FDOSB (First Day Of Summer Blog)

Let me tell you about Wednesday.  And being in my 60's. I played a form of golf known as a scramble with my brother in law, sister in law and nephew.  On an almost empty course on a gorgeous day.  A scramble means everyone in the group hits a shot.  And wherever the best shot lands, everybody hits their second shot from there.  Same with the third and fourth and so on.  It's an interesting format because it makes all the participants into a team. All pulling for each other. It gave everybody a chance to be the hero on different holes.  And it allowed us to shoot perilously close to par the entire day.  I wish the country worked like that.  Everyone pulling together for the common good, but that's another topic for another day.

After that, we celebrated my sister in law's big birthday with her cousin and husband at Blue Hill restaurant at Stone Barns.  This spectacular feast went from 9 pm to almost 1 am. On a Wednesday.  But here's the thing. Those of us at the table who worked, were established enough in their careers to sleep a little later and take a later train the next morning.  Those who weren't working or no longer working in a business not their own (like me) slept a little later and didn't have to tell anyone about it.

And I think that is the beauty of this time in one's life.  Sure, you've got aching bones.  You need thyroid pills and would a little statin be such a bad thing?  But It's a comfort that comes with knowing yourself and accepting your strengths and limitations.  (One of the limitations of being in your 60's apparently is not knowing how to share on social media or websites, but John and I are going to do something about that, by making a video and showing you how to share.) Yeah,  I know your mothers all taught you how to share already but that was a different kind.

So if you're in your 60's or even in your 50's (or even 49 like one of my friends who shall go nameless) or younger like John's and my kids, have a terrific summer and congratulations for making it this far without two hip replacements.  I hope you recognize yourself in these strips (or recognize your parents) and that it brings you some much needed laughter.  And thank you so much for following us.  We really appreciate it.

Andy

Musings from the New 60, 6/15/18

What does it mean to be in your 60's and working on your "second act?" It's a lot more fun than the first act.  That I can tell you.  But also a lot less lucrative, at least so far.  Being in your 60's means waking up to meet some friends to play golf on a Tuesday morning.  And then opening with a triple bogey.  It means getting pissed at the aforementioned triple bogey and then not giving a damn.  It means riding a bike without constantly hearing "on your left," because you're the only one on the path. It means working at 9 am or 3 pm or 1 am because nobody's asking, "Where were you?  Now only I ask myself, "Where was I," and frequently, I forget.  

Even stuff that's a pain in the butt like grocery shopping and doing errands are easier because you can do them when the rest of the working world isn't doing them.  It even means taking the time to try out new recipes.  And then saying "the hell with it and going out to dinner when it doesn't work out."  

Now that the World Cup has started, it means not having to sneak out of work at 11 am to watch a game in a nearby bar (as I had done on several occasions with my co-creator and fellow soccer buff, John Colquhoun).

And it also means staying up waaayyyyy too late because you don't really have to be up at 6:30 am the next morning.  I know I lot of people my age that say they can no longer sleep past 6 in the morning.  I am not one of those people.

Next week, we'll be back with a couple new comics, and I will have lived a few more embarrassing  situations to be fodder for future comics.  And I may even take a crack at baking bread. "'Cause if if it doesn't work out, I can always get a proper loaf on Arthur Avenue.

Have a great weekend

Andy

Our first blog

After over a year’s worth of work with my partner and collaborator, John Colquhoun, we have a comic, The New 60.  And a new website, which you already know because that’s the only way you could be reading this blog.

It's going to be dedicated to musings from John and me that relate to what the strip is about … what it’s like to be in our 60’s in this day and age.

So I could have written about the recent court case, where the parents of a 30 year old young man had to sue him in order to get him to move out of their split level house (true story), but that seemed a bit removed.

Or I could have written about how I stayed up until 1:30 last night watching the Mets actually win a game that was delayed by rain for 3 hours.  The Mets, for crying out loud.  But this is not a sports writing venue (that doesn’t mean I won’t try from time to time).

Nope.  Instead this is going to be about a trip I took to a golf superstore.  Now that I am not working full time, I have a lot more “me time.”  I got fitted for new clubs and the pro suggested I buy clubs with “senior shafts.” It may not sound like much to you if you’re not a golfer, but to me, it was tantamount to the guy saying, “Listen gramps, you’re old, you need a senior shaft. Get over it.”  But on my part, it was an acceptance of aging and even a grappling with mortality.

If you’re a fan of the New 60, you no doubt saw the comic strip we did around that subject, making a sophomoric dick joke, but the point is, the comic hopefully reflects what we all go through during this aging process (that we can sort of cheat with diet, exercise, medicine and botox.)

Life events like the golf store experience are simply idea starters. Then we play with them, add to them, subtract from them and tailor them to (hopefully) make them funny.  In only four frames.  With color. If we’re doing our jobs right, you dear reader, will say “Oh wow, that is so me!”

That’s it for now.  Feels good.  Had to get that first blog published.  Especially so you’ll have something to read when you click that header that says “Blog”.

Best,

Andy