Sunday 29 January 2012

Veggiephobia

Something odd happened last night. Having no friends and having run out of conversation with the collie, I decided to blog.  I wanted to write about why I was vegetarian.  I got four paragraphs in and ground to a halt.  I've never not been able to blog before.  What stopped me? Veggiephobia!

VEGGIEPHOBIA (n): 1) Irrational fear of vegetarians; 2) State of being a total arse when in the company of those decide not to eat meat.  Manifests itself in the churning out of a series of clichéd jokes or passive aggression and usually culminates in an observation such as "Ah but you wear leather shoes!"; 3) Longstanding provocation defence in English common law. Reduces a murder charge to manslaughter when the vegetarian clobbers the meat-eater to death in complete exasperation (R v Vegetarian Society [1974 AC 217[1]).

What on earth am I talking about?  I just knew that if I blogged about why I'm vegetarian, I would get a whole set of snide, defensive and frankly really quite unfunny responses. When I tweeted that observation it led to a flurry of exchanges.  Most meat eaters seemed amazed and genuinely didn't have any idea this type of thing existed.  A series of resigned tweets from vegetarians led me to think I was far from alone.   


 I think Matthijs puts it pretty well.  He is 26. Early retirement indeed.

A Personal Choice

Being vegetarian is an intensely personal choice.  People have a whole series of reasons for it and it covers a whole range of choices about what you eat.  You can have "vegetarians" who eat fish (technically they're pescetarians) through to vegans who don't eat any animal products at all.  Most people are like me: lacto-ovo-vegetarians.  The way I explain it is "if it had a face, then no thanks".  We eat eggs, cheese, drink milk but don't eat a dead creature's flesh.

Some people are part time vegetarians, frequently choosing the non-meat option when they eat out in restaurants.  It doesn't have to be a black and white choice.  Many people were vegetarian for at least some time in their lives and then for whatever reason go back to eating meat, or perhaps just fish and fowl.

Some Examples

So what is the fuss about?  I can't imagine hostility and jokes about a decision not to eat ice-cream for example.  Yet hostility there is, without question.  I've been veggie since I was 25 (I'm now 40) and the range of negative reactions range from the patronising through to quite unpleasant outright taunting.  Here are a few I've encountered:

  • "If we weren't supposed to eat them, why are animals made out of meat?
  • "Carrots scream when they're pulled out of the ground you know"
  • "It's not natural to be vegetarian" (yup, just like antibiotics and central heating. We should all in fact live in caves and die at 30)
  • "If we didn't eat cows they'd be extinct" (erm yeah, just like giraffes, for example)
  • "But bacon tastes soooooo good" (ideally accompanied by picking up a piece of it on your fork and dangling it in front of the vegetarian's nose)
  • "Any vegetarian who eats eggs is SO hypocritical" (having pronounced this you can smugly go back to eating your lump of steak)
  • "Wasn't Hitler vegetarian? Haha - but look at what he did to the Jews... " (no he wasn't: his favourite food was sausage. He suffered from stomach cramps and so ate heavily, but not exclusively vegetarian meals) 
  • "Oh I could never give up [insert: bacon, Big Mac etc.]" Fascinating. Ever thought I MIGHT NOT CARE WHAT YOU LIKE TO EAT? Are you interested to know I don't like grapefruit? And also is not giving up the odd bacon sandwich *really* your reason for you to continue eating lamb, beef, pork etc up to 3 times a day?
  • "How ridiculous you eat meat substitutes - I just don't get that" (for many it's an ethical not a taste decision.  The thought of Wienerschnitzel makes me whimper and salivate.  If I can find a tasty meat substitute I will eat and enjoy it: mung beans and tofu are not everyone's idea of fun)
  • And our absolute and utterly original favourite: "Ahhh, but you wear leather shoes/ belt" followed by raised eyebrows.  This is where the provocation defence mentioned in the definition above kicks in.

My best friend was once told at a dinner party by a Tory MP "Suffolk may accept your homosexuality, but it will never accept your vegetarianism".  Cue guffaws from all the guests.  Hmm, hysterical.

An interesting observation is that most of the negativity (dressed up frequently as "humour") comes from men.  Many women say "Oh I could quite easily be a vegetarian".  A good few men seem to retreat to some weird caveman position that unless you're shoving bleeding bison down your gullet, you're a huge poof.  It genuinely seems to threaten the masculinity of a few guys.  I find this utterly bizarre.



Back to the "jokes"... guess what - you're never going to come out with an original or amusing quip to a vegetarian - we've heard it all.  Many, many, many times before.  This is a large part of why we don't find it funny.  When a joke is heard the 80th time, it's just not amusing.  It's not to do with a lack of sense of humour.  I also bet if you've made comments like this, you don't see it as being hostile, passive-aggressive or just plain boring at all.  For the most part, we do, though.

Evangelical, dull, worthy vegetarians

I don't seek to impose my dietary choices on anyone.  If you want to eat meat in front of me, you're welcome to.  If we're out on a date and I'm paying, I'll pay for your meal whatever you order.  What I won't do, personally, is cook meat for you in my house.  I know plenty of veggies who would though.  They just choose not to eat it themselves.  I'm not evangelical and have a "live and let live attitude".   I think most of us do: as I said, this is an intensely personal decision. 


Ahhh you say - but what about all those evangelical, worthy vegetarians?  Why do they have ram their views down our throat and get all superior?  I'm sure these people exist.  I literally can't say I've ever met one though.  What I think is much more likely to be the case is that there is a big dollop of projection going on here from the meat-eater and it's linked to an inherent unease that some have about their diets.

Some might call this guilt.  All I can speak about is myself; and before I became veggie it definitely was guilt for me.  I could only eat meat if I didn't associate the cute brown eyed animal in the field with what was served up on my plate.  I certainly didn't want to think about the process in the middle (or indeed the millions of animals that never see the light of day or a field at all).


Paul McCartney is right: I didn't inform myself and just wouldn't "go there" even in my own head.  I therefore was naturally quite defensive in respect of anyone who had thought about this a bit more and made the decision to be veggie.

Now here's something interesting about evangelical, worthy veggies: Fiona Laird whose tweet appears above, is a friend of mine in real life.  We've had dinner together in restaurants.  I'd never even registered she was vegetarian until our discussion last night.  She's not running around making a big fuss about it, forcing her views down people's throats.  I didn't even know - and why should I, as I've never cooked for her?  Many other people whom I follow tweeted me and are veggie, unbeknown to me.


So why are people veggie?

The range of reasons is huge.  For me I looked down at a ham sandwich and a cheese sandwich on 20 August 1996.  I simply realised I'd never made the decision to eat meat: I'd done it since a kid without thinking about it because my parents gave it to me.  When I did think about it, it repulsed me.  Not the taste of the stuff: but what it actually is.  I know the intelligence and amazing range of emotions my dog has.  I wouldn't eat @LassieOscar, so why eat any other animal?  It just seemed unnecessary for me to choose the ham when I could have the cheese.  I can nourish myself perfectly well without meat.


For other people it's about the environment.  I can dish out the numbers: one tonne of beef production takes up 45 tonnes of crop production that could be used to feed the world.  The millions of cows we breed to eat let out methane, which is 25 times more damaging to the ozone layer than carbon dioxide.  Visit Uluru (Ayers Rock) in Australia and the desert for miles around under Aboriginal control is beautiful and full of flowers and wild life.  Get back to cattle producing Australia and the land is red dust.  One single cow guzzles over 70 gallons of water every week.  A herd of 1000 is a disaster for the environment.  When we ate meat once or twice a week it was better.  Now as people demand meat up to three times a day, and countries with heavily vegetarian diets move to "Western" diets (e.g. China) it is massively and frighteningly unsustainable.


My best friend has been veggie for 25 years.  He does not believe it is morally wrong to kill animals; he simply fundamentally objects to the industrialised factory nature of farming today.  There are meat eaters like him of course: they eat little carefully sourced organic free range food (at least that's what they buy for eating at home; what's served up in restaurants is mainly out of their control).  My position is that I believe killing is inherently wrong: again, this is a very personal viewpoint and you (and he) don't have to agree with it.  A couple of total dimwits from the past have however taken a similar position...




The point is there are masses of reasons for any decision we make: for vegetarians it can be sentimental, ethical, pragmatic, taste, health or environmental factors.... or a combination of some or all of them that lead them to eat what they do.  Why people have to be so snarky about this decision, I really don't get - other than coming back to the fact that it's because of an inherent unease they have about what they themselves are eating.

What ABOUT wearing leather?!

Live and let live.  For me that means respecting that if you want to eat meat and enjoy it, fine.  But drop your silly comments, please, and leave me to eat what I wish to, without making me feel like a pariah when you invite me over to dinner.  Please don't ask me to justify or explain myself.  I don't ask you to justify why you eat meat.

If you do push and push me, and I end up pointing out that what you are putting in your mouth is the antibiotic laden corpse of a tortured animal, you're not going to take it too kindly, are you?  No, even though you brought the subject up, I'll just be one of those evangelical, dull, worthy vegetarians...


As for (many) egg and (especially) dairy products, yes - you're quite right.  Only a vegan can take the moral high ground in this area.  Most vegans I know are quiet, thoughtful, gentle souls - they actually don't get all aggressive and moralistic, funny enough.  I respect and admire them, and I know the huge problems they have in eating, other than in their own homes.  The same point about the moral ground goes for wearing leather: I've tried plastic shoes: they don't work for me and it's a compromise I have made to wear leather shoes that clearly cannot be justified if I'm consistent.

There is however the rather obvious question of degree.  If someone drives their car at 34 mph once a year in a 30mph speed limit, this is not great.  I think most people would agree, though, that there's a qualitative difference between that and someone who speeds at 70mph every time they drive through the village.  Yes, better that no one speeds: but don't pretend we are the same qualitatively.  We are not.  I've apparently saved the lives of around 1500 animals in the time I've been veggie.  If I reach 80, then 5500 animals will not have died because of my dietary choices.  Yes, my shoes are leather and an animal died to produce them.  However, I'm undeniably doing my bit, however imperfect.

Ending Thoughts

If reading this has brought up issues that make you uncomfortable, sorry.  If you're making a conscious informed choice to eat meat, enjoy it.  If you're doing it blindly (as I was) though there is no inevitability about your continued choice.  I'm not a black/white person: if you do feel uncomfortable, just cut down.  Try some veggie substitutes.  You can make a huge difference to animal suffering, the environment or your own health just by eating less meat rather than stopping it entirely.

There was genuine amazement last night when I tweeted about hostility to veggies.  Some of it came from people who themselves had made comments such as "yummmm bacon!" to me in the past.  I guess you're just not aware of it.  We are and I'd ask you please have a bit of sensitivity about this.  If someone has made a personal decision actively not to eat meat (which is not the default setting in this country) they've done it for a reason.  Taunting them, no matter how amusing you find it, really isn't that big or clever.

Over and out: it's time for a quorn sausage!





UPDATE: Was sent this by commentator "Forty Shades of Grey" below - Priceless :-)

My uncle

He died
I cried
Devastated

When death comes, it reminds me of how short life is. 10, 20 years can pass by with a blink of an eye. But we tend to forget that age matters and most of the time, only think about our own selfish needs... Family matters.

Thursday 26 January 2012

Roadtrip

To Ipoh

Practice

Bear with us! We're freaking out again because of the weather. And no, not we as in me, personally, but as in the entire island nation. It's really cold! It's really windy! Roads are closed! Domestic flights have been cancelled and cars can't get into/out of parking spots! Snow has invaded the tops of our winter boots and we've lost our woolen mittens! An entire meter of the fluffy stuff has fallen and it's apocalyptic times here in this country named for ice. How will we ever survive? 

Well, since most of us have lived through this kind of thing before it shouldn't be too difficult. And according to my favorite weather site (click on a pic and scroll the timeline to watch the pretty colors change) it will warm up and all the impertinent snow will be turned to sludge by Friday midnight. Phew!

Another sweet thing to do, though, to keep warm here in winter is to experience Hot Yoga with Lana Vogestad who is a talented artist and amazing Barkan Method yoga instructor leading sessions at the World Class chain of gyms here in Reykjavik. They unfortunately don't have a site in English, but here's your chance to practice your Icelandic (that last link is an inside joke: Google Translate is not the definitive Icelandic language resource by any means) by checking out their verðskrá. If intensive, balancing, healing, rewarding, sweaty Practice is your thing, Lana's classes are an absolute must in any season.

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Tuesday 24 January 2012

When we start working...

Make-up seems to be the one thing thats vital when we enter the working world. They say first impression makes a lasting one.

At Harrods in UK, the first thing they insist upon is make-up everyday at work if not you will not be hired.

Being a student, it isnt a must to have make up unless you want to be vain. I never saw the purpose on
Splurging on cosmetics. It is expensive. My money was always used on books, electronics and food. I'd really rather spend on food;) But opportunity came to spend some of my 'highest' income earned when i worked for boots.. Furthermore, i get a discount shopping at boots, so it was an even better opportunity to buy expensive stuff like cosmetics.... Shopped i did...

Few days back i took out my 'toys' and played with it. The pic shows one eye bigger than the other, if u look closely. Its because one eye had full eye liner while the other was half oO ... After all, i was just experimenting:) definitely looked different n better whatmore with iphone apps picture effects..

Make up were from estee lauder, clarins and bare mineral.. Some were given to me for free back when i was in USA...



Monday 23 January 2012

Twitter Jail



This is the fourth in a series of utterly unimportant ramblings and observations about the way that Twitter works.  The others are (click on links):


What is Twitter Jail?

So this post is about being in Twitter Jail - it's also known as Twitter Prison, Twitter Gaol (classy spelling!), Twitter Slammer.  Well, what is it?  I've had a surprising number of people ask me that question, seemingly unaware of its existence.

It's essentially a special circle of hell reserved for those who tweet "too much".  Here's what the Urban Dictionary says:




Twitter makes no mention of the specific 100 tweets per hour limit on its support page, though it does confirm the 1000 tweets per day limit that is "broken down into smaller limits for semi-hour intervals".  Tweets includes retweets.  The support page also mentions a separate daily limit of 250 direct messages.  You'd have to be going some to hit 250 DMs in a day, unless those rumours are true that this is where it all actually happens on Twitter and all the rude stuff goes on? Ahem.

100 tweets in a hour sounds like an awful lot.  If you're posting 100 general tweets in an hour this is indeed a huge amount.  The chances you'd have no followers after a very short time, because you'd be flooding their timelines so much.  (The exception is during something like X-Factor, where 100 tweets and RTs are quite possible and often amusing from the very quick-witted).  But 100 messages to people that are in fact multiple conversations, not general tweets?  That's actually quite easily hit.  I know. For I am a Twitter Jail Bird :o))

What happens when you get chucked behind the metaphorical bars, is that you receive an error message as you try to post a tweet.  You receive no warning: you are just cut off.  There is no trial.  There is no judge or jury.  This is summary "justice".  Appeals to the ECtHR in Strassbourg are not possible.  You have no way of telling people you've been carted off.

What can you do in Twitter Jail?

When you're in Twitter Jail, you can read your feed and look at your @ mentions.  If you haven't gone over the DM limit you can also still direct message.  What you cannot do is tweet yourself.  It's very, very frustrating, as you're frequently cut off mid conversation and unable to respond to anything.  I always like to respond to people, promptly - I just find it good Twitterquette.  For example a couple of my blogs have led to loads of people responding: I had over 1000 lovely supportive messages in the space of an afternoon on one - and I was locked in Twitter Jail in no time, unable to thank people.  That sucks.

How long is your sentence?

This varies.  The support page mentions something about variable times.  It can be 30 minutes, or at busy times it can be longer.  You're advised to try again "in a few hours".  I've found that if you're put in prison twice in a day, you have to sit out longer the second time and it really can be three hours you're shut out.  THREE HOURS WITHOUT TWITTER? What is there to do to amuse yourself without Twitter?  Nothing.

These poor Twinky Tweeps are at a complete lost end :(
Jail Breaking

You're eventually released without warning.  I've not found tricks round this: you just keep trying and trying and suddenly you're a free Tweep.  People have sent me e-nail files (I always leave with well manicured hands, but they're useless on the bars) and even my fearless collie dog, Oscar, has not been able to break me.  He's more interested in raiding the biskwit tin or playing with his squeaky toys whilst I'm languishing in a windowless jail.  Sob.

@LassieOscar to the Rescue? Erm, no.


Defying Twitter

However... there are ways to make your jail sentence less disruptive, as I and other people have found.  What you do is this:
  • Create a second profile for emergency use (mine is @PMEinJail)
  • Make it clear on the bio and from the name that it's you, in jail
  • Log out of your main account (e.g. @PME2013)
  • Open multiple windows on your computer (it's more tricky on an iPhone)
  • Do a search for your main account name - all mentions of you will come up, so you can see who has replied to you.  You can then respond to those messages from your jail account, and the conversation will automatically move over as they reply to you in jail
  • You do not need to try to follow everyone again from your jail account.  What I do is simply open another window with a list I've already created with the people I speak to most anyway.  
  • If you don't use lists, they are a superb way of refining your Twitter experience and ideal for this scenario.  I can see what my top 250 tweeps are saying through my period in jail and then just pop back over to my main feed when I'm released
I've been in jail 3 times already this week.  The above might sound like a right faff, and if you're a less fanatical user of Twitter, of course not necessary.  But for hard core Tweeps like me (aka, people who don't *actually* have a life) it really works very slickly indeed.

Even if you don't need to create a jail account yourself, at least having read this you'll be aware what's happening if you get a response from a random account like for example, @PMEinJail or @KiraInJail...

Have fun and don't tweet too much guys - it's not big and it's not clever!  Yeah right :-)

Sunday 22 January 2012

Reflection

Some things that make us happy: good coffee and good books.

So I did a search on Iceland in G+ and of course got all sorts of lovely HDR mega-manipulated picture hits from über-superstar photogs (really, how can you snap a bad shot out in our amazing nature!) and also a tiny shout-out for a music festival I'd never heard of before. At first glance it looked to be all about death metal, but names can fool: the DMD, or Dark Music Days, event "can easily be summed up in one word: Diversity. Here, composers and performers from many different sectors of Icelandic music have been able to meet and cooperate while presenting their latest works."* It's happening next weekend, so if you are in the neighborhood, you might want to give it a whirl.

It's being held at our new Harpa which not everyone loves, but which I think is actually a stunning play of space and glass and light, reflecting nicely an aspect of our Icelandic people: seemingly cold, complex and overwhelming from the outside, but truly golden, strong-hearted, warmly intricate and multi-faceted on the inside ~.~

*Quote from www.darkmusicdays.is
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Friday 20 January 2012

Yee sang, cny

I had my first plate of yee sang while getting my nails done. I am craving for more:)

Synchronicity

Yeah, I didn't get it either. They were just there, in front of Hallgrímskirkja, these big black letters, begging me to snap a shot. So I did. And I had intended to write I have no clue what this is all about, but then I saw an article in Fréttablaðið (the daily free newspaper that I've requested not be shoved into my mailbox because life is kinder without being constantly slammed with hype and adverts every day, but which I'm subjected to anyway whenever a new delivery person takes our route, causing that phenomenon known as Middle Class Guilt because now I'm responsible for recycling inky garbage I never wanted in the first place! *sigh*) about the guy behind the word, one Santiago Sierra. He will be installing his stafir at Austurvellir in support of citizens' rights to democracy throughout the world, on this, the third anniversary of the loud and messy protests here in Iceland in the same town square.

On a lighter note, my father Thor and I have been invited to celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations between the US and Iceland tonight by the US Ambassador to Iceland, Luis E. Arreaga (he has a blog!) at Nasa, a venue located at Austurvellir that some of you are familiar with from it's long lines during Iceland Airwaves (book your tix for 2012 now! They sell out mighty quick!)

Tonight we'll actually be entertained by local musicians who have done the Airwaves festival, LayLow and Of Monsters and Men (that link takes you to an NPR / KEXP shout out : ) who in this video are playing a song from their Airwaves Off Venue Reykjavík Downtown Hostel gig, produced by a very sweet and super talented DJ-Producer American friend of mine, Manny, whose last name is Santiago, like the NO artist's first name, and who interestingly enough was contacted by a long lost friend out in the States after he had seen Manny's Guest Photographer post here on Iceland Eyes. Incidentally, this photo of Manny's was taken at the Reykjavik Art Museum which is hosting the exhibition of which Sierra's NO is a part.

Nice synchronicity, eh?

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Thursday 19 January 2012

Fukuya, Japanese restaurant

Fukuya is one of the higher end jpanese restaurant. Stepping into the restaurant's compound feels different than other places. It has a resort-like feeling to it. I did not take any pictures of the surroundings as I went there for dinner.

We sat in a private room.

Fukuya was the place where I had my first taste of fish sperm. It was definitely an experience I do not think I will crave for again.

We also had hamachi, yellowtail. The one I had in USA wad better.

Of course, what makes this restaurant stand out is the generous portion of sashimi and it tastes really fresh. We had an assorted basket of sashimi which was tastefully decorated. Tuna, salmon, toro, white fish and uni were the sashimi served.

Another must try was their roll, which was unagi with cili padi inside. Thankfully, I have the habit of reading food reviews before going to a restaurant. Hence, I was prepared for this cili padi roll. The cili padi was too much till it made one of the male diner walk out of the room, tearing. So, becarefully with this roll. It did taste good.

We had some other dishes like fried ebi and shrimp tempura, which I think Octopus restaurant does better.

For dessert, I had this japanese
Melon. Tasted like honey dew. A few other diners ordered sesame ice cream, green tea and raspberry ice cream. I had a taste of the raspberry ice cream, and it tasted like heaven. It was simply irrisistable that I had to place one order for myself. So, two desserts for the night.

All in all, the dining experience was fantastic. It is priced above average, but definitely should go there at least once.

An Ode to Onesies

In November I was on Twitter and I saw two particularly great guys I follow @SteMcCormick and @Light_XIII talking about Onesies.  I was confoosed. What were these things?  I actually had to ask them and do a Google search.

My initial reaction was to take the piss: these are giant sleeping suits worn by adults, often in the shape of animals.  Normally they are worn to lounge round in the house; some people sleep in them.

(Technically a Dragon Kigu: it doesn't have feet)

WHO would wear them though?  Well clearly cute intelligent young guys like those two - and then to my horror I realised a complete generational gap appearing on Twitter.  Everyone under 25 either had one, or at least knew what they were.  Everyone over 30 didn't seem to.  I started asking younger people I speak to: yes, they had a Pacman one; or a Skeleton one; or a Dinosaur one.

My friend @NathanMarsh who is at university told me students sometimes go out clubbing in them - a whole group of young people dressed as animals running along, dancing and having a "Onesie Night Out".

Slippery Slope

Within the next 12 hours I travelled the slippery slope from a position of mild disbelief / mocking disapproval to actually *wanting* one.  I decided to ignore this (for him) mild warning from @HyperbolicGoat:


The following lunch time I popped up to Primarni in Norwich to look at their range.  Bargain: for £12, I could be a giant polyester clothed 6'1" monkey.  How <could> I refuse?  As long as I didn't stand too close to a naked flame, all would be fine.



Looking at myself as a giant monkey I of course realise that EVERYTHING the Daily Mail says about Twitter is true.  I have gone from being a respectable City lawyer to dressing as a big brown monkey.  Twitter corrupts innocent minds.  It's dangerous.  There I've said it ;-)

Entering the Main Stream

Now, there's no denying Onesies have caught on.  They are really becoming popular.  Christmas 2011 seems to have become the "Onesie Christmas" - I've heard so many stories of people on Twitter of all ages giving and receiving them.  There are giant pink bunnies, dalmatians, hamsters, and regular hooded onesies being worn across the kingdom.

Guardian Fashion recently asked is it ever okay to wear a Onesie?  Their conclusion was sneering and a bit pants: they even argued that it can never be a sexy look.  Hmpf, look at Joey Essex below having just gone through US Customs.  I'd unzip his Onesie for him any day :o))

Joey Essex.... *swoon*

Why Onesies are Great

So now the point of this blog is to let everyone know *why* Onesies are fabulous.  They're undeniably warm and comfy.  I love putting mine on at the end of the day.  It's snug, I can turn the heating down and I lose roughly half my body weight as it's like being in a personal sauna.

I remember vividly from German literature at University a story by the cutting social observer and 19th century Swiss writer Gottfried Keller.  It is called "Kleider machen Leute" ("Clothes make the Man" to put it in Mark Twain terms).  A penniless tailor, who happens to have one nice coat, is taken in by a town, fed, feted, falls in love with a local girl: all because they are silly and bourgeois enough to assume he must be important and wealthy if dressed like that.  I agree with Keller: we do make judgements based on people's appearances.

FAR MORE IMPORTANTLY than their snugness therefore, for me, is the fact that Onesies are fun.  They look bonkers.  They are playful, they are silly, and we just know that we will be laughing over and destroying photos of ourselves in them within 24 months - just as we look back now at 70s shirts and 80s hair cuts.  They're blatantly ridiculous, and who gives two hoots?  Grown adults dressing in this way? Bring it.  The simple judgement I would make if someone is prepared to wear a Onesie is that they are a laugh.  It's precisely because people can take themselves in such a non-serious way, that I love the item of clothing, and I love people who will wear them.

Thus, I shall conclude with a massive YAY to Onesies. Long may this trend last*  \o/


Yup, I also have a Chicken one. Guilty as charged.


* I seriously doubt it will, but hey :)

Monday 16 January 2012

3.18am

The effects of drinking chinese tea during dinner = INSOMNIA

This happened so many times already, but how can I resist not having cupS of chinese tea with my dinner...

Bah, I don't even need to try coffee...

New Year Resolution: No drinking chinese tea after 4pm

Golden Globes 2012

Vavavoom lol.. This time round, the theme for the Golden Globes was bridal gowns... N they all looked amazing!

My top two favourites would be Nicole Kidman's and Angelina Jolie's dress.
Brad pitt n angelina looked like Ken n Barbie ;)

Heres the link to the other trend setters for the night: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2087278/Golden-Globes-2012-dresses-You-dont-married-wear-wedding-dress--bridal-chic-hottest-red-carpet-trend.html

Its never too early to plan your wedding dress design.... :)

Saturday 14 January 2012

Fairy

Maybe having seen so many fantastic creatures in the 13th of Christmas bonfire has opened my mind to perceiving the mythical in the most common objects, but regardless of why, once I spied the fairy made by lights in this tree in front of the Central Bank of Iceland I couldn't unsee her. Come to think of it, though, there's evidence to show that this is just the way I'm built, and I'm sure many of you as well. (Isn't this called anthropomorphization...and er, is that even a real word? Turns out it is!)

Regardless of what I see in these lights, I'm hoping that they and many others around town, will be kept lit through the next few months when, post-holidays, we definitely need them most.

On another note, producer Heather Millard (who did the excellent The Future of Hope documentary  - which I've mentioned before - with director Henry Bateman) sent me an email about an event she's helping to organize here with Kisha Mays, the CEO of Just Fearless, in Reykjavik on January 24th called Women Empowering Women. It looks like it could be a very cool evening of network building and support, so I think I'll go myself and take part. If you are here on the Lava Rock during that time you're welcome to come as well!

Have you tried Dynamic Viewing yet? Five new views in all. Use the blue tab at the top of the view page to check them all out : )

Thursday 12 January 2012

Something Silly

I went inter-railing when I was 19 (yes, it was hell) and took a ferry home from Cherbourg to Portsmouth.  During the journey I heard a group of "lads" who were guzzling beer and talking about the oddest thing that has stuck in my mind ever since.  It was supposedly a form of dream analysis or finding out about someone's sub-conscious / true personality.

Here's what you have to do.  I'm going to ask you to visualise a particular thing and you have to close your eyes and get a really clear picture of it.  If I say "Car" you need to think of the first image of a car that comes into you mind and properly sticks in it.  I want to know the colour of it, the model, the age, etc.  Just concentrate until it's there - it may change a bit before fixing properly.



The next thing to note is this is a dream sequence - there does not have to be *any* logic in it at all.  If I ask you to think of a city and then a shop, you can think of New York, followed by your local newsagent in your village.  The items do not need to fit together at all - although they can if you wish.

Okay, all set?

The first thing you need to think of is a FOREST.  Get it really clearly in your mind.  You're walking along through the forest.  Think about the trees, the ground, what you can see and hear around you.  Picture it until it is clearly in your mind.

Next thing I need you to envisage a BEAR.  Look at it and take in all the details - how far away you are, what it is doing, looks like etc.

You leave the bear behind and continuing along you come across a KEY.  Picture that key for me, really clearly.

A little bit further you come to a well or a spring.  There is fresh water to drink.  You drink from it with a DRINKING IMPLEMENT.  Picture that item, just as you have done every thing before.

Next you come across some WATER.  This could be a pool, a stream, a river, a sea - I don't know.  It's your dream.  Fix the water in your head.

You cross the water - it does not matter how - and progress further until you come to a RESTING PLACE.  You're tired after your walk and you rest here.  Take in all the details of the place you stop at.

And hey, ho - we're all done.






What does it all mean?

So what does it all mean?  Well, if anyone who is an actual psychologist is reading this they will probably say this analysis is utter crap.  BUT - I've done this same silly game with lots of people I know quite well and am amazed how I can actually guess some of their responses quite accurately.  Remember this is just a bit of fun.

1) The Forest is your view of life.  The brighter and sunnier it is, the brighter and more positive your view of life in general is.  If you have a dark coniferous woods with packed trees and very little light you are more prone to see life as difficult and challenging.  If it's cold, dark, and winter - well, you've a bleak outlook on life.  A bright coniferous forest with sunlight pouring between glades and well spaced out trees indicates a similarly bright view of life for you.  Bonus points for birds singing, happy little squirrels, pretty flowers and shit like that. 



Also, were you on a path?  I didn't mention anything about one.  If you were just walking between trees, fine.  If it was an actual path stretching off that you could see, it means you have a clear path where you are going in life.  If it is a metalled road then you are really clear where you are heading.

2) The Bear is your view of other people - particularly in social situations.  The bear's position is important.  If it is standing up it is more scary and threatening than if it is down on all fours.  The bigger and more fierce the bear and its position, the more frightening/ challenging you find meeting and dealing with new people in general.

Think about how far you were away from the bear.  If you kept well away that speaks for itself.  If you just ignored each other that's in the middle ground.  If you actually approached the bear and did not find it scary in any way, then again that illustrates how likely you are to be at ease just going up to new people and dealing with them socially.


3) The Key is your artistic side.  Most people seem to go for an old-fashioned type key, but the level of detail is key.  If you spent ages picturing an exquisite old key with lots of detailing, then you have a highly developed artistic side.  If you had a Yale type key then you just think of something that does its job and you're probably an engineer who considers a stick man art (only joking, chill!)



4) The Drinking Implement is your personal standards.  One of the lads drank from a rusty old bucket.  That says it all to me: would you? Ewww! Call me a princess, but I had a sparkling crystal goblet.  You're drinking from whatever you selected and there's an element of personal hygiene and standards involved in that.  The more particular you were about the cleanliness of the implement you were, the more particular (aka fussy or even anal) you will be about such things in your life.  I didn't care I was in a forest by a well - I wanted Bohemian lead crystal and it had to be new, thanks!



5)  The Water is your sex drive.  The faster your water is flowing, the more important sex is to you.  If you had a still calm little pool, it's no big deal to you.  If you've a babbling brook it's becoming more important... get to a fast flowing river and you're starting to become a bit of a stud muffin.  If you had a waterfall, well I'm just not going to comment.  [PERVERT!]

Also the wideness of the water is interesting.  If it was a just a little stream (even if fast flowing) and you could hop straight over, it means your sexual interests are quite narrow.  The broader the expanse of water, the wider your mind in matters carnal.  So there. 



6) The Resting Place is what you'll be happy with materially out of life.  The pickier and more demanding you are about the place, the more things you will have to have before you are happy.  If you had a whole list of demands about shade or sunlight; protection from the wind or sun etc, it is indicative of what you require in life.  An easily pleased person just wants a nice sunny glade to sit down in on the ground; a more demanding one wants a bench.

Anything man-made is upping the demands considerably - I've heard resting places with four poster beds in the middle of the forest.  I'm ashamed to say mine is a tree house and is pretty much pictured below.  I'm never going to be happy, am I? :S (NB it has air conditioning and one of those nice rain water power shower wet rooms too, please). You may have a very clear path through your forest, but your ending place is very simple.  I had no path, but knew what I wanted when I got there. 



Fascinating, isn't it?  The sheer range of things that people can come up in their heads when you say "imagine a resting place in a forest" is amazing.  It is your subconscious that is throwing them up (apparently) and as I said at the start it can be very telling indeed.  I had fun putting together the images for this blog - all of these pretty much represent what appeals to me most and is what is "there" for me when I think of the things.