The OWN writers’ group In My Own Voice, which has been meeting on Wednesdays, will meet Tue., Mar. 13, and after that on the first Tuesday of each month, 2-4 pm.

The Canadian Association on Gerontology has a special membership offer: New members get 15 months of membership for the price of 12! The CAG is Canada’s preeminent interdisciplinary professional association of researchers, practitioners, decision-makers, student and seniors with an interest in the field of aging.  Membership entitles you to many benefits, including reduced rates to attend the Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting of the CAG, members-only updates on resources and events in the field, a print and online subscription to the Canadian Journal on Aging, as well as opportunities to network with national and international peers. See their website for details.

The Canadian Women’s Health Network would like to mail out free bulk copies (20, 50, 150, or more) of a number of their health information publications, in French and English, that would be ideal for classrooms, community centres, staff rooms and public spaces. They will also gladly cover all the costs of shipment, so there will be no expense to you. Please email outreach@cwhn.ca to get a list of the publications available, and order your copies today!

The POWER Study is wrapping up with a presentation on Tue., Feb. 28, 5:30-6:30 pm, at Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, 209 Victoria Street, Room 211 (St. Michael’s Hospital), with a reception to follow at 6:30 pm. RSVP requested. This session is also offered via webcast at http://webcast.otn.ca. See flyer for full information.

An article in today’s Star discusses tactics for older employees to avoid being fired which are counter-intuitive: ask for help because of your age! “The moment you’ve given your employer notice that your advancing age might be impacting your abiity to do something — under human rights legislation they have to accommodate that.” See the full article by John Goddard on the web if you missed the print version (p. B8).

The University of Toronto’s Institute for Life Course and Aging is pleased to present a lecture by Byron G. Spencer, PhD, Professor of Economics, McMaster University on Thu., Feb. 16, 12:00 – 1:30 pm.

Canadians are living longer and, at least until recently, retiring younger. When combined with the aging of the baby boom generation, that means that the “inactive” portion of the population is increasing and there are concerns about possibly large increases in the burden of support on those who are younger. We model the impact of continued future gains in life expectancy on the size of the population that receives public pension benefits. We pay special attention to possible increases in the age of eligibility and the pension contribution rate that would maintain the publicly financed component of the retirement income security system.

Seminars are free, held at the Institute, 263 McCaul St., 4th Floor Classroom. Please RSVP as seating is limited, to aging@utoronto.ca (email). This seminar will be webcast and can be accessed at: http://hosting2.epresence.tv/AGING .

Thursday, Feb. 9: Movie at the Carlton Cinema, 20 Carlton St. (east of Yonge). There are a number of movies scheduled there, including W.E. (4:25), War Horse (4:15), and Haywire (4:10). Meet in the lobby at 4 pm.

Friday, Feb. 17:  Lunch at Edward Levesque’s Kitchen, 1290 Queen St. E. (between Hastings and Alton Aves., east of Leslie Grove Park). Meet there at 11:45 am.

For an unusual and provocative view of older women, see this video.