MEL WALSH--LIFE & HEALTH AFTER 60

Video: Mel on CBS

 

Conventions: Once a Doubter, Now a Fan

I thought I lived in a house, but now know I was living under a rock---at least when it came to the great American institution of conventions. Until recently, all I encountered were the conventions put on by elephants and donkeys---the political conventions---which I discovered as a kid watching snowy TV pictures coming in under a set of rabbit ears.

            Viewing the vintage political conventions of both parties---well, that was when I starting doubting the intelligence of adults---all those silly hats and the cheering of feel-good speeches whose content was as light as a passing cloud. (I had a content detector even back in 6^th grade.) I thought some of the speakers made Milton Berle look like Socrates. So, back in grade school, I developed a prejudice against conventions. The behavior of conventioneering adults made me not look forward to growing up.

The Changing of a Mind

            There’s nothing like actual experience to change a mind harboring a fossil prejudice. Last week, at the national convention of the AARP in Washington, I learned there are interesting conventions, meetings where people actually learn things and come out at the end better for the experience. OK, pooped from all the walking and the over-stimulation of 30,000 new buddies, but better.

            Maybe I should get out of the house more, but I was blown away by the grandly scaled and beautiful Washington convention center. Imagine an exhibition floor as large as seven football fields and that was just the bottom floor. There were others that harbored a ballroom and a theater, meeting rooms, lounges, grand art-filled halls and most important, enough bathrooms so that one never ever had to wait. (Men may not get this, but women know the importance of no-waiting rest rooms.)

So What Was There for the Learning?

            What wasn’t there? You could learn about budget travel and retiring abroad, about foods that will keep you young, about fixing your digital photos and also about online dating, cruising in China, senior sex from Dr. Ruth in person and so much more, it would take all of today’s paper to relate. But if you wanted to find your dream job, learn about current brain research, catch up on what’s new in eye care, learn what to see in Ireland or where to take an art course in Mexico, someone was there to tell you.

            There were sections on tech---computers lined up classroom style if you wanted to learn to use one better (or at all).  Also, representatives from about every government agency you could name, plus info on Medicare literacy, financial smarts, building communities for successful aging and lots of fun stuff besides. Example: There was a three-band night club the first evening just to get people rocking and rolling, but by dinnertime all I wanted was a room service cheeseburger and bed. (If there is a late night party to poop, just ask me.)

Celebrity City

            Now, if you wanted to see Paul Simon in concert or perhaps Natalie Cole, Ramsey Lewis or Chicago, you could. Regis Philbin was there as were Shirley MacLaine, Maya Angelou, Quincy Jones and the newly famous Young@Heart Chorus, average age 81. Martina Navratilova was present to start off your morning with a fitness session and Chaka Khan was there to sing goodnight. Even Grass Valley has its reps: Both Carole Carson and I gave speeches and were interviewed by John Palmer on Retirement Living Television, though the expo was so big, Carole and I never saw each other.

 

            I did get to meet about 1,894 other people, mostly at Gallo’s Livingston Cellars booth, where, as a spokesperson, I helped introduce many Easterners to the virtues of California wine and, as an author, inflicted all who showed up with my book, Hot Granny. I also met the people who run AARP publications, so now there are faces on the masthead names that put together the magazine appearing regularly in our mailboxes.

            But, by Saturday afternoon, with a tropical storm adding its own excitements, people began tearing down the hundreds of exhibits on the Expo floor. It was as if an entire city was being dismantled. However, like Brigadoon, AARP’s National Event and Expo will rise again in 2009---this time in Las Vegas.

            So, next year, I’m saving October 22-24 for a (gulp!) convention. You can find out more at aarp.org/events or call 1-800-883-2784.

            And now I’ve got to go vacuum my office. The floor is littered with discarded opinions.

 

Mel Appearing at AARP Life @ 50+ Convention

If you are in Washington DC at the September 3-7 AARP convention, come by and see Mel Walsh. She'll be giving a talk at the Capital Presentation Stage on Thursday September 4th at 5 PM and will be videotaping in front of a live audience for Retirement Living Television (AARP's TV arm) on Saturday from 1 to 1:30 PM, being interviewed by John Palmer.

And the fun part is, as brand spokesperson, she'll be at the Livingston Cellars convention booth every afternoon from 2 to 5 PM to greet conference goers with a glass of Livingston Cellars wine. Mel would just love to share a glass of wine with you, especially when it's her favorite, Livingston Cellars Sangria. 

Booth visitors---the booth is an Airstream!---can participate in a daily raffle for an autographed copy of Mel's book, Hot Granny.

So, if you're in town, come on over. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place. 

Plans for 2008

Mel will be appearing at the AARP convention in Washington DC, September 5- 7,  and the Red Hat convention in Savannah Oct 31-Nov. 2, both events courtesy of Livingston Cellars. Come on by if you are in the area. Further details will be posted here.

Radio Media Tour---December 5th---Tips for the Holidays

Whether you are a grandmother looking for holiday tips on entertaining or someone wanting to host a great holiday event, you can hear Mel's quick tips for success on the radio nationwide Wednesday December 5th. This media tour begins at WXGM-FM in Virginia at 8:05 EST and rolls across the county in various markets all day. USA Radio and FOX News Radio Network will be distributing the interviews on their network of stations. If the interviews are not heard in your area, you can always click on the RECIPE section to the right for a well-regarded recipe for mulled wine. It's one great way to meet and greet guests as they come in the door. For children, substitute apple juice or cider for the Livingston merlot.  So Happy Listening and Happy Holidays.

Mel in DC for AARP Radio & Retirement Living TV

Mel was in DC Nov 5-7, doing a radio interview for AARP radio on Nov. 7th and a live television segment for Retirement Living TV on Nov. 6. On the RLTV segment, Mel presented Hot Granny tips for having a successful Thanksgiving with the family, plus she demo-ed the world's easiest recipe for a festive mulled wine made with Livingston Cellars merlot. You can access RLTV on Comcast on the East Coast and Mid-West and world-wide on Direct TV.

Other November/December appearances/interviews:

Nov. 12 interview with Seattle area station, streaming at www.warm69.com.

Nov 20. broadcast of recent interview on AARP radio.

Upcoming satellite radio tours and satellite TV tours in December. On the TV satellite tour, she'll show Hot Granny tips for easy three generation entertaining over the holidays.

Mel on Retirement Living TV

Mel will be appearing Wednesday, September 19th on The Daily Cafe, a show on Retirement Living cable television. Now available in the Mid-Atlantic and New England states, Retirement Living TV will soon be expanding nation-wide. If your cable company doesn't yet carry Retirement TV, give them a call.

This will be a satellite interview with Mel in the CBS studio in Sacramento and the interviewing co-hosts, Mary Alice Williams and Felicia Taylor. in the Reuters studios in Maryland.

More info: www.rl.tv

Radio Interview---also on September 19th

Mel will be interviewed live on the WENG-AM show, All About Women, Wednesday September 19th at 8:15 PST. This show is out of Tampa/St. Petersburg, but listeners anywhere can tune in on their computers at www.1530weng.com.

Mel on the CBS Early Show

Mel was interviewed on the nationally televised Early Show on CBS about her new book, Hot Granny. If you missed the segment on May 8th, here's how to see it now and also read an excerpt from Hot Granny:

Google: Early Show Mel Walsh

Then scroll down that page until you hit the section about Mel and Hot Granny. Click on Watch.

OR:...Google: youtube Mel Walsh.

TV Appearance and Book Signing Sacramento

In honor of Grandparents Day, Mel will be appearing on Sacramento & Co, News 10, Friday morning, September 7th, after 8:30 AM. Later that day, she will be part of Draper's & Damon's Granny Chic Week at an open house at Draper's & Damon's, Loehmann's Plaza, 2541 Fair Oaks in Sacramento. Mel will talk about her book, Hot Granny, and then stay to answer questions and sign books until noon.

Thanks to Barnes & Noble for providing books and to Draper's & Damon's for celebrating granny chic. Thanks also to News 10 for honoring grandparents this week. This day of celebration would not have happened even 10 years ago, so there's progress on how people think about life after 50. And here's to that!

Please tune in or come and talk to me. Friday, September 7th. Sacramento.

Mel on Sacramento TV

June has been Sacramento TV month with two appearances on the CBS affiliate's morning show, Good Day Sacramento and one on the ABC affiliate's morning show, Sacramento and Co. Next scheduled appearance in Sacramento is September 7th, between 9 and 10 AM on KXTV, Sacramento and Co. Also that day appearing at Damon & Draper's in Sacramento for Granny Chic Week.