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By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist
Guest Blogger

If you’ll be traveling to Miami this fall, be sure to take time to visit the Miami Art Museum.

Exhibits with dazzling lights, including a huge, brilliant orange sun of florescent lights, fascinating modern art, and optical illusions are a delightfully entertaining and thought provoking.

One of the most moving installations is about Alzheimer’s disease. Elizabeth Cerejido, former Frost Art Museum curator, documents her mother’s descent into Alzheimer’s in Absence Series with 13 color photographs and a video assembled in a small white room. Some of the photos are simply white lettering on a black background listing items her mother frequently misplaces: a pillbox, umbrella, and address book. Others show notes on the stove, air conditioner, and other places telling her mother not to touch them.

Most riveting is the video of Cerejidoi’s mother rocking, rocking, and rocking in a rocking chair, a habit she developed as her health declined.

The installation called to mind all of the blogs I’ve read lately on Baby Boomer concerns about Alzheimer’s disease.

Other exhibits at the Miami Art Museum are:

Shadows, Disappearances, and Illusions. Using light, perspective, and erasure, the artworks in this exhibit short-circuit the connection between the eye and the brain. They make people question what they’re seeing and make them aware of their role as viewers. Artists include Joseph Cornell, Magdalena Fernandez, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Mark Handforth, Oscar Muñoz, Maria Martinez-Cañas, Regina Silveira, and Lorna Simpson. Specially commissioned installations from Miami artists Tom Scicluna, Matt Schreiber, and Wendy Wischer are part of the exihibit. Until September 21, 2008.

Sean Duffy. Los Angeles-based artist Sean Duffy has created an installation inspired by California pop culture of the 1960s – complete with a zebra-striped Toyota Land Cruiser sporting logos reminiscent of the era’s “custom car” culture and a soundtrack coming from fire-engine red gas cans. Until October 12, 2008.

Selections from the Permanent Collection. The installation combines old favorites from the collection, such as Frank Stella’s Chodorów II and Morris Louis’ Beth Shin with more recent acquisitions, such as Kehinde Wiley’s Regard the Class Struggle as a Main Link in the Chain and Emilio Perez’ In the Middle of Something. Until November 2, 2008.

For more information for boomer consumers, see my blog The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide.

Recently, Jacky Hood, Author of a book on expanded careers for Baby Boomers posted this recommendation for Boomer411 in her blog. She highly recommends people to try Boomer411 saying that it has a wealth of useful and fascinating information for Baby Boomers. Thank you Jacky.

We had recently posted an interview with Jacky and her work in this blog. You can find it here. You can also read more about her book from her publisher by clicking here. For anyone thinking about career options in the second half of their lives, this book contains a wealth of information.

My friend Raj Setty recently posted this on his blog. (Note: Raj is a co-founder of Boomer411). Raj brings forth the value of Boomer411 beautifully in this post. Let’s be clear. Indexing a trillion baby boomer related pages is no small feat. It’s HUGE. However, the question to ask is how is it helping Baby Boomers? or is it helpful to them or not?

As much as the web is overloaded with information, one must ask what tools/sites can help me make sense of this vast, wide world of web? If there is some way, that helps Baby Boomers to sort through this vast pile of information and pick out only those pages that help them solve a problem at hand, that address their present, specific need, then that would be most valuable, it seems.

This is exactly the genesis of Boomer411. Boomer411 is a new type of search engine, focused on helping to make the searches more effective in the following few ways:

• The Value of Expert Recommendations: Boomer411 only indexes articles/pages recommended by experts in the field (we call them Boomer411 Trustees). This should be of some help to already busy Baby Boomers, with one very important task. That of weeding through the clutter/noise to pick out the useful ones.
• It’s unique way of searching: As a user searches for something on Boomer411, the keywords on the left column dynamically change; presenting the user with multiple options to refine their search results and make them more relevant, more useful. By clicking on a keyword on the left column, a user can further refine his or her search result and repeat this process many times, until articles matching their interest show up at the top of the search results
• Watch your favorite experts recommendations: Users can add their favorite trustees to their watchlist, gaining instant access to all the pages recommended by those trustees
• Can’t find it? Ask our experts: If there is something a user cannot find answer to, they could post it as a question in our Q & A section. These questions are reviewed and answered by our same trusted panel of expert trustees

Also, Raj is correct in that I am learning a lot in this process. And yes, my biggest satisfaction is in hearing about/knowing how it is HELPING YOU in your lives. So do shoot me an e-mail with your stories or post your thoughts as comments to this blog post.

A big thanks to Raj for his belief and support. Also a big thanks to all the trustees, users and other partners, without whose hard work and dedication, this site would never be useful. Your continued thoughts and ideas are helping us refine this service to make it more useful. So do send us your feedback/thoughts/comments.

By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Guest Blogger

Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Mehmet Oz, professor of surgery at Columbia University, teamed up yesterday to present a great show, “Dr. Oz on Aging: How to Turn Back Time.”

One hundred audience members were preselected to take an aging test. They filled out a quiz at home and had a physical exam, which included push-ups and sit-ups.

The results weren’t good. The 100 people were ranked as follows:

• 1 – outstanding

• 0 – aging well

• 18 – average

• 81 – not aging well

The woman with the outstanding score said she runs, lifts weights, swims, cooks most of what she eats, and has a happy home life. The woman with the lowest score said she smokes, drinks, eats poorly, and doesn’t exercise.

People in America are making subtle mistakes in lifestyle choices, Oz told Winfrey’s audience.

Oz said his book, “You: Staying Young: The Owner’s Manual for Extending Your Warranty (You),” with co-author Michael F. Roizen, offers information on how to make changes that will give you vitality as you age.

The brain begins to shift and think about the world differently in 14 days, he said.

In three months, people can start to affect their life expectancy. In three years, nearly any negative past behavior can be reversed, Oz added. “Remember you can’t get rid of your bad habits. You’ve got to replace them with good ones.”

The No. 1 major ager is stress, he said.

Ways to reduce stress include:

• Breathing deeply and practicing meditation, yoga, and chi-gong, which is a method of working with energy within the body.

• Licking the lips then sucking in air with the lips slightly open.

• Placing a cork vertically between your teeth.

Other major agers are a diet high in fat and sugar, not getting enough exercise, lack of sleep, and too much exposure to sun.

On what to eat, Oz said whole grains, beets, and raisins contain magnesium and are major antioxidants that help to reduce stress. Oranges, grapefruit, bananas, avocados, and yogurt help lower blood pressure. Tomatoes, blueberries, carrots, and broccoli can boost your immune system.

Click on Major Agers on Oz’s Web page “Health: You Staying Young” for details on what ages you.

Oz and Winfrey discussed telomeres, which I’d never heard of before. They’re like shoelaces at the tip of the chromosomes, Oz said. When the caps of telomeres begin to wear off, due to stress and other factors, the telomeres become frayed and cells can’t be replaced.

The telomeres in people who are old and frail have worn off, he said, adding all organs can be replaced if telomeres aren’t damaged.

“Aging is about replacing what’s broken,” Oz told Winfrey’s audience.

If you can’t walk a quarter of a mile in six minutes, it’s an indication you’re not aging well, he said.

A cutting-edge blood test – the Biophysical250 – also gives a health assessment on how you’re aging. It costs $1,500 to $3,400.

Other options, Oz said, are to use the 14-day plan in his book and ask your doctor for certain tests. The tests are blood pressure, blood sugar, thyroid, and red blood cell count.

Good sex – meaning in a loving, committed relationship – helps keep you young, and it adds three years to your life, he said.

On brain health, Oz offered a Brain Test worksheet to the audience. If you can cross out the Hs in 40 seconds, you have good brain agility.

However, he told the audience they didn’t need to worry if they missed too many Hs. The aging process can be turned around.

See Oz’s 15 Ways to Maintain Your Memory slide show.

Winfrey offers a series of 16 short Web pages on the show on her Web site. It’s worth looking through if you’re a boomer consumer interested in living a vital life for years to come.

For more information for boomer consumers, see my blog The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide.

We are delighted to introduce you to our new guest columnist, Rita Robison. Rita is a consumer writer and runs the blog, Boomers Survive and Thrive Guide and she also writes a Boomer Consumer blog on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. As times are tough these days, financially speaking, and stretching those few dollars is a really good idea, we requested Rita to pen a guest column for our readers on a weekly basis and share her insights with our audience. Rita has gracefully accepted our request. Thank you Rita. Let’s hear more about Rita in her own words…

Since 1977, I’ve been fortunate to be able to be a consumer writer.

My columns have appeared in The Anchorage (Alaska) Times, The (Tacoma, Wash.) News Tribune, The Spokesman (Spokane, Wash.) Review, and The Olympia (Wash.) News.

My favorite job was being a consumer action column writer for The Anchorage Times. I answered questions from readers. My column was called Tell It to Bud – Bud stood for ombudsman.

I love doing consumer research. It’s fun to do all the interviews it takes to get a story. I’ve obtained quotes from the White House, tracked down Ralph Nader, and convinced Elizabeth Kubler Ross that she should take the time for an interview.

Knowledgeable specialists in retirement, heart disease, stress management, insurance, housing, relationships, hearing aids, dentistry, foot care, finances, aging, and dying have also provided information for my columns. Writing consumer columns for newspapers has brought me much joy. I’ve been able to research issues of importance to readers.

Here are 15 items that are among the key things that I’ve learned during my years as a consumer columnist:
-  The importance of having a living will.
-  How to decide whether to buy long-term care insurance.
-  Tips for the new retirement – the go-go, slow-go, and no-go phases.
-  What consumer books and green gifts make good presents for the holiday season.
-  How to handle credit card debt and collection agencies.
-  What to do about clutter.
-  How to buy cell phones, long-distance phone service, and computers.
-  How to avoid accidents in the home.
-  What you need to do to be prepared for emergencies.
-  How to pick out a charity.
-  How to select contractors and roofers.
-  How to buy a manufactured home.
-  The benefits and drawbacks of Medicare Advantage, a way to combine Medicare and supplemental policies under one private company that manages a person’s Medicare benefits.
-  The benefits of massage.
-  Stress reduction techniques.

Now I’m a blogger for boomer consumers. My blogs are:
- The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide – http://boomersurvive-thriveguide.typepad.com.
- Boomer Consumer, a reader blog for the Seattle (Wash.) Post Intellingencer – http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/boomerconsumer/.

I’m pleased that Boomer411 has asked me to be a weekly guest blogger. I’m looking forward to having a conversation with you on how consumers can take action during these trying economic times.