Be Happy

I was reading an article about the late Christina Onassis the other day, while I was waiting to have my hair trimmed. I'd decided to lash out a little and have it washed and blow dried also. Apparently, the world's wealthiest woman was a very 'down to earth' kind of lady, in fact, although it was never actually confirmed, it was rumored that she even used to wash her own hair!

Sure, I'm sure she had her ups and downs, just like all of us of 'down to earth' people, but I guess, too, it's all relative. Like this morning when I took my jeans out of the washer only to find they were covered in little pieces of fluff white stuff. I just bet Ms Onassis never experienced the frustration of discovering she'd accidently left a tissue in the pocket of her jeans when she washed them.

Then again, on the flip side, maybe one of the reasons she was reputed to be so damned miserable most of her life was that, and I know this is very cliched, she never really enjoyed the simple things in life.

It's interesting to note studies done by the University of Illinois and University of Pennsylvania, last year, revealed that a nation's economic fortitude is not as tied to the well-being of its citizens as previous believed."It has been assumed that money increases well-being and, although money can be measured with exactitude, it is an inexact surrogate to the actual well-being of a nation. In a 1985 survey, respondents from the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans and the Maasai of East Africa were almost equally satisfied and ranked relatively high in well-being. The Maasai are a traditional herding people who have no electricity or running water and live in huts made of dung. It follows, that economic development and personal income must not account for the happiness that they are so often linked to."

Instead, the researchers propose that a population's "engagement, purpose and meaning, optimism and trust, and positive and negative emotions in specific areas such as work life and social relationships" should be considered when measuring the strength of a nation.

The sad truth is that we're twice as rich as we were in 1957, but only half as happy. Dr. David Myers, authority on the psychology of happiness: "Never has a culture experienced such physical comfort combined with such psychological misery. Never have we felt so free, or had our prisons so overstuffed. Never have we been so sophisticated about pleasure, or so likely to suffer broken relationships."

Myers dubs us "the doubly affluent society." In nearly 50 years, we have twice as many cars per person. Our homes are bigger and our families are smaller. We have microwave ovens, dishwashers, and so many more labour saving appliances. Plasma screen TVs, home computers, and endless other gadgets and gizmos for our entertainment pleasure. We spend billions a year in restaurants, bars, and spas. Yet, despite this 'wealth', we're not as happy as our parents and grandparents!

Damn it!

Of course money provides our material needs but does it ever fully satisfy our material wants? Like a drug, it gives us a short burst of happiness, but what is enough to satisfy us completely long term? It's the phenomenon scientists call the "hedonic treadmill". We get a pay rise, we spend more, we spend more so we need a pay rise, and so on.

Ah, but I digress.

So, back to me at the hairdressers. Well, after I had my hair done, I went home and had a good look in the mirror. My hair didn't really look very different” just shorter. The herbal essences, exotic extracts, and all the other goodies, that were supposed to be in the shampoo, once again, just hadn't worked the same magic they always seem to in the ads.

Later, when my other half came home he glanced at me and said, "Your hair looks good." Let me tell you, that gave me a buzz money just couldn't buy!

Footnote: In the same magazine there was an article about Christina Onassis' daughter, Anitha. Often dubbed 'the poor little rich girl', she was recently quoted as saying, " I just want to be like everyone else." It's kind of ironic isn't it, that money just can't buy that for her?

The Bald Truth

You know, every time I hear a man making self-deprecating jokes about his baldness, I have to ask myself, "Why?". I mean, sure women look for certain qualities in choosing a mate, but how often do you hear one say, "Well, what I'm really looking for in a man is hair. Yep, loads of it, and it's all got to be on top of his head."?

I read a quote by actor Bruce Willis the other day, he said, "I don't rely on my hair for my masculinity or my acting." Ah, yes, Bruce Willis, what pure uninhibited masculinity! Why, every word he utters simply drips with testosterone. While so many men in Hollywood literally chop and change their hair to suite the roles they play, Bruce's sexy trade mark, his five o'clock shadow and close cut hair, remains unchanged. What on earth was Demi thinking when she left him for that baby faced what's his name? I just don't get it. What sane woman lets a hot hubby like Bruce slip away? Sure, I realise a lot of women go through crazy mid-life crisises, and maybe so is she, but "Bruce" verses "Ashton"? I mean, ladies, if you had to choose... I mean if you were given a choice... I mean if you could be so f**king lucky, honestly, which one would you take?

Ah, but I digress....

Well, sure bald and baldin men can be just as sexy as their hairy brothers. Remember the late, the great, the hotter than hot, Yule Brynner? He didn't need hair to make him one of the sexiest men ever? In fact wasn't it his lack of hair that rather intensified his smouldering good looks? What about Britain's sexiest man, Sean Connery? I tell you, with or without hair, that man doesn't get older he just gets hotter. Ed Harris, Woody Harrelson, andr Brendon Fraser, to name just a few, are all losing their hair, but who cares? Hair does not maketh the man.

OK, so, if you're a man concerned about your receding hair line or thinning top, how about following Bruce's lead because, let me tell you, that rugged masculine look is simply tailor-made for you!

But really, how did all this ridiculous obsession with men's hair first come about? Was it perhaps when Delilah hacked off Samson's locks? You know, I think I would have done the same thing, regardless of whether that was really where his strength lay. Like I was just telling someone the other day, I refuse to drool over a man with longer, shinier, or better hair than mine. I want to be the pretty one!

Ah, but I digress again...

Do some men still feel that their masculinity to linked to the hair on their heads? A friend of mine began going bald from a very early age. It bothered him initially, but he's an intelligent man, and he soon realised that it wasn't the changes on the outside, but more specifically the changes on the inside, of his head, that were the real issue. Yes, it's all got to do with attitude. He now proudly shaves his head, and often rubs oil on it too, to make it shiny. Oh, and he has this crazy t-shirt that says: "This mighty sex machine is powered by a cranium solar panel".

So, to all you bald or balding guys out there I say, say no to rugs and plugs! Believe me, women are looking at a lot more than what is, or isn't, on top of your head. Stop counting those damned hairs, and start listing all of those fine qualities that make you the man you're proud to be.

The Suntan Fad

Throughout history primitive tribes have worshipped the sun. Indeed, many people still do, while making huge sacrifices! So, what exactly is it about a suntan that so many people perceive as a healthy and sexy look? What's exactly is so gorgeous about skin that's been exposed to the sun until it looks like well-worn leather? And, what's so damned healthy about sunburn, sunspots, and skin cancer?

I tell you, I could baste and bake my poor little bod twelve hours a day, seven days a week and it still wouldn't cook to anything like a well done brown. Sure I'm a blonde, but there's just no way I'm ever going to achieve that photo negative Paris Hilton look unless it's been sprayed on at least five layers of fake tan!

I guess the idea of a tan being glamorous dates back to, the then trendsetter, Coco Chanel. Before she came back from her holiday in... oh, I don't know, some exotic place, that only the rich and famous frequented, no one could have cared less whether or not your skin was tanned. Then, after her little sojourn, almost over night, a suntan became synonymous with a glamorous and leisurely lifestyle.

Actually, before that, I guess a sun tan rather marked you as one of the working class, and certainly not beautiful or something worth striving for. Wasn't it Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice who, upon observing Elizabeth had been spending too much time outdoors, observed, "Her skin has become rather brownish”most unattractive..."?

Just look at Nicole Kidman (I wouldn't have to tell my other half twice, he's madly in lust with that woman!). Yes, just look at her smoother than smooth, paler than pale complexion. How does she get that way anyway; that incredibly fine and translucent looking skin-- moonbaking? Well, she's gorgeous! And, I tell you something else, you won't be seeing any premature aging on her lovely face and body.

So, armed with the knowledge we now have about the dangers of too much sun, why are so many people still so determined to expose themselves to those harmful rays for the sake of darker skin? What exactly will it take for the suntan fad to fade into the flaky falderal of fashion's fickle and farcical history?