Nothing and Something

I performed obscene amounts of nothing at all yesterday. Okay, not entirely true. I made:

• An ultra brief and decidedly disappointing attempt at my myriad ‘bed level’ exercises
• There was a frustrating search for the status of my Powell’s book order—WHERE IS IT! The site said it should’ve arrived 9/24. It did not.
• I finished my cozy Scooby gang mystery which was a lot more complicated AND more enjoyable than any other I’ve read (i.e, ones that don’t also include witches, demons, vampires and/or zombies). This one, set in an assisted senior living village really got me thinking.
  

If I was in a position (financially, physically and socially) to move into a joint like that what would I want/need it to be like?

Matisse-View of Notre Dame

There'd need to be lots of interesting great art (real OR framed reproductions) on the walls in the common areas.

Basquiat

My father had nothing but complaints about the food in the places he stayed. It was all painfully bland and boring. So, interesting food selections taken from resident’s recipe books PLUS:

Monday—Mongolian BBQ
Tuesday—Tacos (of fucking course)
Wednesday—pasta (e.g. Parmesan Spinach Gnocchi and more)
Thursday—SUSHI!
Friday—Indian (can I interest anyone in a little saag paneer, hmmmm?)
Saturday—Ethiopian
Sunday—Chinese food and keep it coming

This can all be changed around—more and different variations added in. Food should be fun and exciting.

We could have cocktail nights, whisky weekends (I’ll take Lagavulin for 500, Alex) and vino tastings.

Dance lesson days. Learn to Tango, Boogie, Two-Step and Twerk.

Game night—Confession time; I know less than nothing about games. If it’s not Monopoly, I’m in the dark. Do people still play Dungeons and Dragons? How about Zork?

Music every day/evening, should anyone still have hearing. It could be live or recorded. We could have rockers, folkers, rappers, live pianists (a la Ray Manzarek, Alicia Keys, Mingus, Saint-Saëns, Gershwin and everyone else in between), quartets (Pavel Haas to Kronos Quartet). We can run the gauntlet but NO country music (unless you’re in your own room with the volume turned down to 0)!

Caveat—no music during meals. Everyones tastes are different and, I guaran-damn-tee, no one wants to listen to what I can still feel/hear (Kodo Drummers of Japan) while they’re trying to enjoy a nice plate of Baingan Bharta.

There’ll be movie nights. Everyone puts their favorites on a slip of paper in an empty fishbowl. A fresh flick is chosen each movie night. NO John Wayne and Bruce Willis is strictly limited to once a year.

Massage therapists (but NO ‘happy endings’).

Acupuncture which is NOT a replacement for regular Western med doc visits.

Talk therapists will be available because, face it, we’ve all come down some rough roads by this age and need to talk some (all?) of it out.

There’ll be shared, nonjudgemental studio space for painting, ceramics, weaving and whatever else (no installations though. Sorry, not enough room).

Not a social beastie? That’s OK. You can stay in your room, reading, doodling, watching old eps of Bonanza, eating Oreos and talking to your cat. Yes, cats are allowed—encouraged, in fact. Dogs? Not so much unless they’re quiet, respectful of the feline population and their owners always scoop the poops immediately.

Did I mention cats? They’re free to roam the halls and visit residents in their cat door equipped suites/apartments.  

Also, if we're not on the ocean, we'll be in a gorgeous deep forest. Why? Because I said so!