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November 8, 2007
How To Pet A Famous Biogerontologist
A few days ago, Danny called me from his home town where he was shopping for clothes for his new job.
"Can I wear a suede jacket?" he asked.
Hmmmm, thought I. Have I ever heard of such a thing? I was sure I hadn't seen one.
The salesguy in the background said, "It's so soft I just want to run over there and pet him."
"Well," said I, "You can't very well complain if the nurses try to pet you."
Danny agreed to not complain if the nurses tried to pet him. He's been through a lot worse things than that. Still, I wasn't quite certain that this would be a safe fashion choice. We really do have to be very conservative in our dress, especially those who are under thirty, in order to be taken seriously.
"Does it look like an investment banker would wear it?" I asked.
The salesguy in the background said, "God no! Take it off!"
I trust that Danny went on to buy something more conservative for his new job. He starts on Monday. I am very happy about this. He just seems to want to do the work so bad. That's what we need. Somebody who needs to organize the same way he needs to eat.
Meanwhile, I am at the CR Conference. MR gave his presentation, and he got into an argument with Dr. John Hollozy, a veritable icon of George Harrison and Eric Clapton status in biogerontology. Dr. Hollozy was quite heated about the whole thing, at one point saying, "You're up there talking like a lawyer or a politician..."
He's organizing, I thought. MR is organizing: he's informing people of things they might not know in an attempt to get them to do something that he believes will bring them closer to their stated goals (in this case, slowing the aging process or indeed reversing it) than what they're currently doing or considering doing. Dr. Hollozy disagrees with him (not about CR, he's all for that, this was about SENS) and doesn't like the fact that Michael is organizing circles around his opponents.
Dr. Hollozy, I noted, was wearing a suede jacket. Hmmmm, thought I. Now I have seen one.
I went over and asked if he would mind if I petted it. He didn't mind in the slightest. And so I petted a famous scientist. It would not be the first time. They are very pet-able, if you ask nicely.
Meanwhile, MR appeared to be working overtime at turning me on. He dresses like an anarchist and then gets up and spouts all this fancy science-y talk and it drives me mad. For years I have said that my favorite things are anarchists dressed like investment bankers and science geeks dressed as anarchists. The universe has clearly, once again, decided to take me literally. I am definitely one of those "Be careful what you wish for" people, as the universe almost always takes me literally. I said I liked skinny guys: I meet and fall in love with a man who is 6' tall and 115 pounds. I joke about anarchists dressed as investment bankers, but was always thinking of a certain vaguely Marxist maybe socialist dressed up in a Brooks Brothers suit. The universe, however, took me literally and sent me an actual anarchist to dress up as an investment banker. I realize that my enthusiasm for dressing him up may indicate that I abandoned my Barbie dolls too young. No doubt the women on Every Woman Has An Eating Disorder would say it's better that I dress up an anarchist than that I have my body image damaged for one more minute by impossibly proportioned Barbie. Or perhaps they'd say that I'm just doing CR because I secretly want to look like Barbie, and that my desire to dress up an anarchist while claiming that he is a substitute for my long lost dolls is just another elaborate rationalization for my bizarre and dangerous habit of eating 100 grams of kale with 1 cup of organic cottage cheese and 30 grams of avocado for lunch. Then Dr. Stacey would say something calm, friendly and rational and the discussion would head in another direction.
Anyhow, MR has a gift for breaking down the scientific information in ways that normal people can understand... that was what attracted me to him in the first place. I love watching him argue with the scientists. The shiny Canadian army boots are also a plus. Watching him from a distance, but with my glasses, I am amazed again at how young and vibrant he looks. He would be much more believable if he said he was 27, yet his 37th birthday is upon us next week. Makes me think CR works. Makes me think my boyfriend is really hot, and I am lucky to be with him. Makes me think that he's so wonderful to me, and so sexy, and I really should vacuum the floors when I get home so that his cat allergies don't act up. Love is like that, I think.
My presentation went great. It was all about women and CR, about how the media has seized upon the women in CR as an excuse to link CR with anorexia. I passed around Rebecca Traister's article, and Kate Taylor's from Slate. I shared some of the charming letters and comments I've gotten, full of irrational hatred for anyone who dares count their calories. I think everyone was most interested in the part about CR and female libido, but that's really a post in itself, for another day.
The food here is good... MR and I made ourselves big salads at the buffet at lunch. At dinner I had to do a ton of work from our hotel room, so I just had brewers yeast soup with cottage cheese. Two glasses of wine: one with dinner and one later, after I went on a walk with some other CR friends. Cottage cheese snack before bed. Nancy's organic is clearly filled with opiods, judging from the way I crave it. My bones are happily sucking up the calcium.
It's nice to be here, very nice. It's wonderful to connect with long-term friends. But I am missing home, missing being in the middle of everything. I will be happy to get back.
Very exciting things are happening at work.
Fortune Ipod settles on Edwin McCain's "Cound Not Ask For More."
The fortune Ipod is very wise.
Posted by april at November 8, 2007 9:35 PM
Comments
When I saw Michael in a video not that long ago it seemed that he looked just as young as my friends who are around 24-25. Did MR just stop aging in his appearance since he started CR or something? lol.
Thats the kind of consensus I hear from people in the CR community... that when we initiate CR, we don't seem to age that much from that point in terms of appearance.
Posted by: matt - uk at November 9, 2007 10:43 AM
Matt, Michael's maternal grandparents also looked young for their age until they were into their 80s and I have always been told that I look younger than my age. Michael does indeed look years younger than 37. Is it because he's always eaten healthily, is it genetics or is it CR? The first two definitely apply; however, he does indeed appear to have stopped aging for the past 5+ years. Having found someone wonderful in April has also contributed to his general appearance of health & well-being but since he's known her for only 3 years, the CR factor must definitely be given a lot of credit. JD (MoMR)
Posted by: Judith at November 9, 2007 12:08 PM
Loved this post! I usually do love the "I love MR" posts... makes me think of my "I love Cam" moments. :)
I have a thing for scientists... when I participated in the Genographic Project, I was totally crushing on Dr. Spencer Wells. I also have a thing for Gerry Butler.
Cam is my tall thin scientist guy, who looks like Gerry Butler... the universe was definitely taking me literally. When he talks math, science and programming, cripes... and he does that a lot as a college engineering instructor.
nen
Posted by: Nenette at November 9, 2007 12:53 PM