2015 - My New Old Self

My New Old New Year’s resolutions

Dec

31

2015

Yet another new year… Instead of sighing and wishing time wouldn’t keep marching on, consider this. Judging from advice on making the most effective new year’s resolutions, it seems that we of a certain age are doing a lot of things right. Which means that we can happily ignore all the exhortations to reinvent and ...

10 Tips on Holiday Travel 1

Dec

16

2015

Whether you go to relatives for the holidays or use the December-January break to take a vacation, you have to spend time getting there. Travelling during the busiest time of the year can be stressful. ‘Tis the season, but by the time you arrive at your destination you may be less than jolly. So it’s worth ...

‘Twas the season for writing Xmas letters 2

Dec

3

2015

Welcome to the December Holiday instalment of my seemingly endless musings on What I Miss. About how ’twas. As every man, woman and child on the planet has been been reminded by looped Christmas carol compilations in shops and restaurants since October, ‘tis the season to be jolly. What My New Old Self misses when ...

Face it, it’s about Face Value 3

Nov

22

2015

I just watched a movie starring some of Hollywood’s top talent and everyone was looking old. In a good way. If you think that’s not possible, read on. The movie itself doesn’t really matter. It’s the looking old part that is my focus. For the record, the film is called Homesman. The title is a reference ...

For the love of bacon 2

Nov

5

2015

Have you checked out the sizzling debate over bacon’s impact on the human lifespan? Bacon lovers are reeling from a new study by the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) that classified bacon as carcinogenic. News stories about this research have been passionately defensive of bacon. It would seem that the headline ...

Feeling down? Try some… nature!

Nov

1

2015

As recommended here before, try this to improve your life as you get older…

In Praise of Fidgeting

Oct

22

2015

I have often sung the praises of taking advice from our elders. Eat your vegetables – that turned out to be a good tip, proven by scientific studies to make you live longer. Get some fresh air. Go for a walk, preferably amongst greenery. Those are other oft-heard suggestions from parents and grandparents. Now this ...

Text Neck, now Birder Neck 3

Oct

9

2015

I come to you with my head hung in shame… Correction: if I could move my neck without wincing, that would be my contrite posture. But I can’t. Not just my neck but my head and shoulders have been locked in painful spasm. I beg your forgiveness because My New Old Self aims to offer ...

Birding Lite 2

Sep

24

2015

I am tentatively considering taking up the hobby of birdwatching and I have Sonto Tembe to thank. This field ranger can spot any animal in the bush, but his specialty is identifying birds. I was lucky enough to be guided by Tembe on an early morning walk recently. Only later did I learn that to ...

Time in nature can make you happy 6

Sep

13

2015

A new study has shown that spending time in nature can make you happy. Admittedly, this wasn’t a controlled and monitored experiment. There were no randomised control trials. However, while the sample was small, the lack of quantative data is made up for by qualitative research. Here is a brief summary of the findings of this ...