39ers Aging with ATTitude January 2024

 U.S. 39ers: Aging with “Americans”   

Happy UN-Birthday January 39ers! Are you turning 39 and Holding this month? You’re in great company! Millions of people turn 40 every day … are you going to cry about it or embrace it!?

Whether it’s your first 39 and Holding birthday or your 20^th + UN-Birthday, you’re automatically an esteemed member of the club! 39ers’ creed: Life is more fun if you’re Aging with ATTitude!

If you’re a first-timer to this site, or if it’s been a while since you thought about what it means to be a 39er, you may wonder why you’re here. Because you need a place to escape from the daily grind, yes, but more than that, you may have lost touch with your inner child.

We remind you that it’s okay to play. Not just physically, but to let your mind wander, explore, and exclaim, with all the innocence of a child, touched with a twist of knowledge and wisdom. Sometimes in the course of life, we forget that we once liked to giggle or make a funny face, or simply discover with the natural inquisitiveness of a child.

Each month we celebrate your UN-Birthday with mini-horoscopes, offbeat revelries, and silly reasons to celebrate. Sprinkle a few skewed views of the day around (often understood only if you’re a 39er) and our "Aging with ATT-i-tude" axioms will offer a fresh perspective on 39er life.

So, is your auto-response to the nosey age query, always “39 and Holding”? Good for you! Do you know who coined the phrase? Hint: he turned his 1930s vaudeville popularity into entertainment for early radio listeners and transitioned to upstart television broadcasting as a bona fide funnyman. See if you’re right …  

In recent years, it’s being stressed in the medical field that stress is a #1 contributor to mental and physical decline as you age. Whether your UN-birthday is this month or you just need a little pick-me-up, we’ll share the inane side of life and encourage you to take a few minutes to release your inner child. Be silly. Be curious. And smile … laugh … or even snort! Let it all go and let’s have some fun!

֎ Celebrating JANUARY 39ers ~ And More!  
I recently watched the latest Ricky Gervais Netflix special. Talk about skewed news and views! LOL But tucked into his irreverent rhetoric was a jewel of truism: “You can’t control your thoughts.”

Of course, you shouldn’t act on all of your thoughts, and many shouldn’t even be spoken aloud; it reminds us, however, at one point as a child, we did just that. Sometimes, it was much to the chagrin of our parents. Being a 39er with a hint of wisdom and still in touch with your inner child, is the best of both worlds. Enjoy!

January Events & Notable Days 

With low January temps it’s no wonder we celebrate National Soup Month! Betcha can’t guess who sponsors it? If you yelled, Campbell’s, you’re definitely a 39er! The iconic brand has been around long before even we, were born—it celebrates 155 years in 2024 and by 1898 had designed its red-and-white label colors that we all know. It even inspired a fantastic Andy Warhol series of classic pop art. Of course, Campbell’s isn’t the only soup in town—you may even rival it with your own homemade variety! Feed your inner child with a warm blankie and a hot cuppa soup.

Are you a dancin’ fool? Do you know it’s National Polka Music Month? What better way to keep your youthful figure? (Or get it back again!) The energetic dance is often considered just a Polish culture pastime, but besides throughout Europe, it’s been an American dance-hall mainstay since pioneer days. Sponsored by the International Polka Assoc. based in Illinois, check out their list of Polka events around the Midwest and East Coast; or look for fun and festive Polka events in your local area. A-1-&-a-2 …   

January 3^rd & 4^th: Well, I wanted to tell you about The Quadrantids Meteor Shower for these days, but as luck would have it, we’re a tad late. Hope you were in an area that could see the vibrant show. Go here for more meteor showers throughout this year, with a magnificent Geminid Meteor Shower predicted, to wind up the year in December.

January 11^th: Celebrate January’s New Beginnings with New Moon Musings! Always a popular day in January, this New Moon boosts your life refresher course for the month and the year. A great day to meditate (and for three days after).  

January 23^rd: Do you flex your fingers after a full day of keyboarding? Take a break and exercise your fingers on National Handwriting Day! The self-serving sponsor is more for wholesalers than the public (writing instruments, of course), but it does remind us that in a world of keyboards and screens, we should make the effort to enjoy tech downtime and simply write … on a piece of paper … with a pen or pencil. Remember those? Do more than write your name. Maybe enjoy a new practice of handwriting even a few paragraphs daily, in a journal. You’ll find a new writing perspective.

January 25^th: Do you feel it? Full Moon Magic surrounds each of us to create an individually personal energy that works within and without us. If you’re in touch with your inner being, the Full Moon can guide you through the month and connect you with your immediate future. Always a good couple of days (one before, one after) to meditate—even ten minutes is better than nothing—or at least give yourself a half-hour of personal peace. I typically take a whole day to simply “do nothing” and recharge my inner batteries.

This month, the Full Wolf Moon (as known by Native Americans of New England and the Great Lakes), shines on the wolves howling in hunger. A fitting alternative name, the Full Center Moon, comes from the Assiniboine people, denoting the middle of the cold season when creature food stores may be dwindling.

January 26^th: For San Diegans (California) this is a good day to head out to the San Diego County Fairgrounds and enjoy a tribute concert to the Grateful Dead, by Dark Star Orchestra. They focus on offering full setlists from the sizable repertoire of the Dead’s massive list of concerts. Not in San Diego? Check out this site of fun festival listings across the country. 

January 28^th: Get out your wax paper and a plastic comb—it’s National Kazoo Day! Although the sponsoringsite suggests this day to celebrate, they also say, “… or anytime around there that suits you.” That’s the laid-back style of the simple musical instrument made popular in the Southern U.S. around the 1840s. It debuted at the Georgia State Fair in 1852 as the “Down South Submarine,” but wasn’t commercially produced until 1912. Think it’s only for “simple songs”? Think again … the Kazoo has made appearances in Rock greats’ musical tunes from Pink Floyd to Jimi Hendrix and the band Weezer. Start humming and enjoy!

֎ Monthly Song of Note ♪  
Finally, we come to the 39AHC vintage Song of Note for January 1974—and the inspiration for our article title. 39ers “of a certain age,” not only remember much of what the song’s lyrics speak, but the patriotism we once shared 50 Years Ago.

Byron MacGregor (born Gary Mack, a Canadian radio/TV news anchor and director), topped the charts with a heartfelt recording of “The Americans” as a reminder of our contributions to the world. At the time, MacGregor was a news director at the powerful CKLW radio station in Windsor, Ontario, with proceeds donated to The American Red Cross.

Now as then, America has suffered turmoil within and without … but even through all the chaos and mayhem in 1974, we were still collectively proud and doggedly strong. Perhaps this reminder of our history is again, in order for all of us. ♪ … And this Canadian thinks it's time | To speak up for the Americans | As the most generous and possibly | The least appreciated people | In all the Earth … ♪  Click this link for more tuneful tidbits to manifest your memories of 1974, and keep the Rock Rockin’ from 50 Years Ago this Month! 

֎ For 39ers who Follow the Stars  

2024 starpower begins as an election year, a Leap Year, anoints the first week of January with a Quadrantid meteor shower, and finishes up with a spectacular Geminid meteor shower in December. Buckle up, it’s gonna be a fun ride!

In the first quarter, we’re celebrating the Capricorn Goat (12/22/23 – 01/19) as we head into the New Year, urging you not to ignore your stringent goals, but ease up a bit to evolve with your heart’s desires. By the New Moon on January 11^th, you’ll be charged up and ready for action! Make sure you know what you want …

Our Aquarius Water-Bearers (01/20 – 02/18), however, need to stay the course on forging ahead with career, talents, and monetary gains, all year. This should prove to be a stellar year for you, right from the beginning. The 25^th’s Full Moon will trigger a change you’ve been considering … do it now, and move forward.

֎ Aging with ATT-i-tude Platitude  
In the beginning of a New Year, it’s imperative that 39ers in all facets of life … personal, community, country, and world … review to improve.  ~ L. Rochelle 

Happy UN-Birthday 39ers ~ JANUARY 2024 ~ Happy New Year! 
       This one’s for you, kids – Renee, Erin, Chris, Jodie Joe!

Join the 39 & Holding Club!
Celebrate 39 & Holding Day! 
Chat on Twitter: @39HoldingClub

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And dear readers, I just want you to know that I try my best to create an informative, aesthetically creative article for you each month. However, Blogger is not a professional hosting site—but they’re free through Google. So we’re stuck with their crummy platform that doesn’t work well to manipulate images with writing, if you aren’t a techie who knows HTML. Trust me, I’ve tried for years to write articles without gaps between paragraphs and even between sentences. Sigh. Maybe I’ll win the lottery and be able to afford a professional hosting site someday. Cheers!

LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published two books (of three) in her Blast from Your Past series, available on Amazon: Book 1 (currently eBook only, until updated) – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2 (eBook, print & color!) – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon … The Psychedelic Seventies!

*Important Message: Any data, links, or opinions on this site are for your information only and does not constitute legal or medical expertise of any kind. My proficiency is writing and sensible reporting. Period. All links have been vetted, but as always, please use data, links, or my skewed opinions at your own risk. And, if you're being tracked, my apology. It isn't me, it's Blogger. :-(

Are you a 39er this month? Welcome to the 39 and Holding Club! Feel free to share your UN-birthday comments below (click on Comments or if it says No Comments, click that to be the first) and tell us how you really feel about your age and aging. Keep the stories coming!

<><><><>39ers RULE<><><><>

 

39ers Aging with ATTitude December 2023

 39ers’ December Word of the Month: Nostalgia   

Happy UN-Birthday DECEMBER 39ers! Along with Sagittarians and Capricorns, we celebrate the month’s Holidays in humility and rumination. Oh, heck no, it isn’t as serious as it sounds! Just a friendly reminder to take some time for yourself to reflect … rejuvenate … rejoice!

֎ Celebrating DECEMBER 39ers ~ And More! 
While we feature the month’s 39ers, we know there’s more to the December than parties … here, we find days and ways for everyone to enjoy and celebrate together or solo …

Bingo anyone? It’s Bingo’s Birthday Month! If you haven’t been to a casino bingo room or a local bingo “hall” lately, you may not know it has grown well beyond your grandmother’s “grayhair” game. Casinos pay real dollars for you gambling that you’ll win the pot, and even community organizations play for big prizes to donate dollars to their fave charities. Yep, Bingo is lively and fun these days—even at home, you can make it a rowdy Holiday pastime. Though there is no official link, WIKI can tell you all about its origin as a game, and the claims to how it got its current name. B-4 … BINGO!

December 12^th: Thanks to the folks at Creating My Happiness, their National Ding-a-Ling Day dredged up a great 39er memory! 39ers “of a certain age” will remember when telephones sat on a desk or hung on a wall and rang loudly with glee during the Holidays. We also recall the vintage Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In TV show that gave us the best telephone memory ever … “One ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingy … Is this the party to whom I’m speaking?” Lily Tomlin as “Ernestine” the telephone operator with the 1940s hairnet hairstyle, still makes me laugh—and then guffaw at her rude snorts. But seriously, m’dears, as the host site says, “What’s that, you say? National Ding-A-Ling Day is a day to reconnect with loved ones you have lost contact with … ” So this Holiday, if there is someone you’ve meant to talk with all year, but didn’t … give them a ring now and have a wonderful chat!

December 12^th: As always during the days of the New Moon, we urge you to breathe deep and award yourself new beginnings with New Moon Musings. It’s your monthly fresh start, never needed more than in December. Self-review helps strengthen your inner spirit and bolster your resolve to move forward with purpose for the New Year.

December 14^th: And you thought December was all about the Holidays. Welcome to Monkey Day! Yep, you read right and the only link associated with it is on WIKI. So, here’s the origin scoop: Created and popularized by a couple of Michigan State University art student dudes back in 2000, as a joke, it stayed on campus until the quirky fun of creating monkey art, wearing primate costumes and imitating their behavior caught on to others. Monkey Day has likely slipped by the wayside for the students, Casey Sorrow, now an internationally published illustrator and printmaker, and Pulitzer Prize winning Eric Millikin (known for occult and artificial intelligence art). Here’s a thought … you could create a great monkey Christmas sweater and wear it for …

December 15^th: National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day … why not add a monkey to it and combine the spec
ial days?! Now that sounds like fun …

December 24^th-25^th: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day … If you don’t know what you’re doing on these days by now, give it up and just sip your Hot Toddy while you sing “Jingle Bell Rock” off-key and wait for Santa. Whether a religious experience or a jolly holly time, or both, enjoy!

December 26^th: It’s time for Full Moon Magic! What’s more magical than a full moon over Christmas? This month’s almanac name for it is Full Cold Moon. With the First Day of Winter just a few days before, the nights seem to close in ever earlier and makes ya shiver just thinking about it. The Anishinaabe still call it “Little Spirit Moon,” and the Mohican aptly named it the “Long Night Moon.” It’ll be plenty full during your Holiday celebrations, so remember to take a few minutes and look up … it’ll give you new perspective. 

December 27^th: Another special day with no link and absolutely nothing to do with Holidays! It’s Howdy Doody Day! Raise your hands, 39ers … who remembers “Buffalo Bob” on your old black-and-white TV exclaiming, "Say, kids, what time is it?” And we shouted back, “It’s Howdy Doody Time”! Of course this pertains only to the oldsters of 39ers, but honey, there are still some of us around and we ain’t dead yet! Take a peek at the Smithsonian Museum of American History’s account of the impressive marionette and enjoy some blatant nostalgia singing along Buffalo Bob and an audience of excited kids.

 December 31^st: No surprise, it’s New Year’s Eve! But a welcome addition to your revelry would be a few minutes spent on World Peace Meditation Day. There is no official link and references can be politically or religiously motivated, but I think it’s a worthwhile personal endeavor to end a tumultuous year and send forth positive thoughts into the New Year, don’t you? If nothing else, meditate and be at peace with yourself.

֎ Monthly Song of Note ♪

If we gave each month a defining word, December’s would surely be “nostalgia.” This month’s 50 Years Ago Song of Note personifies the word. It’s the time of year when we miss those we can’t be with, for whatever reason. “Me and Baby Brother” by War—an incongruous group name for a jazzy yet poignant song—was starting a steady descent on its way down WKKO/Cocoa Beach, Florida’s, Top 35 music chart, for week ending December 23^rd at #13, from #6 previous week. Although it was personal for founding member/songwriter, Lonnie Jordan, its broad meaning reminds us to rely on our family and friends to overcome life’s obstacles. It’s better than trying to go it alone, but when you must, your inner strength is no slouch, either. Persevere.

♪ … Come back, baby brother | You’re my baby brother | Love my baby brother | Come back, baby brother … ♪  More tuneful tidbits to manifest your memories of 1973, and keep the Rock Rockin’ from 50 Years Ago this Month!  

֎ For 39ers who Follow the Stars

Did you gasp when you saw your Sagittarius 39er friend (11/22-12/21) wearing purple in a decidedly red and green month? It’s okay. They’re probably feeling frisky and colorful. Besides, you know the Archers usually do what they darn well want to … and that’s what you love about them. Known to be free-spirited, Sags are often the light of the party, introducing people to each other and watching the sparks fly. Enjoy the show, but remember, one of you needs to keep a level head. This month, beginning with the New Moon on the 12^th, you Sagittarians will do a lot of introspection for the New Year. Go ahead … you’ll feel refreshed and rejuvenated.

If you’re a Capricorn 39er (12/22-01/19) watching your friends throw caution to the wind, no problem! You’re more than happy to take over and make sure everything goes as planned, ensuring those you care about are safe and sound. Watching you take command, your friends know their Sea Goat 39er doesn’t strive to excel just for the moment … it’s their natural way of life. December may not go as planned though, especially in the latter half, but by the New Year, Sagittarians will be back on game and looking for fun, with a cheery sigh of relief.

֎ Aging with ATT-i-tude Platitude 
If you’re 39 and Holding, the Holidays—and life—hold more meaning. Reflect … rejuvenate … rejoice. ~ L. Rochelle

Happy UN-Birthday 39ers ~ DECEMBER 2023 ~ Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
       This one’s for you, kids – Linda, Patricia, Ken and Kevin!  

Join the 39 & Holding Club!
Celebrate 39 & Holding Day!
Chat on Twitter: @39HoldingClub

<><><><><><><><> 

And dear readers, I just want you to know that I try my best to create an informative, aesthetically creative article for you each month. However, Blogger is not a professional hosting site—but they’re free through Google. So we’re stuck with their crummy platform that doesn’t work well to manipulate images with writing, if you aren’t a techie who knows HTML. Trust me, I’ve tried for years to write articles without gaps between paragraphs and even between sentences. Sigh. Maybe I’ll win the lottery and be able to afford a professional hosting site someday. Cheers!

LinDee Rochelle is a writer and editor by trade, and author by way of Rock & Roll. She has published two books (of three) in her Blast from Your Past series, available on Amazon (eBook and print): Book 1 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The First Five Years 1954-1959; and Book 2 – Rock & Roll Radio DJs: The Swinging Sixties. Coming soon … The Psychedelic Seventies!

*Important Message: Any data, links, or opinions in this site are for your information only and does not constitute legal or medical expertise of any kind. My proficiency is writing and sensible reporting. Period. Please use all data, links, or my skewed opinions at your own risk.

Are you a 39er this month? Welcome to the 39 and Holding Club! Feel free to share your UN-birthday comments below (click on Comments or if it says No Comments, click that to be the first) and tell us how you really feel about your age and aging. Keep the stories coming!

<><><><>39ers RULE<><><><>