Wow wow wow. Some people just don’t look the way you imagine them. No matter. Sam Sparro is rocking my world this week.
A couple of girlfriends and i had planned a beachside girls’ weekend about a month or so ago. Little did i know at the time of planning that i would be desperate for the getaway, that i would be buying a house and quitting the job all in the same week.
Hyams Beach’s claim to fame is that it has “the world’s whitest sand”. I don’t know if this is true, even though i examined the sand at close range yesterday. It was, admittedly, very white… But the whitest? Whatever, it was beautiful.
Because it was off-season, there were very few other beach-goers about. We were lucky with the weather, too - the sun shone brightly yesterday, and the sky was as blue as blue can be.
We spent hours yesterday walking in the bush as well as on the beach. It was lovely not to be in the city; mobile coverage was patchy, too, which meant i really had no choice but to switch off. I took my cue from the ‘locals’, like this roo, who was quite comfortable to relax in the sunshine…
It’s been quite an eventful week. Yesterday, the Hub and i signed the papers for the house. On the same day, i resigned from the job*, with four weeks’ notice.
I’ve gone from being certain [that i'm doing the right thing] to doubting my decision to leave to back to certainty. I’m told that life’s big decisions can do that to a person. First you’re sure you’ve made the right choice, then an hour later you’re second-guessing yourself… By the time the sun sets on your day, you will have repeated the process a hundred times.
Yesterday afternoon, when i arrived at the chiropractor’s for my fortnightly adjustment, i was in yet another doubting phase. On the noticeboard was written the following:
My message to you is this:
Be courageous
Have faith
Go forward.
~ Thomas Edison
That, i’ve decided, will be my mantra in the coming weeks.
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* I start my new job on June 9.
I don’t know if anyone else experiences the same but for those of us who are in relationships, do you ever find it difficult to balance your twosome status with the needs/wants of your single friends? I struggle with this on a regular basis.
Single friends who want to go out to bars where they can pull… and you just want to go somewhere where you don’t feel like a serving of something on a kaiten sushi conveyor belt. Single friends who keep bugging you for introductions to other single friends in your circle… when all you want is for them to leave you out of it, because if it goes badly you don’t want to feel responsible. Single friends who want to do weekend activities which hold no interest to your partner so you invariably decline the invitation… because you only have the weekend to spend time with your partner so if he doesn’t want to do whatever it is, then you have to choose him otherwise you don’t see him all weekend. Or something more or less complicated than that.
In the end, i simply go into hibernation/hiding for a couple or few weeks, anything to ease the weight of expectation, to forget the desperate looks, the not-so-subtle hints. Which brings the messages, “Haven’t heard from you in a while… are you okay?” The emails, “Where are ya? What are you doing tonight?” “When are we catching up? Can you bring so-and-so [single friend] along?” May i say now that the question “What are you doing tonight?” on a Saturday late-afternoon never fails to hit me with the weight of expectation although i don’t know why i allow myself to feel that way.
I wonder if it’s only me who finds singles-doubles socialising tricky. Maybe i’m not evolved enough to handle something quite so elaborate as my single friends doing the rounds when i’m around them. Blatant ‘being on the pull’ behaviour makes me uncomfortable. I especially dislike witnessing packs of singletons on the hunt.
What can i say, i’m a work in progress. And it’s going slowly, my dear [single] friends.
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*With apologies to Bridget Jones/Helen Fielding
Image details: Woman holding a piece of sushi in chopsticks served by picapp.com
Her style was da bomb, yes it was, on David Letterman’s Late Show last week. And i love the oversized bear heads.
Most of us want to be healthy, to live better and to live longer. We run, we practise yoga, we eat as well as we can. We moderate our indulgences, our partying, our vices (i may be speaking for me only, but it’s true). Being well on the inside means that we also look well on the outside. Vanity is often the main motivation for us keeping ourselves fit and well, the fact that we feel great as a result of our fitness is a plus. Or have i got it the wrong way around?
Which brings me to The Independent and this article and its accompanying images about bodybuilding. Actually, the article is not so much about bodybuilding as it is about a set of photographs by Joachim Ladefoged, but it does provide some insights into what bodybuilders do to achieve their aims.
Do most bodybuilders start off wanting to look good? I understand that the definition of what looks good differs for everyone, and perhaps i may say that a bodybuilder’s aesthetic is very clearly defined and rather extreme. I mean, most of us just want to look decent, but if you’re a bodybuilder looking good means that your physique has to look a specific way - minimal body fat, maximum muscle hypertrophy (growth) and definition - and if you are really serious about it, you get yourself all browned and oiled up, get on stage and allow yourself to be judged.
… Some time last year, i was at the nail bar for my usual three-weekly maintenance when a woman walked in looking like she’d collided with a can of wood varnish and then proceeded to roll around in it several times. I found it difficult not to stare, and it was clear that others around me -nail bar employees and clients alike- were struggling equally. She was very lean, very buff, and very strong; although she was in a tracksuit i could make out the muscles underneath.
When she sat at the booth beside me i caught sight of her feet. Anyone who’s ever had a spray tan will know that the knees, fingers and toes are particularly difficult areas because they’re so creased. Whoever applied her spray tan had done a pretty amateurish job on the toes - they looked muddy and dirty; i wanted to scrub her clean. But i’m being finicky. The overwhelming image i took away from this ‘encounter’ was the colour of her. She resembled a mahogany mannequin. It was very strange and kind of freaky.
A few of Ladefoged’s images, such as the one below, left me speechless. (I know, i know, different strokes, different folks and all that.)
Image by Joachim Ladefoged, taken from The Independent
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