Mirror Mirror

Help!  I spent yesterday shopping or at least trying to shop for a few sweaters.  No big deal, you might say.  That's what I thought until I stepped in front of the three-way mirrors in the fitting rooms.  Front on I looked OK, tolerable from the back but that sideways view was as deflating as ten burst balloons.  Deflating might even have been the best option.  My question then and now is:  how did I manage to gain so many unsightly bulges?  I have to go up one size in order to get anything to fit and even then.....

I can now understand Snow White's step mother asking that mirror on the wall the all-important question, only mine would have been "do I look big in this?" and the mirror would have no option but to answer "you sure do."

I didn't buy anything.  Instead I told myself I was going on the strictest of strict diets for the next 12 months.  Next question is of course:  how's my self-control? The answer is:  I don't have any.  I like cooking, I like food, I like sweet things like cake and chocolate and we're coming up to Christmas when all these things are going to be even more saliva-inducingly displayed (yeah, I know saliva-inducingly isn't a proper word but right now I have other things to worry about).  And I'm a great believer in the old adage "you only live once".
People with a bit of meat on their bones are usually cheerful, happy, outgoing people or they used to be until the advent of the super-skinny brigade.  Now I suppose they all agonize in private over the extra pounds.  I am trying not to do that.  At the same time I have to confess that when I came down with a bad cold last month (no blogs written as you'll have noticed) I actually lost two pounds in weight and I have been delighted with myself ever since - until I went shopping yesterday that is. I haven't weighed myself again for fear I've gained those pounds again. 

It's all a bit crazy isn't it?  If you meet someone for the first time do you automatically write them off because they are carrying a few extra pounds? I suspect you do what we all do, see them as a whole person and not as a load on a weighing scales. If we are healthy, get enough exercise, eat lots of fruit and vegetables and then have the occasional treat of chocolate or cake, shouldn't that be enough without worrying about being too fat?   That's what I've been telling myself since yesterday when those mirrors revealed the true me.  Of course, I'm going to cut down a tiny bit and eat smaller portions from now on.  With Christmas coming it won't be easy.

Let's look at this weight business again in June of next year, shall we?  In the meantime, a happy Advent season to everyone.

You couldn't make it up

I love to trawl the web for things to brighten my day.  I mean, who wants to hear all the time about spying, the economy - improving or not improving - and the bad weather?   It's much more exciting to browse websites which give me a chuckle and restore my faith in the eccentricity of human beings.

I am indebted to France24's English website for the pain au chocolat story.  Pain au chocolat is a chocolatey bread and delicious, let me tell you.  Anyone who has stayed in France will have tried this French breakfast favourite at some stage, it beats marmalade on toast if you dip in in your milky coffee while lounging on the terrace of a fashionable eatery and admiring the sunshine falling on those beautiful Paris buildings.   But I digress.  This story broke because the two bodyguards assigned to a former government aide complained that he had created a scene because they had not bought his pain au chocolat.  They complained to their union and then the story came out that this guy was given a less than prestigious position (in his own opinion) and which did not include a chauffeur.  He claimed he was receiving death threats and was duly given two bodyguards who acted as drivers, which encouraged him to think that he could use them as a form of servant.  Currently France is having a laugh at this.You can check out the story in English here http://www.france24.com/en/20131101-mediawatch-cope-pain-au-chocolat-french-politics-scandal-pastries?page=117

Then there was the drunken man who was staggering around in Landsberg Germany and decided to spend the night in a stables - on a horses's back. A horsewoman arriving for an early morning ride found him and alerted the police.  No comment!!  I haven't included a link here but you can find it on YouTube by keying in the appropriate search words.

Four schools in Southern Zimbwawbe have been closed following complaints that children were being attacked by goblins according to the Bulawayo Chronicle.  I wonder what constitutes a "goblin"?   I wish there had been some mention of this when I was going to school.
I found the report on the Sunday Times Weird but wonderful section, page 10 of News Review.

And lastly I have to thank one of my favourite websites http:www.messynessychic.com for this most spooky story, it's worthy checking out:

For all those living in the whereabouts of the New Hamburg train station in New York, a strange spectacle piques the interest. This mystery involves a porch occupied by a changing number of life-size female dolls dressed in different trends from the twentieth century, whose number, position, and theme, vary from day to day.  A number of quirky (creepy) objects accompany the dolls on the porch. 

Neighbours don’t seem to know anything about the current owners of the house, built in 1845. The Greek Revival wood frame structure is one of the only surviving structures on the block from an 1877 fire. At night, a kitchen light can be seen through the drape covering the front door. A vegetable garden is kept in the backyard. On many rainy days, the dolls disappear into the quarters of the paint-pealed home. In 1871, a train wreck occurred amidst a two-week record-breaking cold wave in which 22 people were killed less than two hundred feet away from the house.

More about this spooky mystery found on Atlas Obscura

Kicking the Can

If there was one cliche which made me wince every time it was said in the last few turbulent weeks of the U.S. debt crisis it was "kicking the can down the road."   Grrrrr!   No wonder they couldn't come to an agreement when they were all singing from the same song sheet and on the same page, too. When I saw some of the interviews with Republican mavericks, I thought they were whistling past the graveyard.  President Obama stayed poker-faced and didn't let anyone see his hand.  But in the end they all had to step up to the plate otherwise the entire country would have been dead in the water.

Enough of that - here are a few things to ponder:

Recent research shows that from the age of 18 months upwards a child can tell when someone is being insincere according to a report in The Times.  Well now, let's do a toddlers' test on politicians and on some grown-ups, too.  "Coochie-coo" isn't going to cut any ice with the little ones if they don't think you mean it.

Research at Princeton University revealed that marmosets take turns to call out and wait 5 seconds before responding.  They don't interrupt each other or speak over other's cries.  That's pretty awesome isn't it?  How many people do you know who really listen to you instead of waiting for you to get on with your story so that they can start telling you their's?  And maybe the U.S. Democrats and Republicans would have solved things sooner if they waited 5 seconds before shooting their mouths off.  It would have given them time to engage their brains.

And now for something completely different but it has an "paawww" factor.  There exists in Paris a cafe called The Purple Puss where you can cuddle a cat while drinking your coffee.  The idea was started by a Japanese woman and is very successful.  You have to book a month in advance to get a table at weekends.  Apparently these kinds of cafes are popular in Japan where people believe that stroking a cat relaxes tension (see the slip on the BBC website http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24592430 ).  At any rate if you don't mind cat hairs in your coffee, it is a very pleasant way to enjoy your cafe creme.   It could even stop you kicking the can down the road.

The First Time

I finally did it.  I'd wanted to do it for a long time but somehow the right moment never arrived.  Now, at last, there I was in the dimly lit room, waiting for him.  I was nervous, excited, fearful that it wouldn't be as I'd imagined it.  What if it didn't happen?  If the world didn't stop turning for those thrilling minutes?

I had to ask myself if it was going to be all it was cracked up to be.  Was he going to be all I'd imagined and anticipated?

I tried to do everything right.  I'd slipped into something comfortable and arranged myself to the best advantage on the couch.  I'd lit the scented candles, put the chilled wine within easy reach. 

My excitement mounted as the minutes ticked by and then, at last here we were, he and I.  In the flickering candlelight he looked all that I'd imagined and wanted him to be.

But, oh dear, his performance fell well below my expectations.  When it was over, I felt cheated of the moment.  Disappointment is too mild a word for the whole experience.  All the things I'd been told were, to my downcast mind, sawdust and ashes.  It wasn't a bit like I'd expected and hoped it would be.

Thank goodness I wouldn't have to repeat it.

You've guessed it :  I watched the final episode of Dexter.

Keep Smiling

You'd sometimes be forgiven for thinking that a friendly smile costs money.  Some people just won't part with one for love or money (well, I've never tried money, so maybe this statement is a bit too sweeping).

Recently I went out to lunch at a local restaurant with a small group of people.  The weather was fine and the tables on the terrace were all taken.  Inside the restaurant quite a few tables were also occupied so we decided to move to the upstairs area.  This didn't suit the waitress who was apparently not enthusiastic about having to come upstairs to serve.  She looked at us as if we'd crawled in on our under-bellies and was extremely slow in taking our order.  By the time she came back with the food the place had filled up and every table upstairs was occupied.  So her disgruntlement was all for nothing as we were not the only customers she had to serve in that area.  What she had done, however, was ensure that I would not use that restaurant again.  If management are pleased to employ someone so unsuitable then they do not merit my custom.  And, of course, human nature being what it is, I have related this incident to all my friends and acquaintances.  Maybe she was having a bad hair day, but quite frankly, how would I know that?  I took her at (unsmiling) face value.  I'm not about to psycho-analyze every waitress I see - let's face it, I'd be locked up if I leaned across the table and tried a bit of Freudian therapy on her.

Various studies have revealed that smiling, even when you don't feel like it, can reduce stress regardless of your actual mood.  If you act cheerfully, you will become cheerful.  Interesting, isn't it?  I expect the opposite is true, too.  If you go around with a mournful face and expect rain, then you are going to feel grumpy or sad and you may even get a downpour.

Cheers, everyone

Have we lost the plot?

When our kids are small we teach them how to cross the road and especially we teach them not to run across because they can get killed by a car.  We watch over the food they eat, try to feed them plenty of vegetables and fruit.  Warn them of all the common dangers.  And we do our best to keep ourselves healthy too.  We go to the gym, we jog, we apply tons of sunblocker and try to watch what we eat.

So why is it that some people like to do dangerous things, like walking across the Grand Canyon on a tightrope?   Or swimming from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage?  Is this something heroic?  Something to be applauded?  I don't think so.  Suppose I meet someone at a party and all they can tell me is they swam across a huge expanse of water, let's say the English Channel or whatever, just because they'd always wanted to do that.  I'd be inclined to ask if they didn't have a big enough swimming pool locally.  Am I dense?  I really don't see the point.  If one of my kids ever said they'd like to walk the Sahara barefoot, I'd be inclined to slap them around the ear - metaphorically speaking, I hasten to point out.  I would think they were deficient in appreciating the normal pleasures of life. Sure, there are a few things I'd have liked to do.  When I was a teen I thought being a bullfighter would be really sexy - yeah, my brain developed a bit since then - and I thought driving a Ferrari around a Formula One racetrack or exploring the Amazon jungle to mention only a few would all have been a big adventure.  But did I make any of it the main aim of my life?  No, I most certainly did not - those low-hanging cherries on life's little tree were just as exciting even if more commonplace.

Bob Geldorf, bless him, will be travelling into space on a commercial flight in 2014.  This is something I can understand.  If you've seen everything that the planet earth has to offer then by all means get into your spacesuit.   And what a conversation opener at that party.  "Seen anyone you know up there, Bob?"

Things I never heard of before..

Have you ever heard of UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity?  I only came across this recently while browsing the web. It is what it says on the tin:  a list of cultural things which you can't lock up in a museum or save on your i-pad but things which are wonderfully old and traditional and should be carefully preserved.

Next time you are at a dull dinner party or any social gathering or even that wonderful coffee break at a meeting, you can trot out a few facts that no one else would be crazy enough to know (well, most people wouldn't know unless directly involved and I suppose it has more to do with being interested in our human heritage than being crazy).  Want to learn about some of the things on the list?  I'll be brief, so you'll just have time for one cup of coffee.

The hopping dance in Echternach, Luxembourg is held every year on Whit Tuesday in honour of Saint Willibrord, the so-called Apostle of Benelux who reportedly converted the Benelux countries and Germany to christianity.  It is a simple dance solemnly performed by children and old persons alike and attracts thousands of tourists each year.  The performers hop first on one foot, then the other.  Spectators are asked to show respect for the procession as it moves through the town.  No one knows exactly when it started but it continues unabated every year.

The Silbo Gomero is the whistled language of the island of Gomera and is used to communicate across the deep ravines and gullies which are to be found all over the Spanish island.  I would love to hear this, I must admit, and have already researched a trip to Gomera.

The Space of Gong culture in the central highlands of Vietnam. This has all the mystery of the Far East and begs to be further explored.

Finished your coffee?  I hope I roused a tiny bit of interest.  Just imagine that somewhere in our world people are putting forward these intangible cultural ceremonies to be preserved for posterity.   Kind of gives you goose pimples, doesn't it? Have a nice day!