, as often as not, these non-events could really be looked at as mini-adventures, fraught sometimes with pathos, sometimes with silliness.  We’re jousting with a century far more complex than the one we just left.  And if we could only distance ourselves just a little bit . . . perhaps we could laugh at us.  And that’s what 50ToDeath is going to do; look at our reality, treat it with respect and reverence and laugh out loud at it.  Our webisodes are based on situations and events that we’ve actually lived.  They’re filtered through our comic eye and improvised as they’re filmed.  We’re hoping that in each episode you’ll see yourself, or someone you know, or your parents or your grandparents . . . or maybe just a bunch of silly “old people”.

What we hope . . . You’ll find the website a great and fun place to visit as we attempt to tweak it and add to it.  You’ll look forward to returning to see each new webisode as we debut a new one every three weeks.  (Next up, “Intelligent Design”, 10/19/08) You’ll spread the word and share this with your friends and your friend’s friends.  You’ll let us know what you think by commenting either through our e-mail, our episode comments, or our blog entries, or through facebook.  You’ll pitch us some ideas.  Some of your adventures are likely funnier than ours.  You’ll get at least a writing credit. 

What we’ll do . . . We’ll work at creating real and funny adventures.  We’ll respond to your questions and concerns.  We’ll keep things fresh and different and timely.

Thanks for the early support and overwhelmingly positive response.  We’re thrilled and humbled.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Norm

Thanks everyone for your great comments and compliments about “50 to Death.” One of the things we’re hearing a lot is “We want to see more of Joan.” I couldn’t agree more.  In fact, at our business meetings I’d love to hear more from me, but with Norm and Jay, the Battling Braniacs and Jon, the Nutty Professor, it’s sometimes hard to get a word in . . . more than that, it’s next to impossible to get any of them to understand life from a woman’s point of view.  But, never fear sistahs, I’m hanging in there doing my best. If any of you have ideas of stories you’d like to see about what it’s like to be a 50+ woman please share them with me.  I’m trying to avoid the cliche menopause, plastic surgery, bitchy girlfriend kind of things that we’ve all seen a million times.  What is it really like to be a baby boomer in the 21st century?  Norm just said to me “Are you writing a blog on the blog site?” He is writing his on Word first and then he will triple check it before he transfers it to the blog, whereas I am writing it on the blog and will save it here and make corrections before I publish.  He is afraid I’ll accidentally press the wrong button and send it out to the world.  Something I’ve done before and gotten into trouble for.  Maybe we should do an episode about that!  Anyway, stay in touch.

Welcome to 50 To Death.