Saturday, June 27, 2009

Sexy Panties or Granny on a panty raid!

OK, I did it or rather we did it together. MWDL was wandering thru the Mall, shopping for a bridal shower gift and found a store having a terrific sale on ladies lingerie that was not Victoria's Secret. She immediately called me and asked what I was doing and did I want to meet her and a friend at the Mall to shop.

At the time, I was sitting on the floor of my Vet's examining room, assisting her in re wrapping Elwood Blues surgical incision. Greyhounds have very thin tight skin. Even small cuts often require stitches and he had a tumor removed from just above his foot. I prefer to participate in my critter's treatment so I am holding his head on my lap and steadying his leg while she treats and wraps.

Yes! As soon as I can take the pup home and get him settled, I am good to shop. Cell phones are so wonderful, I walk into the mall and call to see where they are. We meet and head to what she describes as a terrific sale.

But let's back up for a minute. Prior to signing up for online dating, there were a number of discussions with friends about whether I was ready for actual dating. At one point, I jokingly remarked that maybe I wasn't, after all I no longer had any sexy underwear. During the last number of years I had just switched to plain Costco cotton. One younger friend couldn't understand: "Don't you buy sexy panties just for yourself?" I didn't, they reminded me of what I didn't have and how much I had lost in my life. Now, even though I am not yet dating, it was time to do something just for me.

We walked into the lingerie shop, cool white walls lines hung with racks of pastel lacy items, interspersed with patches of wild color. They really were having a Sale with a capital "S". Nearly all of the panty stock had been placed in white octagon boxes placed at different shelf levels and grouped by size. We found the appropriate sizes and begin to dig into the boxes, holding up various styles and colors for discussion. Three different women, different ages, different shapes, different tastes. In no time, we had the surfaces filled with possible choices and were exchanging panties, asking each other to find the model in another color or size. The staff just smiled and let us do our thing. Other people came and went, politely asking if we were finished with a box so they could shop. Occasionally someone might see an item we were discussing, join in and ask if we could find another one for them. We did if we could. By now the clerks were laughing and checking to see if there was any stock that hadn't been put out. With a bottle of wine, it would have been a good party!

Each bought to our own needs. Mine included silky rose with ivory lace, red satin with wild flowers, figured blue with white lace, beige and lace, cream and lace and an absolutely wild tangerine lace.I needed to leave the past and head into the future reminded that I am a sexy lady. Now when I am wearing my shorts, jeans, T shirts and crocs, I know what I am wearing under them and I smile!

Anybody out there remember the Stephanie Plum novel set in Las Vegas where Lulu throws the hot pink thong at the Elvis impersonator? Well I'm still looking for hot pink! But no thongs please, there are just some places where I don't want to go!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

From the Wellspring of my mind

Last night I attended the monthly meeting of the artisan craft group to which MostWonderfulDaughterinLaw (MWDL) and I belong. Admission to this group is by the jurying of your particular craft, which for us is artisan jewelry. Our definition of artisan jewelry is that each piece is unique, one of a kind and handmade by us. Due to the advancing of my degenerative arthritis, I can't do the finishing, that is putting clasps on my pieces so MWDL assumes that task for me.

We work in what was once my den, now called the sweat shop. Each of us has a work station set up with an overhead shop light and an additional full spectrum standing lamp.We share materials but each has her own private stash. One of my loves is to work with fresh water pearls and right now I am working on a series of necklaces that I call "Not your Grandmother's pearls". I am striving for fresh contemporary designs. I also love non-precious gem stones like agates, jasper, jade, carnelian, lava, fluoride and others. The cut, shape and textures of stones is a real turn on for me and a challenge to create a design which shows the stones to their best advantage. This act of creating is still a wonder to me.

This discussion is going somewhere, I promise. About three years ago, our family was in Flagstaff. Now I have a passion for Native American Art, particularly Katsinas and MWDL and I were cruising galleries and shops. She also is a collector. After a couple of hours of this, she mentioned that she wanted to visit a yarn shop and a shop called Animas Beads that were just down the street. So it was my turn to explore her interests. The yarn shop didn't do anything for me; I wandered down to the bead store.

I had never been in such a store before and was dazzled by the colors and diversity of the beads and carvings. I was particularly drawn to a display of Baltic amber beads and chips and before I even thought about it, I bought two strands of amber. They were so smooth, light and beautiful and I had no idea what I would do with them. Sometime later that night, Kim slipped out of the hotel for a walk and returned with a set of beading tools and a bead board for me.

On a subsequent trip to Flag, I bargained for several hand carved cedar North West Coast style pendants, signed by the Canadian artist. I also purchased a couple of dichroic glass pendants from GlenGarry Glass. Now I had to do something with my investment and I begin to design a necklace which I would call "Beaver in the Woods".
It is centered by a North West Coast style cedar pendant of a beaver with deep green chunky glass, wood beads, amber, pipestone and coral. Having spent years believing I had no creative gift, I was on my way!

Those two stings of amber have grown into a way of creative life in which I express through the work of my hands, the dreams that I see in my mind. Many a night, a design will start tugging at the edge of my brain and I have to get up and lay out the design on a bead board or I will not sleep.

Back to the beginning of this post. When I walked into the meeting, the topic of conversation was my blog. Everyone was most complimentary and there was much discussion of my last post on the younger man / older woman situation. I have given some thought since I posted and finally blocked him from any contact. Three contacts in three weeks, two of which came after I had expressed no interest in him, felt more like stalking or harassment than being wooed. It isn't that I oppose the idea of a younger man, in fact, I will not be surprised if I end up with someone slightly younger (he has to like my car and sing my tunes with me, I need that ole time rock and roll to sooth my soul). As I said it will depend on the man.

My friends were also surprised at my writing ability. Prior to 1993, I have written short stories and poetry for myself. I always wrote the descriptive introductions for Gordon's briefs when we were doing litigation support for complex cases. But in 1993, it all came to an end.

In the middle of a very difficult case, I developed a headache on a Friday afternoon. I remember most of what happened until about the following Tuesday night when MWDL came to pick up her baby (Tuesdays were Granny's play day with the baby) and I complained about my head. My next memory is waking up in the recovery room at a local hospital. I had undergone five and a half hours of brain surgery after Gordon found me comatose in the bathroom early Friday morning. It was a very close call but I survived with some minimal damage, well two drill holes in my head and a ton of staples. With time, words and then sentences came back. But my ability to write creatively seem to be gone forever and I mourned my dreams of someday writing a series of murder mystery's, my favorite genre. The doctor also said that I would never work again and restricted me from driving.

In time, I began to drive again (anyone who ever rode when Gordon was driving understands that I had to drive myself or spend the rest of my life clutching the dashboard and screaming) I worked for the Nevada Democratic party and briefly for Friends of Harry Reid. Then I spent over eight years working for one of the most prominent real estate developers in Nevada. Since he retired, I have been mostly unemployed. One of these days, our economy will recover and I will return to some type of job.

In the last two years, I have healed from Gordon's long goodbye. My world view has changed and I truly believe that when one door closes, another will open if you wait and look for it. Here, after so many years, the ability to write has returned to my life. When the time is right, a very special man will come and be my last love.

In the meantime, Granny will keep her boogie going!

You may find our work at www.outofourminds.etsy.com

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Younger Men / Older Women

I don't feel quite ready to write this post yet. I intended to do more reading on the subject but on "silvermatch" yesterday I was hit on for the third time by a guy in his early 40's!

He is a cute guy with curly hair and posts three photos of himself making faces. In the background are two large overflowing bookcases. His profile contains the usual stuff, looking for someone special (aren't we all), wants long term relationship, divorced with no children,and so on. After the first contact, I sent a nice reply stating that he is younger than my son and I am just not that adventurous. Told him that I hoped he would find his soul mate.

A week later, he's back. This time I replied: "Hey Guy, you are consistent and I am flattered. You sent me a flirt on June 6th and I replied that I am just not ready for a guy who is younger than my son. So good luck, maybe you will find one of the cougars with money and time who will spoil you. I am looking for a guy in my age group so we can sing the same songs." I'm not going to reply this time, just block him from contacting me again.

But his advances do bring up an interesting question for me. What age range am I considering? My birth certificate makes me 69. My photos show a little round silver haired woman who looks like Mrs. Claus. I drive around in a tricked out car with rock and roll playing at full blast. Yes, my interest is sex is very healthy and I certainly have been educating myself on mature sex.

I thought about this last night. The world of relationships has just about turned upside down since I grew up in the 50's and 60's. Yes, I have hangups about sex with a really younger man. What if he called out "Hot Mama" as he was coming? I would freak out! So maybe I need to give myself a base line of "50 something" and then it all depends on the man. I welcome your thoughts, you can leave comments or e-mail me at GrannyBoogies@gmail.com.

Somewhere, out there......

Friday, June 19, 2009

OMG, I'm an Antique!

I have developed quite an interest in the photos that men post on "silvermatch". If you are just discovering this blog, check out my riff on fish photos. A couple of days ago, I came across a really interesting photo: an attractive man standing beside this strange very large machine. The more I looked, the curiouser I became. Finally I sent off one of my "this is not a flirt" messages and asked if the machine was a steam tractor. This very nice man, whose privacy I shall preserve, responded and said he didn't mind a chat. The machine is indeed a steam tractor, in fact, it is a 1895 Russell and he introduced me to the Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum (www.agsem.com)located in Vista, California, that's in northern San Diego county.

This little museum is a great place for anyone who is interested in steam engines, a terrific place to take your family or yourself if you have an interest in how America lived at the turn of the century. Situated on 55 acres, there is a complete farm along with educational programs showing the process of food preparation from harvest to table. In the "Farmhouse" they show how a family lived with kerosene lamps, ice boxes, foot treadle sewing machine and more. This weekend they are having their 33rd Spring Tractor Show. There is camping and live entertainment. In March you will find a Civil War Reenactment event, complete with a visit by President Lincoln and a presentation of the Gettysburg Address.

Reading the descriptions made me smile and gasp! There was one year in my life when my stepfather had the idea that he wanted to join his family who were farmers in Ohio and Michigan. He left the Army and packed us off on this new adventure. We lived in a summer cottage on a small lake. This means that it was only intended for summer use and we lived there for nearly a year. There was electricity in the cottage but the "facility" was a chemical toilet outside in a tiny outhouse. Ugh! I walked about a mile every day with other children to a one room school house (grades one thru six). My lunch was carried in a cloth bag and included a bottle of milk that I cooled in the creek behind the school house. Yes, there were two outhouses. I was left handed which was most inconvenient with the long shared tables. The teacher reacted by striking my hand with a hickory stick until I could no long write left handed and had to learn to use my right hand. Well, that was then and this is now!

I have good memories of that time. Watching men cut ice from the frozen lake, loading it on a large horse pulled sleigh to be stored in the local ice house. This same ice was delivered to our little cottage and placed in the ice box to cool our food. I wandered the woods around the lake and found the first wild violets of spring that I picked for my mother. One of the neighbors had a pet raccoon and we had so much fun with him. I had the experience of living a simple life in tune with the seasons.

While my mother was in the hospital having my brother, I stayed on one of the family farms. There was a crank phone on the wall. No dial, you picked up the hearing cup, rotated the crank on the side and when the operator answered, you told her who you wanted to call. She placed the call by sending a series of rings to the phone of the other person. Each phone on the system has their own ring. One long, two shorts or any combination. Sitting in your home when the phone rang you knew who was being called. If you were a a nosy neighbor,you might (every so carefully)lift the receiver and ease drop on the conversation.

The farmhouse had a well with a hand pump. You carried a pitcher or pan of water out to the pump and poured the water (prime) down the throat. Then you pumped like hell and the prime pulled the water up from the well and into your bucket. When you had enough, you simply stopped pumping. I remember walking out to the fields with lunch for my stepfather. Sometimes I would get to ride on the tractor. It was great fun to perch up behind him and watch the plow turn the deep rich brown earth.

At the end of a year, my parents decided to return to military and life in the mid 1940's. Army life had its hardships but it also had a modern,up to date lifestyle.

So back to the Vista museum. As I read the descriptions of the educational programs, I realized I have experienced much of what they are teaching. Then it hit me: OMG I am an antique!!

No, I'm not giving Bogiebx up for a Ford fliver and I plan to continue full speed down the highway of life looking for my last love. I just may take a few detours along the way. Thank you, new friend, for your introduction to the museum and helping to prime the pump of memory.

On the road again...

Monday, June 15, 2009

My Inner Child had a playdate today.

I should begin at the beginning. In 2005, I was driving a Dodge Neon. I have had much better cars and also much worse and it got me to work and around town. The computer started being funny, doors would lock and unlock, sometimes it wouldn't start and the idea occurred to me that I needed to pass it on before the repairs began to eat me alive.

One early evening, I was driving in the parking lot at my neighborhood Costco and I saw this funny white box. I hit the brakes, parked and got out to take a look. It was love at first sight. During the '60's, I had one of the first VW bugs in the Imperial Valley. It really belonged to my brother in law who was overseas but my sister didn't drive and I just had to keep the battery charged. In my heart I felt a relationship between the funny blue bug and this strange white box. I had to have one!

I began an online search, checking the inventory of the various Scion/Toyota dealerships in Las Vegas. The Xb's were hard to find and not easily available but about the middle of February I found one. On the next Saturday,for my 65th birthday present to myself, I waltzed in with my dear husband and bought it. The dealer referred me to a private party for a custom alarm and locking system and I made an appointment for the following day.

Big Bill worked out of his garage. When we arrived, he had pulled his own Xb into a parking space and I parked next to it. I took one look at his car and said "OMG how can I do that". He looked at this little silver haired lady and said "Do you really want to do this! It's called modding or tricking out your car." "Yes, you bet I do", I replied and life has not been the same since.

I named the car "Bogiebx" (aka Boogie) since I was limited in letter/number space for a custom plate. In Nevada, when you request a custom plate, you have to give a specific reason for what you want, so I said I was a silver haired Granny who just wanted to boogie down the road playing her tunes. I got the plate!

Big Bill was a member of a group known as "Scion Evolution" which had chapters all over the US. Most of the members got a kick of this ole lady modding her car and Bill got me some really good deals. In time Boogie went from stock to mod. We lowered her an inch with TRD (Toyota Racing Division) springs, put on custom Koenig rims (wheels to you), limo tinted her windows, installed a carbon fiber "fat ass" spoiler and a double vented, two sided carbon fiber show hood. The list goes on and on. Needless to say, Granny and Bogiebx became pretty well known in California and Nevada. This was the greatest group of car lovers, both guys and gals who really loved these funny rolling boxes and saw in them the opportunity to express themselves and make the cars their own.

As Gordon's Alzheimer's progressed, I cut back my activities and stopped working on my car. The last couple of years have been very difficult financially and emotionally. A car like Boogie needs constant upkeep and my heart hasn't been with her. Bill has been gently nudging me and doing what he could to keep her going. About a year ago, he removed the "fat ass" carbon fiber spoiler since it wasn't holding up in the heat. He also found a fellow who wanted my show hood and arranged an exchange for a metal hood. Friends in LA called from a garage sale and wanted to know if I wanted to go back to an OEM style spoiler; they purchased one and sent it up by Scion mule train.I carried it in the back seat for nearly a year. Bill arranged to have it painted the same black as the hood by a new friend, Ben, who had seen Boogie on the street and asked in a car club post if anyone know who owned her.

All of this brings me to today. Boogie and I had a play date with Bill this morning after he took his darling wife, Lizzy, to work. He waxed the spoiler and installed it, installed the fluid system for the windshield wiper fluid, we pulled the new grill and I paste waxed it. He worked on the paint streaks left by a scam artist who ran into me on a bicycle in January, bounced off my front fender and tried to hold up my insurance company. Then we took her out to a car wash and hosed her down. Tomorrow I will take her in for a detail job. Bill checked out my sound system and at some point we will upgrade it. I only know one volume, cranked up! Give me that old time Rock n Roll with Bob Segar or some Blue Eyes with Willie Nelson, maybe Bag Pipes playing Scotland the Brave, even Placido Domingo with John Denver! I love my tunes!!! To and from the car wash, the system is cranked and Bill just looks at me and shakes his head.

OK, my body may be 69, my hair may be silver and I may look like Mrs. Santa but what you see isn't what you get and my inner child comes out to play whenever she wants!

Boogie On Granny! There is still life in this ole gal and I believe, one last love!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Score Card #1

Wow, the blog is now one week old! I hope most of you are still with me. There have only been two requests to be removed from the blog alert.This seems like a good time to stop and review my stats. I wish I had someone to compare with so I would know how I am batting but here goes:

Silvermatch:I have viewed the profiles of 201 men.I did mention that I have a problem sleeping didn't I? Don't want you to think I sit around all day glued to my monitor, nah, I sit around all night and count men instead of sheep. 71 men have reviewed my profile, 10 men have sent me a message opening contact and 6 men have sent a "flirt" which just says they are interested and the ball is in my court to reply if I chose.

"Hookup":There have been a total of 43 matches sent to me. 11 are still open, which means that I haven't contacted the match nor has the match contacted me. 32 matches have been closed either by the match or by me. One match was opened but since I wasn't enrolled yet and couldn't respond, he closed it. This is the site which touts how well they can match you to the object of your desire. Ha! I clearly state my political stance in my profile so why do they keep sending me guys who say that their hero is Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater or the last book they read was by Billo the Clown? I wonder if "hookup" knows something that I don't?

While I was spinning the carousel of profiles the other night, I ran across a photo that puzzled me, so I clicked it open. The first photo was a head shot of a smiling person with long grey/brown hair and glasses named "BESTOINK". I checked out the rest of the photos; verrry interesting. The second photo is of the person, dressed what looks like a WWII German uniform perched on an old motorcycle with a M16 or maybe an AK47 in the arms. Other photos show pets identified as children, a woman in similar German style clothing;the last photo was a home with bright lavender shutters and door. OKay....The written profile was over the top macho and funny as hell. I went back and looked again at the face and immediately started sending messages asking for return communication but no response. I just checked the site and the profile is still up. I'm curious how long it will be before someone figures out the lavender shutters and door! I love laughing out loud in the middle of the night.

On the road again...

Granny B

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Better Than I Ever Expected by Joan Price

I just finished my first read of this wonderful book subtitled "straight talk about sex after 60". This is not a sex manual, you know, he puts his leg here and you tilt your pelvis. No, this is a wise and gentle discussion about love in our mature years. About keeping communication open with our loved ones, feeling free to tell them what we want and need, about accepting our bodies and not letting the sterotypes of popular culture define us. As I said, this was my first read and I know I will go back and reread again and again.

Thank you Joan for being there for all of us. You may contact Joan@JoanPrice.com or
http://www.betterthanieverexpected.blogspot.com. Her books may be purchased directly from her or from Amazon.com.

Don't think the wisdom in this book is only for us older gals, the need for open communication between lovers applies at any age. You young chicks might want to read this and see what you can look forward to!

Granny B

A Buffet of Men

If there is one thing we understand in Las Vegas it is the concept of the Buffet. That wonderful, stuff yourself senseless, endless presentation of food with steamtables of hot dishes, iced salad bars with fruit, greens, veggies, mounds of bread and then, when you can't take another bite, there is the desert table. Well "silvermatch" is a lot like a Vegas buffet.

Never mind the 100, or so it seems, questionnaire of "hookup". With "silvermatch" you just set up an account and go. There is a profile space to reveal to the world your deepest yearnings for true and lasting love, discuss the mythical being you desire as a partner, set forth your life accomplishments to dazzle this unicorn which you hope to capture and upload your" here I am photo" (with or without fish). At least I think that's what women do. About half the time a guy's profile has no photo and under the fill in the blank portion; he just says "send me a message" or "I'll tell you later". No pretense of finding the perfect match, just pay your money and jump right in the pool.

I told you in the last post about the slide show of men available on this site. I have no idea how many potential matches are available but it seems endless. You spin thru and when you find an interesting photo you click and open his profile. There is a format where the match answers some specific questions: how old he is, where he lives (city and state), how tall, body type, does he consider himself attractive (you betcha), what he did or does for a living, how much income he has ($300,000 per year, yeah - sure) martial state, what type of relationship he is seeking, etc. There is also a section for "new" members and another for "men in your area".

Once you have opened an man's profile and taken a peek, you have the option of sending him a flirt greeting saying "I'm Interested" or sending him an e-mail message or doing nothing. When you open the members profile, your profile is placed in "viewed" folder on his site and if you have initiated contact, your message goes into his message box. There are various other options but I think you get the idea. No sneak peeks on either side; when you look he knows it and you know who has looked at you. Actually, I like this site, easy to use and generally fun to read.

As a newbie, I've just been sitting back and checking out who is checking out me. I had a contact from a nice fellow here in town and we chatted but the differences were greater than the similarities. Since I joined on June 4th, 53 men have viewed my profile. I've become more comfortable in making contact and commenting on a guy's profile or photo. My MWDL described this as being like standing in a line at the Post Office and chatting with the person in front or behind you. There is a guy in northern Nevada who has one of the greatest smiles I have ever seen. His whole face crinkles, his eyes shine and his smile spreads across his face like butter on toast. Not handsome but wow what a grin. Also not a match for me but I send him a note and told him that just looking at his photo had me grinning at my monitor. He thanked me and wished me well in my search.

Yesterday I found a photo of an "old geezer" holding a tiny puppy so I clicked on his profile. He had all the standard stuff and at the bottom he said "I bet you looked because of the puppy didn't you. Gotcha!". I wrote that I would rather look at a puppy than a fish any day and we have been chatting back and forth about a 200+ pound sturgeon that he caught in the Sacramento River in 1972. He said I made his day. Why not spread a little kindness here and there.

Last night an "I'm interested" message arrived. I checked out the profile. OMG! This guy is in his early 40's, cut and buff - wow! I thought about it, really I did, but in the end I replied "Hey Guy, I checked out your profile. You are a hunka, hunka burning love. Cut and buffed beyond belief. Definitely an ole lady's wet dream. It would take me six months of pelvic exercises and a case of estrogen just to dance with you. Thanks for the ego boost, you made this silver haired gal smile."

I think I'm getting into this.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

In older men, are fish photos really penis symbols?

For various reasons, I haven't slept well the past few nights and I woke up this morning around 5:30 wondering why men post photos of themselves holding fish on a dating site. I had planned to share my adventures in an orderly fashion but I am skipping ahead, come on, you know my mind wanders. Box, what box.

I haven't told you about the "silvermatch" site and I will evaluate it later but it has a really neat feature. When you are looking at a profile, up in the right hand corner, there is an open window which works like a slide carousel, that is you can see a continuous slide show of photographs. When you find one of interest, you just click it and the man's profile appears for your perusal. If you like what you see, you can begin communication directly.

So the last few nights when unable to sleep, I have counted men instead of sheep. Into my dark den flows photo after photo of hopeful men who speed by under my clicking finger. Last night I became aware of how many men post photos of themselves holding up a string of fish or a single large fish. Once this registered on my sleepy brain I really began to wonder about the basis for this.

Many of you of a certain age will remember when the first Datsun "Z" sport car came on the market. The women's movement was beginning to spread into the popular media and few liberated thinkers could miss the symbolism of that car. Talk about phallic! It was a powered penis charging down the highway. Men flocked to auto show rooms and there were waiting lists to purchase it. I was married to my son's father at the time and I recall receiving a Christmas card from a friend with an enclosed photo of him posing as Santa beside his "Z". I cracked up and laughed until I had tears: What's in his sock? - he made house calls - better than the pizza man - getting back up the chimney was easier than getting down. You get the point.

For some reason, my sleep deprived brain made the connection between younger men and their hot rods and these photos of mature men and fish. OK, follow my thinking... the reason for posting photos on a dating site is to attract the opposite sex so that they will open your profile and learn something that triggers them to open communication with you. So it reasons that one would post a photo with some sex appeal. I don't mean that in an erotic way; I mean projecting a positive image, smiling into the camera like you would smile at a person you would like to meet. A twinkle in your eyes. Sex begins in the brain. So what's with the fish!

I viewed shot after shot of men holding fish on a string, in their arms or even posing beside some giant phallic denizen of the sea hung on a hook. Yes, I know that men and women are wired differently but do men really think that fish are sexy? Are fish phallic symbols to men? Maybe small fish are conjones - "see, I've got lots"- do larger fish imply a larger penis? - is a photo with a marlin on a hook suppose to stand for "Baby, get ready"? I haven't researched this yet but I do think that something fishy is going on.

Maybe I'll just go back to bed and sleep on it. Oh, did I mention that here are also a lot of photos of men at the Grand Canyon. Hmmmm. Yeah, I need some sleep.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Fitting your round life into a square box.

Sunday, beautiful Sunday; time for coffee and toast, the paper, background music and scented candles. Time also to reflect on the first hurdle of online dating: completing the application! Over time I have been getting stray e-mails wanting me to join various dating services and I usually just hit the delete button. (I'm not really certain where things go when you delete them, maybe into some vast cosmic trash basket floating around in the internet universe.) Having experienced my epiphany in the parking lot(see my first post) and feeling brave, I clicked on the button for the service which I call "hookup".

This service advertises how they can find your perfect match based on their computer program of character traits, likes and dislikes, yearnings, hopes and maybe fears. They are also reputed to be a safe way to meet people since all the contacts are managed by their great computer in the sky. Why not! I began the process of completing their forms. Wow!

How do you compress 69 years of living into a computerized one form fits all? I enter and delete, sweat and say a few words, which if written would probably get me kicked off their program. I nearly cry, get up and walk away shaking my head. This is hard work! Many of their questions require you to choose your answer from their program of accepted responses. I am just not into mind games. I push and squeeze to fit myself into their program (anyone out there remember girdles?). When I think that I have done my best, I click the submit button and send my life and heart out into the world of computer dating. Part of me can't believe that I am doing this!

Within hours a river of men start flowing into my computer. At first they are local, within the Las Vegas valley. I carefully read and print out each new match, placing each life into a folder. Then the search widens and there are matches from California, Arizona, Colorado, Washington and Utah. Into the folder they go: paper men, paper tigers, paper dudes, papermates.

There is one fly on this banana. Until I commit and pay my subscription fee, I can only read and not reply to anyone. The service also needs/wants a photograph. Hummmm, I hate having my photo taken. The short, round and bountiful, silver haired lady with glasses is not who I really am. About the only comment I have ever appreciated from Barbara Bush was something to the effect that when she looked in the mirror she still expected to see the slender long haired girl who was only concerned about her tennis game and not the white haired matron with pearls. It took a while to get together with my MWDL (most wonderful daughter in law) and finally snap a few shots.

During the wait for photos, I did a little research on the net and found some sites which list discount codes or coupons for the "hookup" dating service. They are a bit pricey. During this wait a number, maybe half of the matches closed contact. They can only provide a preprogramed message as to the reason for the closure:"didn't have a photo, was too far away, was in a relationship already, other". I did participate in a "free weekend" of contact and responded to a gentlemen in one of our northwest states. He had touched me with his words about his late wife and what he was looking for in the future. I responded with the "canned questions" that are provided by the program and he responded in kind but before we got very far my free time ran out and he closed the match because I hadn't responded. I hope that he will find his soul mate but I have no way of reopening the dialogue so life goes on. I realize this will probably be a long road with a lot of ribbet, ribbet.

After about a week and a half, "hookup" sent me an e-mail with a "special" three month offer at a very reduced price which I immediately accepted. MWDL had e-mailed her photos and I selected the primary one and added two others. I'm ready...on the road again...stay tuned

Saturday, June 6, 2009




Welcome to the adventures of Granny B. Two years ago I sort of took a detour off the highway of life, just needed some time to heal and evaluate where my life will go next. My husband and I fought a good battle against Alzheimer's for over eight years. Eight years knowing that there would be no happy ending to our story.

A few weeks ago I was driving down Eastern Avenue near the airport in Las Vegas, playing a good ole Bob Segar tune on my sound system, when I realized that tears were rolling down my face. Not a storm but something like what the Navajo call female rain, soft and gentle, slipping from a crack in my heart. I pulled over into a parking lot and just sat for a few minutes. Maybe it's time for me to start living again. I miss having male companionship. It would be nice to have someone to share the morning paper and coffee or maybe a glass of wine as the day ends.

OK, lets put everything on the table. I am 69, my hair is silver, in the past two years I have packed on a few more pounds than I need so I would describe myself as big and bountiful. I am close to my family with two grandchildren; have strong political opinions, like being a Democratic with a capital "L", prefer to wear berkies and crocs with my jeans, have a funky" tricked out" car, known as the "BOGIEBX" (think boogie box) that I have taken to car shows and meet ups in the past and I just don't consider myself a typical little ole lady.

So I decieded that this is the internet age and why not try online dating! I enrolled in two different senior dating services which I shall call "hookup" and "silver match". The men have started arriving on my computer daily! Wow, every morning there are new matches. I have Cinderella dreams with my coffee. Tall men, short men, bald men, lots of hair men, fat men, slim men: is my special soul mate out there?? What are the rules for senior sex?

Here I am, as the great songwriter Willie Nelson says: "On the road again, I just can't wait to get on the road again". Stay tuned.