Thursday 15 April 2010

You've got to laugh!

It would be quite easy to fall into a Slough of Despond these days. Getting old is not much of a joke sometimes (or as somebody put it very wisely in something I read earlier this month, it is a spiritual battle which you know that you are never going to win). But let's all look on the bright side - for my part my back is getting better - albeit slowly - and my recent MOT at the doctor's surgery is almost all good news (just a high cholesterol to work on). But for laughs you can't get much better than a Prize Winning Reader's Letter I read in a magazine (which shall be nameless) at the hairdressers earlier this week:
A reader wrote a glowing letter thanking the magazine for the marvellous diet sheet they had provided. She said she had followed it to the letter and had a wonderfully significant weight loss. She couldn't thank them enough for getting her started on losing weight. She knew she was on the right path now and was full of enthusiasm.
Her letter won the month's prize which was - a hamper of hand made chocolate worth £50.
That made me laugh out loud. It just about sums up the attitude of these magazines for women. They churn out 'tips' for slimming, looking younger, being a successful entrepreneur - anything which they hope will tempt us to buy the magazine , but it is all so facile - wouldn't it have been lovely if they had said - your prize was to have been a huge basket of fattening chocolate but as you have lost weight and don't want to regain it then we are sending your £50 to charity.
This 'spin' attitude seems to have permeated every little cranny of our lives, doesn't it. I went a few years ago to a make up demonstration given by one of the leading (and very expensive) cosmetic companies. The speaker told us never to wash our faces with soap and water, but always to use their cleansing milk. A woman in the audience was incensed and stood up and proclaimed that she was eighty-four, a farmer's wife, and that she scrubbed her face twice daily with soap and water from childhood - and ' look at my complexion' she said - we looked - it was peaches and cream. 'It's all in the genes,' she continued - 'and I've helped it with good honest fresh air.'
And so to the ultimate in spin - tonight's Live Television Debate between the three party leaders (yawn, yawn). The Times prints a list of the things they must watch - the right coloured tie, always look at your audience, keep a flash of humour there, try to avoid your worst little habits.
I don't think i can bear to watch it - it will be promises, smarm and no straight answers. I think I will settle for finishing my book - which incidentally is fantastic - I'll tell you about it tomorrow.

25 comments:

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

My dermatologist actually recommends washing one's face with soap and water. She swears by the exfoliating benefits. But I really agree.... it's genes and fresh air.

As for the debates.... I can never bear to watch them either. I look forward to hearing about your book!!

Dinesh chandra said...

Hi WEAVER GOOD POST GOD BLESS U.

REGARDS

DINESH CHANDRA

The Solitary Walker said...

Don't worry about the politicians' TV debate - Manchester will probably be kneep deep in volcanic ash by tonight and it will be concelled.

The Solitary Walker said...

Or cancelled, even.

Unknown said...

Oh, come on, Weaver. Take a little peek at the debate. Your future depends upon it. And won't it be nice to see Gordon, spruced and looking his best?!

P.S. WV is "arout" - wonder if it will be?!

steven said...

weaver - take a walk during the debate. you'll learn more about the real world that actually affects you more profoundly than anything the politicians can share. have a peaceful day in the dale. steven

Robin Mac said...

Did the others in the waiting room want to know why you were laughing? I think yor book is a much better proposition than a political debate. Do they have the stupid little worm over there supposedly showing which politician is winning the dabate? I can't be bothered watching over here. I loved your quiz by the way, though I was not very successful in answering it either. Cheers, Robin

Elisabeth said...

I can't say much about the debate, Weaver, but the prize for the best letter about weight loss - a box of chocolates - is priceless. Thanks.

Sal said...

I always wash my face with soap and water !
Mind you I have never clogged it up with all sorts of weird and wonderful face make up.It never ceases to amaze me how people spend a fortune on that sort of thing...then another fortune on make up remover!!!

I'm going to watch the debate, if only to heckle and throw things at the tv!;-)

I hope you are getting better .
;-)

Elizabeth Musgrave said...

I might have a quick look at the debate but I know in advance that I would be driven mad by the whole thing! I will probably take the dog for a walk!
Glad your back is on the mend.

Rachel Fox said...

I think, Weaver, you should have your own show on TV! Or at least a column in the local paper. You always write such sense.
x

Anonymous said...

Gosh, I would have laughed about the chocs and then asked them to send them to me.
If I ever go on a diet it makes me fatter instead of staying the same which I usually do.
All that thinking about food and thinking what you can't have turns me into a ravening beast.

Well, at least you don't have elections that go on for ever in the UK.
And I don't think your elections are so publicly bought and sold as they are here.
The election process here is a DISGRACE and beyond wasteful
but I'm glad I live in a country where I cn cheerfully bash the government without fearing a knock on the door.
Gosh, I'm being boring.
As regards cholesterol....our parents may have had it (or not) and they lived quite happily (or didn't) without bothering with it. Just another thing for us to fuss about.......

Yes, your book will be an improvement ver the silly endless TV blather!
word verification: drums......why?

Elizabeth said...

ps Nivea is very good on dry skin....

Heather said...

So glad your back is continuing to improve. It's always better to 'make haste slowly' even though it maybe frustrating. Love the letter about the chocolate - how ridiculous. I lost half a stone in one week recently, courtesy of the Norovirus and am trying not to put it all back. I'm a soap and water woman and have been blessed with a good complexion. I have always worn make-up but never saw the point in plastering it on and then having to pay out more for stuff to remove it. Enjoy your book.

Crafty Green Poet said...

Glad your back is continuing to get better. You'd think the magazine could have foud a better prize, given the nature of the letter! I wash my face with Neal's Yard exfoliating polish.

Titus said...

Brilliant observations Weaver, and I love the story of the prize-wnning letter!
I watched the first half hour of the debate. It was exactly as you predicted.

Cloudia said...

Yes, all spin all the time - we seem to forget that there are facts that matter....but can never win? I disagree, my dear.

You need more Comfort Spiral (just saying :)



Aloha from Waikiki


Comfort Spiral

Pondside said...

Your post makes me sure that things on one side of the Atlantic are exactly the same as on the other - even the politicians!

Dave King said...

On the bright side, getting old is preferable to the alternative, beyond which though, I take your point.

MarmaladeRose said...

Glad to hear your back is slowly on the mend.
I'm with you on the skin care, all these expensive wonder creams are for women with more money than sense.

BT said...

I gave the debate a miss. I did see a programme on it with highlights - if you can call it that! Dreary in the extreme. Nothing new. ~Yawn~!!

I always use soap and water and swear by it. Can't be doing with those horrid expensive creams. I'd need to wash my face afterwards! I had to laugh at the chocolates for the slimmer. Crazy!

ArtPropelled said...

Horrified your back is still out of kilter. Its been a long spell hasn't it, Weaver? Speaking of peaches and cream complexions, my grandmother used to use the cream off the top of the milk on her face and her skin was flawless. Maybe it was in the genes and had nothing to do with the cream.

ChrisJ said...

Ugh! Politics!! I'm such a cynic.

Incidentally my mother just recommended water only for the face -- no soap. I do think it is in the genes. But I have hardly ever worn anything but a smidgin of make-up that I'm certainly not an authority. And that volcanis ash should be good for something!

Acornmoon said...

I did not know that fact about Oxford, Ox Ford!

Glad to hear that your back is getting better.

Jenn Jilks said...

Good luck with your back. I agree with all you say!
Good luck with your election. I fear one here in My Canada , despite my son-in-law running for the Green party! Maybe in spite of, as my daughter is having a baby next month!