This is a thread for ILXORS IN THEIR 50's

Not there yet myself dude. You might have to wait a while, wait for the return of Martin Skeedmore, who can out-[Controversial Moderator Edit] them all, whatever his age.

"ilxors in the '50s" would be a fun photoshop thread

ned at the sockhop

abbott being a sexy cold war scientist

huh

I got it, it wasn't hard to follow it was a simple piece of business.

i just want to see abbott as a sexy cold war scientist is all

I am a 53 year old ILXor in the Naughties. Does that count? My only time in the 50's occured when I was aged 0-5, from November, 1954 until Dec. 31, 1959.

did you see ned at the sockhop

NO

The sockhop ended some time before I entered high school in Sept. 1968. I was not inconsolable over this happenstance. I was a rotten dancer.

sept 1968 was like the gayest time to enter high school

everyone cool in those days were entering college

u cursed by the stars aimless

everyone cool in those days were entering college WAS GETTING DRAFTED TO 'NAM

yep -- that's where my pops was in '68 -- sent there two weeks after i got borned! booh hooh.

--a sometime ilxor in his 40s

everyone cool in those days were entering college WAS GETTING DRAFTED TO 'NAM WAS NOT ME, BY ANY STRETCH OF IMAGINATION! Skinny, geeky 13 year old, I'm just sayin'.

nED AT THE SOCKHOP OH MY GOD

aimless serious q did you at least smoke a lot of pot? and at least know a kid like trip fontaine?

if not you have destroyed any reason i have to respect actual early 70s HS kids

I am 10 years shy of 50 but this thread is making me feel old.

momus is almost 50

There's a Guided By Voices song about this.

nED AT THE SOCKHOP OH MY GOD

I really, really don't know how to react to this.

weve all reacted by blotting it out

Well I know that you're in love with him,
Because I saw you dancing in the gym
You both kicked off your Keds.
Oh, I dig that rhythm and Ned!

(I thought JBR's suggestion at first was an age progression of ILXors into their fifties and was thinking "oh it won't take much to imagine some of that.")

Ned, all you have to do is put on the socks. That's all. And we need a hardwood floor, and XTC's "Life Begins At The Hop". Now who will film this????

did you at least smoke a lot of pot?

I think the first time I smoked pot was roughly summer of 1970. Didn't do much for me. My friends included several 'heads', but I was just a dabbler. My older brother was into it pretty far by 1971. He still tokes up now.

I didn't really get launched as a pot smoker until college, where I spent most of 1974 stoned. Made my own bong from a glass lab beaker. I quit entirely around 1977 or so. I can't say I miss it.

and at least know a kid like trip fontaine?

Hard to say, because I don't have a clue who trip fontaine is. I did know a lot of druggies and hippies in the 70s. They were as common as daisies back then.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3Pgo2kaznFU/RqsBjrRCKMI/AAAAAAAAARs/7wAJzhaYC3A/s1600/964.jpg

that link 404'ed me

(xxpost) Trip Fontaine is a character from the book/film "The Virgin Suicides"

Start at about 3:30 here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_smJP8oRnE

Btw, Frank Kogan, who posts to a couple of the rolling genre threads on ILM, is 54.

Also:
Most of the time I dwell in a state of unreality, where I have amazing superpowers. And I am 50 years old.

-- Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Monday, February 5, 2007 12:29 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Link

Our cohort is few, but mighty.

abbott being a sexy cold war scientist

OH MY GOD WHY WAS I NEVER THAT

I remember Howdy Doody.

and i thought i was old for remembering leaded gasoline!

madonna, michael jackson, prince and ME -- i am now 50 and 1/2.

sept 1968 was like the gayest time to enter high school

everyone cool in those days were entering college

there is truth lurking here -- people in our sub-generation have a complicated relationship w/our older sibs, the 60s baby boomers. this usage of "gay" is uhm, anachronisitic, or something. (I entered HS in 72 FWIW.)

anachronistic! edgy, you mean!!1!

so is bimble part of this exclusive club?

I didn't expect to get shoulder and back hair this late in the game.

ha was wondering what you meant in the 40s thread

what's up y'all

had a cardiologist call me at 7am to cancel my appointment (snow)

this morning the dentist said that my teeth with metal fillings will all eventually need crowns; seems legit, the youngest of those fillings is 40+ years old

i went to the dentist for lots of work this past year, first time since forever, and it was all space aged nano whatever shit and i think the dentist and his assistant were legit smirking at my one old iron ore filling from when i was a teenager, fifty years ago, in an eastern bloc nation

oh hi, I'm 54 now

peeing takes a long time

backache is a thing

(knocks on wood)

As hinted above, I have a cardiologist now! My primary doctor, who has pretty amazing raw skills -- like hearing -- apparently, thought he heard a murmur in my heartbeat last month. GREAT!

It turns out I have an "unconcerning" prolapse which is a "2" (not a 3 or a 4), so it just has to be checked every year from now on.

Aging is a motherfucker.

I find exercising with weights fascinating, because the approaches all differ depending on the goal. Like, if you want a certain look, it's going to take something different than if you want future-proofing strength (which is not necessarily the same thing as bulging muscles). My wife has a Peloton account (or borrows one) so I take weight classes through there, which are all good (and the instructors great at couching the work in practical terms, like being able to pick up groceries or kids). I usually use relatively heavy dumbbells, but every once in a while I might take a light weight class (like, less than 5lbs), and that shit is hard! There's really something for everyone, and it just teaches you the benefits of all this stuff, whether seemingly challenging or not. Don't like or have weights? Do body weight! Don't like core? Do standing core, it's easier, but is still really good for you! Stretching is boring? Do active stretching, it's better for you, too!

I like weight training (which I'd never done before a year or so ago) because I like video games, so doing a set of reps as part of a larger daily set of exercises is satisfying, my limbic system has a whole scaffolding of reward pathways pre-wired to enjoy hitting stages and milestones and watching numbers go up

My mom is someone with bad balance and poor hip mobility who falls or almost falls a lot. She fell off a bike (and broke her wrist), tripped over a bench (and broke her leg), doesn't pick her feet up so she trips a lot, and I'm terrified she'll do a header down a flight of stairs. This is spite of being active, climbing stairs, being on her feet. It wasn't from inaction, just not the right kind of activity, I guess? I don't have that tendency but I'm not planning to catch it, either. Working on balance and flexibility is incredibly important for staying safe and less injured, or even permanently losing mobility if you tear something. hazel otm, please do what you can.

― Ima Gardener (in orbit), Monday, August 3, 2026 7:07 PM (yesterday)

maybe i should start walking with a cane, idk, i've never had very good balance. i think i did have that second shingles shot... and it did beat my ass pretty bad...

If I ever need a mobility aid I want one of those kneeling scooters tbh. I could get to the subway a lot faster with one of those.

my boss has been using one of those for the last two months and he's managed to go over the handlebars like four times, I saw him do it once

(he might be too young to use it, he's only like 47)

You have to use the rear brake. Slamming on the front one is guaranteed to launch you over the handlebars with that high of a center of gravity.

I like weight training because I'm a sad bastard who likes to be strong and watch numbers go up. I'm never going to be map level, but I enjoy it. Although I think a large part of why I enjoy it is that it's just me and Mister Trish and our trainer and we have a laugh while we're doing it.

I think in Scotland the shingles jab is only given to those over 70. It's just one jab. I'll need to wait 17 yeara for the ilxors over 70 thread.

I got chicken pox at 24, so I'm figuring that shingles is pretty much inevitable unless I can gather enough money for the shot before it happens.

It should be free at any pharmacy if you’re 50+

Like a flu shot or whatever

I'm one month away from 60, my wife literally just bought a cane today. good revive.

It's free if you have insurance, and I don't have any.

I had to get into a study to get my last flu shot.

hi dere

There's strong evidence that the shingles vaccine lowers dementia risk, which is nice.

Huh, that's interesting.

Speaking of dementia, I've been fascinated to read about the connections between anxiety and dementia. There are some strong correlations. I started looking into it because of my mom's cognitive erosion over the last 4-5 years. She had a blood test done that showed she's unlikely to be developing Alzheimer's, so it leaves open the question of what's going on. The anxiety hypothesis seems quite possible in her case, she has been a super anxious person her whole life and it has become almost cartoonish in her older age. When I drive anywhere with her in the car, she keeps up a near-constant patter about everything that might go wrong. She just about loses her mind if we end up behind, say, a pickup truck with anything unsecured in the back. She is basically constantly scanning for worst-case scenarios. I don't pretend to understand the science, but it makes some intuitive sense to me that bathing your brain in endless stress hormones could have bad long-term effects.

Mentioning that not so much to scare anyone with chronic anxiety as just highlight it. There's some evidence that finding ways to reduce anxiety at any age is good for long-term neurological health.

Get that woman some meds! It doesn’t have to be like that. My parents both gritted their teeth through formidable mental health issues and it did NOT go well. Was catastrophic in fact.

My dad died due to complications of early onset dementia, around age 70. Dementia runs in our family (his side), and yet I'd never been particularly paranoid about it ... until my sister brought it up in a very dour "enjoy life while you can" sort of way. And since then I've thought about it a lot, lol. But the way I figure it, we're all just a jumble of genes, anyway; my mom (and her side) has stayed sharp, so maybe that will balance things out.

my wife literally just bought a cane today.

My wife just turned 50 this summer, but last year she got hearing aids. Hearing loss runs in *her* family, and she noticed enough decline to get tested, and yeah, at least one ear was maybe 30% less than it should have been? Hearing aids (however invisible) are of course as much of a hallmark of aging as grey hair and canes, but it's made a big difference for her, especially in noisy situations like parties and restaurants.

Get that woman some meds! It doesn’t have to be like that.

This has been suggested to her, including by some of her doctors as well as my also-anxiety-prone brother. But she waves it off, says she's not really that anxious (untrue!). She's kind of anti-medication in general. It's funny, she's a retired science teacher and is appalled by all the anti-vax stuff, but she's also reluctant to even take Tylenol for her persistent hip pain. She's like, "I'll take half an acetaminophen twice a week, but only when it's bad." Meanwhile she's 80 and I have no idea what bad long-term effects she thinks she's avoiding. But also she's 80 and good luck changing her mind. (Sorry this is crossing into the "aging parents" thread, but inevitable overlaps between this one and that one.)

> "I'll take half an acetaminophen twice a week, but only when it's bad."

did exactly that this morning. could hardly stand up because of back pain. has been getting worse for a week. this morning i took a second paracetamol.

My parents were full of that backpedaling blablabla too — my feeling is that if you’re 80, it’s a great time to change your mind. There isn’t that much time left and you 100% won’t get a prize for gritting your teeth through pain.

Seriously. My mom has a high pain tolerance (as in, doesn't need anything to get a filling at the dentist, which is ... insane), but she recently got a knee replaced and was extremely wary (rightly so) of the prescribed pain medicine. She took the meds the first night or two and was dubious they were doing much if anything, but after an overambitious night of pain and no sleep she relented. It helped that every peer she spoke to about their own recoveries from the same or similar surgeries ultimately conceded that the pain meds were vital to their own comfort and recovery.

What’s up, olds?

are you new to our midcentury modernism?

Welcome Sunny! I’d get up but ow my back, knees etc

Nah. I’m 54. I think I was active in the 30s and 40s threads but I haven’t owned a computer in a good decade or so and reading ilx on a phone is not pleasant.

Whats going on with everyone? Sick parents and feeling personally sick about taking out loans for kid’s college debt is my first guess.

I have my oldest friend's bachelor party tomorrow: a screening of Superman II, dinner, drunk karaoke.

my GF lives by the water in Sausalito, so I'll be eating fancy cheese and drinking white wine for a couple days, hopefully chablis

Sounds lovely on both counts.

I’m just waiting for the new season of it’s always sunny because somehow my development was abruptly arrested 21 years ago

Oh, also painting

I just drove 40 miles round trip for Colombian food, which I did not think I would get to eat again after leaving NJ. Totally worth it.

I am mostly chilling this weekend with a variety of little things, some movie watches etc., but tomorrow will also include a catchup with Elvis Telecom, in town for Outside Lands today.

This has been suggested to her, including by some of her doctors as well as my also-anxiety-prone brother. But she waves it off, says she's not really that anxious (untrue!). She's kind of anti-medication in general. It's funny, she's a retired science teacher and is appalled by all the anti-vax stuff, but she's also reluctant to even take Tylenol for her persistent hip pain. She's like, "I'll take half an acetaminophen twice a week, but only when it's bad." Meanwhile she's 80 and I have no idea what bad long-term effects she thinks she's avoiding. But also she's 80 and good luck changing her mind. (Sorry this is crossing into the "aging parents" thread, but inevitable overlaps between this one and that one.)

― paper plans (tipsy mothra), Friday, August 7, 2026 7:23 AM (six hours ago)

IDK, taking care of my health is not that easy for me. The funny thing is that I'm on a dozen different drugs and I still feel like I could fairly say I'm undermedicated. My mom's the same way. Of course some of it is the Sacklers and the opioid thing, but it's not just that. Anxiety medication exists and I went through a real bad experience with clonazepam between '03 and '06. I got pictures of me from that time. It wasn't good. They were medically prescribed. I don't think they meant badly, but I mean, it was a free clinic. I was "crazy", out of work, and hardly anybody cared. I took what I could get, which in this case was antiheroic doses of benzos. One day I got sick of being a zombie and cold turkeyed them. Nobody told me about the withdrawal syndrome.

Things aren't like that now, for the most part, and it's still... ahh, it's confusing. It's confusing to make sense of my feelings. I sat up just now and I felt real faint and ate something and broke out into palpitations and a full-body sweat. Am I undernourished? Did I have a panic attack? I'm not really sure. My friend Selene said this this morning:

it's like a check engine light on your car when it still runs and you're broke
You just get used to it, look for like new sounds or whatever

it is like that now, for so many people. I'm doing better than a lot of people. I'm pretty sure I got my shingles. I've had tinnitus in my left ear of varying severity for, I don't know, 16 months now? Three months or so ago I made an appointment to get it looked at. The appointment is at the end of December. Us Americans have to figure out how to advocate for ourselves within the context of a failed healthcare system. Me, I've got it a lot easier than Chris - I live in Oregon, I'm on Medicaid. Florida is, well, it's hell. Here in Oregon, I can get all the shots I need. I've gotten my shingles shots.

And no shit I have anxiety. I have a lot of anxiety. This week I had an eval for my fifth round of TMS. I filled out the PHQ-9 and they said well your score was only 17. 17! Maybe I'm not depressed. Maybe I just need to go for a walk. I mean I'm a woman. There's a difference between the way doctors treat men and the way doctors treat women. I'm in a better position to say that than a lot of people.

I try not to worry, and I don't see any benefit in "pulling the wool over my own eyes".

Enough complaining, though. I had a great brunch with Eazy - we really do love brunch here in PDX. The smoke has been bad this week and I've been weathering it OK for the most part. I've been listening to a lot of old Dragnet radio episodes. I know it's copaganda and I don't care. Tomorrow me and a friend are going down to one of the local clothing-optional beaches to hang out. I haven't been since '22. I'm trying to navigate some minor-league drama around the support group I facilitate.

One of my friends is starting a new job on Monday - I'm super happy for her. I'm taking over hosting for movie night for another of my friends next week. I'm nervous because they like to show two movies a night, and I only have so much energy, but I love having company. I've been posting nearly every day to my Substack for more than two months now, which I'm proud of. I could probably do with promoting it a little more.

It was a really good brunch - and relevant to the thread, am 56 today.

my mom turned 83 today; i usually wish her a happy (pittsburgh hockey player) sidney crosby's birthday, but i don't think she really registered that

also she kind of hustled me off the phone! which is fine -- neither of us are doing much of anything worth chatting about -- but also a bit odd

happy birthday to Eazy/my mom/sidney crosby/mike trout

Also born on the 7th: David Duchovny, Michael Shannon, and Garrison Keillor.

Happy Birthday mookie’s mum & eazy,

I keep getting ads for compression socks and I don’t understand how they differ from regular socks

They are tighter.

Helps circulation, to keep the blood from pooling in the feet. Post heart attack, my dad wears them.

Dad's 82 today, took my 21yo son along to give him a cheesecake (his favorite). Definite 50s "sandwich generation" moment, but nice to have all the generations together.

My 24 year old daughter sometimes comes to my folks' place with me - they are 82 and 81 - and my mother sometimes tells me in an aside that she feels like she never got to know her granddaughter, and how nice it is. I have to restrain myself from mentioning that my ex and I moved back to this city 19 years ago because we hoped the kids would spend time with their grandparents and that we'd maybe get a bit more support, but I think they had the kids to sleep over maybe ... four times?
Anyway I'm glad they are enjoying it.

Yeah, my 84 yo MIL talks about wanting to spend a lot of time with the grandkids but when she has them she doesn’t know what to do with them. They don’t relate to each other. Whereas my mom is the classic Fun Grandma who gets to feel like a kid again when she’s around them.

It’s been interesting to watch my kids interact with my parents since they moved here a few years ago. At now 18 and 21 the kids are old enough to recognize all the different ways my folks are aging and changing. I’ve told them to keep notes for when they have to deal with me lol.

Do you think grandparents are generally older than we're societally used to them being? I think I was born when my grandma was like...fifty. Whereas my mom got two new grandkids when she was like 70 and 72. She couldn't even carry them up and down the stairs as toddlers. And they're physically too rough for her--their dad is a giant and they're used to mobbing him, but they both latched onto my mom in the pool at the same time and they almost drowned her. I saw her face go under and pulled them off her. It was all over very quickly because there were two adults and we being watchful but she just can't keep up with them.

Also -- child seats??? You need them until kids are like TEN YEARS OLD, and they're so bulky! Two car seats physically won't fit in her car. A lot changed while I wasn't paying attention.

For sure, it's a real effect of people having kids later. And yeah, the car seat thing requires logistical planning. I was so relieved when both of them could just ride in the car like regular people. And neither of them rode in the front seat until they were 10, which of course I rode in the front seat all the time when I was little.

I remember setting up car seats in my mom’s truck and she was pining for the days when my infant carseat was a box on the floorboard.