For those in good ol’ England.  I hope the sun is shining and you have the opportunity to eat al fresco.

I am pretty sure if I did have any dances in primary school there wouldn’t have been much of the boys and girls dancing together.  In fact I think they boys wouldn’t have being dancing at all.  But everyone got involved here.  The music was pretty awesome though.  I think half the DJ’s playlist was used when I was in school – Macarena anybody?

Do you remember your first dance? What did you wear? Did you dance the night away?

On another note, any tips on how you take photos in the dark when you can’t even see what is there in order to focus on something.  Or is that a stupid question and means that you shouldn’t be taking pictures anyway?

Hope you have a day full of love – whether from a partner or friends and family.

xx

Last week was a toughy.  I bought myself some flowers to cheer myself up but then have been out at school leaving early and coming home late so I haven’t been able to enjoy them.  So I quickly took some photos this morning and before I ran out the house.  I got to the station just in time to squeeze through the doors as they shut, shew.  I don’t normally buy flowers but they are British and since I can’t comfort myself with sugar. Although I had a sneaky biscuit today when tea and biscuits were offered at a break.  Sitting in a university room without natural light for 7 hours, 6 hours sleep, running for the station and forgetting a purse at home will make a biscuit very tempting I will tell you.

Anyway, back to the flowers. I love how the middle one looks sort of ghost like.  And the bright spring colours. Definitely add a bit of cheer to the winter.

What do you do to cheer yourself up when days are tough?

So I was having a lazy Monday yesterday (after submitting my assignment) and thought I would watch some TV.  I came across a documentary about table dancers.  Now before you think I am weird it was on the BBC so I imagined it would at least be insightful (available until 4 February on iplayer if you are interested).

The show follows several women who work at a popular chain with about 600 to 1000 women on their “books”.  Two women are new to the business, one wants to be a primary school teacher and is saving money to move back to Romania so she can start a life there, the other is just young and doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life.  Then there are some who have been dancing for a while: one is a single mother (although now engaged), a university student, a world champion kick-boxer even.  Yes women from all walks of life become table dancers.  They all seemed to have told their families/loved ones and everyone seemed (perhaps to someone whose mother would die instantly from the shock) very calm about it.

Now I don’t want this to come out wrong but when one mother said about her daughter’s career choice “there is nothing wrong with it” everything in me shouted yes there is.  Now, I absolutely believe women have a right to choose to do whatever they want and if they want to be table dancers/pole dancers I take my hat off to them because wow you need to have some confidence to do that.  One of the woman even said she found it empowering.  What I find wrong  and just cannot reconcile in my head is that our society still says it is normal for your husband/boyfriend/brother/father/grandfather to go out and objectify women in such a fashion.  Now I know there are male strippers/dancers but (and I have no figures on this) I am pretty sure it is not in the same numbers.  And yes I have been to “ladies nights” in my wild youth so I will get off my high horse (though I must say I found the experiences more disturbing than anything else).

Is there not something wrong in our social conscience when it is okay for people to be price-tagged?  I am aware of the arguments about how women owning their sexuality is empowering etc, but wonder if by reducing ourselves to such caricatures we limit our potential and make it acceptable for that to be done it to continue.

This concept was reminiscent of a conversation I had a few weeks ago with a friend who has a friend who runs an escort agency. The question he asked is what we thought about it.  The conversation got pretty heated and really my problem is not with the choice these women have made but a deeper seated social issue. The fact that our society says it is okay to commodify sex and people in such a fashion I find incredibly concerning.  What does it mean when we value something as intimate and personal as our own bodies and the ability to share it with people (whether in love or lust) in terms of how much it costs an hour?

Also, even though there are consenting adults who get involved in the adult entertainment or sex trade I wonder to what extent the level to which it is generally condoned makes the trafficking of people easier.  According to the UN 2,5 million people are in forced labour due to trafficking at any given time with 43% being used for commercial sexual exploitation.

I would be really interested to hear what other people think about this.  Am I just being a prude? Is the “natural progression” of capitalism the commodification of our bodies for sexual gratification of others?  Would be interested to hear from any men hanging out there too.

On my 28 by 28 list goals included sending monthly newsletters, sending out cards for birthdays and calling regularly.  But this year I have been worse than ever.  Although I have sort of “failed” at this one this year I aim to be better next year.  Friends and family are very important and I think it is lovely to know that you are appreciated.

In that vain I would like to say on my blog birthday that I appreciate all of you who have hung around here and commented.  See you in the new year.

Have a great party.

This is probably my biggest fault.  I have just spent several hours writing up blog posts instead of working on an assignment for my masters!

I think organisation and lists will be a big part of my life this year.  Write a list and stick to it!

That is all.

This year I have really loved learning to take better photos and I think I have improved substantially.  But 10,000 hours is apparently what you need to become a master in something so that means a lot more practice.

To achieve this I am:

• going to take my camera everywhere
• get involved in photo challenges
• experiment and challenge myself
• take photos everyday and of everything

I am going to become super annoying aren’t I?

I had never been a fan of exercise.  Through high school sports were compulsory but I had always participated in the “social” version (they actually called it that!) which often meant not doing very much.  I am just not competitive on the sports field.

At the beginning of 2008 I started exercising.  Some family health scares meant that I was determined to be healthy and lose the extra weight that I had put on when I came to the UK.  It was tough to start with but eventually I really loved it.  I would work out at least 6 days a week. I felt healthy, I lost weight, I felt confident.

In 2009 a trip home for 3 weeks meant I didn’t exercise.  I came home to no job (I had taken voluntary redundancy) and didn’t have a routine which meant getting back into exercise was a bit tough.  Since then it has been rather sporadic and I just haven’t been motivated this year.

This year my goal is to work out every day for at least 30 minutes.  Even if that is just dancing around the lounge.  This isn’t to help me lose weight.  If you watch the video I mentioned yesterday you will see that it isn’t that useful in that area.  It is about helping me be fit and healthy.  And really your brain just works so much better when you exercise everyday.

This is really going to be tough for my two month travel but determination is my middle name (this year).

Source: shoes spotted on pinterest

This one is going to be the hardest but in many ways is the most important.

I recently came across this video which is a lecture by a doctor (the medical kind) on how sugar (and more specifically fructose) is poison.  It is quite long but if you have some time I would really really suggest you watch it.

These are the points that really stick out for me:

• Fructose does not metabolise in your body the same way that glucose does
• glucose can be metabolised by all the organs/muscles in your body
• fructose can only be metabolised in your liver, like alcohol.  When the liver is the only organ that can metabolise something that you eat it is considered a poison.
• fructose is converted to bad fat (heart attack stuff) and urea (which leads to gout and hypertension)
• fructose also block the hormones that tell you that you are full, so you eat more
• Our bodies were not meant to eat the amount of sugar/fructose that we do
• Basically, it is not what you eat but how your body metabolises it that is important.

This has prompted me to take control of my eating habits and kick my sugar addiction.

There are several blogs I have come across who will be my guides on this: Sarah Wilson (who has written an ebook about how she quit sugar), Scandi Food and EcoNest as well as David Gillespie (author of Sweet Poison).

Some of the benefits people have seen are really interesting and I would love to see if they work for me too.

The general advice is that in order to get it out your system it is useful to quit sugar completely for a period of time.  This varies from 3 weeks to two months and from a cold turkey approach to gradual decline.  As I am going away in the second week of February I have decided to go cold turkey! This means no fruit, fruit juice, dried fruit, jams, sauces and condiments which have sugar, balsamic vinegar, low fat foods which replace fat with sugar, honey, agave, and obviously sugar and sugary snacks.  So I am giving these up for 5 weeks so that I can enjoy some fruit when I am back in South Africa.

So what will I be eating: lots of vegetables, some nuts and seeds, carbs, healthy fats and lots of veggie proteins.  See I won’t be starving.

It is going to be interesting.  It is going to be a challenge.  I will have to learn to bake in a whole new way.  But hopefully at the end of it I will be able to not eat a whole packet of biscuits just because they are there.  I think the greatest challenge is going to be my two month trip home to South Africa and Australia for two friends weddings.

If you have any great sugar-free baking recipes or any advice I would love to hear from you! I think I am going to need all the help I can get.

Original picture source (it might be the enemy but dang who doesn’t like a sugar heart)