Sunday 22 November 2009

Good Advice

Since first hearing Baz Luhrmann's Everybody's free (to wear sunscreen) about 10 years ago - and absolutely loving it, I was pleased to see those inspirational words of Mary Schmich (Chicago Tribune column in 1997) being used in a recent anti-bullying campaign: 'Bullyproof'.  It made me listen again to that song and it really is beautiful:

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….

You’re not as fat as you imagine.
Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra quation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you.
Sing.
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.
Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..
Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard;
Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen…

Saturday 21 November 2009

follow me on twitter

Since giving up facebook - and vowing to leave social networking sites for good, I'm now on twitter.  It's not quite as exciting as I thought and I've yet to read anything funny or particularly interesting.  I'm on twitter here

Thursday 19 November 2009

Life in Slow Motion

Not a Plug for the delightfully beautiful music but just some inspirational footage of a trapped moth filmed in high speed.   The music incidentally is by Dan Aborise called Days even years.  The film is by me. Enjoy. 

More baking

More baking on my day off.  This time I made muffin size fairy cakes.  You can see a normal size cake on the far right of the photo.  I also baked a ham and had ham and pease pudding with roast potatoes for dinner.  I think that meal combination is my favourite meal to eat at the moment.  

Do you like pease pudding?  Let me know any tips on this real feel-good food.



The cooking and cup-cake decorating tools worked really well.  Butter icing is a good topping to use but I'm starting to get the hang of it.  Colleagues at work have enjoyed the many highly-decorated ginger biscuits I keep taking in to work anyway.