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