{"id":545,"date":"2015-03-06T21:24:59","date_gmt":"2015-03-06T21:24:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/?p=545"},"modified":"2025-04-21T13:27:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T13:27:01","slug":"dont-throw-dirt-on-me-just-yet-im-far-from-done","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/?p=545","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Put Dirt On My Grave Just Yet!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently\u00a0Rolling Stone magazine<\/a> interviewed\u00a0Madonna about her assault on ageism and she commented that ageism isn\u2019t something men experience. I recoiled after hearing that remark! It confounded me because,\u00a0over the last year,\u00a0I\u2019ve noticed more people making ageist remarks towards me. While I expect they are not entirely intended to be cruel, but merely snide jabs, I do feel they are pointed remarks on my being a middle-aged man, aka a “Daddy.\u201d I’ve fought aging for a number of years by doing the typical things you\u2019d expect like coloring hair, dressing more youthfully and following a fitness routine. Admittedly, I\u2019ve even had a couple of professional procedures; not for vanity\u2019s sake, but to boost my confidence\u00a0and self-perception. I eventually stopped coloring my hair, I began dressing in appropriate but fashionable clothing, and I\u2019ve evolved from following a structured gym routine to other healthier lifestyle options like eating better, participating in more outdoor activities (running\/cycling), I have also starting yoga “fusion” classes and I participate in group exercise classes. I\u2019m actually happier with myself as the “rediscovered me,” but I am also resigned to fate knowing that I can\u2019t fight aging forever. Time will catch up.<\/p>\n

We all know looks are very important and we\u2019re told people perform an assessment of us within seconds of becoming acquainted. Much of that is based on looks. I want to influence that assessment as much as possible and have it based on qualities that I want to be evaluated on. One must work hard to put their best face forward\u00a0and project youthful vitality. In order to have a\u00a0healthy state of mind regarding aging,\u00a0I believe there are subtle things a man can do to enhance his appeal. It is all about paying attention to details; a well-executed haircut, tailored clothes, routine professional dental care, using an esthetician to perform facials, and\u00a0grooming\u00a0of nails and body hair (No one wants a hair farm sprouting from the ears).\u00a0Cosmetic procedures like botox and fillers are perfectly acceptable treatments to keep a middle-aged man in tip-top shape. Being dapper is all about maintenance.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
I’ve addressed the outside, but what about what\u2019s below the skin? If there\u2019s nothing under the hood, then what\u2019s the allure? To accompany devilishly handsome looks, you\u2019ve got to have a brain, passions, interests and yes, even strong opinions. A man with a backbone can be just as sexy as a man with great looks. Age brings life experience and knowledge that is vital to good decision making. We should celebrate age as an earned treasure and not\u00a0denigrate\u00a0those advancing in years.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I’m far from done!<\/div>\n
\nFor Fun:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A Face Like That\u00a0<\/a><\/div>\n
Toxicosmetique<\/a><\/div>\n
We All Feel Better in the Dark\u00a0<\/a><\/div>\n
A Guy Like You<\/a><\/div>\n
Style<\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\"image\"<\/a>
Photo courtesy of luminium.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently\u00a0Rolling Stone magazine interviewed\u00a0Madonna about her assault on ageism and she commented that ageism isn\u2019t something men experience. I recoiled after hearing that remark! It confounded me because,\u00a0over the last year,\u00a0I\u2019ve noticed more people making ageist remarks towards me. While I expect they are not entirely intended to be cruel, but merely snide jabs, I do feel they are pointed remarks on my being a middle-aged man, aka a “Daddy.\u201d I’ve fought aging for a number of years by doing the typical things you\u2019d expect like coloring hair, dressing more youthfully and following a fitness routine. Admittedly, I\u2019ve even had a couple of professional procedures; not for vanity\u2019s sake, but to boost my confidence\u00a0and self-perception. I eventually stopped coloring my hair, I began dressing in appropriate but fashionable clothing, and I\u2019ve evolved from following a structured gym routine to other healthier lifestyle options like eating better, participating in more outdoor activities (running\/cycling), I have also starting yoga “fusion” classes and I participate in group exercise classes. I\u2019m actually happier with myself as the “rediscovered me,” but I am also resigned to fate knowing that I can\u2019t fight aging forever. Time will catch up. We all know looks are very important and we\u2019re told people perform an assessment of us within seconds of becoming acquainted. Much of that is based on looks. I want to influence that assessment as much as possible and have it based on qualities that I want to be evaluated on. One must work hard to put their best face forward\u00a0and project youthful vitality. In order to have a\u00a0healthy state of mind regarding aging,\u00a0I believe there are subtle things a man can do to enhance his appeal. It is all about paying attention to details; a well-executed haircut, tailored clothes, routine professional dental care, using an esthetician to perform facials, and\u00a0grooming\u00a0of nails and body hair (No one wants a hair farm sprouting from the ears).\u00a0Cosmetic procedures like botox and fillers are perfectly acceptable treatments to keep a middle-aged man in tip-top shape. Being dapper is all about maintenance. I’ve addressed the outside, but what about what\u2019s below the skin? If there\u2019s nothing under the hood, then what\u2019s the allure? To accompany devilishly handsome looks, you\u2019ve got to have a brain, passions, interests and yes, even strong opinions. A man with a backbone can be just as sexy as a man with great looks. Age brings life experience and knowledge that is vital to good decision making. We should celebrate age as an earned treasure and not\u00a0denigrate\u00a0those advancing in years. I’m far from done! For Fun: A Face Like That\u00a0 Toxicosmetique We All Feel Better in the Dark\u00a0 A Guy Like You Style<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":568,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,40],"tags":[157,158,156],"class_list":["post-545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clothing","category-lifestyle","tag-ageism","tag-madonna","tag-men"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=545"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3078,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545\/revisions\/3078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scottballew.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}