I really should... but I don't, or do I?

I have given up on magazines. They cost a fortune and even though they all claim to be different; they are not. They are all the same (and I disregard the x-rated, as I have no experience in them and their contents, just thought it was necessary to mention that).

At the end of the day they all make women feel they are not good enough, don’t try hard enough and do not show enough initiative.

Through October, November and December they tell us how to dress (including what perfect hold-ins and stay-ups to buy), put on the right make up, get the right hairdo, cook, bake, set the table, drink, decorate, make personal greeting cards for the holiday, make time for the kids during planning the holiday and find the perfect present.

Thank heavens for family traditions! I have decided to stick with the old fashion way my mum tried to keep up.

Now that the celebrations are over with, the magazines are overflown with the answer to how to diet and get the perfect body (back) after the excessive eating and partying. The methods are different from year to year, depending on what is in fashion.

This year it is low carb diet and aerobic and pilates which are mentioned a lot, for an effective weightloss. I am not quite there yet, but I see they have a point when it comes to the weightloss itself. It is rather disturbing not to be able to tie your own shoes without heavy breathing. (Just to make clear the thought is not new to me I admit I have bought every dvd I have come across on Zumba. That looks like a blast! Just haven’t gotten around to try it out too much yet, but I will. And I expect to look great in no time… just a glimpse into, hopefully, near future there.)

Scary I know all this, since I never buy the magazines, but the frontpages are screaming at me with loud colours and BIG print.

The good news is that I do not have to pay for the bad conscience, I get it for free.

So, regarding my insight on what modern requirements women face, and knowing I should care more about them, it hits me:

I am a woman, and even though I claim I do not care what the magazines say, I have to admit they plant a somewhat distracting insight in my failure of being the best version of me, and I kind of owe it to both myself and my fellow human beings to be at my best in most respects.

On the other hand: in what way do men face the demands of society? I am just being curious here, cause I hear very little about that, and looking around I know there are many gorgeous men out there. A lot more gorgeous men than women, in fact.

Environmental things...

Saturday is the day of the week when I try to get something done around the house. Laundry, filling the freezer with bakery, sorting out toys, games and strange electronic gadgets I never even knew we had…

Under it all I try to find surfaces I can clean. I am not a compulsive cleaner, I just make enough out of it to feel good about it when I comfort myself thinking “it may look bad, but at the bottom it is clean”.

Anyway; part of my tidying up routine is to recycle rubbish on my way to the store. I have children, and I want them to inherit a healthy world... and it is a fairly easy way to buy oneself a bit of clear conscience. 

Here we have waste containers placed at public places for those who want to do the extra effort to save the world.

I recycle glass, scrap, cloth (what is too worn out to be handed to charity), paper, organic waste and plastic. Batteries, light bulbs and electrical things are to be thrown in special containers we have at home and is picked up ones every 6 months. Writing it down now it looks pretty insane, and thinking about the diversity and number of bins for domestic waste sorting under my sink, it is ridiculous. I have 4 litter bins outside my house. Looks like a small industry area rather than the green heaven I want the entire world to be.

As I was throwing away empty jars of jam I got the image of Al Gore, in my head, doing the same thing I was, and I thought to myself “You and I, Al, we know what is important”.

On my way home I started thinking about it, and I never heard or read anywhere he recycles anything. Does he? Does he do the extra effort?

Just wondering, since I have heard his electrical bill is 20 times as big as the average. There are good excuses for this: Al Gore's home is more than 10 times the average. The house has five bedrooms and is of nearly 1000 square meters. He only uses green renewable electricity, which costs about 30% more than conventional electricity. In addition, he and his wife Tipper each run their own office from home with several employees. It certainly attracts a lot of extra electricity. Probably the average American does not stay at home during the day. Al Gore has security staff on site often, as well as other important guests. So, I give him that…

On the other hand… does he feel at all guilty for using a private jet when travelling around the world talking about environment?

I understand it is important to travel fast and comfortable when you travel a lot, some people are too busy to wait and do security checks like others do. I get that.

http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/an-inconvenient-question-should-al-gore-fly-to-stockholm/

Our own prime minister, who adds more taxes to everything than anyone else in the world (in the name of environment), went to the South Pole to celebrate Roald Amundsen. In 11 days he polluted what an average Norwegian pollutes in 3 years. I understand it was cool and an experience of a lifetime, but…

What I would really like to know, as I struggle with enormous amounts of wrapping paper from Christmas eve; do they recycle at all? Do they, honestly?