Shedding Light on Twilight Years?

The New York Times today did a story on 90+ -year-olds who are totally lucid. The one in 200 people above 90 who don't have dementia.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/health/research/22brain.html?em

These people are mentally engaged - a lot. Reading, playing bridge (especially), having lots of social contact, doing crosswords. Bridge especially, because it requires players be sharp, quick, and keep track of the hands that've been played. Make a slip and you risk your partner's irritation or worse - a request for you to downgrade to a more casual bridge group.

Now that my parents are pushing 70, (and my grandmother turning 100) I've been thinking about that a lot. How can my sibs and I make it easier for them to be more active? Do we take turns making sure they spend an hour or two in the gym? Right now it's just golf. Do we go get grown-up, "mental gym" books for them? I'd like to get them to the real gym too, or learn a new language, meet new people.

Staying vigorous requires having strong social interaction, exercise, and mental stimulation, studies say. Right now one of my parents is occupied daily with technical analysis charts and minding a stock portfolio, and is planning on restarting piano lessons. I'm really glad. How about my other parent? Will reading the International Herald Trib and news mags constantly, and playing golf weekly, be enough? Well, they're currently on a cruise in Eastern Europe with their friends. And I'd just brought my dad to Funan to get a new IdeaPad netbook so he could go to Internet Cafes while he's on holiday to stay connected. So I guess we're OK for now.

Still, I find myself thinking - are they slowing down? Are they hangin' out with friends enough? Should I try to get them to meet new people?

These are things govts and institutions are going to be thinking about as our populations get greyer and greyer. The Singapore Ministry of Health is gearing up for the Silver Tsunami. More nursing homes, more healthcare training, insurance and savings programs. Great, infrastructure stuff.

While the government builds up the hardware - perhaps there's a place for private enterprise to deal with the software: set up for-profit businesses for the Silver Set. Kind of like a physical, rather than virtual, social network so they're able to continue meeting new people, do and learn new things, exercise. Because I'd really, really to be able to continue talking to my parents about politics and stocks, go out to try new restaurants, travel with them, and listen to them talk about their golf game - in twenty years.

Turning Into A Pumpkin in The Big Apple.

Downturn or not, New York is still buzzing along.

New Yawkas walk just this much faster and with more intent. And they never, EVER take up the entire pavement - uh - I mean, sidewalk, by walking shoulder to shoulder with their pals and family like they do elsewhere. And woe betide you if you do. (Wanna heah a really cranky tri-state accent? Try blocking the other pedestrians)

Restaurant reservations are STILL hard to get. Per Se's booked up while I'm here, and I'm having problems adding more people to my reservations at Nougatine. But, Chelsea is still humming with really cool stuff. Humming, but less crowded. The really good shows - and I'm not talking Shrek, the Musical - are still really packed.

The Yayoi Kusama show at the Gagosian really wowed me. The three giant Pumpkins outdoors were cute, and the art inside was cool, but her installation, Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity, really floored me. You on in to this cube-like structure, and all around you are glittering lights reflected in the mirrors around you, and water below you. http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/2009-04-16_yayoi-kusama/

Worth the trek to Chelsea just for that. Also in Chelsea, a European "street food" fast food place that New York Mag rated as best Take Out. The nicest counter staff I've ever seen in any fast food place. I had the lobster and crab roll, but shoulda skipped the fries.

Saw Nathan Lane and John Goodman in Waiting for Godot last night. WOW. What great performances. Beckett was never this interesting in High School in Vancouver. And tonight - Mahler at the Carnegie Hall? Or Britten and Brahmns at St Ignatius?

And then there's jazz which starts at 10 30pm. But I've got timezone issues and I've been getting up at 5am every morning. Will I be able to stay up?