Toe Rubber Blues : Mid-Life Thoughts on the Prospects of Aging

"My 35th birthday hit me pretty hard. Of course, it wasn't as if I couldn't have seen it coming. I'd been 34 for 364 days at the time. Still, I managed to avoid the idea for most of the year. Until I was leaving for work one morning, and I looked at my feet. Toe rubbers. I'd had them for almost five years. And for the first few years, even when I looked down and saw them on my feet the whole thing seemed more a lark than anything else. It was the same as wearing vintage clothing. It was nerd-hip. I was an artist. I was young. Then I wasn't an artist. Then I wasn't really young. Then I was a balding 35-year old dressed just like his father..."

In Toe Rubber Blues, CBC Radio's Tom Allen confronts, with great wit and steely bravery, the prospect of aging and our ill-fated resistance to it. He tells us why, no matter what the RRSP commercials say, it is too late to save for retirement, why bald is sexy, why "family planning" is a misnomer, why obsolete appliances still have value and how long it will be until you feel truly comfortable in your toe rubbers.

Funny, thought-provoking and nostalgic, Toe Rubber Blues is the perfect read for anyone who has wondered about hair weaves or been tempted by tummy tucks.

Tom Allen is an accomplished musician and storyteller. He has hosted "A Good Place To Be" from CBC Radio in Halifax, "Weekender" and CBC's "Fresh Air" heard throughout Ontario and Quebec. He is now behind the microphone at CBC Radio 2's "Music and Company."