Though apparently this secret subculture is neither secret nor out of the mainstream for anybody but me. After repeated invitations and incredulous requests ("You're not on it?"), I've finally given into peer pressure and joined FaceBook. Imagine my surprise!
How could I not have known that so many of my friends and family had already gone over to the dark side? Phhht! There goes my assumptions about the kind of people who join up to these things. Grown, intelligent people do this! People I respect! What happened to all the teenagers and slackers who I assumed were the main denizens of this shadowy world?
Maybe they're all on MySpace.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Happily eating my words
The news just keeps on getting better. The Jamaican girls sweep the women's 100 meter winning Gold, Silver + Silver (2nd and 3rd were too close to call).
Life is sweeeet! Now if only I had some fried breadfruit for breakfast I would be a completely happy (Jamaican) woman :-)
Life is sweeeet! Now if only I had some fried breadfruit for breakfast I would be a completely happy (Jamaican) woman :-)
Sunday, August 17, 2008
It just doesn't get any better than this!
Just got to watch Usain Bolt (world's fastest man!) accept the 2008 Olympic GOLD for the 100 meter. Then heard the Jamaican anthem played as I sung along with Usain, the green, black and gold waving atop all the rest.
I'm happy.
I'm happy.
Friday, August 15, 2008
A first
I miss lots of people. Lots. And again I say, LOTS! But for the first time, I'm missing someone who left me behind rather than the other way around.
The Wayfaring Stranger and I had very little in common. She - Australian, blonde, mother of 2 kids (both with the cutest aussie accents!), and married to great guy. I almost always end of friends with my girlfriends' husbands. They tend to make good choices :-)
Me - none of the above.
Yet, somehow, from the potential disaster of 2 kids getting plonked down next to a stranger at a dance recital, came a great friendship. Maybe it was our one thing in common, being expats from the colonies, but we bonded immediately and proceeded to make sure we always had a blast together. Whether putting together homemade pizzas in their kitchen, trekking to faraway festivals, or shivering together on a deserted beach in the middle of an Irish winter, it always worked.
Alas, life (and hubby's job) took her away from me and back to that sundrenched land of surfing and koalas.
I miss her.
The Wayfaring Stranger and I had very little in common. She - Australian, blonde, mother of 2 kids (both with the cutest aussie accents!), and married to great guy. I almost always end of friends with my girlfriends' husbands. They tend to make good choices :-)
Me - none of the above.
Yet, somehow, from the potential disaster of 2 kids getting plonked down next to a stranger at a dance recital, came a great friendship. Maybe it was our one thing in common, being expats from the colonies, but we bonded immediately and proceeded to make sure we always had a blast together. Whether putting together homemade pizzas in their kitchen, trekking to faraway festivals, or shivering together on a deserted beach in the middle of an Irish winter, it always worked.
Alas, life (and hubby's job) took her away from me and back to that sundrenched land of surfing and koalas.
I miss her.
Irish Men - strong in their masculinity
80 year old man walking along holding hands with 2 year old blond charmer. Rainbow leash wrapped around both hands just in case she makes a break for it.
Grandfather type with hurling stick and ball walking with 5 year old blond charmer. I guess they start them young with this GAA sports addiction.
12 year old boy pushing full-sized pram, presumably with young sibling inside? I can just imagine the conversation: harried mother-type screaming, "All of you, get out! I need a break!"
Middle-aged man ambling along the sidewalk pushing what looks like a pink doll's stroller. I'm walking behind thinking, "Please get out of my way!" (that's the rushed american in me; she still hasn't completely given in to the whole "irish time" phenomenom). Was relieved to see an actual child inside after passing. Somehow less creepy than the alternative.
Grandfather type with hurling stick and ball walking with 5 year old blond charmer. I guess they start them young with this GAA sports addiction.
12 year old boy pushing full-sized pram, presumably with young sibling inside? I can just imagine the conversation: harried mother-type screaming, "All of you, get out! I need a break!"
Middle-aged man ambling along the sidewalk pushing what looks like a pink doll's stroller. I'm walking behind thinking, "Please get out of my way!" (that's the rushed american in me; she still hasn't completely given in to the whole "irish time" phenomenom). Was relieved to see an actual child inside after passing. Somehow less creepy than the alternative.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Body Disorientation
I'm in the strange situation of being slightly weirded out by my own body. I never thought getting in shape would have a dark side, but it does! For as long as I can remember clearly, basically the last 15 years, I've been on the soft side of curvy. Sometimes softer than others :-) Except for a few months around my sister's wedding in 2000 when I killed myself to slim down so I wouldn't be haunted by intolerable pictures forever, I've ranged from feeling slightly dissatisfied to majorly frustrated by my weight. As I got older, especially after passing 35, it just got harder and harder to stay as fit as I'd like.
Not so different from most other women these days, I guess.
What's so strange now is that, having finally committed to a regular and intense enough exercise routine and being cut off from America's endless supply of empty and unnecessary calories, I'm finally getting into the shape I've always wanted and it's freaking me the heck out! My arms do not look like this; you can see the muscles moving under the skin, like snakes in the shadows. I have indentations in places I didn't realize had muscles, and where did my hips go? I find myself watching myself in the mirror and not recognizing myself.
The good news is that my stamina has gone through the roof and I feel much healthier (though my high blood pressure isn't going away. Thanks mom for those genes!). I'm having to buy a whole new wardrobe (which is actually not as fun as it sounds when clothes are as expensive as they are here) and I'm definitely getting more male attention. But, I still haven't accepted that this is me yet and I don't know if and when I will.
Before the problem was that my outside didn't always match how I imagined myself inside. That's still the problem, only now I'm in the position of my head having to catch up with my body.
Not so different from most other women these days, I guess.
What's so strange now is that, having finally committed to a regular and intense enough exercise routine and being cut off from America's endless supply of empty and unnecessary calories, I'm finally getting into the shape I've always wanted and it's freaking me the heck out! My arms do not look like this; you can see the muscles moving under the skin, like snakes in the shadows. I have indentations in places I didn't realize had muscles, and where did my hips go? I find myself watching myself in the mirror and not recognizing myself.
The good news is that my stamina has gone through the roof and I feel much healthier (though my high blood pressure isn't going away. Thanks mom for those genes!). I'm having to buy a whole new wardrobe (which is actually not as fun as it sounds when clothes are as expensive as they are here) and I'm definitely getting more male attention. But, I still haven't accepted that this is me yet and I don't know if and when I will.
Before the problem was that my outside didn't always match how I imagined myself inside. That's still the problem, only now I'm in the position of my head having to catch up with my body.
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