Apparently Rari feels my working 7:30 am -3 and then coming home to pack up my house for moving isn't an excuse, so here is the next post written on my lunch break -
In my previous post I mentioned that Rari and I are 'twins'. Basically this is the result of our mothers growing up together and then randomly (or so we are told, I'm not ruling out the possibility of an ongoing science experiment which is top secret but will ultimately decide the fate of the human race) having daughters an hour apart.
Like all twins Rari and I have our similarities and differences. You could say this is true of any two people but then this piece of writing would have no point and I will have wasted several hours of my life so let's not make that generalisation thank you.
One of our most obvious differences is our reaction to dogs. When I see anything canine I become an infant. I can only stand and point while (much like a deflating balloon) I exclaim 'Doooooog!' . If I'm actually allowed to pat the dog I then reach a point of madness where I am overjoyed to be interacting with THE BEST ANIMAL EVER but at the same time I am crushingly aware that I will fall in love with it and it belongs to someone else.
Rari, doesn't 'get' dogs. I think she sees them as ornaments on a shelf, pretty to look at, but pointless. To give her full credit she did recently try to 'get' them recently when I brought a dog (and some friends) to stay overnight with her. I had left a message on her phone letting her know that the dog was coming (I was NOT going to miss the opportunity of AN ENTIRE WEEKEND hanging out with a dog). She returned my call after her uni class with a slightly confusing response.
'Mary, do dogs eat grass?'
I paused a moment to contemplate what she had just said. Could she have dog mistaken with goat? Was she worried the dog would eat a special plant? Or had she become a really strict vegetarian?
'Well they eat a bit' I replied cautiously. 'Just to keep their tummy happy'.
'Oh good' she was very pleased with this information. 'My yard is completely overgrown and your dog will eat the grass'.
Despite my assurance that one Labrador can't actually consume a yard full of grass, Rari remained overly cheerful about the dogs arrival.
And do you know what happened? Every time Rari looked at that damn dog it would start eating grass, like it knew it was paying it's dues for a free nights accommodation. My favourite image of the trip is Rari, with her garden shears hacking at knee high grass while the dog stood to the side and did her best.
Do I actually have a point in writing this? I have entirely forgotton. But I did get to think about dogs (and Rari) for a while so I gues it was worth the effort.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Day one
So this is an unusual blog because it only has one target audience - my darling Rari. Rari (/Rachel) is my twin (from another mother, no it's not one of those crazy octomum science experiments, just a happy coincidence) and she lives a somewhat chaotic life. Whenever my mum and I meet up for a chat instead of discussing my life (one would think that was a mothers first interest) our conversations invariably start out with,
'So, have you heard about Rari....?'
After this the speaker always takes a sip of their drink, G&T being the preferred dramatic interlude
'Well........
She's going to Sudan.
She has deep vein thrombosis
Her rickshaw crashed and now she can't move the right side of her body'
No, these are not dramatic made up examples, this is Rari's life.
Understandably we prefer to discuss Rari's latest escapades as our boring lives revolve around predictable occurrences such as laundry and public transport. It's far less exciting to say 'I was walking to the shops to buy cereal and the pavement was uneven but I was fine because thousands of years of evolution have prepared my body for these situations'. We prefer to live through her adventures and therefore be able to discuss more interesting things such as vegetarian food options in Bangladesh or how to obtain Gin in dry countries.
So, who is Rari? I will now relate the vital components.
1) Rari is a girl who thinks Richard Mercer is god.
In a world of music sharing where a goth may love metal but also have a penchant for Fred Astaire it's comforting to have a friend who's music tastes revolve around one radio program. Love song dedications. If there's a song that involves two people who are together or apart or lesbians or dead or just so gosh darned happy they have to sing about it, Rari will know the words. Celine Dion is her morning prayer and Backstreet Boys are her night time lullaby. This makes car trips hugely enjoyable as there's nothing so cathartic as pushing your out-of-tune vocal chords to the limit with Rari (and Whitney Huston).
2) Rari is a girl who loves mint slice.
OK so maybe love is the wrong word. Obsessive all-consuming adoration of mint slice is probably a better description. It's not due to lack of exposure, she is surrounded by good cooks (something I'm sure she has orchestrated to minimise situations where she has to 'create' her own meals) and she has traveled widely so it isn't that she doesn't realise there is other food out there, it's just that she wants mint slice. Now. As soon as you walk into a supermarket her body tenses slightly, and her eyes get this distracted look as she focuses on locating the biscuit isle. This is followed by a quick and satisfying hunt along the shelves until she turns to you, eyes shining with joy, the mint slice held out like a trophy. I have seen world famous chef's enjoy eating a meal, but I defy any of them to say they have experienced the contentment evident on Rari's face as she takes her first bite of mint slice.
3) Rari is emotional
Now I'm not going to point any fingers here, I've definitely been referred to as a little overblown in the feelings department myself. But that's why Rari and I get along so well! When we meet up it's a fantastic roller coaster of emotions, only it's more like a dodgem car that has broken loose and is hurdling through a busy city, swerving and crashing into things. When we first meet up, we are ecstatic. Happiness beams out of our every pore and the world is a big rosy coloured bubble of delight. But what's this? Something bad has happened to one of us? Suddenly, the clouds come over. Tears constantly waver on our eyelids as we reveal the truly terrible state of affairs. In this moment of darkness there is only one place for us to go, we are angry!! So very very angry! Our chopsticks have become weapons with which we cut through the air to highlight our rage. The next hours will continue like this as we cover every single aspect of our lives. But who would want to discuss things in any other (boring) way?
4) When Rari loves you, it's the best.
So this ends the first blog to entertain Rari while she convalesces, more tomorrow xxxxxx
'So, have you heard about Rari....?'
After this the speaker always takes a sip of their drink, G&T being the preferred dramatic interlude
'Well........
She's going to Sudan.
She has deep vein thrombosis
Her rickshaw crashed and now she can't move the right side of her body'
No, these are not dramatic made up examples, this is Rari's life.
Understandably we prefer to discuss Rari's latest escapades as our boring lives revolve around predictable occurrences such as laundry and public transport. It's far less exciting to say 'I was walking to the shops to buy cereal and the pavement was uneven but I was fine because thousands of years of evolution have prepared my body for these situations'. We prefer to live through her adventures and therefore be able to discuss more interesting things such as vegetarian food options in Bangladesh or how to obtain Gin in dry countries.
So, who is Rari? I will now relate the vital components.
1) Rari is a girl who thinks Richard Mercer is god.
In a world of music sharing where a goth may love metal but also have a penchant for Fred Astaire it's comforting to have a friend who's music tastes revolve around one radio program. Love song dedications. If there's a song that involves two people who are together or apart or lesbians or dead or just so gosh darned happy they have to sing about it, Rari will know the words. Celine Dion is her morning prayer and Backstreet Boys are her night time lullaby. This makes car trips hugely enjoyable as there's nothing so cathartic as pushing your out-of-tune vocal chords to the limit with Rari (and Whitney Huston).
2) Rari is a girl who loves mint slice.
OK so maybe love is the wrong word. Obsessive all-consuming adoration of mint slice is probably a better description. It's not due to lack of exposure, she is surrounded by good cooks (something I'm sure she has orchestrated to minimise situations where she has to 'create' her own meals) and she has traveled widely so it isn't that she doesn't realise there is other food out there, it's just that she wants mint slice. Now. As soon as you walk into a supermarket her body tenses slightly, and her eyes get this distracted look as she focuses on locating the biscuit isle. This is followed by a quick and satisfying hunt along the shelves until she turns to you, eyes shining with joy, the mint slice held out like a trophy. I have seen world famous chef's enjoy eating a meal, but I defy any of them to say they have experienced the contentment evident on Rari's face as she takes her first bite of mint slice.
3) Rari is emotional
Now I'm not going to point any fingers here, I've definitely been referred to as a little overblown in the feelings department myself. But that's why Rari and I get along so well! When we meet up it's a fantastic roller coaster of emotions, only it's more like a dodgem car that has broken loose and is hurdling through a busy city, swerving and crashing into things. When we first meet up, we are ecstatic. Happiness beams out of our every pore and the world is a big rosy coloured bubble of delight. But what's this? Something bad has happened to one of us? Suddenly, the clouds come over. Tears constantly waver on our eyelids as we reveal the truly terrible state of affairs. In this moment of darkness there is only one place for us to go, we are angry!! So very very angry! Our chopsticks have become weapons with which we cut through the air to highlight our rage. The next hours will continue like this as we cover every single aspect of our lives. But who would want to discuss things in any other (boring) way?
4) When Rari loves you, it's the best.
So this ends the first blog to entertain Rari while she convalesces, more tomorrow xxxxxx
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