Mumbai Mirror

I checked the traffic on my site yesterday and found a disproportionate number of people from India. I didn't know why that was until I checked the referring URL. They had all come from an article in the Mumbai Mirror. It was very cool to read an article which not only wrote about my blog, but wrote about my blog so intuitively. Mihir Patkar, whoever you are, Thank You. I have no idea if most people find the elderly as interesting as I do. And, I have no idea if people really give a crap about the journey I'm taking. Regardless, I throw it out there for the world to see and hope for the best. It was really nice to find this come back at me.

Life Advice From Old People

A young man, a camera and a world full of wise old people willing to share some advice

By Mihir Patkar

In India, we are raised with a reverence for those who are older than us. As a kid or a rebellious teenager, the reason for that often seems mysterious. Just because someone is older means they know more? It’s only with age itself that you realise that there is simply no substitute for experience – and that’s what age gives you.

I came across today’s site while surfing one of my favourite geek-tips resources, MakeUseOf, where author Guy McDowell had a very nice way of putting across why senior citizens give the best advice. He wrote: “I like to think they are senior in the way a General is senior to a Colonel. Not senior just because they’ve survived, but because they have overcome.”

This message is prevalent throughout Seth Menachem’s blog, Life Advice From Old People. The blog-based format works best for this one, as there is no more content than an update every few days that has new advice from a senior citizen that the author spoke to.

Basically, Menachem always travels around with his trusty camcorder, and his extroverted nature draws him towards elders. Striking up a conversation, he then asks them to record a short message or a few words of advice for the youth in general.

Now, this would have seemed random at first, but Menachem takes the pains to talk to the subject, figure out a bit about their lifestyle and create a nice profile in the process. It is more a journey you take with him, rather than a video you watch about some random old guy.

Menachem has even got some celebrities on video, with the likes of Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight and Oscar-winning director Errol Morris.

The clips are usually short, succinct and good-humoured. In any case, only a fool would refuse free advice, right?

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/22/2009080720090807130448937575dbca5/Life-Advice-From-Old-People.html

The Kosher Maven

Sylvia writes for an industry magazine as "The Kosher Maven" (expert) so it wasn't too odd that I met her at the grocery store at the end of my block, Western Kosher. Off camera, she was extremely talkative. She told me she was rushing around to get ready for Shabbat, but she continued to stand there and give me tips on healthy eating - even telling me about "Earth Kosher," a new label that came out which is entirely organic. I wasn't raised in a kosher home but when I asked her why a non-religious person should eat kosher she told me it's the healthiest - especially the Lubavitch meat, which she likes the best. She said with kosher meat there are no hormones added and the animals are treated better before they are killed. They aren't put in cages because there's too much risk of disease. A good point and a valid argument but am I the only one who finds it just a little off-putting that kosher chicken seems to be covered in feathers?

Her first piece of advice - Gam zu l'tovah - "This, too, is for the best," is a Jewish concept which says that even when seemingly bad things are happening it is for a better reason. I've heard stories of this - things along the lines of a guy who is late to catch a flight and races to the airport. Maybe he gets a flat tire on the freeway. He changes the tire and then a few miles from the airport another tire pops. He's stranded and the flight he was trying to get flies right over his head. Later, he hears of a plane crash - his missed flight. Gam Zu L'tovah. I made that story up but you get the idea. The thing is, it's a nice concept - and religious people (not just Jews) hold on to this idea that everything that happens to us is for a reason - a reason which we might not understand because God doesn't want us to. I wish I believed that way. It would make my life a lot easier. But, I can't. I try but it doesn't work for me. I feel like if there is a God then He's not paying much attention to me or anyone else's lives.

I have this image of a kid who gets an ant farm. He's excited - he puts in the soil, balances it with the right amount of moisture, and feeds the ants the necessary food. It's fun to watch them build things in their new world and when the boy sees an ant tunnel collapsing, he adds some moiture in order to build up the strength of the sand. But as time goes by the boy grows tired of his ant farm... and soon, it's sitting on a shelf somewhere left abandoned by its creator. The ants build tunnels, fight for resources, mate, and go about their lives. But when a tragedy happens - a drout, a tunnel collapse - the ants are on their own. There's no gam zu l'tovah, even if they wish it to be. They might say it, but deep down they all know - they've been left to their own devices a long time ago.

Whatever You Do, Think Long Term

Richard's my mom's boyfriend - a term that still sounds a little odd to me 17 years after my dad died, but I better get used to it. I can't get rid of the guy. And I'm glad my mom's found someone who makes her happy. Even if he is a curmudgeon.

Richard was born in Harlem, NY and raised in Washington Heights. His family was poor - his father ran an unsuccessful business waxing floors with two other guys in factories in New Jersey. From the age of six, Richard worked. His first job was selling Liberty Magazines for five cents out of a pouch thrown over his shoulder. He then delivered kosher meat for a butcher, worked in a dry cleaning business, and did various other odd jobs until he went to the University of Miami, where his family moved for his father's next venture - an unsuccessful men's store on Miami Beach. Richard worked there through college.

After getting a business degree, he became a CPA. He worked for a few years before starting his own firm which - unlike his father's businesses - became very successful in Miami. Although financially he did very well, he grew bored with accounting and soon got himself involved in more intellectually stimulating business pursuits. He got into the banking business and then, after working continuously from the age of six, he retired at 54.

Richard's a very singularly-focused man. And, it wasn't until after retirement where he was really able to flourish in other areas of his life. His wife, Rosie taught him about art, music, and theater. He became an avid collecter of art, as well as a patron of the theater and concert halls, all facilitated by his wife.

Although he has a beautiful house in Aspen, he spends most of his time in Manhattan or Miami. And, when he's not there, he's traveling the globe with my mom. He's the kind of guy who says what he thinks and makes no apologies for having said it. I love that there's nothing fake about him, though his bluntness can offend the more sensitive. He's extremely smart, with a great head for business, yet has been completely supportive of my creative pursuits. In fact, when I went to him for some business advice he told me to forget investing in business at this point. He said I should stick with what I'm doing and was confident that it had a good chance of bringing me a lot of success - "It's a no brainer." His advice often comes unsolicited, though it would be wise to listen to him. And if I ever look uncertain about what he's just told me, he'll smile proudly and say, "I gave you some pretty good advice." Who can argue with that?

Richard's advice to everyone:



Richard's advice to me:

Farmer Tom

Tom raises cattle on a ranch in Aspen, Colorado. Unlike most farmers, Tom started his life over and became a farmer at 65. As a child, he was born in Amsterdam and fled with his mom and sister during the war. His father stayed back to run the business, in denial about what was happening to Jews. While Tom and his family settled at an uncle's house in New York, Tom's father was being killed in Auschwitz. Tom's uncle had a farm which never made much money, but his uncle loved what he did for a living. That's more than you can say for most people who go to work every day. Tom also loved farming. When it was time for college, Tom's mother pushed him to be like the rest of his family - rabbis, doctors, lawyers, and businessmen. She sent him to NYU to get an aptitude test to see what they thought he should be doing. With questions like, "Would you rather read a book or take a walk in the woods," Tom had no difficulty convincing them - and his mother - he was meant for farming. He went to agriculture school and later became a grain merchant. He raised a family and continued in business as people tend to do. Then, fed up with having never tried to fulfill his dream, he took his savings and bought a herd of wagyu cattle, which make a very high end beef, such as Kobe and Mishima.

I loved the morning my family and I spent with Tom. He's smart, interesting, and the kind of guy who takes healthy chances in life. Being on a ranch is extremely relaxing. And the cows are really cool animals. When we were pulling out, one of the cows poked her whole head into the car to say bye to my wife. She didn't want us to leave. Neither did I.

Tom, age 70.

Don't Be Afraid To Try Anything

I met Bill outside of Woody Creek Tavern in Aspen, Colorado, most known for being the hangout of Hunter S. Thompson. He saw my mom's Boston Red Sox hat and started up a conversation. We're not from Boston, but he is. And, although he's been in Aspen for 42 years he still has the Boston accent. I have an uncle who lives in Boston and in high school I spent a summer there where I learned how to play jazz drums at Berklee School of Music. Although I learned to love jazz, I spent more time in Little Steve's House of Pizza then I ever did in class. I still miss that place - with the hookers, college kids, drunks, and other characters piling in for huge slices of pizza. But I digress. Bill's a quiet man - I'm actually not sure what he was doing at Woody's that afternoon. He wasn't eating or waiting to eat. He was just watching people come and go. Bill came to Aspen to get into the ski industry but when things didn't work out the way he planned he gave something else a shot - and he learned he was pretty good at it. When I asked him how he got to his advice he said, "I had pretty good mentors." I think that's an important part of success - finding the right people who can help you along the way and not being afraid to ask for help.