Diary of a Wrinkle

Age appropriate ignorance—none of us concerned about wrinkles. (Sisters Ilana and Sharon, Maya in the center.)

I recently celebrated my 43^rd birthday, and it just so happened that on that same day I took my daughter to a doctor’s appointment at the dermatologist’s office. We sat in the waiting room for an hour before being called inside the examination room, and this gave me plenty of time to look around and absorb my surroundings. It was nothing like the scene that I was accustomed to seeing when visiting the dermatologist in LA, where the list of names was always covered up with tape to maintain privacy, and the people sitting around almost always exhibited a “look” that definitely cost them a lot of money. When it was our turn to see the doctor we were led into the examination room where once again we remained waiting, this time for another fifteen minutes. My daughter focused on the textbook that she brought along, while my eyes were almost immediately drawn to the display of facial rejuvenation pamphlets that decorated the room.  Read More

Facial expressions are a tool for better communication.

In the Scientific American Magazine you can always be sure to come across a few interesting articles and such was the case with “Facial Expressions,” an article published just this month by Kate Wong. The article discusses the well optimized arrangement of muscles on our face in order to enable us to better find food. However, this arrangement on the face has another role, that of communication. Humans have very expressive faces, which convey a whole array of emotions, and researchers have said that our ability to make facial expressions has to do with the unique facial muscles in that area.  Read More

Last time I shared a few ideas about aging from a book written by Karen Cokayne and titled, Experiencing Old Age in Ancient Rome. In this blog I want to share more interesting information about how aging was portrayed in comedy writing during that specific era.

In satirical writings from that period of time, wrinkles and other physical characteristics associated with aging were viewed with absolute repugnance. Cruelty in those days was by no means a foreign concept, and so the main target or focus of comedy was the old man whose physical appearance was deemed ugly, and inspired the types of comments that society found exceptionally entertaining. Read More

Last Sunday night, while relaxing in front on my TV, I happened to come across a movie that I had not seen in years, “The Picture of Dorian Gray.”  I also remember reading the book in my early twenties and loving it so much that I kept it in my library as one of those books that had impacted my thinking—that I would always want around me. I felt that way even though I still suffered from—age appropriate ignorance—that aging would never be “my problem,” nothing that would happen to me specifically. But in spite of my youth, I still loved the story and saw great value in it. Read More

Certain things always catch my attention and such was the case with an article about Amanda Redman, published in the Mail Online. The caption read, “Amanda Redman says that she is dreading turning 50. Well, it’s a bit too late for that—as her 1957 birth certificate proves.” I never really heard of this woman before, but still, I wanted to know why she dreaded her 50s.  Read More