WOOF!Arf arf arf. Wag!!! Bark bark, grrrrr.
No, wait. Reminder to self: Not everyone speaks WOOFer.
It sure seems that way though, since the advanced launch of WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty. At book signings, there’s no lack of ladies who speak the language. And, sometimes, as I’m chatting with a woman, describing the contents of the book (topics such as night sweats, mood swings and hot flashes), she looks at me like, until that moment, she’d been adrift in a wasteland, and at long last an oasis has appeared—another woman who understands exactly what she is feeling and saying.
Sure, plenty can be found online, in magazines, on TV talk shows, you name it, about women’s issues, especially menopause given the massive boomer generation. But there’s something about one middle-aged woman standing face-to-face with another 50+ woman that makes it more relatable.And maybe it’s easier to talk about certain issues with a stranger, a woman who has stepped into being a book author at this phase of life. Not that I’m any expert, but I’m at least not afraid to talk about it. And perhaps therein lies the bond.
Mary, Melinda and I wrote the humor book for ourselves. Naturally we hoped it would catch on with other women. Still, who knew that even before its official release date, it would take on a life all its own.
But, why not? Women are intuitive—reading between the lines and interpreting the unspoken word. Using language in inventive ways.
For example, you’ll probably never again hear woof! without thinking of women embracing maturity—Women Only Over Fifty!
Diana Black
—d.d. dawg
Diana-Designs.net
WendleWordsworth.blogspot.com
WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty
WOOFers Club Blog
Diana Black’s Blog
WOOF! Couldn't agree more, but then maybe I'm a little prejudice.
ReplyDeleteThe one-on-one interaction with women in, or entering this phase of life as been cathartic.
Who are you, and what are you doing on this blog?!? Oh, it's you, Mary. (hey, it's this old age thing I guess.) Anyhoo, you, Melinda and I chatted a lot during the course of writing the book about this phase of life -- its challenges and joys. So I think I was a little surprised when I met other women and "held discussions," that that interaction helped as well. Guess in life we need our "bestest" friends and "newest" ones as well.
ReplyDelete--d.d.dawg
Diana - Back "in the day" who would have thought that all of that IT training and processing those huge insurance files would lead to using technology like this! I love WOOF and you ladies are amazing to someone like me who has no right brain and is still processing those huge financial files on a mainframe. Thank you for speaking to women like us and making it entertaining as well as cathartic.
ReplyDeletePam, so good to hear from you!! Wow, that takes me back...mainframes, insurance files...You're so right, now look at us. Blogging of all things! But how great that we're not afraid to take on these kinds of new "fangled thangs." And willing to poke fun at issues that would have had our mothers face blood read, and not from a hot flash! Thanks for stopping by, Pam. Huge, huge hugs,always... Diana
ReplyDeleteHA! HA! Look how I spelled "red" in my last comment. I think I'm subliminally sending a message for everyone to READ our book! -- Diana
ReplyDeleteThanks, Diana, for blogging with us today.
ReplyDeleteIf there was one thought that you'd want women to take from WOOF, what would it be?
Rhonda
Great question, Rhonda.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to answer by referencing something from an article written about Mary and me that will appear next Wednesday in our hometown newspaper (The Corydon Democrat). Leah Porter took some of what I wrote in preparation for the article, and summed up my philosophy of life as: "Walking tall and feeling your own power..."
I think that's it pretty much in a nut shell, what WOOF means to me (and my coauthors) and can mean to other women.
Sure, the book is mostly funny...but don't most women find a lot of strength in focusing on what's just plain amusing in life?
What is it they say, things that are REALLY comical are not made up, but rather spins on reality.
What's more real that waking up one morning to discover, overnight, you became a WOOFer?
That's when you crawl out of bed, stand tall and feel your own power...
-Diana