Wednesday 28 August 2013

Why do I do these things

I am convinced I have some kind of brain issue - it seems I lack the filter that intercepts thoughts that are wildly unappropriate and stops them before they become deeds.

Exhibit A: Last month, James' nephew and his friend cam to stay with us from Wales. While here, we took them to a cell phone store so they could get air time. As one does, I took a seat cross-legged on the floor while they settled into a booth. There Leya and I gambolled a while, until it became apparent she was peckish, and I pulled out her snacks. The friend, spying her organic multi-grain vanilla hearts, commented on how intersting they looked. Would you like to try one? I asked magnaminously. Yes, thank you, he answered. Overlooking the fact that this 20-year-old is childless and therefore probably has not come to terms with the foor as a perfectly acceptable surface to eat off, I dusted off the myriad hair strands strewn across MTN's mud-smudged floor, and handed him one of the hearts that had tumbled out of the snack tupperware in Leya's eagerness to eat. Why I didn't give him one of the pristine ones remaining inside said tupperware, I can't explain. I know he also wondered about this, because he saw my eyes dart towards the clean ones before I handed him the tainted heart. "Oh - sure. I don't mind eating the one with floor juice," he finally said - which is when i finally realised that what I had done wasn't quite right.

Exhibit 2 - Just yesterday, I was driving through the streets of my suburb, trying to block out the sound of Leya's wailing. I mention this because it may be significant - I am hoping that I was driven temporarily insane by noise, as this would provide an excuse for what happened next. You see, as I inched past the stop street, I spotted a man I knew slightly from university. We weren't especially friendly back then, but we are Facebook mates, so I have gotten to see the pics of his wife and baby and perhaps that's why I felt it was acceptable to slam on my brakes and jump out my car to greet him as if we were old army buddies reunited after 20 years. I;m not sure why I did this. Perhaps it was the sheer coincidence of running into someone from ny varsity years, or maybe I felt an imagined kindredness caused by parenthood. Either way, it's sad that this happened right at rush hour, when many other cars were trying to navigate past my vehicle, sitting inconveniently in the middle of the road. It's sad too that leya and I had been tussling over a cup filled with Freezochino just moments before, and that she had also smeared me with her rice cake; therefore what the couple saw screeching towards them was a crusted madwoman thrusting a screaming child at them. Again, it was only when they expressed their surprise, with the wife of my acquaintance giggling nervously and saying "I asked Pete who that was looking at us in the car, and he said 'I don't know but she's waving, and then all of a sudden you got out and started talking to us', that I thought to myself, "This isn't normal behviour".

I hate to imagine what I will do next.

Sunday 11 August 2013

Dazzled by vajazzling

So on Friday night we were having a dinner party and the conversation turned, naturally enough, to vajazzling. Vajazzling, in case you haven't kept up with pubic fashions, sees ladies glueing coloured diamantes to their nethers. And there I thought that nail art was tacky.

Now, I'm the first to admit that I am an anachronism. I've never photographed my food (perhaps I am self effacing in my belief that no one is interested in the fact that I had a sandwich with cheese and tomato for lunch, but there you go). I have never indicated my disbelief by saying "I know, right?" And I have never spent hours of my time decorating my vagina. Since I can bearly get it together to apply mascara to my eyes, I think it's safe to assume that this is never going to happen.

But I do wonder about the girls who are prepared to sacrifice half an hours' sleep so that their vaginas can be sparkly. What must this be like for the person on the receiving end (I am assuming that, unlike a pedicure or facial, one does not vajazzle for one's own satisfaction). Imagine it - you go out for a drink; the drink turns into dinner; next thing there's kissing and clothes coming off and - ka-ching - like a shiny tooth in a mouthwash ad, there's a glint coming off the lady's privates - even though the lights are off. It's disco fanny!

Quite honestly, if I were a man, I would be taken aback by someone lavishing that much care and attention on their vagina. I just want to point out that girls who have French manicures are frequently thought of as high maintenance...

Also, the choice of motif raises some questions. Of course you get your run of the mill vajazzles - butterflies (because an insect hovering above a vagina is always a turn on) and so forth. But one that stands out for me is the vajazzle cross. I believe that the girl who adorns her vajayjay with such a pattern is sending deeply conflicting messages. Perhaps it is a good choice for the convent girl exploring her nasty side.

Certainly, if I had decided to elevate my bits from lame to aflame, this is one that I just couldn't go for. But the last time I looked they didn't make Stars of David.