Both my mother and father looked young for their ages, so I got good (i.e. young) genes. I'm 71, and look somewhere between Carolina and Irish. I can understand how it is that Carolina looks so young in her picture; I have a young looking picture from almost 20 years ago that I still use for my picture id with the university. Best picture every taken of me.
But, I feel disfigured by years of acne rosacea. Recently my wonderful eye doctor who also has acne rosacea (as my sister and daughter do, as well) just subtly encouraged me to do more with my eyes -- not in eye makeup, but in trimming my funny hairy eyebrows and grooming them, at least. She also told me to use Vitamin e oil on the acne rosacea scars on my chin, which I do, when I remember to do it. My hair has grown back with a vengeance and needs to be cut every month -- I've let it go 2 months, but it's the same straight fine hair that Carolina /Elaine seems to have, and looks good when cut nicely.
There's a complex interplay at a university between the age one appears to be, the age students think you are, the age your department's faculty thinks a teacher should be -- and "real" age. If you want to stay away from campus and spend time with grandchildren, you are too old. You never mention grandchildren to students in a class, or at a faculty meeting, or at a seminar or other presentation. Since I'm not tenured faculty, I hang around the fringes foraging for crumbs, anyway. I *am* beginning to lose the urge to make a contribution to this sick system, and feel that way one day out of seven. When I get up to four days out of seven, I'll quit.
How it is,
Soycoffee
P.S. Think of Andrea Mitchell! She's ten years older than I am.
