As we grew into our teen years, we anxiously awaited the several minutes of the Ed Sullivan show dedicated to the mop-top soldiers of the British Invasion. Herman’s Hermits, Jerry and the Pacemakers, The Rolling Stones and, of course, the Beatles made us scream, grow weak at the knees, and writhe about the couch with our Clearasil creamed faces red with emotion. Our love and devotion were passionate beyond measure and, had we ever run across a mod or a rocker with a Liverpudlian accent, we could not have been held responsible for our actions!

No doubt about it—entertainment was a big part of our formative years. But even I was surprised at how the hours I spent viewing the tube have returned full force in my menopausal years. Maybe it’s a sign my brain is shrinking or maybe it’s a yearning for simpler times but I find myself thinking a lot about Popeye these days. Yes, I do like spinach and know that antioxidants and the other valuable nutrients it provides are important nourishment for older bodies. But it isn’t spinach I connect to him. I gave up smoking long ago so it isn’t his corncob pipe that intrigues me. Actually, I relate mostly to something he said: “I yam what I yam.” That is coming back to me big time these days!

As a woman over fifty, I think I represent how most of us feel when I say Popeye knew what he was talking about. It took me a while but I’m feeling more and more that “I yam what I yam” with all my glorious foibles and faults, strengths and achievements. And, although my sense of self is at an all time high, I also heed the words of the Fab Four—we can each use and often need “a little help from our friends.”

So, many thanks go out to my friends for being there and supporting me and my work. My book for jobseekers over 50 has been featured on Midlife With a Vengeance and WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty and will be hitting other blogs soon. Please take a moment to head over to these fabulous sites dedicated to making us boomer gals even groovier as we age.

Also, for my writer friends, there’s a contest I wanted to share: WriterAdvice seeks flash fiction, memoir, and creative non-fiction that mesmerizes the reader in 750 words or less for their Fifth Annual Flash Prose Contest. DEADLINE: April 15, 2010. Entry fee: $10 per submission. First prize: $150. Former prizewinners are the judges. Complete guidelines, mailing address, and prizes at http://www.writeradvice.com.

And, borrowing another quote from the sailor man: “Blow me down—I has got an idea!” A tip o’ the cap to all my boomer sisters—at long last “we is what we is!”