Izzy Muses

The Iron Lady – Musing on Aging

Izzy Muses — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:06:34 +0000

Wasn’t Meryl superb as Margaret Thatcher? And whatever you think of the politics and of the rights and wrongs of basing a movie around someone’s life while that person is still with us, there is something be said for a work that provides such insight into the process of aging – particularly of the extent to which individuals are aware of their failing mental faculties. How difficult it must be to disregard hallucinations in the evening when what you see with your own eyes is so utterly believable. For Mrs Thatcher as she is depicted in The Iron Lady, her late husband, Denis, is a benign presence – a companion and comforter visible only to herself. Not everyone suffering from what the Americans sometimes call “Sundowners” (a phenomenon where the elderly suffering from early stages of dementia can have hallucinations in the evening) is so lucky. Sometimes these hallucinations are frightening adding to the agitation that can accompany dementia in the elderly. Anyone who has had to care for a relative or friend experiencing such symptoms knows only too well how exhausting and frustrating it can be. It is not a comfortable subject and we don’t see it too often at the movies. Iris was another example (and an excellent movie with Judi Dench playing the writer, Iris Murdoch). Whatever you think of The Iron Lady, there is a lesson in it for those of us who are not yet at that stage in our lives and that must surely be to be kinder. For raising awareness, Meryl Streep and Phyllida Lloyd deserve some credit.

How to attract men

Izzy Muses — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:32:09 +0000

Internet radio. I’m not joking. Pop along to your local electrical store, start browsing the Roberts wifi radios and just wait to see how men will flock to you. That was certainly my experience this weekend.

Shop no 1. An American gentleman struck up conversation and proceeded to follow me around the display. I learned that he was suffering from a chest infection, had just had his 60th birthday, had lost 12 stone last year, suffers from diabetes, and likes to pick up pairs of gifts in January for his children’s stockings – presumably next Christmas. I couldn’t help wondering how come his presumably well-grown kids are still getting stockings but I guess that’s a cultural difference. In the midst of gleaning all this information, I managed to figure out that my preferred model was the Roberts 83i but, sadly, it wasn’t in stock so I bade farewell to the American and proceeded with some haste to Shop no 2.

Shop no 2 didn’t stock the Roberts models but had a Pure Evolve and a Logitech Squeezebox. As I fiddled about with the Pure Evolve, gentleman no 2 approached. That Evolve is over-priced he told me, you can get it for nearly 100 euro cheaper online. But the Logitech, he says, is better value and he’s a huge fan having bought one a couple of weeks ago. Clearly, he loves it so much he’s now lurking in the shop offering unsolicited advice to single women such as myself. Still, it was an interesing and persuasive conversation as a result of which I took a much closer look at the Logitech and found I preferred it to the Roberts 83i. Sadly, the Logitech wasn’t in stock either.

Shop No 3. This time, I was fully expecting another approach and, sure enough, within 2 minutes of arriving at the wifi radio display I was joined by gentleman no 3 – a Roberts fan well versed in current discounts. He pointed out that the 83i has a woofer at the back. (I wouldn’t actually know what that is but clearly it’s something to be desired) and that it has two speakers at the front making for better sound. He also says it looks more solid and classier – which is funny, cos the guy in shop no 2 didn’t think it was particularly classy at all. In fact, gentleman no 2 thought the Roberts and the Pure Evolve were both a bit ugly. Gentleman no 3 was interrupted by a sales assistant. I hesitated – not wishing to reject outright the Roberts in front of such an admirer yet knowing my heart is set on the Logitech Squeezebox. Feigning an interest in toasters, I lured the salesman away before quietly asking about the Logitech. You’ve guessed it, of course, it’s out of stock.

Clearly, I’m late to the wifi radio party and it’s no suprise they’re sold out everywhere if my experience is anything to go by. I’ve decided I wont’ be buying a wifi radio at all but I will continue to shop for one every weekend. It seems it’s the new way to attract men.

Things that go bump in the night

Izzy Muses — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:14:16 +0000

It has been a windy start to 2012 and that had nothing whatsoever to do with menopause or festive over-indulgence. No indeed. Rather it was a case of strengthening south-westerlies celebrating the New Year by seeking to raise the roof. The force was enough to wake me and send me scuttling around the house to close banging doors at some unearthly hour of the morning.

Scarcely was I back in slumberland when a loud crash woke me yet again. After the initial shock of the second coming, I figured what ever had fallen was now on the floor somewhere about the house and there was nothing to be gained by getting out of bed to investigate before morning.

Curiously, dawn’s early light revealed the source of the crash – a pile of law books, property of a certain solicitor of my acquaintance somehow found their way from the centre of a good mahogany table to the middle of the floor in the hall. It’s the kind of event you wouldn’t want to dwell on too much on a night when you’re alone in the house.

Still, it seems I wasn’t the only one to experience unusual nocturnal events on said evening although in the other case the moving objects were silent balloons that navigated a complex course through someone’s house to settle in the early hours on the ceiling of the master en suite.

Clearly, if this continues, it augurs for winds of change in 2012.