Home for Random Thoughts

[TPFKA@W]

I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me.

I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.

Excerpt from: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
R.S Eliot

[Guinevere]

One of my very favorites!

[MajGenl.Meade]

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple

Warning - Jenny Joseph

[TPFKA@W]

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple

Warning - Jenny Joseph

Ah the quintessential poem for aging as an individual which has been ruined, in my opinion, by the redhatters who now all wear the "uniform" and thus destroyed the message.

[Guinevere]

Believe me, you will not see me running around in a red hat and purple clothes when I'm old (maybe a red fascinator and a great dress). But I will most definitely be wandering beaches with my pants rolled up eating peaches and cherries and talking to the mermaids . . .

[MajGenl.Meade]

Shame they'll lock you up for that!

eta but you will in the "real" intended sense be wearing purple and a red hat

[wesw]

well, I have steel toed wellies that I like, and a ten yr old carhardt coat that is getting tatty. bad back, not working, plenty of ragged blue jeans left..... a history of pulling horrible birds

I may become America s Compo Simonite.

if I hadn t made the horrible mistake of 30 yrs of hard labor before becoming bone idle........

perhaps if I poach a rabbit I ll cheer up. I haven t had wild rabbit in many years.

c,mon dog, you re a ferret until I tell you otherwise. good girl.

[TPFKA@W]

Believe me, you will not see me running around in a red hat and purple clothes when I'm old (maybe a red fascinator and a great dress). But I will most definitely be wandering beaches with my pants rolled up eating peaches and cherries and talking to the mermaids . . .

I will probably be wearing depends and asking my honey for the umteeth time in a hour, "Now who are you again?"

[MajGenl.Meade]

...and your honey will say, "OK. Who am I?"

[Guinevere]

Deleted for being too maudlin.

[Sue U]

Fuck that; I don't have to make up for anything missed in my youth, and I'm never getting old anyway.

[oldr_n_wsr]

I don't have to make up for anything missed in my youth

Me neither. Well maybe a few things, but they were not very high on the list anyway.

[Guinevere]

Fuck that; I don't have to make up for anything missed in my youth, and I'm never getting old anyway.

Who said anything about making up for anything missed or missing? But I do think with age (not old age, just greater age), you get more license to be free. Or maybe its just the realization that those who judge you can go jump in a lake.

So both you and LJ are ageless? Well, since I'm not yet middle-aged, I guess I can't blame you

[TPFKA@W]

I am past middle aged since I do not expect to live to be 110. (Nor would I wish to because I have seen extreme old age and even at its best it is pretty bad.

[oldr_n_wsr]

you get more license to be free.

Is there a test for that license? Or does one just fill out a form and pay a fee?

[Joe Guy]

The definition of middle-aged is anyone who claims to not be middle-aged is middle-aged.

Having given thought to the idea means that you have arrived.

There is no turning back.

[Guinevere]

Joe ------ you're only as old as you feel. I was 19 last night, and again a couple of times this morning

[BoSoxGal]

[oldr_n_wsr]

An oldy but goody
You can only be young once, but you can be immature your whole life.

[wesw]

not always tpkf@w, my great grandmother cooked gourmet meals every sunday until her early 90 s and walked everywhere, even as her neighborhood deteriorated around her.