29/07/2009 by judysellers
We turn today to a question that for ages has occupied far wiser women and men than Jeff and myself, “Is there a connection between traditional French cooking and advanced sexagenarian friskiness?”
If the answer is yes, what is it? And even if the answer is no, why has the question troubled smart people for so long?
Let’s first dwell for a moment on French cooking. Brought dramatically to the attention of us non-French in 1961 in a best-selling book called “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” by Julia Child – an American – and her French co-authors Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck. I almost wrote “cook book” but that would be misleading. It was far more than that. It was an expedition into the world of living well through exquisite crepes, sauces, desserts and ‘chicken a l’orange.’ Even omelettes – yes omelettes.
Meryl Streep plays Julia Child in the new movie “Julie & Julia” opening this week.
Julia Child then went on to become one of America’s most famous TV personalities in her show “The French Chef” that ran continuously from 1963 to 1973. I almost wrote “cooking show” here but that too would be underplaying its importance. It taught us all the kitchen is – arguably in a tie with the bedroom – the most important room in the house.
And now – without a safety net – I’ll attempt to make the great leap forward from Julia’s French Cooking to friskiness. Using quotes Julia herself might have made and by inventing them I hope I’m not infringing on any copyright laws.
A further aid to understanding. You can quickly see where this column is heading when I tell you from now on when you see the words “French Cooking” you can just as easily insert “sexagenarian friskiness” instead.
“Welcome viewers, to my show as always devoted exclusively to French Cooking. Tonight I want to tell you about the importance of ingredients. Go to any French market and you’ll see people taking all the time they need to lovingly examine what they’ll allow into their kitchen. No matter if fish or fowl, animal, vegetable or mineral. They’ll squeeze tomatoes, testing them for firmness, they’ll carefully examine every square inch of a chicken and thrust their noses next to a bunch of mixed herbs to savour the aroma.
“And to close out, next week continuing on the same theme I’ll show you have to keep produce fresh until it’s good and ready for French Cooking. Yes, keeping things fresh is probably the most important part of French Cooking.”
“Until then, “Bon appetit.”
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Posted in Contended sexagenarians, Frisky sexagenarians, Happy sexagenarians, Lusty sexagenarians, retirement sex, sex after fifty, sex after forty, sex after sixty, the joy of senior sex, tropical sex | Tagged "Mastering the Art of French Cooking", Julia Child, Meryl Streep | Leave a Comment »
22/07/2009 by judysellers
If Jeff and I have learned anything prancing merrily along the road to our present blissful state of frisky “sexagenarianism” it is stick with the things that work.
But before I get to this column’s main meat and potatoes let me say why this so-evocative word is in quotes (“inverted commas” in good old-fashioned British English.) Because it can’t be found in any dictionary. A great shame since being so wonderfully descriptive it should be. Test it yourself. Next time checking-out at the supermarket tell those around you loudly “I’m a devoted ‘sexagenarianist’” (which doesn’t exist either) and watch their faces.
And now, back to “sticking with things that work.”
One personal example to set the tone. If a day without orange juice is like a day without sunshine substitute coffee for orange juice first thing in the morning and my day is made.
While we’re on fruits, it’s also commonly accepted, “an apple a day keeps…etc., etc.” Now we love our apples, and bananas, mangoes (especially when sea bathing), oranges – of course – and pineapples. All deliciously healthy when plucked fresh on this our tropical paradise island or those close by. Hoping that they too work. The fruits, that is, not the islands.
One thing that works for sure – for us – is garlic. Yes, you read this correctly, common-a-garden garlic. No day goes by without an infusion of same. And has ever since a chance encounter on a glorious Tuscan day in the mid 1960’s in the tiny village of Poggibonsi between Siena and Florence where we’d stopped our car to admire an impressive villa set in a splendid garden.
Popping our heads over the wall we saw a large group – for want of a better word – feasting. Like in a scene from The Godfather. Naturally because this was Tuscany – and lunch time – we were invited to join an extended family celebrating the umpteenth wedding anniversary of the distinguished white-haired man and woman at the head of the table.
The food was exquisite and Chianti flowed like, well Chianti, as the proud man next to us explained his parents were the guests of honour. “After ten children, eighteen grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren,” he said in perfect English.
Jeff asked for the secret of the parents’ longevity and fertility.
“Vino ed aglio” the man said, “wine and garlic. And as far as we can tell they’re still as frisky as ever.”
Sounded good enough for us.
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Posted in Contended sexagenarians, Frisky sexagenarians, Happy sexagenarians, Lusty sexagenarians, retirement sex, sex after fifty, sex after forty, sex after sixty, the joy of senior sex, tropical sex | Tagged Chianti, Florence, garlic, Siena, Tuscany | Leave a Comment »
15/07/2009 by sexyaftersixty
In a speech last week the biggest of all bosses of the giant Microsoft company said, “In the next 10 years, computers as flexible as a sheet of paper will replace notepads and newspapers, while others will be able to intuit what you’re trying to find online.”
Of course you’d expect him to say that – ignoring the fact that I’m not sure “intuit” is a real word and wouldn’t risk using it in our column if he hadn’t said it.
To illustrate his “intuit” point he said, “When you type the word “Chicago” into a search engine, it will be able to determine whether you meant the city, the band or the musical based on your Internet history.”
Gee, I sincerely hope not. Particularly if I only want to learn about the scrumptious “Deep Pan Pizzas” that city is most famous for.
Leaving this admitted cattiness aside there’s no disputing computers – and what you can do with and on them – have enriched all our lives. As someone asked me recently, “How did we manage before Google?”
Once, many years ago, at a black-tie business dinner in London Jeff almost embarrassed me – I said almost – by arguing with a fellow-diner in the computing business that a computer will never, ever be able to write a novel as clairvoyant as “Animal Farm” or as saucily-delicious as “Lolita.” And getting shouted-down by guests all round us saying “It’s only a matter of time.”
I continue to think Jeff was right but to be less confrontational and dwell on things I know something about I predict a computer will never, ever be able to write a weekly newspaper column about the frisky lives of a sexagenarian couple living voluntarily in self-exile on a tropical paradise island.
Because a computer will never know – even intuitively – the feeling I have right now of tapping at my keyboard with cool tropical breezes wafting through this modest beach shack with all doors and windows open, curtains fluttering and jazz streaming without commercial interruptions.
Or no computer – or iPhone, for that matter – will ever put into words what the world’s greatest rum punch tastes like when shared with someone you’re very close to on a king size sun deck sofa at around 6 p.m. waiting for the sky to explode into a fiery red tapestry.
Stealing and badly mangling a currently popular political slogan, “Oh, no they won’t.”
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Posted in Contended sexagenarians, Frisky sexagenarians, Happy sexagenarians, Lusty sexagenarians, retirement sex, sex after fifty, sex after forty, sex after sixty, the joy of senior sex, tropical sex | Tagged Chicago, Deep Pan Pizza, iPhone, Microsoft | Leave a Comment »
08/07/2009 by sellersjeff
Long ago and far away – Judy and I were mere infants – a book titled “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale topped the New York Times best seller list.
“For 186 consecutive weeks” – according to the publisher – “and translated into fifteen languages with more than 7 million copies sold” it is still in print and readily available at Amazon.com.
From the first time I heard it the catchy title penetrated my brain and stayed there. It’s one of those very rare titles where I didn’t need to read the book because in five short words it made perfect sense. Positive thinking MUST be powerful.
I’ve had many opportunities to test – and prove – the theory. Notably one night spent on the floor at Milan’s airport after that city was engulfed in such a dense fog as prevent all traffic – airborne or otherwise – from moving. I know, things could have been far worse, but I use this only to illustrate positive thinking helped. Somewhat.
Over the years most especially with more time to think – one of the many perks enjoyed as a fully-paid-up member of the frisky sexagenarian generation – I’ve come to believe Mr. Peale was too specific with his title.
Because there’s also a case to be made for “Negative Thinking.” How, I hear you ask? Well, during my business life the thing I hated most was being forced to take an early flight before dawn on a Monday morning to attend a meeting I didn’t want to (attend.) Not only did it ruin the prior Sunday thinking about the flight I didn’t want to take I’d also sleep badly – if at all – worrying I might miss the flight.
The way negative thinking helped? By never calling, or accepting an invitation to, a meeting needing an early Monday-morning flight. Claiming important prior commitments. Or if that didn’t work, shamelessly giving family and/or health reasons.
Of course Mr. Peale would never have sold even a thousand copies if he’d called his book “The Power of Positive and/or Negative Thinking” but there’s an awfully strong case to be made for “The Power of Just Thinking.”
Ask yourself, how many times have you, or someone dear and close, complained, “I don’t have time to think?”
Judy and I have proven conclusively if you make time to think you’ll inevitably end up only dearer and much closer.
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Posted in Contended sexagenarians, Frisky sexagenarians, Happy sexagenarians, Lusty sexagenarians, retirement sex, sex after fifty, sex after forty, sex after sixty, the joy of senior sex, tropical sex | Tagged amazon.com, Linate Airport, Milan fog, New York Times Best Seller, Norman Vincent Peale, Power of Positive Thinking | Leave a Comment »
01/07/2009 by judysellers
Writing this weekly column about sexagenarian friskiness Jeff and I have to be constantly on our toes answering tricky questions from people who know we’re the perpetrators thereof.
One of the problems however is to not get too involved in deep psychological ramifications. We have our firm opinions and greatly enjoy writing about them but never forget they are only opinions and we find it well-nigh impossible to elaborate on them to those who wish to challenge us.
It’s somewhat like being asked, “How do you ride a bicycle?”
Soon after we started publishing our views we had to quickly find a snappy answer to this two-part question we hear most often. “Surely, you can’t be frisky, perky, upbeat and positive all the time?” Followed quickly by “Can you?”
“Yes, all four are very nice but not always easily achievable at exactly the same moment. But any three out of the four can’t be bad either and we find they usually do the trick.”
This response generally satisfies questioners by making them do a bit of brainwork for themselves and we just love to see them juggling the four possibilities to see which one they’d eliminate.
We’re also regularly asked, “Don’t you ever disagree with each other?” (Answer – Yes, of course, but never in print) and “Who wears the pants in the Sellers household?” (Answer – As little as possible.)
Occasionally we get something we’ve never heard before. This week a friend asked, “Answer this chicken and egg question. What comes first a healthy attitude or happiness? Do you see things with rose tinted glasses because you’re happy or are you happy because everything in your life looks rosy?”
Wow, there’s no instant snappy answer to that one. So I asked for time to formulate a response that we’d give in an upcoming column. Which by pure coincidence is the one you’re reading today.
To solve this riddle – armed with fresh mangoes to provide brain food – I took Jeff with me into the Caribbean Sea at sunset. We briefly repeated the question but when trying to define happiness somehow got off on a tangent discussing how wonderful it is to frolic in this remarkable ocean at this time of day with juicy fruit to hand. We considered the rose tinted glasses question too but since neither of us were wearing them we gazed instead at the fire-red sky and quite frankly forgot what it was were were supposed to be discussing.
But the answer’s in there somewhere.
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Posted in Contended sexagenarians, Frisky sexagenarians, Happy sexagenarians, Lusty sexagenarians, retirement sex, sex after fifty, sex after forty, sex after sixty, the joy of senior sex, tropical sex | Tagged Caribbean Sea, Fresh mangoes, how to ride a bicycle, Psychological ramifications | Leave a Comment »
24/06/2009 by judysellers
In today’s fast-paced, wall-to-wall, 24/7, “streaming information” age there’s no way to avoid being bombarded by however well-intentioned “self-help” advice.
How to eliminate e-mail spam or where to guarantee window seats on airlines. From colouring hair with biodegradable crushed Amazonian tree bark essence to keeping your car – or was it your cat? – smelling “springtime” fresh.
Because there are so many suggestions – useful or not – and no sooner have we absorbed them more come along to add to the confusion, I’ve held-back, wanting to be absolutely sure I was on the right track before publishing a “self-help” column of my own.
I haven’t run clinical tests to confirm results but Jeff, my trusty laboratory guinea-pig, says it “works for him” and that’s good enough for me.
My simple proposal to boost our “feel good” allotment? Increase reliance on “familiarity.”
A banal example to start. When at my computer pondering if I should publish a self-help advice column I know instinctively where to find the “@” symbol on my keyboard. On the second row from the top and three keys in.
During our recent Euro 2009 trip, to send and receive e-mails and forced to use unfamiliar keyboards I had a devil of a job finding the elusive “@.” It was all over the place. In one Internet Cafe the attendant didn’t know where it was either.
Banal for sure but because I felt “not good” through unfamiliarity I feel justified in mentioning it.
Then there’s driving on the wrong side of the road. On our tropical island paradise Jeff and I know instinctively how to rotate clockwise around roundabouts. It’s familiar to us. Makes us feel good. Unlike Continental Europe where they drive – I’m sorry to say – very anti-clockwise.
I could go on listing things that just make me feel good through being familiar but I’ll close with perhaps the most familiar thing of all. Where “feeling good” every day has its origins. Otherwise known as the bed
Yes, “the” bed. “That” bed. The one where you spend – they say – one-third of your – and your partner’s – life.
Without counting exactly I’d estimate Jeff and I slept in 12 different beds throughout France, Italy and Spain. Some were too soft and cushy, others too low or too hard and in three cases far too small for a frisky sexagenarian couple.
Proving conclusively my unswerving contention therefore, to feel really good – and familiar – “there’s no bed like home.”
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Posted in Contended sexagenarians, Frisky sexagenarians, Happy sexagenarians, Lusty sexagenarians, retirement sex, sex after fifty, sex after forty, sex after sixty, the joy of senior sex, tropical sex | Tagged Amazonian rain forest, LH drive, RH drive, self-help | Leave a Comment »
16/06/2009 by judysellers
Travelling is fun but homecoming is better. Strict grammarians might quibble at this sentence but I can’t think of a shorter, more compelling way to describe my thoughts as our Boeing came to a halt on the tarmac and the staff opened the cabin doors to let in fresh tropical island paradise air after an 8+ hour flight from London and 7 weeks roaming around the European continent.
Do not get me wrong. We loved Europe – and always will – and the thrill of seeing sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, friends (old and new) and household pets – including one-hour-old kittens – will remain with us forever. Long after we’ve uploaded and edited the hundreds of snapshots Jeff captured on his nifty little digital camera.
We had (too) much great food and although you readily find restaurants promising genuine French, Italian and Spanish dishes in all corners of the world they can never match those prepared with tradition and love served inside the national borders of France, Italy and Spain, respectively.
Because of – or despite – the above-mentioned delicacies we also found ourselves obliged to sample the finest red, white, rosé and sparkling beverages from these three same countries. And yes, risking the wrath of wine importers everywhere wines – like foods – are also best tasted inside national borders.
But I digress. On our trip, parties were thrown for us, welcoming homes received us and e-mail addresses were exchanged by the dozen.
We stayed-up way past our normal bedtime – on one memorable occasion until daybreak – and were pleasantly surprised by how quickly we got used to sleeping-in much later than we do in the tropics. Let’s hope it doesn’t take us too long to get back to our normal routine however – I can’t wait for those Caribbean sunrises streaming through our open windows and fluttering curtains.
We marvelled at the peace and tranquility of tiny one-church, one-cafe villages in Southern France and Italy and were undaunted by the hustle and bustle of big Madrid. Where we quickly grasped the logic of the sensational public transport system and flitted around the place like two frisky Madrilenos.
But now we’re home. It’s late at night and too soon to return to West Indian time. We need to decompress after the hectic weeks behind us. How better than to leave the suitcases unpacked and perform our traditional homecoming ritual?
In this order: (a) Plunge into the ocean, (b) cast off all intercontinental travel gear and (c) frolic joyously to mark a safe return and herald a new beginning.
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Posted in Contended sexagenarians, Frisky sexagenarians, Happy sexagenarians, Lusty sexagenarians, retirement sex, sex after fifty, sex after forty, sex after sixty, the joy of senior sex, tropical sex | Tagged Boeing, France, Italy, Madrid, Spain, tropical air | Leave a Comment »
10/06/2009 by sexyaftersixty
Voluntarily self-exiled and living year-round on our peaceful tropical paradise island most contentedly – thank you very much – Jeff and I nonetheless imagine we know what´s going-on in the “real” world.
With so much fast-breaking news arriving 24/7 via the Internet and satellite TV we´re probably better informed today than all the kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers and dictators causing mayhem for lack of information in the pre-Beatles era.
Furthermore, during Jeff´s hectic career days we moved-to and lived-in enough different countries to believe we can still judge the tempo and moods of big cities even though we haven´t seen one in ages.
That was before we came and scratched the surface of Spain´s impressive capital city. From where I write today on my laptop at an outdoor cafe on the Plaza Major (English Translation: Extremely Large and Very Imposing Main Square).
This is my first visit to Madrid and although Jeff came here a few times to put out corporate fires he admits he has almost no recollection of the place. As he often reminds me, “You take a taxi from the airport to the hotel, meet in a windowless conference room and thinking you´ve doused the flames return by taxi to the airport.”
And I say “scratched the surface” because it would be incredibly presumptuous of me after these few short days to say I´m beginning to understand Madrid. So I won´t. But we have seen enough to declare it the most dynamic city we´ve ever come across. And beautiful to look-at in the bargain.
That Madrid is a major tourist attraction is obvious when you see the thousands of visitors buzzing around admiring parks, palaces, squares, churches and museums. Using a bus and subway system that is so spectacularly reliable, efficient and clean.
But that is not why we´re loving Madrid. I´ve never seen a city with so many restaurants and wherever we´ve eaten the food has been inexpensive, varied and positively delicious. And you don´t need to speak Spanish – which we don´t – to get impeccable service.
What has all this got to do with our regular subject readers are probably asking? Well this is the first column we´ve ever written where we won´t be dwelling on frisky sexagenariansim. Because in Madrid sightseeing takes up the day, dinnertime starts only at midnight and nightlife – including flamenco – goes on until the sun rises.
So this week – no time or space for friskiness. But don´t worry, it will most surely return. Stay tuned.
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You might also enjoy our short “Sexy after Sixty Day” video. But pump up the volume.
Posted in Contended sexagenarians, Frisky sexagenarians, Happy sexagenarians, Lusty sexagenarians, retirement sex, sex after fifty, sex after forty, sex after sixty, the joy of senior sex, tropical sex | Tagged Madrid, Moncloa, Plaza Major, Spain | Leave a Comment »
02/06/2009 by sellersjeff
Often in harmless everyday conversation we hear the cliché, “You know you’ve made it…when…” Followed by “…when…you’ve paid the last installment on your mortgage.” Or, more unlikely, but highly appealing nonetheless, “…when…your boss tells you he’s retiring and giving you his firm as a going-away present.” Of course, there are zillions of other ways to end this sentence.
But there’s more to success than paying mortgages or inheriting companies. Oh sure, the material things in life are nice but as some wise old prophet – or professor – once said, “money alone can’t bring you happiness.”
So today Judy and I will attempt to give you our very own frisky sexagenarian version of, “You know you’ve made it when…”
It may sound simple when I reveal it but first must confess you have to reach a certain stage in life before you can apply it and put it into practice. Because from early childhood onwards there are so many tasks to perform which preclude us stopping for a moment’s peace and quiet to even consider if we’ve made “it.” Or not.
Take the simple fact of having to attend school. Judy says she didn’t mind going, but I did and would much rather have played football or built model boats and airplanes.
You have to learn how to speak and write English properly and remember complicated mathematical formulas about the surface area of triangles. I just sat there daydreaming anyway but Judy would have preferred to dance and act in the school play.
And so it goes on throughout an entire lifetime. You have to find a job then go to work every day. Or for 24/7 you are the friend, guardian, comforter and policewoman (or policeman) to your children. There are bills to pay by a certain date. Dentists to visit. There’s the damage to the next door neighbour’s garden fence done by your dog you have to apologise for. And so it goes on and on.
I’ve deliberately chosen banal examples here. We all know what the really important things were, and for many of us still are. I don’t suppose we ever escape performing tasks.
Except today, on this very morning, with Judy and I still in France, sitting at a little cafe on a sun-drenched terrace overlooking the azure-blue Mediterranean I can safely say without fear of contradiction, “You know you’ve made it when you can both get up in the morning and for the whole day do absolutely anything you please.”
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You might also enjoy our short “Sexy after Sixty Day” video. But pump up the volume.
Posted in Contended sexagenarians, Frisky sexagenarians, Happy sexagenarians, Lusty sexagenarians, retirement sex, sex after fifty, sex after forty, sex after sixty, the joy of senior sex, tropical sex | Tagged contentment, happiness, Success, wealth | Leave a Comment »
27/05/2009 by judysellers
The news can’t have reached President Nicolas Sarkozy yet but Jeff and I are currently in frisky mode helping France retain its position as the world’s most visited country.
The World Tourism Organisation – and who knows better – says France registered 81.9 million visitors in 2007 with Spain – a distant second – claiming 59.2 million.
Despite what the French Value Added Tax Collectors might think this popularity is not necessarily a good thing. Because in high summer it can get pretty crowded here when the Autoroutes, beaches, cathedrals and camping sites are filled to overflowing. Not exactly ideal for sexagenarians like ourselves seeking peace and quiet and enough knee and elbow room to spread happiness and contentment to one and all.
Not to worry. By a process of elimination, forward thinking and planning it’s relatively easy to enjoy the bounties of France before all 25 member nations of the European Union close their schools for the summer break and the mass onslaught begins.
All “departements” of France have their specific appeal and over the years since our first visit here in the early 60’s Jeff and I have savoured most of them. Our best memories are from the French Riviera from where I write today on my laptop overlooking the Mediterranean Sea enjoying morning coffee and croissants on the terrace of the fabulously – some might say ridiculously – expensive Eden Roc Hotel in Antibes.
A week ago we would not have been allowed within a kilometer of the place. Because this is where Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts, Sean Connery, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Gregory Peck and their ilk sit – or sat – maybe for coffee but more probably for something champagne-based – during the Film Festival that takes place each May in nearby Cannes. When – I’m willing to bet – there’s a whole lot of friskiness going-on.
But today the Festival is over. The prizes were handed-out just days ago. Allowing normal persons like us who can’t afford to overnight here but are prepared to fork-out more than a cup of coffee is worth to have some Hollywood stardust rub-off on us.
Later today we’ll enjoy a late afternoon aperitif outdoors in Monte Carlo, which is also back to receiving us “normals” 48-hours after the Formula 1 race circus moved on.
And when we turn-in with me in my Grace Kelly persona and Jeff driving like Fangio a good day was had by all.
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You might also enjoy our short “Sexy after Sixty Day” video. But pump up the volume.
Posted in Contended sexagenarians, Frisky sexagenarians, Happy sexagenarians, Lusty sexagenarians, retirement sex, sex after fifty, sex after forty, sex after sixty, the joy of senior sex, tropical sex | Tagged Antibes, Cannes Film Festival, Eden Roc, Monaco Grand Prix | Leave a Comment »
