I'm going to keep knitting for another week though...so I can get my Grandma to show me how to finish it :-)
Always a learner.
Thursday, 31 May 2012
A good 36 inches...
Four weeks down and I made it to 36 inches!! I'm so proud of that effort, and yes admittedly bits of it are a bit holey, but considering my track record with all things sewing-related I'm stoked.
I'm going to keep knitting for another week though...so I can get my Grandma to show me how to finish it :-)
Always a learner.
I'm going to keep knitting for another week though...so I can get my Grandma to show me how to finish it :-)
Always a learner.
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Who's Rachel and why do I care that she weighs 36kg??
During my month long hiatus from the world of gossip mags, I have taken to staring at magazine covers mulling over what draws me to them in the first place.
The title of today's post - taken from a larger-than-life headline last week - makes this point nicely: who the $%&@ is Rachel?? She's a sickly thin blonde woman toting a baby who hardly looks like she could feed herself let alone some offspring.
Another one worth considering was one I saw today with a sad Nicole Richie declaring "The truth about me and Joel"
Does this headline work?? Because we all know - well, should know - that everything in the article will come from a "reliable source" or a "friend-of-a-friend" and be as far from the truth as humanly possible.
How about the front cover of Who advertising it's their "Body Issue" with 5 scantily clad female celebs splashed across the front. Personally semi-naked women don't do it for me, but I know I have purchased this particular issue multiple times.
WHY??
Two days left to the end of this challenge and I am still asking myself that same question.
Oh well, 48 hours to go to find my answer
The title of today's post - taken from a larger-than-life headline last week - makes this point nicely: who the $%&@ is Rachel?? She's a sickly thin blonde woman toting a baby who hardly looks like she could feed herself let alone some offspring.
Another one worth considering was one I saw today with a sad Nicole Richie declaring "The truth about me and Joel"
Does this headline work?? Because we all know - well, should know - that everything in the article will come from a "reliable source" or a "friend-of-a-friend" and be as far from the truth as humanly possible.
How about the front cover of Who advertising it's their "Body Issue" with 5 scantily clad female celebs splashed across the front. Personally semi-naked women don't do it for me, but I know I have purchased this particular issue multiple times.
WHY??
Two days left to the end of this challenge and I am still asking myself that same question.
Oh well, 48 hours to go to find my answer
Sunday, 20 May 2012
Saturday, 19 May 2012
Can we accept their humanity?
Am I the only one who thinks it's ok for celebrities to have boobs, love handles and cellulite?
It's a question I've been pondering myself this week after reading an article from the Sydney Morning Herald online about Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai and the apparent disgust from the general population of India that she hasn't "bothered" to shed her baby weight after the birth of her six-month old daughter. You can find the article here: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/beauty/it-is-her-duty-to-look-good-and-fit-bollywood-star-and-former-miss-world-targeted-over-failure-to-lose-postpregnancy-weight-20120517-1ysg1.html
For those who aren't familiar with Ms Rai ("Bride and Prejudice" would be one of the more westernised movies she's been in), she's India's version of Angelina Jolie: stunningly beautiful with a talent to match.
Apparently Ms Rai has a duty to the Indian people to be the epitome of her former Miss World self at all times, and the fact she's preparing to walk the red carpet at the Cannes Film festival bigger than a size zero will bring shame upon the entire country. As one quoted observer noted: "She needs to learn from people like Victoria Beckham who are back to size zero weeks after their delivery."
Excuse me, but what the F$%K?? What is happening in the world when a glowing new mother can't enjoy the first few months of her child's life without worrying about what she looks like?
Is this "our" fault? And by "our" I mean the magazine buying populous who hang on every word published on the glossy pages? Some will argue it's the journalist and paparazzi's fault because they're the ones who seek the stories, but folks if we don't buy it why would they seek it?
I think it's a another chicken/egg scenario.
Sure, when a actor has a movie coming out they need the media to publicise it and go to great lengths to get the most flattering of coverage for them, their film and in come circumstances, their co-stars. But does that mean they lose their right to privacy in their downtime? And if they are out and about getting their piccie taken while getting their morning coffee, why do we care that they look a little bloated, haven't washed their hair, or heaven forbid, have ventured outside without make-up?
And let's not forget the eleventh commandment: though shalt not gain weight
Why can we tell our best friend who's carrying a few extra kilos that they look beautiful regardless, and bitch about Jessica Simpson's double chin at the same time?
And it isn't just aesthetic issues either. Celebs having breakdowns, divorcing, having affairs and throwing temper tantrums often make the front pages of magazines and the entertainment sections and suddenly they're "unprofessional," "total divas," and "vile."
Why can't we accept - happily - that celebrities are going to have bad hair days, lose their cool and gain weight when they eat too much ice-cream?
My first 19 days without Hollywood-related news - and honestly, I'm surprised at how much of it I was reading - has had me questioning about what I find fascinating about the private lives of celebrities in the first place, and I haven't come up with an answer yet.
One thing I do know though, is the next time I see a headline extolling the virtues of the latest celebrity-diet, or asking "why has such-and-such let herself go" I'll brush right on past and not give it another thought.
Afterall, if a beauty such as Aishwarya Rai can accept post-baby fat and still rock a designer frock than bloody oath I'm going to do it one day too.
It's a question I've been pondering myself this week after reading an article from the Sydney Morning Herald online about Bollywood superstar Aishwarya Rai and the apparent disgust from the general population of India that she hasn't "bothered" to shed her baby weight after the birth of her six-month old daughter. You can find the article here: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/beauty/it-is-her-duty-to-look-good-and-fit-bollywood-star-and-former-miss-world-targeted-over-failure-to-lose-postpregnancy-weight-20120517-1ysg1.html
For those who aren't familiar with Ms Rai ("Bride and Prejudice" would be one of the more westernised movies she's been in), she's India's version of Angelina Jolie: stunningly beautiful with a talent to match.
Apparently Ms Rai has a duty to the Indian people to be the epitome of her former Miss World self at all times, and the fact she's preparing to walk the red carpet at the Cannes Film festival bigger than a size zero will bring shame upon the entire country. As one quoted observer noted: "She needs to learn from people like Victoria Beckham who are back to size zero weeks after their delivery."
Excuse me, but what the F$%K?? What is happening in the world when a glowing new mother can't enjoy the first few months of her child's life without worrying about what she looks like?
Is this "our" fault? And by "our" I mean the magazine buying populous who hang on every word published on the glossy pages? Some will argue it's the journalist and paparazzi's fault because they're the ones who seek the stories, but folks if we don't buy it why would they seek it?
I think it's a another chicken/egg scenario.
Sure, when a actor has a movie coming out they need the media to publicise it and go to great lengths to get the most flattering of coverage for them, their film and in come circumstances, their co-stars. But does that mean they lose their right to privacy in their downtime? And if they are out and about getting their piccie taken while getting their morning coffee, why do we care that they look a little bloated, haven't washed their hair, or heaven forbid, have ventured outside without make-up?
And let's not forget the eleventh commandment: though shalt not gain weight
Why can we tell our best friend who's carrying a few extra kilos that they look beautiful regardless, and bitch about Jessica Simpson's double chin at the same time?
And it isn't just aesthetic issues either. Celebs having breakdowns, divorcing, having affairs and throwing temper tantrums often make the front pages of magazines and the entertainment sections and suddenly they're "unprofessional," "total divas," and "vile."
Why can't we accept - happily - that celebrities are going to have bad hair days, lose their cool and gain weight when they eat too much ice-cream?
My first 19 days without Hollywood-related news - and honestly, I'm surprised at how much of it I was reading - has had me questioning about what I find fascinating about the private lives of celebrities in the first place, and I haven't come up with an answer yet.
One thing I do know though, is the next time I see a headline extolling the virtues of the latest celebrity-diet, or asking "why has such-and-such let herself go" I'll brush right on past and not give it another thought.
Afterall, if a beauty such as Aishwarya Rai can accept post-baby fat and still rock a designer frock than bloody oath I'm going to do it one day too.
Monday, 14 May 2012
A perfect 10, then the work begins
My Grandma would be proud!
I finished my "perfect 10" rows of knitting colours and tonight began my scarf creation.
What do you think??
I finished my "perfect 10" rows of knitting colours and tonight began my scarf creation.
What do you think??
I now understand how women of the elder generation have arthritis in their hands: knitting is bloody hard work!
Must Google "hand exercises" ahead of tomorrow night's session....
Saturday, 12 May 2012
Lured by a bogan bride and a 80kg dress...
This week I had to work on a trade stand at a nation-wide conference for work, liaising with stakeholders, giving away copies of our publications, etc.
Initially I thought this would be a great opportunity to work on my 10 "perfect" coloured knitting lines (which Grandma said I need to do before I move to my actual scarf) but at the last minute left it out of the baggage thinking to myself "Monday is setting up the stand, and Tuesday/Wednesday is working it, so Like I'll have time.."
Wrong
My colleague and I were told to be at the venue for 7am Monday morning as the furniture for our stand would be delivered between 7am and 12pm and we HAD to be there to meet it.
Yeah, our furniture arrived at 4.30pm.
In addition to that, the organisers cut off the power to the booths so I couldn't even do some work remotely which was also a pain in the ass.
To combat some of the boredom, my colleague bypassed a newsagent on her way back from a coffee run and came back with a Woman's Day.
Now we'd been discussing various things we've given up over the years due to dietary conditions (me) or lifestyle changes (her) but I didn't really know how to explain giving up gossip mags to her so chose to ignore it.
I picked at my nail polish, wandered around the different booths, stepped out for some lunch but then saw a photo which broke my control...
The ugliest tiara and wedding dress you have EVER seen.
This idiot of a 25-yr old girl had been planning her "dream wedding" since she was 10 and it involved a 4kg tiara of love hearts, an eight tier castle wedding cake and an 80kg wedding dress.
Yep, you read correctly, her dress weighted 80kg
And judging by the amount of mascara she had on, her eyelashes weighed about 80kg too.
I'm a sucker for all wedding-related things, but especially trashy "my big fat gypsy wedding"-esque weddings so I gave in and read the article, mostly so I could find some hint of a disorder that would explain the marital mess.
So I technically went against my "giving-up" but avoided all entertainment/Hollywood related gossip....
That's not really failing right??
Initially I thought this would be a great opportunity to work on my 10 "perfect" coloured knitting lines (which Grandma said I need to do before I move to my actual scarf) but at the last minute left it out of the baggage thinking to myself "Monday is setting up the stand, and Tuesday/Wednesday is working it, so Like I'll have time.."
Wrong
My colleague and I were told to be at the venue for 7am Monday morning as the furniture for our stand would be delivered between 7am and 12pm and we HAD to be there to meet it.
Yeah, our furniture arrived at 4.30pm.
In addition to that, the organisers cut off the power to the booths so I couldn't even do some work remotely which was also a pain in the ass.
To combat some of the boredom, my colleague bypassed a newsagent on her way back from a coffee run and came back with a Woman's Day.
Now we'd been discussing various things we've given up over the years due to dietary conditions (me) or lifestyle changes (her) but I didn't really know how to explain giving up gossip mags to her so chose to ignore it.
I picked at my nail polish, wandered around the different booths, stepped out for some lunch but then saw a photo which broke my control...
The ugliest tiara and wedding dress you have EVER seen.
This idiot of a 25-yr old girl had been planning her "dream wedding" since she was 10 and it involved a 4kg tiara of love hearts, an eight tier castle wedding cake and an 80kg wedding dress.
Yep, you read correctly, her dress weighted 80kg
And judging by the amount of mascara she had on, her eyelashes weighed about 80kg too.
I'm a sucker for all wedding-related things, but especially trashy "my big fat gypsy wedding"-esque weddings so I gave in and read the article, mostly so I could find some hint of a disorder that would explain the marital mess.
So I technically went against my "giving-up" but avoided all entertainment/Hollywood related gossip....
That's not really failing right??
Sunday, 6 May 2012
Knitting away the hours....
Ok so it's taken my 6 days to get into this month's challenge, but there's a very good reason for that:
I had to wait for my Grandma to come visit me.
Taking-up: Knitting
People believe that your ability to do certain things is dependent on how well your parents do something. As an example, a number of up and coming rugby league players have fathers who were also successful in the field, musician's children tend to quite excel with music, and we all know about the familial six-degrees-of-separation that happens in Hollywood.
The women in my family are quite creative and crafty. My mother and aunts can sew with the best of them, knit, mosaic, paint, do ceramics, and let's not forget, make their own home-made cheese and yoghurt. They inherited these abilities from my grandmother and their mothers (for my aunties through marriage - they're also particularly handy!)
I've also noticed that my female cousins tend to have some aptitude in some - not all - of the above skills and have employed them at some point during their lives thus far.
I think I was adopted.
I can't sew, I stick more tiles to myself than the design when mosaic-ing, my painting could be outshone by a four year old and I struggle to make consistently decent cakes so it's safe to say cheese is way, way outside my skill level.
I received a 'D' in year 7 Design & Technology when we had to make an apron: I told my parents that clearly my teacher shouldn't be teaching if she thought her work was only worth a 'D' since she did most of it herself.
To prove that I can mix it with the rest of the fam' I've decided to take up knitting this month and after a couple of glasses of wine, sat down with my grandmother - under the dubious glances of my mother, aunty, husband and father - and began to re-learn the basics.
Five hours later over both Friday & Saturday nights, and this is what it resulted in:
Not bad for a first attempt right? My ultimate goal is to knit a full scarf but I'm not allowed to start on the "good wool" until I've mastered 10 rows of the coloured stuff without a mistake....
This could take longer than a month.
Giving-up: Gossip Mags / Entertainment news
I'm slightly ashamed that on any given day I could probably tell people more about what's going on in Hollywood than in my own country. Ok, that may be an exaggeration, but I am more inclined to read 'Who", "New Idea" and "Marie Claire" instead of "The Australian" "Financial Review" and "Time."
It's not because of some dream to look like the people on the cover - nothing is worth exercising four hours a day, six days a week and living on lima beans and wheatgrass for - or because I necessarily want their lifestyle (though the thought of a chauffeur does appeal slightly)
I just find the whole concept of Hollywood and life in the public eye fascinating.
How could I cope with my photo being splashed across the pages of magazines with "bulimic" next to it one day and "next-patron of Weight Watchers?" the next? Would I like to see pics of me getting the morning paper / loaf of bread / carton of milk, being the #1 trending topic on Twitter?
So in an effort get more locally-focused - and to save some cash - I'm giving up on buying, reading or looking at anything gossip mag-related.
I'm not including those apparent 'reality' mags - That's Life! and Take 5 - as since my month of entering competitions, I've become quite fond of doing all their puzzles.
Plus, hubby would have withdrawals if there were no puzzle books in the house!
I had to wait for my Grandma to come visit me.
Taking-up: Knitting
People believe that your ability to do certain things is dependent on how well your parents do something. As an example, a number of up and coming rugby league players have fathers who were also successful in the field, musician's children tend to quite excel with music, and we all know about the familial six-degrees-of-separation that happens in Hollywood.
The women in my family are quite creative and crafty. My mother and aunts can sew with the best of them, knit, mosaic, paint, do ceramics, and let's not forget, make their own home-made cheese and yoghurt. They inherited these abilities from my grandmother and their mothers (for my aunties through marriage - they're also particularly handy!)
I've also noticed that my female cousins tend to have some aptitude in some - not all - of the above skills and have employed them at some point during their lives thus far.
I think I was adopted.
I can't sew, I stick more tiles to myself than the design when mosaic-ing, my painting could be outshone by a four year old and I struggle to make consistently decent cakes so it's safe to say cheese is way, way outside my skill level.
I received a 'D' in year 7 Design & Technology when we had to make an apron: I told my parents that clearly my teacher shouldn't be teaching if she thought her work was only worth a 'D' since she did most of it herself.
To prove that I can mix it with the rest of the fam' I've decided to take up knitting this month and after a couple of glasses of wine, sat down with my grandmother - under the dubious glances of my mother, aunty, husband and father - and began to re-learn the basics.
Five hours later over both Friday & Saturday nights, and this is what it resulted in:
Not bad for a first attempt right? My ultimate goal is to knit a full scarf but I'm not allowed to start on the "good wool" until I've mastered 10 rows of the coloured stuff without a mistake....
This could take longer than a month.
Giving-up: Gossip Mags / Entertainment news
I'm slightly ashamed that on any given day I could probably tell people more about what's going on in Hollywood than in my own country. Ok, that may be an exaggeration, but I am more inclined to read 'Who", "New Idea" and "Marie Claire" instead of "The Australian" "Financial Review" and "Time."
It's not because of some dream to look like the people on the cover - nothing is worth exercising four hours a day, six days a week and living on lima beans and wheatgrass for - or because I necessarily want their lifestyle (though the thought of a chauffeur does appeal slightly)
I just find the whole concept of Hollywood and life in the public eye fascinating.
How could I cope with my photo being splashed across the pages of magazines with "bulimic" next to it one day and "next-patron of Weight Watchers?" the next? Would I like to see pics of me getting the morning paper / loaf of bread / carton of milk, being the #1 trending topic on Twitter?
So in an effort get more locally-focused - and to save some cash - I'm giving up on buying, reading or looking at anything gossip mag-related.
I'm not including those apparent 'reality' mags - That's Life! and Take 5 - as since my month of entering competitions, I've become quite fond of doing all their puzzles.
Plus, hubby would have withdrawals if there were no puzzle books in the house!
Wednesday, 2 May 2012
Foody Fitness
Where has April gone??? I can't believe my month of baking and bootcamp is over already.
I can honestly say I'm now in a routine as far as morning exercise goes, so much so that I dri got out of bed at 5.45am today to do a morning workout even though I'm travelling for work.
I can also report that the exercise I have undertaken - both prior and during April - made my first game of netball for the year much less painful than it could've been.
Maybe the trainers from "The Biggest Loser" are on to something with their "exercise is god" mantra??
Cooking wise, I fully appreciate with added feeling how hard it would've been for my mum - and parents more widely - to cook a variety of filling, healthy home made dinners and lunches each and everyday, in a time when not everything came in a jar.
Hugs to you Mum!!
I did reasonably well I think, whipping up a motsa of dips, cakes, sauces, marinades and over two litres of pumpkin soup, but must admit I didn't push my culinary boundaries too far.
It did inspire me to do more from scratch though and may use my unwitting visitors coming this weekend as my guinea pigs, after they teach me my skill for May of course :-)
Watch this space for the details!
I can honestly say I'm now in a routine as far as morning exercise goes, so much so that I dri got out of bed at 5.45am today to do a morning workout even though I'm travelling for work.
I can also report that the exercise I have undertaken - both prior and during April - made my first game of netball for the year much less painful than it could've been.
Maybe the trainers from "The Biggest Loser" are on to something with their "exercise is god" mantra??
Cooking wise, I fully appreciate with added feeling how hard it would've been for my mum - and parents more widely - to cook a variety of filling, healthy home made dinners and lunches each and everyday, in a time when not everything came in a jar.
Hugs to you Mum!!
I did reasonably well I think, whipping up a motsa of dips, cakes, sauces, marinades and over two litres of pumpkin soup, but must admit I didn't push my culinary boundaries too far.
It did inspire me to do more from scratch though and may use my unwitting visitors coming this weekend as my guinea pigs, after they teach me my skill for May of course :-)
Watch this space for the details!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)