Have you ever people watched, and attributed qualities or stories to them? I do quite often, especially on the tram commuting to work.
Last Saturday, I saw a family on the tram, the mother and father probably in their late 30s or early 40s, and two little girls, around 5 and 3. The parents were both Caucasian, and the little girls were Chinese. I imagined the parents trying for many years to have kids, but in the end after many failed attempts, going through the difficult process of adopting the girls from China. I could be completely wrong of course, but it’s interesting to idly speculate.
Tonight, a man and woman sat down opposite me. They had their hands intertwined, with the woman’s arm hooked around her companion’s, and his free hand on her knee. The man wore a wedding ring, and the woman wore no rings at all. They could have been married, and the woman simply wasn’t wearing her ring at that time. Or perhaps the man was in the process of divorcing and the woman was his new relationship. Or - and this is the more scandalous option and definitely most fun to consider - they were having an affair, and the man’s wife was oblivious.
Do you people watch?

It’s that time of year again on campus, when the students do mad things like paint themselves orange and hold up signs. No, not rag week. Student Union Executive elections time again. Walking onto campus this morning across the concourse, I saw that someone had got hold of coloured chalk, and written all over the walls, the ground, and the concrete sides of the flyover with things like ‘Vote 4 Welfare!’ and similar enthused statements. Under the flyover, some poor bugger with a mop and bucket was washing away the chalk statements on the ground.
There’s a whole week of this to go, and the 3 voting days don’t start until the 28th.

I decided to walk into work today. I was feeling unusually health-conscious, and figured it wouldn’t be too bad. I’ve walked in once before, but it was a long while ago, and not the middle of winter. It’s three miles into work, mostly uphill. I most strongly suggest to anyone feeling similarly active that they -don’t- wear boots like this when they walk in. It hurts. My feet are sore. I’ve slightly strained some muscle or other at the top of my right leg. I think my left big toe is developing a blister. But you know what? It felt great once I’d recovered enough at work. I even walked back home again. I might even walk in again - but in trainers next time! I must be mad.

Ah, Daily Express, self proclaimed World’s Greatest Newspaper, you never fail to disappoint. Heaven forbid you should deviate from your usual fallback ‘exclusive!’ on the latest conspiracy theory surrounding the death of Princess Di. Nine years on, and it’s still apparently front page news. Today’s theory? Lasers killed Diana! No, really. -Lasers-. Fired into the eyes of the driver, Henri Paul, you see, from a passing car. They have eye witnesses and everything who saw a bright flash of light, so it must be true.

If a bomb entirely destroyed central London tomorrow, you know what the headline would be? Well, actually… there wouldn’t be one, ‘cos the explosion would destroy the rag’s offices in the process. But I’m sure you can guess what it -would- have been.

I went to the cinema tonight to see Derailed (enjoyable enough), and came out to find that I’d just missed a tram, judging by the lack of people on the platform. I leaned up against the railings to wait, and after a minute or two a boy of around 17 or so stepped onto the platform and stood around 10 feet away from me. He started to spit on the ground - not just once, but frequently enough to create a semi-circle of saliva round him whilst we waited for the tram. Finally, I was grossed out enough to speak up.

“Why do you do that?”
“Wha’?”
“Why do you do that?”
“‘cos I want to, dun I?”
“It’s kind of gross, you know.”
“That’s up to me, innit?”

He shot me a ‘weirdo’ look, and the tram pulled up to the platform. What is it with teenage guys? Do they salivate excessively? Do they have catarrh? How can it possibly be cool to splatter the pavement with froth?

As I mentioned a while ago on one of my other pages, I recently rejoined a weight loss group. I’m going to a wedding on 13 May in America, and I’m going to be the best man (convention be damned). I want to look good, and I want to be healthier. Simple. If I can lose 2lbs (0.9kg) per week between now and the wedding date, I’ll be just 2lbs shy of the target I’ve set myself. I’m not obese (defined as a body mass index of 30, compared to a healthy 20-25), but neither am I within that healthy range.

I think the attitude to weight in the western world is at best confusing, and at worst downright dangerous. Look in any weekly magazine, and you’ll find a plethora of stories relating to weight. Usually, the stories revolve around celebrities.

“Look at them! They’re too thin, they’re wasting away, they’ve taken it too far!”

In next week’s magazine, the headlines look different.

“She’s put on weight, she’s let herself go, is that a bulge or two?”

Then there’s the diets, both in magazines and online. Cabbage Soup. GI. Juicing. Raw. Gillian McKeith. Celebrity fads. No wonder there’s confusion. There’s the so called support groups, like the ‘Ana and Mia’ community sites. That’s anorexia and bulimia to you. But I don’t mean support for recovering sufferers of eating disorders. No, these sites promote the idealised body dysmorphic image. They post onto bulletin boards on how successful they’ve been in starving themselves. Or at the other end of the scale, how about something like the NAAFA? It’s the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. They call themselves a human rights organisation and promote being happy with yourself. They do note that being fat shouldn’t be synonymous with being unfit, and advise some activity, but overall, aren’t both organisations as unhealthy as one another?

I’m taking it steady. The plan I’m on promotes healthy eating, and moderate exercise. There’s no starvation and no excess. So far, so good. 3.5lbs lost in two weeks, which is a healthy rate. I even went to the gym last night for the first time in forever. Here’s to my continued, healthy weight loss to reach a similarly healthy weight.