Thursday, December 10, 2009

When I was just a little girl ...

When I was 15 I wrote Future Sarah-Rose a letter. Two pages of A4 paper, single sided, coloured around the edges with red and purple pencil, in awkward cursive. It was folded ever so tiny, sellotaped in place and a seal (a SEAL) covered the join.
The outside read: Not to be opened until 2008.

I opened it last weekend.

Here's the thing. I remember having crazy ambitions, I remember being earnest and dream-filled and well, terrified of growing up. And the 25 year old me took a look at her immediate post-London life and felt terrified. Absolutely incapable of reading a 15 year old girl's hopes and dreams for her future. It took me a long time (and moving house) to bear looking at it.

And it was boring!

I was reasoned and rational at 15. I said that my chosen career was lawyer or actress or author or all three! and that I hoped I was at least working towards one or all of those goals (this was obviously before I realised that the entire reason I wanted to be a Lawyer was because of Matthew McConaughey in A Time to Kill, which is really just being an actress after all) and you know what? in my own little part-time, amateur kind of way, I feel that I am*. Of course at 15 I was not completely enamoured of photography, which just seems just completely foreign to me now.

And! I handily included my measurements. I haven't managed to unpack a measuring tape as yet (YES I AM STILL UNPACKING) and so I have no idea at all how different I am 11 years later. Quite, I'd imagine.
EDIT: it turns out (I found a measuring tape!) that I have the exact same waist measurement, and I am only 1-4 inches bigger around my bust and hips. Very strange.

What I was most interested in was what I thought, at 15, my lovelife would be like at 25. This was just a year or so before I met Craig (yes! we were 16 when we started dating. Just babies!) and at that time? I didn't even know he existed.
Strangely? because I always remember being wary of small children, I wrote that I wanted to be a mother at 24. TWENTY FOUR. Madness. I must have been a little drunk when I wrote the letter**. I can't imagine what my life would be like if I had continued on with that STUPID STUPID goal. There would have been no London, that's for sure.

I did write that I hoped I had travelled. I wrote that I wanted to set foot on every continent (being sensible I excluded Antarctica and the Arctic) and I think I'm well on my way to that! Asia, Australia, Europe, America ... just missing Africa.

I ended the letter with horribly morbid thoughts about how I hope that I would still be alive to read the letter at 25 (26!), that my parents and sisters would still be alive (they are!), that I would still be in touch with my BFF, Petra (we are!), and that if I didn't do it regularly, I should make sure they know that I love them (they do!).

So it was not as scary as I thought. I am glad that I have a job which I currently enjoy, artistic pursuits which inspire me, a partner who I could never have dreamed of at 15, and many many stamps in my passport. And I'm glad I didn't read it last year.

Oh and I'm not going to bother transcribing the letter. It really was that boring. I am a little disappointed in myself.


* No I cannot elaborate. Part is work related WHICH I DO NOT DISCUSS and part is this darling little site.
** I wasn't. Just an idiot apparently.

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Day One: Osaka

From the Archives

Orange Juice

In the early early morning (read: 9am) Craig and I crept out of Tim's place and wandered around Osaka, just a little, to see what we could see and to find breakfast. And to hopefully not get lost.
We sat on the bank of a river (read: concrete stairs next to a river) and ate brioche, taro-flavoured donut, and orange juice. Watching cyclists pass us by & feeling delightfully out of place.

Fruit for Sale near Osaka-Jo

We made it back to Tim's (success!) and teamed up with some couchsurfers he was hosting (Tin-tin, Agatha, and Mark) and we all went out to Osaka Castle, Osaka-jō.

Craig & turning leaves
Ahh Mo-Vember, how I do NOT miss thee.

Guy with an Iguana on his back
No. I do NOT know what the Iguana is about. But I like his kicky leash!

Small child and Sake Bottle flowers

Osaka Castle through the changing leaves
Osaka-jō

Close up

Plastic food - display

Grape Fanta!

That dog is wearing SUNGLASSES
Yes. That dog is wearing SUNGLASSES.

Yaki tori. Perhaps chicken?
Yaki-tori.
Yes. To drive my darling Mother completely insane we bought skewered chicken cooked (ish) from a stall.

Either way, it was delicious.
And we ATE it. It was delicious. And we didn't die.

After the Castle we went to a store called Don Quijote (not a misspelling BTW & yes that bugs me now) which was terrifying.
It's a discount chain store and was ... sensory overload. I couldn't even bring myself to take a photo. I was too busy.
And yes, they sell sex toys and yes I did look. But no, they weren't any stranger than in New Zealand. Or London.
I did however try to convince Craig to buy a kigurumi (a full body animal costume). He did not.

We made it back to Shinsaibashi Station and arranged to meet up with Tim & Mio for dinner. We wandered through the Dōtonbori area to look at the lights and the people who are just there to see and be seen.

Glico man unlit - Dōtonbori

Glico is the company who make Pocky!

Glico Man - Lit up! Dōtonbori

Osaka Crab - Dōtonbori

Takoyaki - the signature food of Osaka
Takoyaki (たこ焼き) is a the signature dish of Osaka. It's a dumpling made of batter, diced or whole baby octopus, tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion, topped with okonomiyaki sauce, ponzu, mayonnaise, and katsuobushi (cuttlefish shavings).

I like squid, but octopus? it turns out, not so much. I can still remember the feeling of the little purple sucker on my tongue. Creepy.

Sunday, December 06, 2009

Week Forty-Nine

365 in 2009!

Sunday: an afternoon well spent. Sun & Poirot.
Sunday
I spent the afternoon lying in the sun and reading an old old Agatha Christie novel.

Monday: Sorceress set by M.A.C.
Monday
I went to Kirkcaldie and Stains to pick up a christmas present and came away with this eyeshadow set in Sorceress as well. Oops. But I adore it.

Tuesday: outfit for Wednesday
Tuesday
I try and set out my outfit for the next day when I get home from work.
I set out my newly repaired grey-peplum skirt, vintage rhinestone necklace, and slip-of-a-thing watch.

Wednesday: my 'books to read' pile.
Wednesday
My pile of books-to-read is becoming precarious.
BUT I just finished Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger and it was quite large so the situation is less dire.

Thursday: Xmas Present
Thursday
A christmas present arrived at home. I flicked through it (CAREFULLY! No spine creases!) and I may have to keep it for myself.

Friday: loved this one too!
Friday
I loved this quote too! I really like whoever it is that's choosing the quotes for Bennetts at the moment.

Saturday: Barbecue avec ma famille
Saturday
After a day of boring boring domestic stuff Craig and I went to my parents for a family barbecue and watching of Love Actually to kickstart the christmas spirit.

Next week will be even better - the third sister will be home (!), there is a tattoo appointment, and perhaps there will be christmas tree decorating. Perhaps.


&


First Sunburn of Summer. Sigh.
The first sunburn of summer.