Had the incredible privilege of sitting down with award winning scientists at the University of Texas Barshop Age Institute. Here the Director Arlan Richardson explained the breakthrough leading work they are doing in Rapamycin. This compound has shown to extend the life of mammals by 1/3 more. Ok so Rapamycin comes from the bacteria found in the soil at Easter Island. Thus Rapa Nui. Wow.
These scientists that are creating stunning science with aging and it leads one to the question if we get to live longer what the hell will it mean for us. We don't want to be really dragging our bodies around and just barely conscious. At least let's have our last years still somewhat intact.
The point is we are on the frontier of making those last years more liveable. Our discoveries in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS have the urgency for a treatment. Yes a cure. And we have clumped the idea of these diseases and dementia into one small pile. The idea is that we will be able to isolate and start to pre-treat these problems. That is the big hope of the use of Rapamycin by the Barshop institute. I found the conversation interesting that it changed from living forever to ...let's make our last years liveable.
So let's rally into the war on that is ravaging people that we love with the horror of dimentia.
And win this thing.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Go ahead and shootem'
"Well that's what happens when you get our age". That one statement is such a failure of living when you consider someone in their 50's said it. This comment shows how powerful our popular TMZ culture defines age. Because we are still defining culture by youth and some twisted heroic archetypes like Kim K, and Lindsay. etc. But it is curious...
In the last couple of months I have been lucky to interview some folks in their 90's and they have the license to say that first statement but I have yet to hear them utter it. My quest in part is to continue to find a way to look at getting older like the way the group the ANIMALS sang "We've gotta get out of this place. If it's the last thing we ever do." Basically while the Animals would laugh at 50 years old and it was old then... I see treating the idea of older age in a friggin' rebellious manner.
Like I stated I am learning a lot from these elders. From me there's a new definition of age that is coming.
And for those that give up in their 50's and whine I say write em off. Always ever day. The best is yet to come "And baby it will be fine."
In the last couple of months I have been lucky to interview some folks in their 90's and they have the license to say that first statement but I have yet to hear them utter it. My quest in part is to continue to find a way to look at getting older like the way the group the ANIMALS sang "We've gotta get out of this place. If it's the last thing we ever do." Basically while the Animals would laugh at 50 years old and it was old then... I see treating the idea of older age in a friggin' rebellious manner.
Like I stated I am learning a lot from these elders. From me there's a new definition of age that is coming.
And for those that give up in their 50's and whine I say write em off. Always ever day. The best is yet to come "And baby it will be fine."
Monday, January 24, 2011
Truly a big deal or not ?
The quest out there is before us. Learning to love our life, learning to forgive ourselves. And moving forward to help others. Helping those people we know and best of all the people who are strangers. Therein lies the rewarding adventure for me. The other day a mother managing two children was trying to buy lunch at a counter in line ahead of me. She could not make up her mind. And the children...one in a carrying pouch and the other sitting in a grocery cart were like roving dancing ants. Round and round. This mom was trying to get food for her kids. Not hold anyone up and make a good decision. I just instinctively told her to take her time. She stepped back and said "That's ok" and opened the counter to me. I then made my order and looked back at her as she now knew what she wanted.
I told her to step up and break line as I had sort of held her place. People in line behind me.She made her order and profusely thanked me. And it was truly not a big deal. But for her it meant the world. I took my sandwich and walked out to the office. I felt so heroic for that moment. And it was truly not a big deal.I don't recount it for compliments. I write this to remind myself to slow down. And the benefits thereof.
Two days ago I was sitting with some friends and a lady recognized one of guys I was having coffee with. She looked as if she was in her late 60's if not 70. She and my friend reminisce about some old times. Then she said to him, "Did you know Don Turner?" He said Yes and then she told the story of how Don Turner went to prison after it was found 10-15 years later that he had molested a number of boys in his scout troop as he was a scout master. The woman's eyes quickly floated in tears, but tears did not drop. She then said, "Oh dear God I feel so bad, because one day when my son was a boy and he was sick. I let Don Tuner go up to his room and see him." You knew in that moment this woman was releasing some guilt from this terrifying story. My friend calmed her a bit. And she spoke a bit more. Then she caught her breath and they exchanged more discussion about the old neighborhood they shared. Later in the same store I saw her and she smiled at me and waved at me with a much more relieved face. Here was a woman that let go of a secret story and we helped her. God knows how long she carried it without telling anyone. A crystalized moment that afterwards I realized was a truly a big deal. Again it took a bit of time to listen but it helped me gain the understand of the power of helping through listening. The sum total of it all is that something that really isn't a big deal can mean a huge deal and life repairing moment for another fellow human being.
I told her to step up and break line as I had sort of held her place. People in line behind me.She made her order and profusely thanked me. And it was truly not a big deal. But for her it meant the world. I took my sandwich and walked out to the office. I felt so heroic for that moment. And it was truly not a big deal.I don't recount it for compliments. I write this to remind myself to slow down. And the benefits thereof.
Two days ago I was sitting with some friends and a lady recognized one of guys I was having coffee with. She looked as if she was in her late 60's if not 70. She and my friend reminisce about some old times. Then she said to him, "Did you know Don Turner?" He said Yes and then she told the story of how Don Turner went to prison after it was found 10-15 years later that he had molested a number of boys in his scout troop as he was a scout master. The woman's eyes quickly floated in tears, but tears did not drop. She then said, "Oh dear God I feel so bad, because one day when my son was a boy and he was sick. I let Don Tuner go up to his room and see him." You knew in that moment this woman was releasing some guilt from this terrifying story. My friend calmed her a bit. And she spoke a bit more. Then she caught her breath and they exchanged more discussion about the old neighborhood they shared. Later in the same store I saw her and she smiled at me and waved at me with a much more relieved face. Here was a woman that let go of a secret story and we helped her. God knows how long she carried it without telling anyone. A crystalized moment that afterwards I realized was a truly a big deal. Again it took a bit of time to listen but it helped me gain the understand of the power of helping through listening. The sum total of it all is that something that really isn't a big deal can mean a huge deal and life repairing moment for another fellow human being.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Meet me in Outer Space
Out of the corner of my eye I saw him. He moved the angle of his body toward me. In front of me was a museum TV monitor repeatedly showing the U.S. Landing on the moon, with commentary by Walter Cronkite. It was the last day of a special exhibit on Walter Cronkite at the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas. Cronkite appeared retelling how he was caught speechless when they Neil Armstrong and crew touched down on the moon. There I finally gave way and asked the man
"Where were you?" With a broad face and large features, oversized aviator glasses, guessing him to be in his late 60's. "I was at NASA. I was there as part of the Lockheed Space Group". In that moment I had that Alien point of contact with another being.
The need for all of us to make contact and share something we believe is extraordinary with each other. This man was beaming and told me "It was the most proudest moment of my life". I could only respond with exclamations. Light just glowed from his face. He wanted to know where I was...I told him I was watching from a kitchen TV in the back of a restaurant in Monterrey, Mexico. The cook was yelling something like "El Hombre en la Luna".
The man nodded to connect that I had the experience too.
Here was a simple moment. A momentous one for us as humans. To experience the connection. Unplanned. Out of the blue. It is like stepping out into our own Outer Space. Connecting on the same ground with a total stranger.
Sharing something together. When you open your eyes you can see moments like this. It takes place more often than you think. Look around. If it happens savor it.
"Where were you?" With a broad face and large features, oversized aviator glasses, guessing him to be in his late 60's. "I was at NASA. I was there as part of the Lockheed Space Group". In that moment I had that Alien point of contact with another being.
The need for all of us to make contact and share something we believe is extraordinary with each other. This man was beaming and told me "It was the most proudest moment of my life". I could only respond with exclamations. Light just glowed from his face. He wanted to know where I was...I told him I was watching from a kitchen TV in the back of a restaurant in Monterrey, Mexico. The cook was yelling something like "El Hombre en la Luna".
The man nodded to connect that I had the experience too.
Here was a simple moment. A momentous one for us as humans. To experience the connection. Unplanned. Out of the blue. It is like stepping out into our own Outer Space. Connecting on the same ground with a total stranger.
Sharing something together. When you open your eyes you can see moments like this. It takes place more often than you think. Look around. If it happens savor it.
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