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Savvy Senior: Deciphering Senior Housing Options
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
Can you decipher the different types of housing options available to seniors, and recommend some good resources for locating them? I need to find a place for my elderly mother and could use some help.
Overwhelmed Daughter
Dear Overwhelmed,
There’s a wide array of housing options available to seniors, but what’s appropriate for your mom will depend on her needs and financial situation. Here’s a rundown of the different levels of senior housing and some resources to help you choose one.
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One Thing or Another Podcast: From the Archives – Author Fay Jacobs Talks Humor, Activism, and ‘Sit-Down’ Comedy
As we end our second year of the pandemic, I thought it would be good to close out 2021 with some humor. Who better to help with that than author, humorist and comedian Fay Jacobs? Enjoy this podcast from the archives, and let’s make 2022 a good one.
Fasten your headphones for a conversation with author, humorist, activist, and sit-down comedian Fay Jacobs. We talk about her life and career, her writing, and what’s in store for the tireless writer.
Fay, a native New Yorker, has had a 35-year career in journalism, public relations & theater. As an author, Fay has five published books of humorous and activist essays. All were originally published by A&M Books, a successor to Naiad Press and are now published by Bywater Books. Fay’s first book, As I Lay Frying is in its 4th printing. A second, Fried & True won the 2008 National Federation of Press Women Book of the Year for humor.
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Being Well: Living with Sleep Apnea (and that CPAP Machine)
Being Well is a regular feature at LGBTSr highlighting health and wellness.
Editor’s note: This first appeared here at LGBTSr in March, 2020. I’ve been using a CPAP machine for almost four years now and thought it was a good time to revisit that topic. Many people benefit from them and lives can be saved. – Mark
A few years ago I began regularly waking up with headaches. I’m also a loud snorer, as my husband reminded me several times a night with nudges to turn on my side or just wake up long enough to stop. Headaches and snoring … something was probably going on. I made an appointment with a sleep specialist and did a home test for sleep apnea. It recorded 25+ “events” per hour. An event is when the person stops breathing due to sleep apnea. It can lead to multiple health issues, with headaches and snoring being two of the most obvious.
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EVENTS: Authors Mark McNease and Philip William Stover in Conversation at the Frenchtown Bookshop (February 4)
Save the date! I’ll be joining fellow author Philip William Stover for a reading and conversation about our books at the Frenchtown Bookshop on Friday, February 4. I’ll be talking about my newest release, Reservation for Murder: A Kyle Callahan Mystery, as well as the series and creating gay central characters.
Philip will be reading and discussing his romances The Hideaway Inn and The Beautiful Things Shop, set in New Hope, PA, just across the river from Lambertville, NJ, where most of my characters mysteriously moved when Frank and I relocated to nearby Kingwood.
Place: The Frenchtown Bookshop
Date: Friday, February 4
Time: 6:00 – 7:30 pm
Address: 28 Bridge Street, Frenchtown NJ
Phone: 908-628-9297 -
The Weekly Readlines December 29
The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) is a feature at LGBTSr.com, offering news you can use every Wednesday morning. Subscribe here for virtual delivery.
BIG CUP: THE YEAR’S TOP STORIESIn keeping with the spirit of renewal and hope for the new year, I’ll only be mentioning the good news of the past year in this introduction. There will be plenty of time for the pulling of hair and gnashing of teeth in 2022.
If you tuned into the mainstream media this past year, you may think all is doom and gloom, that the Biden presidency has failed, that Covid is a permanent state of being, and a dozen other reasons to end your life. Hogwash! Here are some of the great things that happened this year.
Holiday sales rose 8.5 percent despite the naysayers. Americans’ wages rose, too, with the biggest increase in 20 years. More than 200 million Americans are now vaccinated, with the pandemic transitioning to an endemic stage on its way to ending. Supply chains are easing and gas prices are falling.
Meanwhile, the FDA approved the first injectable drug for HIV prevention. Utah billionaire Jeff Green resigned from the Mormon Church and donated $600,000 to an LGBT group. And Channing Tatum announced a third and final installment of the Magic Mike franchise. Line starts here! Let’s make 2022 a great year. It’s our choice.
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The Twist Podcast #179: Our Super Positive Be Happy Year End Twist Special
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we close out a great year with good news aplenty: lots of inspiring people to namecheck, lots of uplifting headlines, our 2021 favorite Twist Tops, and a hearty goodbye to malaise! “Live or die, but don’t poison everything.” – Saul Bellow. Let’s get living.
Have your own Twist Top recommendation to share? Email us at Tops @ TheTwistPodcast.com and we’ll include it on the show!
Enjoy The Twist on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, SoundCloud, and TheTwistPodcast.com.
Copyright 2021 MadeMark Publishing
Join Mark’s email list for updates, podcasts, giveaways, and his monthly newsletter! Reach us at: TheTwist @ TheTwistPodcast.com
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Kapok Aging and Caregiver Resources: Powerful Types of Self Care Journaling for Caregivers
By Angelica Herrera Venson, DrPH, MPH
The following excerpt is reprinted with permission from Kapok Aging and Caregiver Resources.
At its most basic, journaling involves recording your thoughts and feelings, often by making an entry each day. The habit is one that most of us have tried at least once before – and many have given up on. Yet, self care journaling is more powerful than you might realize. It offers a way to connect with yourself, to reflect, and to grow.
Journaling can also be critical to self care, especially for caregivers.
One reason is that journaling gives you the chance to reflect. It takes you out of the moment and lets you look back on the situation as a whole. Doing so matters, as caregivers can often get swept away with the tasks of the day. A journaling habit also helps you to start picking out the good things that happen, to hold onto them.
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Savvy Senior: How Older Drivers Can Save on Auto Insurance
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
Can you provide any tips to help seniors reduce their auto insurance premiums? I just got hit with a 15 percent increase on my car insurance and am looking for ways to save.
Fixed Income Frank
Dear Frank,
Unfortunately, auto insurance rates went up significantly over the past year as the pandemic eased and more Americans got back on the roads. But there are plenty of ways to cut your premium. To find out what discounts may be available to you, contact your auto insurer and inquire about these options, and any others that may benefit you.
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Terri Schlichenmeyer’s Bookworm Sez: Best Books of 2021 (Fiction and Non-Fiction)
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez
There’s still a lot of winter left.
That’s the fact staring you in the face. Once the holiday decorations are down, the toys are all put away, and you’ve rediscovered your gift certificates… what do you do with them?
You buy books, of course. And to get you started, here are a few sure-fire picks for the Best of 2021:
FICTION
What would you do if life throws you a curve-ball? In “The Guncle” by Steven Rowley (Putnam, $27.00), gay man, former TV star, Palm Springs fixture, no-responsibilities Patrick is asked to take care of his niece and nephew for the long-term. He never wanted kids at all. He never wanted to fall in love with them, either. Cute, sweet, funny, heartfelt – what more could you want?
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The Weekly Readlines December 3
The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) is a feature at LGBTSr.com, offering news you can use every Friday morning. Subscribe here for virtual delivery.
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIESFirst the good news: The American Library Association pushed back against the dark money-funded book banning craze intended to keep the Republican base in a state of ecstatic rage (Critical Rage Theory?). And the White House looks like Christmas again instead of the Red Wedding from Game of Thrones.
Another day, another COVID variant, as Omicron starts its spread across the globe. Poised to eviscerate women’s reproductive rights, a radicalized Supreme Court showed its hand during oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. Expect the obliteration of more freedoms and the Court’s legitimacy in the coming years.
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Ronni Sanlo’s This Day in LGBTQ History (November 26 – December 2)
Ronni Sanlo’s This Day in LGBTQ History makes the past ever-present with daily rundowns of historic events and people.
Ronni Sanlo
THIS DAY in LGBTQ HISTORY
DECEMBER 3 -
Podcast Pick: History Briefs with Host Brad Shreve
I’m not a podcast connoisseur but I know a good one when I hear it, and History Briefs, with host Brad Shreve, is a winner. Brad burst onto the scene with his Queer Writers of Crime podcast (full disclosure, I was a guest), a wonderful series of interviews with LGBTQ+ writers of mysteries, thrillers and crime fiction. And now he’s hit on an idea whose time has come: short, 20-minute-or-less podcasts about historical facts and events we may never have even known we wanted to learn about – but we do! These podcasts are addictive, and can be listened to on the drive to work, or getting your steps in, cleaning the kitchen, or just sitting spellbound while he tells us the real stories of the Mayo Clinic’s beginnings, the famous and infamous Combat Zone in Boston, the some-say-dubious accomplishments of Alfred Nobel, and more.