things I've seen in India

-a stall where you can pay 1 rupee to weigh yourself on a set of weighing scales on the side of the street.
-a holyman sitting on a tray on wheels, wheeling himself up and down the street wearing a hat with an umbrella attached and an enormous pair of sunglasses.
-people and their kids sleeping under bridges in the middle of the city, their clothes, brightly coloured hanging from washing lines above their heads.
-whole streets decorated with fairy lights, in fact, whole sections of cities decorated with fairy lights.
- For a whole day different groups of people in processions to dunk their Ganesh statue in a lake.
-groups of teenage boys dancing in a procession as part of a religious festival, really getting into their dancing and throwing clouds of pink dust into the air.
-dogs having sex.
-the next moment same dogs stuck together, growling and trying to get apart. ( a mental image that somehow stuck for longer than necessary or desired)

...and many more as well but as I am now into messenger conversation with a very good old friend they'll have to wait for another day.

observations of india part 1

They like a moustache.

sartorial catharsis - a rite of passage for a woman in her twenties.

I've been instructed by my parents to sort out all the clothes of mine their storing in their house. When I say instructed, it was more of a large hint in the form of all the offending items being placed next to my bed in binliners.
At this precise moment they are spread all over the garden in categories -
work
dresses
old underwear I forgot I had
tops
fancy tops
jumpers/hoodies/cardigans
winter stuff (hats, scarves, coats - including my brilliant fake fur leopard print jacket)
legwarmers
socks without holes
socks with holes but with too much charm and history to be thrown away
bangles (good word, that)
scraps of old material that I might make something out of one day.
etc
etc
.
.
.
Actually, rereading the list I do have some sympathy with my parents. Especially since some of this stuff I've had since I was 12. And I'm now 25.

I do have an entire binliner full for the local charity shop. And considering that I keep socks with holes in them, the selection which is being thrown away may not be all that desirable.
But it is fun to find stuff you'd forgotten about - I am now wearing an old fifties swimming costume and a skirt which I've justified keeping on the grounds that if I ever go to the Rocky Horror Show, I'll have something to wear...

Fun dinner table conversation

'If someone said to you - "either you eat this steak or I'm going to kill this cow"
Which would you do?'

I would fall off my chair with boredom, that's what.

Among the other annoying things people have pointed out to me regarding my vegetarianism in the last few months -
"You know if you lived in a less priveleged society this choice wouldn't be open to you."
(admittedly more intelligent than the steak dilemma, but I'd like to point out to these people that neither would we be able to, erm, have a mobile phone, stuff our faces with junk food or afford regular air travel. Yet all of these are things we do. Also, has the old economic argument passed these people by? It costs less in so many ways to grow crops than to raise livestock. It would be better for all if western people weren't such irrational meat guzzling cretins.)

"You know, it's really tough to be vegetarian in lots of countries."
(No shit, Sherlock)

I think one of the daftest ever was an American in South Korea - "So, when are you going to crack and just eat some meat?" (You can be sure that when I do and my stomach rejects it, I'll try and heave in your direction)

a funny old summer

it went like this -
Barcelona - Sardinia - Worcester - Madrid - Milton keynes - Plymouth - Venice.
All working, unfortunately. More on Worcester later.
On Milton Keynes, I have nothing to say except - 'roundabout, leisure multiplex, astonishing levels of conservatism'. Found good chocolate muffins in the local Tesco, but I don't think MK can claim the glory there as I have a suspicion this might be a well worked formula Tesco applies nationwide. Quality control and all that.

thoughts i had today in the bath part 1 - sham poo

Hello mr l'oreal, mrs herbal essences, monsieur pantene et al,
I don't accept that my hair is rebellious, frizzy, dull, or dry.
Please make shampoo for someone who thinks their hair is 'gloriously fucked up', or 'simply fabulous' (I'm not claiming mine is, or if I am then I accept I'm delluded). Or how about 'a bit dirty', or 'needs a wash'. I would just like to be represented in the shampoo market, as I sat in the bath today surrounded by an array of half empty bottles I just didn't feel me and the the shampoo matched. let's be a bit more positive about ourselves rather than applying these negative adjectives.
I think this idea could be a goer actually, I hereby copyright it.

Nor do I accept that my skin is either dry or oily.
What else...?
I don't want to fill these lines that appear on my face with substances claiming to resemble concrete. Although I acknowledge that I am but a young thing and might be grateful for these potions at some point.
I'd like to accept cellulite in a calm and rational manner and not be encouraged to resort to frantic, desperate, complicated methods of trying to rid myself of it. Because, really what's wrong with it in the first place, surely this is all just a matter of perception?
And finally I'd like to say that I really like my bodily hair and resent this insipid notion that being 'hair free' is an ideal state of body. I think it's a bit sick. When I shave my legs, I think my knees look like two bald men. I realise I may one day have to relocate to a country where they share my views on hairiness, because most brits certainly don't.

Wow, I was only intending to talk about shampoo. This is a right can of worms!
erm...
yeah. nice.