We went up north, not too far, and hiked all weekend. It was really lovely. Saturday, the weather was perfect, and it turned into a perfect evening camping. Not hot, not cold, no bugs, quiet campground. What more can you ask for?

Sunday was hot and humid. We hiked and got caught in the rain, but it was a warm and pleasant rain. Afterwards, we went for an Indian food lunch, and then headed home.

It inspired me to want to camp at least once more before the end of the summer. I started thinking about a group trip. Nicole happened to email me today, and told me about how she and her new beau are planning a camping and hiking trip in the same place. I had told her about our trip last week, so she checked out the area, and they made plans to go together.

I asked her if they were interested in going with a group, but that I completely understood if she wanted to keep it as a romantic weekend away. She said that they want to go up alone (oooooooooooh), but she�d be happy to do a group trip later in the fall.

Besides wanting to be alone with the new boyfriend, I also think that part of it is that she doesn�t want him to be too exposed to other friends, yet. Otherwise, if he doesn�t last, then you have to keep rehashing the past, when people ask about him.

So, that got me to thinking. Why not a hiking and camping trip for women only? It�s something that I always thought would be fun, but have never gotten around to organizing. I�ll have to think about the logistics some more this week.

Today, after all of the hiking and camping, I�m wiped out. I�m also teaching yoga tonight. Tomorrow afternoon, I have an appointment with the oral surgeon. It seems like I�ve been having appointments on top of appointments, lately.

Last week, I went to another laser hair appointment and I had a couple�s therapy appointment. The laser hair people are were so nice that I went away trying to come up with a new body part for them to laser.

You know what�s cool and disturbing at the same time? During the laser hair removal process, I can actually smell burning hair. It�s very, very faint. It�s not like they disappear on contact. That�s not how it works, but I swear, I can smell it. Adam makes fun of me for having a nose like a bloodhound. It�s really a disadvantage. It seems like I�m always choking and gagging over some smell.

I was telling Adam about my laser hair removal visit, and then explaining to him the difference between a spa, a med spa and a dermatologist. When I mentioned the smell of burning hair, alarmed, he asked, �Does it hurt?� I responded, �Well, it feels kind of like being poked with a needle, but compared to getting something waxed, it�s really nothing.�

After he picked his jaw up off the floor, he said, �It�s amazing what women will do for appearances.� Then after a pause he said, �I don�t think they want men to know, though. They make it into a mystery.�

So, I told him my take on it, which is that women aren�t trying to be mysterious. Women have been taught that our natural state is disgusting. We have these standards of beauty shoved in our faces our whole lives, and rather than even seeing them as a high standard of beauty, we see them as a minimum standard of beauty. We�re taught that flaws are unacceptable. Any flaw is disgusting, and that we best take care of those flaws in private, and never ever admit to anyone (especially a man!) that we were born that way. So, we�re not trying to mysterious, we�re just ashamed of our bodies.

It�s to the beauty industry�s advantage to keep that stuff a secret. Once it�s out in the open, it stops being shameful and becomes just another part of reality.

Of course, for the majority of us, it�s impossible to reach that standard of beauty, so we fall for that shuck and jive in varying degrees. If something is impossible, at some point, you have to accept it�s impossible, or implode.

I won�t pretend that I�m above it all. As a matter of fact, I might even be considered one of the worst victims.

I often swing back and forth between being grateful that I got to feel really beautiful for awhile, and feeling resentful for the head trip that it sends women on.

I don�t think about it too much, anymore, beyond, you know, personal hygiene and keeping in somewhat decent shape. I�m still not above going on chocolate/cookie/cake/ice cream binges, though.

On a different note, last Thursday, Adam and I went to go see The Help. It�s my opinion that this is one of the very rare occasions where the movie is far better than the novel. As I wrote in my goodreads review, I found some spots of the novel to be patronizing and even offensive. There were a couple of little nitpicky things I could say about the movie, but overall, I think they did a fantastic job of adapting the story. Since the movie is available, I almost think that reading the book would be a waste of time, and I don�t think I have ever said that about a novel/movie duo before.

1 comments so far

Monday, Aug. 22, 2011 at 4:43 PM