Embarrassment is My New Religion.

It's not just the parents who embarrass...

 When you are young, there are many things to be embarrassed about. Your name, your spots, your family' bright yellow banana box of a thing they called a car, the whole catholic church going burden you have to tow the line with. And then you get older (let' skip the twenties because even those aren't 'proper' adult years anymore) and you come to realise that those embarrassments have come to hold a place in your heart. The British holiday you once abided has come full circle. You are loving rainy Devon, windswept Norfolk and the damp beaches of Wales, where your parents would drag you to the wet beaches and publicly ridicule any petulance you might dare to exhibit. The once dull, uninspiring weekly market in the East Anglian town where I grew up, piled high with shockingly un-with-it clothing stalls and frightening grannified undies, is reassuringly welcoming and the honest 'say it how it is' approach of my parents and their cohorts is a tonic.

 I think when you come to witness these new joys in your life you are probably finding your own self. I'll always be drawn to the aesthetic of clothes, furniture, a restaurant, even the food I eat but for someone once so steeped in the fashion game, it comes as a revelation to enjoy these aesthetics without the need to check others approval. It is incredibly liberating and creatively much richer. Trusting your impulses, loving things that are different which makes something so refreshing and finding your own language. So this summer my children will continue to be carried around on the back of my ridiculous tricycle, learn to deal with their mother' chaotic time schedules, sing and dance whenever and wherever the moment grabs them and be forced to wait patiently as I talk at length to anyone who is nice, reminding myself that one day, they too are going to embrace the same. They'll be all the more interesting for it. Oh, I forgot that they must be wearing peculiar clothing combinations on all of these occasions. Amen.

Thou shalt guard mummy' purchase and WAIT
for her to stop prowling around a car boot sale. 

Thou shalt DANCE, SING and appreciate all types of musique.

Thou shalt be prepared to WEAR peculiar clothing.

Thou shalt RIDE on the boss' bike!

    

Very Mysterious...

The masked offender and his co-defendents, me thinks.

 I posted some words about appreciating differences in design a couple of days ago and now...it's gone. Poof! It went out there. I clicked the 'Publish Post' button but somehow, in the last 24 hours, the cyber world has eaten it up and I don't know how to make my computer regurgitate its contents. Maybe the strange fellas pictured above had something to do with it? I often catch Captain Cody (the one with the mask) smashing his hands up and down the keys in a flash of defiance. I'm therefore trying to appreciate our differences right now! 

small pleasures

Kim English - 'Daily Chores'

 It is true that sad things often comes in waves. One hits you and whilst reeling a couple more come and keep you from standing up. Well, that has been the case of late but when I piece them all together you are given an extraordinary clarity. When you have your health, life is pretty darn good and simple day to day tasks become a joy. To be-able to get out of bed in a morning and have only the worries of time-keeping or project deadlines to think of is a gift. To know that tomorrow is waiting for you is a delight I don't want to be too late to grasp. So with Spring on it's way (although it is flippin' freezing!) I might actually do a bit of cleaning, dust off some cobwebs and welcome the day and those close to me with a hug. 
 Whilst writing this however, Asa has decided to get ahead of the game and is cleaning out a dirty old fire place with his face. Off to the bathroom little man and I'm embracing it, every sooty little finger!     

He can be Sooty and I'll sweep.
(Boom, boom!)