Magnolia Trees around the corner from a few weeks ago

I’m sitting in my home office looking out the window at the lush green leaves and the blue sky and I’m just so happy it’s summer. Living where I do, I’m certainly not one of those “I hate winter” types but it sure is nice to put away the winter coats and boots for a while.

And while I try to take some time off during the summer, I also find it’s my most productive time. With the sun coming up earlier, I can get up early and get to my desk before all the local kids get online and slow the internet to a crawl.

The early-to-rise syndrome seems to be part of middle age; I certainly didn’t ever get up this early voluntarily in my 20s. Of course, I know many boomers who prefer working late into the night, so maybe it’s just me.

However, what’s not just me is the following collection of article by the Blogging Boomers Carnival. We’re a collection of baby boomers who happen to also blog. Our range of topics are eclectic but if you’re a boomer you’ll certainly find something that is interesting or entertaining.

As always, please visit each of these blogs and then join the conversation by leaving a comment, Tweeting about the post, sharing on Facebook or writing a rebuttal on your own blog.

Enjoy!

Are you too old to ride a bicycle? Probably not.

Tom Sightings offers a new entry in his series “Remember Her?” at sightingsat60.blogspot.com/2011/06/remember-her.html.  The woman was a Baby Boomer icon, born in 1946. See if you can guess who she is … but don’t scroll down and cheat!

This week the Accidental Locavore took on Daniel Boulud and Épicerie Boulud in a merguez showdown. Whose sausage reigned supreme? Check out the blog that made Food News Journal’s “Best of the Blogs” this week.

My Garden, Your Garden — It’s Magical!
read more at Vaboomer:  http://tinyurl.com/its-a-garden

Over at Contemporary Retirement, Ann has some tips for staying active well into old age.

Laura Lee aka the Midlife Crisis Queen has been away tending to her parents’ needs this past week, and dealing with the thoughts and feelings that naturally arise.

SoBabyBoomer tells us that the song title, We Didn’t Start the Fire, was the answer to a recent Final Jeopardy – only one person got it right – question was (paraphrased) “What 1980′s song do history teachers praise for its educational value.”

And finally, here’s one from the Baby Boomer Entrepreneur: Don’t Assume People Know What You Do.

A blog carnival is a collection of bloggers who write about a similar topic or from a similar perspective – in this case, we’re all baby boomers writing about baby boomer issues. Once a week, we submit our best posts to the host who includes the links in the Carnival.

I’m the host this week so below you’ll find links from my fellow carnival members.

I encourage you to not only visit each blog and read the posts, but join in the conversation by leaving a comment, sharing it on Facebook or Tweeting about it. The choice is yours.

Enjoy!

The Alzheimer’s Association recently released a groundbreaking study entitled: Generation Alzheimer’s: The Defining Disease of the Baby Boomers.  Find out more over at Contemporary Retirement.

“Upstairs, Downstairs,” a great BBC show from The Boomer Chronicles’s childhood, is being revived!

Over at  Sightings At 60 we have a Baby Boomer beginning to ponder where he wants to settle down when he retires. Stay at home? Go someplace warm? Someplace cheap? It’s one of those eternal questions, and it’ll be interesting to see where he lands. But we should be patient; anyone thinking about that question should look before they leap.

Do our minds change as we age?  Do we become wiser and expand our level of consciousness?  Laura Lee aka the Midlife Crisis Queen has studied this issue.

SoBabyBoomer tells us that the  unemployment rate for workers over 55 is 6.7 percent, close to the all time high for that demographic (7.3 % in August 2010).  Employers often think mature workers are too expensive, difficult to train, quick to leave for a better job or retirement, or prone to become ineffective as they age.

Lebanese food is delicious and ilili is one of the Accidental Locavore’s favorite restaurants. When the chance came to take a class at DeGustibus with Philippe Massoud from ilili, I was quick to sign up. The classes there are always interesting; while the chef stands there and works really hard (or looks like he’s working hard), you sit there, eating and drinking. Fun, right? See what was on the menu

Vaboomer finds a “Place of Yes” quite interesting:  http://tinyurl.com/a-place-of-yes

And finally, here’s one from The Baby Boomer Entrepreneur: Sometimes A Client From Hell Isn’t

This week I’m proud to host the 200^th edition of The Blogging Boomers Carnival. In case this is a new concept for you, blog carnivals are a collection of bloggers writing about a certain topic – in this case, baby boomer blogger writing for baby boomer readers.

Each week, bloggers submit their best work from the previous week and the host posts a link and description. Readers are encouraged to visit each post and join the conversation.

The benefits of the blog carnival are for both blogger and reader. As a blogger, I will hopefully get new readers as the other members of the carnival introduce their readers to me.

And for you, the reader, you will be introduced to new blogs. Hopefully you’ll discover a gem you haven’t read before.

So here we go. Read, reply and enjoy!

Laura Lee Carter over at the Midlife Crisis Queen just moved her Healthy Aging Blog over to self-hosting this week after over 22,000 hits in its first year! Here’s her post about iodine and radiation poisoning which got over 3,000 hits in the past few weeks!

The Accidental Locavore tackled the first Charcutepalooza challenge: make your own duck prosciutto, and turned it into an amazing pasta carbonara. Was making it with homemade bacon and pasta overdoing it?

Tom, over at  Sightings At 60 had a wake-up call the other day when he filled up his gas tank. It cost him $55! And marked the first time he spent over $50 to fill his tank. It made him reflect on how much we pay for gas, but as he thought about it he realized that, adjusted for inflation, it’s not much more than we paid when we were kids in the 1960s, and a lot less than what people pay in most other countries. Is more expensive gasoline worth the price?

Over at Contemporary Retirement, Ann has living proof that getting older doesn’t have to mean you’re ready for a rocking chair by the fire.

SoBabyBoomer tells us that the prospect of a new second life locale is enticing.  Why not seize the moment and settle in the destination of your dreams: the mountains, the beach, the city—even overseas?

A chance encounter with a Dutch tourist in Boston leads to an eye-opening conversation. Read more at The Boomer Chronicles.

And finally, if you’re like many people, because creating your Twitter profile is so easy, you probably didn’t put much thought into it. However, even though it’s short, there are some things you can do to maximize your impact. In case you missed it, here are Three Quick Tips for Making a Better Twitter Profile.

Next week is #200 for the Carnival and I’m proud to be the host so make sure you come back next week too.

The host for this week is Anne Maxfield at the Accidental Lacavore. She says her blog’s goal is “to take the mystery out of farmer’s markets, and show them how she cooks with what’s local and fresh.”

As always, the carnival is a diverse collection of topics: retirement, resiliency, active at 90, getting a mortgage and more.

Please visit each of these posts and join the conversation by leaving a comment.

Enjoy!

Andrea J. Stenberg

If you’re not the lovey dovey type, check out these top Valentine one-liners from Mashable. They’re hilarious.

And of course, please head on over to Contemporary Retirement Coaching for this week’s edition of the Blogging Boomers Carnival – the longest running blog carnival by and for baby boomers.

Visit the blogs and join the conversation by leaving a comment.

Enjoy!

Andrea J. Stenberg

This week it’s my turn to host the Blogging Boomers Carnival. On this sunny but frigid January morning I am posting links to the best blog posts from the members of this eclectic group of baby boomer bloggers. As always, please visit each of these articles and join the conversation by leaving a comment.

Here are this week’s articles:

Laura Lee aka the Midlife Crisis Queen has a new book out and a lot on her mind about the best ways to get the word out about it.  Check out her “Stress Management for Writers” blog on how that’s done.

Many sandwich-generation boomers are coping with their aging parents’ challenges.  SoBabyBoomer writes about the 4 A’s of Alzheimer’s Disease: agitation, apathy, anxiety, and aggression and how these behaviors are not symptoms of the disease but rather reactions to the environment that is being perceived by the individual with Alzheimer’s.

Why do we shop where we do? The Accidental Locavore looks at what draws us to certain stores, and keeps us away from others. Is it service, selection, or a chance to catch up on local gossip?

Social networking can be freaky, says The Boomer Chronicles. Here’s why.

Over at Contemporary Retirement, Ann asks: When is the best time to begin planning for retirement?

And from The Baby Boomer Entrepreneur archives: Using Twitter: Another Look at Sending Automated Direct Messages

Enjoy!

Andrea J. Stenberg

I always find it easier to think about Christmas when there’s snow on the ground. Last week my family kept asking what we want for Christmas and I kept wondering why they’re asking … until I looked at the calendar and saw it was December 1st.

This is the first Monday of the month of December and the 3rd last Blogging Boomers Carnival for 2010. This week’s host is the Midlife Crisis Queen. Head on over to her blog and enjoy the articles for this week. As always, remember blogging is part of the social media world, so leave a comment or share the links on Facebook, Twitter or wherever you happen to visit online.

Andrea J. Stenberg

For those new to The Blogging Boomers Carnival, we’re a collection of bloggers who write about a variety of topics related to baby boomers. As boomers ourselves, we are also writing about what interests us. Each week, one of our members takes turns playing host to the Carnival. Everyone submits their best article for the week and the host posts links from their site.

Readers can participate by visiting the Carnival host and reading the articles and leaving comments.

This week’s Carnival includes articles about how boomers are changing the rules of marketing, sexuality as we age, Thanksgiving disasters, auto show previews and why New Yorker’s have increased their life expectancy.

Enjoy!

Andrea J. Stenberg

As always, check out the posts and please join the conversation by leaving a comment.

Andrea J. Stenberg

One of my biggest pet peeves is how when talking about baby boomers most people (particularly the media) focus on retirement. And yet the baby boomer generation covers a much larger demographic. At a conference last week, one of the speakers pointed out that George Clooney and Brad Pitt are baby boomers!

The younger segment of boomers are in their 40s and 50s. Many will be working for another 15 years or longer. And yes, we are all wondering about paying for retirement.

But some of us are also paying for children’s university. Some of us are paying our own tuition as we return to school ourselves. Others are running businesses, striving for promotions and enjoying the success we’ve achieved so far while striving for yet more.

That is why I love being part of the Blogging Boomers Carnival. We represent a wide swath of the baby boomer generation. The diversity of our blogs and the topics we cover shows you can’t pigeon-hole boomers. There is no “typical” boomer. And we like it that way.

Here’s a sampling of the diversity of what the Blogging Boomers Carnival has to offer. Please visit these sites, read the articles and if you are so moved, join the conversation by leaving a comment.

Going to a networking event? What do you wear to look business-like but still fashionable? Get some suggestions from The Glam Gals at Fabulous after 40!

SoBabyBoomer tells us that procedural mistakes in the handling of mortgage documents have clouded titles establishing ownership of the homes, a problem that could plague both buyers and sellers for years.  The key question is: Do you know who holds the title to your house?

How do you work with your own intuition? It can be an essential tool, especially when you’re going through some tough life changes!

DIY bacon? Why not? It’s easy and it’s just one of the many easy to make food items the Accidental Locavore will show you how to make “out of the box”.

Over at Contemporary Retirement, Ann has a 2 minute video that could heal your heart.

LifeTwo.com discusses the Psychology Today article that declares ”Many middle-aged men go through midlife crisis, but it’s not because they are middle-aged but because their wives are.”

The Boomer Chronicles asks, “What’s waiting for you at home tonight?”

And finally, Twitter is an amazing tool for connecting with people and sharing information. And it’s one of the easier social networking tools to automate but should you? I take another look at the automated direct message in Twitter and discuss whether or not you should do it.

Enjoy!

Andrea J. Stenberg