dr eye candy

Maple Sap

2012-01-27T00:43:00.007+01:00

…it’s official I am no longer a Miss…and that can only mean one thing…I’m on target!

A while ago life threw me a curve ball and instead of adjusting my swing I tried to stare it right down. SMACK, CRACK...into my skull and out of my socks.

You live and you learn and YES it is all about rethinking your attitude and surrounding yourself with the people you call home and the ones you can trust.

Did I learn? I suppose…now when life’s coming at me with a slant, I take a second to breathe, relax, slow down and re-angle my vision and aim.

In fact I suggest you get your fly-fishing pants on and wade right into the gooey mess. Best way to keep your feet dry, connect to the ground. You may in fact be fast to stumble into the underlying goodness and onto the path of recovery much quicker. I sure wish I hadn’t lurked barefoot in the yucky mess by myself for as long as I did.

Instead of avoiding down time I have learned to embrace it. It's a valued teaching moment that shows me how precious life is and how much I should adore it…down time is just a reminder to re-focus my vision.

Makes sense…what could be worse than "worst"? So whatever lies ahead is bound to be good in comparison…just brace yourself for good and then better and then incredible and then amazing and…well you get the idea. The direction is up!

Who knew that just a few stairs up from “ewwww” lives “phenomenal”. Make sure you take the stairs, regardless of the type of crutches it takes...the view from up top is simply breathtaking.

If you’re having a sad day…lean back, relax…the sun’s just about to come up behind that peak…it always does (even here in Vancouver, you may just have to practice your patience)…it’s just the way the sun works.

Thought I’d share the maple sap!

From the top of the staircase...with another one just around the corner for my climbing pleasure…beaming...dr eyecandy

ENJOY d'Soleil's beautiful capturing power...thank you Daniel for digitizing our memories...

You may also want to read "slumbering seed"...if you haven't shared it already...

Picture Perfect at Any Size...Lending a Face to Obesity

2011-10-02T02:57:00.013+02:00

It was the kind of event that made the back of my neck tingle with excitement and joy.

I've long felt exhausted by the faceless 300 pound, three scoop ice cream cone holding, hamburger consuming torsos accompanying today's obesity stories.

As one of the few remaining prejudices, obesity discrimination and stigmatization has become so entangled in the fabric of obesity reporting that even the most genuine media story about this chronic condition is undermined by image pollution through the use of unflattering, demeanig and often offensive stock photos.

I strongly believe that it is our responsibility as a society to resist, oppose and address weight bias in all of its hideous guises. I am proud to say that we got a head start today:

Two members of the Canadian Obesity Network, myself and Meredith, as well as a good friend from a special place within Alberta Health Services' pediatric obesity program, Thea, teamed up with photographer Rob Tinga to take a stand against the negative reinforcement of obesity stereotypes. Surely this endeavour required models...and we got the best we could have asked for.

We spent the day on the grounds of the colourfully leaf spotted Hawrelak Park and welcomed six families who braved Rob's camera to help us launch a "Picture Perfect at Any Size" image gallery. The idea was to create an image resource made available to all Canadian Obesity Network members as well as the media where they may now access royalty free, beautiful, positive and reality reflecting stock photos of people living with obesity.

The result is everything we had hoped for and more. CTV came and covered the story. They watched us as we picnicked and played...shared stories and laughter.

The mood was infectious and I truly felt that I was a part of something ever so necessary and novel.

I tip my hat and bow in gratitude to all of our wonderful models, as well as to all of their families and friends. We held hands today as we took baby steps in the right direction. Thanks to Robert...this happened one click at a time!

Thank you all for sharing your smiles with us today! You inspired me and gave me hope.

Thanks also to the team...(to the right) you rocked!

Click here to watch the story on CTV...(search 'Picture perfect at any size') although it may only be up for a short little while.

Smiling,

dr eye candy

Fleetwood Mac - The Chain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcawnRIyeok&feature=related

Ready, Set...Give!

2011-02-01T20:25:00.007+01:00

The best news I have received in forever:

The story below is my boyfriend’s. Figuratively speaking, Nico just fathered a child that is not mine…and I couldn’t be prouder. Please take the time to read this beautiful story!

“On January 21^st I received the most beautiful news of my life. My little patient is alive. His infant body survived the bone marrow transplant and is in excellent health.

Thanks to my bone marrow donation his tiny body has resumed the production of healthy blood cells. The 15-month young French monsieur checked out of the hospital and returned to the loving embrace of his family and their home.

No message has ever resonated with this much force. I’ve never been this proud. I’ve never been this touched. The news about my little boy’s wellbeing put so many banal occurrences in their appropriate order of importance. Learning about his health shifts priorities into their respective drawers of priority.

I would like to ask you to register yourself as a bone marrow transplant donour. It only takes a second to register. Organizations such as onematch.ca will send you information about the next drive in your vicinity. Some organizations even administer kits with a cutip that you swab with saliva and return to sender. Done! Just think of the life you may be saving. You could pontentially be gifting someone the most important thing we have…health and life.

It doesn’t hurt to register. To know that you’re not helping someone does.

Please become a donor. I thank you with all my heart.

Nico von R.”

Ready, Set...Give! I'm starting a young professional Rotary Chapter here in Edmonton and growing the Bone Marrow Registry will be our biggest local cause. I couldn't gift my best friend a new brain when she got diagnosed with cancer...God knows I would have. We can however share something most of us have enough of: Bone Marrow. So let's share and save lives.

Visit onematch.ca to find out about how you can save a life!

Smiling because the little french boy now looks forward to a bright, healthy future and one day may father a child of his own. If that's no reason to smile, what is?! Therefore I'm smiling...dr eyecandy.

I Now Pronounce You Husband And Wife

2011-01-31T19:15:00.003+01:00

I am a self proclaimed exercise junkie. I teach Pilates, shake my boo-tay to Zumba, dance Salsa, adore my Cardio Core class…I’m a water rat, a snow bunny, and a hiking mountain lion.

Sure my YMCA involvement helps me to keep fit. But let’s forget the calories I burn! I exercise for the pure endorphin high that’s better than any sugar rush. For the smile it brings to my face, for my overall wellbeing. I dance against depression, I do Pilates and Yoga to calm my soul and I play on the slopes and in the ocean for my pure love of nature.

I am a great believer in engaging in exercise that doesn’t feel like a workout. It needs to be intense and sweat breaking, but I need to enjoy it to an extent that makes me forget that I’m putting in blood, sweat and tears.

Here is a project that I feel can take off. So here they are: Husband Heal Thy and Wife Enjoy Able:

By the power vested in me by the love in exercise and fun, I now pronounce you husband and wife.

ENJOY!

(subsribers please visit dreyecandy.com to view the clip)

All smiles...dr eyecandy

The Dog Days Are Over

2011-01-16T14:30:00.004+01:00

Can't stop listening and dancing...Hearts for life flying out of every pore of my body!!!

(subscribers please visit dreyecandy.com to watch this year's soundtrack to happiness)

smiling...especially at my darling steph...dr eyecandy

My Smile I Share…It’s The Gift Of My Soul

2011-01-13T15:23:00.005+01:00

In the months of desperation I found joy in the silent pleasures of life recently celebrated by Neil Pasricha’s 1000 Awesome Things.

I found my smile in the ten dollar a day parking pass that an anonymous giver had kindly left in the ticket machine for me to find, which I later gifted to the next patron.

I found sunshine in my role as the floating fruit punch fairy at the Rotary club’s annual Laundromat Turkey Dinner for the young and old citizens of Edmonton… who might otherwise not have shared a Thanks Giving meal at all.

I found my peace of mind in teaching my senior Pilates class at our local community hall. Mary Ann, my 92-year-old angel wills me to grow old with the same gracefulness and zest for life that pours out of every pore of her being.

When everything in life eluded me, it was my smile…the seed I carefully nurtured even through the darkest of times…that I readily shared with the world and that kept me connected.

Recently the love of my life shared a book with me that lifted my way of living into words. As a non-denominational earthling I have never found gentler words than those of Khalil Gibran’s “Prophet” to sum up my parents’ teachings in such a profound way…I’d like to share his chapter on giving while I challenge you to live in alignment with his words. Perhaps, like myself, you’ll find it will be the ultimate gift to yourself:

“Giving:

Then said a rich man, "Speak to us of Giving."

And he answered:

You give but little when you give of your possessions.

It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?

And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?

And what is fear of need but need itself?

Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, thirst that is unquenchable?

There are those who give little of the much which they have - and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.

And there are those who have little and give it all.

These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.

And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.

And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;

They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.

Though the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.

It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding;

And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving

And is there aught you would withhold?

All you have shall some day be given;

Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors'.

You often say, "I would give, but only to the deserving."

The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.

They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.

Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights is worthy of all else from you.

And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.

And what desert greater shall there be than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?

And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?

See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.

For in truth it is life that gives unto life - while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.

And you receivers - and you are all receivers - assume no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.

Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings;

For to be over mindful of your debt, is to doubt his generosity who has the free-hearted earth for mother, and God for father.”

I smile and I am moved as I live in harmony with Gibran's words and the world around me. Finding that the concept of giving has swiftly become second nature…a state so fulfilling that I will never let it slip away.

Smiling and grateful…dr eyecandy

Slumbering Seed

2011-01-10T12:32:00.009+01:00

If only you knew how fast my heart is beating as my trembling fingers strike my keyboard's keys, while I write my first dr eyecandy contribution since May 25th, 2010.

I have been a slumbering seed...thought dead under a blanket of snow. After my best friend's passing in November 2009 I slowly withdrew from life- ceased dancing in January, ceased taking forest walks in February, ceased smelling flowers in April, ceased writing in May, ceased dreaming in June, ceased smiling in July and finally in August ceased wanting to live.

The soul striptease I am about to engage in is not a desperate plea to pull the spot light in my direction, nor is it an attempt to provoke your pity and affection.

Instead it is an honest tale about one of life’s truths that we will all come to discover…in the one hundred or so years we are each gifted on this shared planet of ours we will all hit rock bottom and some of us may stop believing in life altogether.

In a frantic endeavour to retrieve my ability to smile…my beaming ray of sunshine that I had always taken for granted…I frequented the self help section and read my way up and down, in and out, from back to front, from front to back through every isbn number on the self help shelf of bookstores around this world…only on days I summoned the strength to leave my bed that is.

When your soul stops feeling and simply forgets the natural response to stimuli that used to excite you…you know you’re in trouble. When you count the hours you need to be awake until you may sleep again…you know you’re in trouble. When you eat uncontrollably hoping to add flavour to your otherwise bland, underspiced, and tasteless life…you know you’re in trouble. When you stop dancing, stop writing, stop travelling, stop playing, stop singing, stop listening to music, stop cooking, stop baking, stop reading, stop watching the news, stop showering, stop loving and finally stop caring…you know you’re in trouble…AND IN TROUBLE I WAS.

How did I get out and back in the saddle? In retrospect it’s as easy as ONE TWO THREE. I wish somebody had told me then…hope and knowledge may have carried me here sooner.

I became aware of the problem. Pushed my guilt and shame aside and faced the music! I was clinically depressed and let’s be honest…I wasn’t going to get out without professional help and the relentless and unwavering support and love showered on me by the ones who cared for me the most…my two sisters…my close friends…but MOST importantly the two people who gave me life and who believe in me the hardest in this world…my loving parents. In case I haven’t said it enough I will say it again:

THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES OVER FOR LETTING MY LIMP AND EXHAUSTED DRAGONFLY BODY REST IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND WHILE THE SUNRAYS DRIED MY WET WINGS. THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES OVER FOR BEING PATIENT WITH ME AND SUPPORTIVE UNTIL I COULD SOAR IN ALL DIRECTIONS OF THE SKY ONCE AGAIN!!! I WOULD NOT BREATHE WITHOUT YOU AND I LOVE YOU AND THANK YOU!!!

I consciously reduced my life to the simple pleasures…walked barefoot across the rain shower drenched lawns of Tiergarten (Berlin’s green lung) on a warm summer’s day hand in hand with my friend Denise…you mean the world to me darling and I wish you love, sunshine and happiness. I found refuge in my sister's comfortable bed where she held me and allowed me to feel safe in Toronto (I love you Rashmi and I’ll do anything to see you smile)…and finally moved in with my parents who have cradled me and nurtured me while allowing me to leave the responsibilities of my adult life in the umbrella stand by the door and resume my role as their little girl once again. (Yes I’ve officially joined the ranks of the boomerangers *please click and enjoy*…listen to this interesting CBC discussion on my generation’s epidemic.)

Finally my smiles started melting through the clouds…my belly growled at the smell of the wholesome fresh meals I cooked with fresh Albertan farmers market produce…my muscles began twitching and finally dancing to the songs I’ve always loved…and before I knew it I couldn’t sleep for the fear of missing out on the new adventures and exciting twists and turns that life now throws at me.

I am more focused and more authentic than ever before…truly happy from deep within. At peace with the world, and myself...while I’m embraced by loved ones. Finally I AM indeed genuinely centred and glowing.

Believe it or not…I found my smile in a -45 cold, snow covered town in the middle of nowhere. In a little aesthetic desert they like to call Edmonton. If you’ve ever been forced to visit, you’ll know that my happiness can’t possibly be provoked by artificially created external stimuli. Instead it has been the friends I’ve made here, the passion for work I’ve found here, the love for the arts and life I share here that have cooperatively put me back on the map as a force to be reckoned with.

As the stakeholder relationship manager for an NGO that's close to my heart I have found my calling and professional fulfilment. As the girlfriend of a wonderful young German/French man, who I’m importing to Canada in April, I have found the love of my life and the future grandfather of my children’s children.

Here in the open planes of Canada I found rainbows and rhythm in the simple pleasures of life…endless dinners with friends, baking ten batches of five different varieties of German Christmas cookies, watching El Señor Jacomo, our own street's pet Jack Rabbit, run around our yard while breathing in the dark blue Albertan skies as I feel the snow crunch under the soles of my boots. Here in Edmonton I have found life. And more importantly I found MY LIFE.

The only dilemma being that now I can’t sleep because my life is better than any dream I’ve ever dreamt so I dare not shut my eyes…

Yesterday my father shared this TED talk with me and it sums up everything I’ve practiced to get where I am right now….on top of the world…MY WORLD. Neil Pasricha’s *please click and enjoy* TED appearance convinced me that I’m ready to share my story with you as I’m comfortably settling into my director’s chair of life once again.

I’ve missed you all and I can’t wait for 2011 to unfold. Happy New Year and welcome back! Thank you all for staying tuned…for the words of support throughout my absence that poured into my mailbox and for your unwavering loyalty.

Smiling…brighter than ever…and here to stay...dr eyecandy

You've Got To Dance Closer To The Ones That You Love

2010-05-25T10:35:00.006+02:00

Berlin, Toronto, Miami, St. Kitts, Nevis, Miami, Toronto, Zurich, Berlin, Kiel, Berlin: I've most certainly been dancing close to the ones that I love.

I recently busied myself shaking up the little microcosm, I call life, and will soon be orbiting around the things dearest to me.

The black board at one of the island churches in Nevis read: "Happiness is not a destination, but a day- by- day Journey!! Be Happy!!"

The goal is to live life as though I am in dreams awake (well put Sir Thoreau). It's not a fairytale life that I'm after...after all, the implication of 'fairytale' suggests that it is an interesting but often highly implausible story.

My life story is indeed plausible. I tend to design it that way. Life is what you make of it. Thus, I have decided to move my 'one woman show' to the federation of St. Kitts and Nevis this September and become a 20 something eligible Kittitian.

After setting foot on this passion injected tropical Carribbean paradise...housing turquoise waters, butterflies, hibiscus and green sea turtles...I feel my heart and soul have found their perfect temporary match in terms of inspiring environments. Who am I to argue...so I choose to follow the two wherever they'll take me. St. Kitts and Nevis it is!

My life is a musically infused roller coaster often veiling what's around the next sharp corner...this time I really love what's there.

I can't wait to return to Shabana, Natasha, Nerusha, Helen, Marc & Stella, as well as their gorgeous darling girl Sharon, Roger, his beautiful wife and their sweet boy Adon, AJ, Late, Talbo and all the other great new companions that are anxiously awaiting our September reunion.

In the meantime I'm finishing my first novel, planning a public reading along with two talented columnists and the voices of three inspiring young ladies, starting my column with Epoch Times and generally enjoying Summer as well as everything implied by the most wonderful of season.

I intend to keep dancing close to the ones I love...as I pray they'll dance with me.

All smiles and tummy butterflies...dr eyecandy.

Infamus (subscribers visit blog to listen)

MIA

2010-05-12T13:48:00.004+02:00

It's beautiful to lounge in a place where I reside on the list of soon to be extinct species...meaning even the store mannequins sport DDD. I wouldn't know where to start...the American dream has officially gone polyvinyl chloride...and isn't that what people used to use for their kitchen flooring?

Miami didn't disappoint. Our Hotel was boutique, the ocean shared all its facets of turquoise with us and the life and people are pastel!

After a night of rooftop night dreaming on the terrace of our our new friends on Ocean and 14th, my sister and I are on route to the Caribbean island of St. Kitts.

Clearly smiling...dr eye candy

Happy Mothers Day

2010-05-09T15:53:00.004+02:00

I'm so glad I get to spend mine with my mother! (Though she just walked out on this awesome mothers day contribution by Mr. T)

On our way to a belly dancing class with my sis and queen mom!

Smiling...dr eyecandy

My Culture Is Happiness

2010-05-08T15:28:00.005+02:00

When my sister's midwife colleague recently asked her ten year old daughter what "culture" means to her, the little girl answered: "My culture is happiness". Kids say it best! (By the way...watch BABIES...it's sugar)

Although I initially planned to return to Berlin tomorrow, the nomad in me changed my travel itinerary...thus, a 10 day round trip to Miami, St. Kitts and Nevis awaits my baby sister and I.

"Welcome to the exotically beautiful island of St. Kitts. Like no other island in the Caribbean, St. Kitts seems to embody a kind of lush tropical paradise usually associated with the South Pacific. The atmosphere here is palpably luxuriant. It is an intoxicating blend of sunlight, sea, air and fantastically abundant vegetation." (st.kittstourism.com)

An added bonus: the ferry crossing between St. Kitts and Nevis is described by many as one of the most scenic ferry crossings in the eastern Caribbean...how could I refuse to go and confirm this statement first hand.

I can't wait to dive into the islands' culture...feel the Caribbean heart beat and sample the exuberantly vibrant way of life attributed to this island paradise.

My culture is happiness. I wholeheartedly pledge to stay true to my culture!

Smiling...dr eyecandy.

Baby Smiles

2010-05-07T15:22:00.006+02:00

Toronto at the time of 'HOTDOCS', the annual film fest of documentaries, is a gem. Looks like I'll be spending some time in a cushiony velvet seat as I finally watch Banksy's "Exit Through The Gift Shop", as well as "Babies". Both are showing at my favourite Yorkville theatre...Cumberland 4.

I purchased the most beautiful calendar...proceeds go to Seva, an organization that gifts children their eyesight...my grandfather founded a similar foundation in India and I believe the cause is golden.

The calendar images are shot by fine art photographer Jon Kaplan. These kids' smiles truly make my world a contagious smile and a rainbow brighter and gear me up for "Babies" the documentary (click to watch trailer) that I blogged about months ago.

Looking forward to a gorgeous day of baby smiles and popcorn.

Smiling...dr eyecandy.

Life

2010-05-06T16:52:00.002+02:00

"The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A death! What's that... a bonus?!? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you go live in an old age home. You get kicked out for being too healthy, go collect your pension, then, when you start work, you get a gold watch on your first day. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You drink alcohol, you party, and you get ready for High School. You go to primary school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little boy(girl), you go back, you spend your last 9 months floating with luxuries like central heating, spa, room service on tap, then you finish off as an orgasm!!Uff...

Now that's what life should be!!"
- George Calin (American stand-up Comedian, Actor and Author)

smiling...dr eyecandy

So Not What Mom Would Wear

2010-05-05T13:37:00.005+02:00

As we walked across the border bridge at Niagara Falls, taking in the magnificent view while in between Canada and the US, the day couldn't have been off to a better start.

Blue skies above, turquoise, rumbling currents below, sea gulls up in the air and the light wet trickle of the falls gently veiling our bare skin. Nature is alive on an early spring May morning in Canada...cherry trees in pink blossoms, dandelions in yellow bloom...all reminding us of what's truly beautiful.

We hit up a store at a US mall that specialises in gorgeous "voluptuous wear". Not your typical: 'here's a potato sack to hide your fat' kind of deal, but a shop with an entire palette of nicely chosen fabrics to hug a real woman's curves.

Their lingerie selection was sexy and dreamy...making me wish I had the bust to fill these lacy colour splashes.

It was a new shopping experience alltogether and I am happy to share the brand's seducing commercial that ABC and FOX refused to air.

Here it goes ladies and gentlemen...enjoy:

So sexy, so not what mom would wear

Although I'm happy to report that my mom does. Hey, who doesn't feel glamorous in gorgeous, curve hugging, silk and lace...no matter your size!

Smiling...dr eyecandy

Don't Forget To Breathe

2010-04-30T18:18:00.004+02:00

For considerable time now I've been forgetting to inhale and only just realized that without air I find living too painful.

It seems that I was holding my breath for something special. Some grand awakening in regard to my future perspective and next career move.

When all I had to do was read between the lines, seeing that all this time my current calling has been right in front of me.

For an entire year now I've been writing my first book and recent sleepless nights have resulted in an incredible final outline that only requires me to fill in the few missing blanks.

I used the mental dreyecandy.com timeout...while the site got provider locked as some of you may have noticed...oops...my apologies.

My absence led me to mentally re-sharpen my focus...with plenty to say about true beauty....healthy priorities...and about the love of life itself.

Breathe

Smiling while on route to Toronto this morning...while never again forgetting to breathe...dr eyecandy

Sad Faces and Fake Smiles

2010-04-12T17:04:00.003+02:00

A while ago I blogged about "Toddlers and Tiaras".

Here's a disturbing compilation of beauty pageant images on youtube.

Click here to view Sad Faces and Fake Smiles!

Smiling...about as sad and fake as these abused little beauty queens...dr eyecandy

Why Are You Trying To Look Like Somone Else?

2010-04-08T08:06:00.004+02:00

Sophia, age 4, has an important message she would like to share with you all.

So STOP!!! And most importantly: LISTEN!!!

Beauty Is Not How Skinny You Can Be

Smiling...and "NO", darling Sophia...we want you to grow up to look just like YOU...dr eyecandy.

In Pursuit Of Ultimate Beauty

2010-04-06T11:48:00.006+02:00

Julie (one of my readers) commented: "Globally we seem to be suffering from the "ideal"/unreal, check out photos by Zed Nelson; both fascinating and disturbing"...personally I couldn't agree more Julie...thanks for the link.

As the New York Times reports, "The photographer Zed Nelson found over time that the faces looking back at him in countries around the world were becoming more and more alike.

“Globalization hasn’t just given us Starbucks in Beijing and shopping malls in Africa,” he said. “It is also creating an eerily homogenized look.”

Check this out!!!

These images are phenomenal and capture exactly what is wrong with our quest for "beauty"!

Smiling...because Zed Nelson's lens captures an important and disturbing trend...dr eyecandy.

Wet Dreams, False Images...Reality Check

2010-03-30T11:05:00.001+02:00

A blog entry from days gone by *first posted in May 2009:

One of the most renowned and emulated photographers of our times, Peter Lindbergh aka "the poet of glamour", slams the usage of Photoshop.

As the New York Times reports this week, Lindbergh says, “My feeling is that for years now it has taken a much too big part in how women are being visually defined today, heartless retouching should not be the chosen tool to represent women in the beginning of this century.”
I personally can't agree more...hurray!

Relax male readers...I am aware that the dreamy model on my favourite GQ cover may certainly have been Photoshop 'enhanced' and 'improved' as well...it's not just us girls being crushed by the pressure of living up to media suggested beauty ideals.

I mean we've all seen the brilliant Dove evolution spot, but have you seen this? Wet dreams and false images (check out the trailer) is a Sundance award-winning documentary that is a humorous approach to the whole 'digital post production' trend. The film raises some critical questions about the marketplace of commercial illusion and unattainable beauty standards of physical perfection. I think the approach is pure genius and 'dude with wall of porn' in the trailer is a true comic.

Rightfully so, a debate has been set off in France that challenges magazines and advertisers to publicise whether or not an image has been 'digitally improved'.

WARNING: Acne, wrinkles and scars erased; boobs enlarged; legs infinitely stretched; eye colour changed from grey to emerald green; digital lipo on thighs, arms, love handles, belly, tush and chin; vaginal lobes perfected to look like 'designer vagina' (America the Beautiful)...you get the idea! Not sure that advertisers will see eye to eye on this issue...yikes.

Now here's another picture that shows you just how far the 'retouching' trend has taken us.
Am I rightfully scared? Even babies are feeling the pressure...I think my 3 year old neighbour nicked my false lashes when she came to see me yesterday. Pretty Please!!!

And as if we didn't have enough to worry about with the current dilemma at hand...and I hate to do this to you...there is also CGI.

You may scream whhhaaaat???? while covering your ears and eyes.

But I started so I gotta finish this...CGI is short for Computer generated images...the new kid on the block when it comes to ultimate image creation. Forget fixing flaws...let's just create perfection from scratch. Las Vegas based (no surprises here) CGI expert Andy Flessas generates mouth watering and yummy looking burgers...that wait a minute...are not real...aaagghh. All images are created from scratch using 3D animation programs such as Maya (shout out to all my fellow robot creators in our 3D animation class at McMaster. Oh weren't they lovely those cute little robots. We gave them life). 3D software used by the right creative minds can generate anything starting from the Audis and BMWs you see on telly ads, delicious burgers, chilled beer bottles and even girls, boys, men and women that are hotter than Vici's combined angel crew. Scary isn't it.

On that note have yourself a real weekend...and try to look a little closer at whether or not reality has anything to do with the images media flashes at you 5000 times a day.

Thanks for reading...dr eye candy

Mirror, Mirror

2010-03-28T14:47:00.006+02:00

"Darling, does this make me look fat?" There it is...that dreaded minefield of a question most our 'darlings' dread dearly.

Now GoTryItOn.com has got all boyfriends', husbands', roommates' back and an answer for those in doubt and in dire need of an outsider's opinion, when it comes to wardrobe concerns.

26-year-old New Yorker Marissa Evans created the solution. GoTryItOn.com allows users to upload their date/interview/gala outfit choices and enables the 'doubtful' to receive immediate feedback on their current pick.

God knows there are plenty of people who should consult such a service before leaving the house...and belonging to the 'darling' league I'm finally off the hook. I have a feeling that many relationships will be saved by Evans' new service.

Smiling...though baffled that people really do consult the Internet in hope of solving all their styling dilemmas...dr eyecandy.

Make Love Not Porn

2010-03-27T11:29:00.005+01:00

The ever increasing presence of the Internet has led to an infinite availability of porn.

Consumed by appropriate age groups there is no problem per se. The picture changes entirely when pornography consumers are well under age.

Recent media discussions highlight the unnerving fact that 12 year olds find themselves in the fangs of the world wide web's hardcore porn platforms.

This unprecedented over exposure to hardcore pornography at a young age may in fact currently be distorting the way an entire generation thinks about sex.

In a blunt, graphic and desensitized European manner (that may not sit well with everyone) 'makelovenotporn.com' (18+ content...though if kids watch the other stuff they should view this as well) launcher Cindy Gallop courageously raised an issue that deserves to be tackled.

Stop and think about the effects that 'average', comparably harmless photoshoped beauty campaigns have on our self esteem, body image, and self perception. Now apply this same model to the potential effects that hardcore pornography can have on a child's understanding about romance, sex and physical love.

This is especially disconcerting seeing that 'sex' is a topic of utter secrecy...especially in North America. If all these kids know about sex, comes from the clips they secretly view, it is our responsibility to address the issue and teach them otherwise.

To think that 'Dirty Dancing' and the occasional 'someones dad's Heffner publication' was the worst I saw growing up...I was practically raised in Disneyland.

Not smiling about the prospect that children may miss out on romance and true sensitivity...dr eyecandy.

A Warm Embrace

2010-03-26T11:14:00.007+01:00

Fully resting in myself and enjoying the city's slow awakening this spring season, I find myself busier than ever. As I cycle from Pilates client to Pilates client, from Spanish class to Basketball, from a cafe to a night club, I am at peace with the world and the universe...save one fact...I miss a warm embrace, a heartfelt cuddle, someones bodily warmth, someones skin to touch mine.

I believe that physical closeness- the need to be touched and stroked- is as natural and necessary as breathing. Isn't it true that infants die if they feel no warmth and aren't touched after birth?!

I caught myself absent mindedly googling the word embrace and here is a piece of true beauty that I would like to share with all of you.

My favourite site 'Ted' features a presentation by fellow Jane Chen, who has spent years working on health issues in the developing world.

"In the developing world, access to incubators is limited by cost and distance, and millions of premature babies die each year. TED Fellow Jane Chen shows an invention that could keep millions of these infants warm -- a design that's safe, portable, low-cost and life-saving."

Click here to watch this incredible story.

I hope that one day soon my sister, who is training to be a midwife, along with her colleagues will be able to provide this gentle embrace and warmth to children around the world.

Smiling...because this is a tale of true beauty...dr eyecandy.

Me, Myself and Mey

2010-03-25T10:56:00.007+01:00

The traditional German undergarment label 'Mey' surprises consumers with its recent 'Me, Myself and Mey' campaign.

The brand opted for famous German stars and starlets with real bodies and true curves.

Photoshop varnish was kept to a bare minimum in regard to body shape altering.

Using relatable 'real' people, rather than fairytale Vicy models, makes this campaign stand out and will surely spark sales within the brand's target market.

Smiling...job well done Mey...dr eyecandy.

'Last Supper' : Portion Sizes Have Grown

2010-03-24T11:35:00.005+01:00

HealthDayNews reports that according to recent research, Michelangelo's "The Last Supper", "might serve as an early warning sign of bigger appetites: Over the past 1,000 years, researchers say, paintings of Christ's final meal have shown increasingly larger portions and larger plates".

The ceiling at the Sistine Chapel is only one testament of artists' depiction of 'The Last Supper' amongst the study's 52 analyzed works.

Brian Wansink, a professor of marketing and applied economics and director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University points out that "the last thousand years have witnessed dramatic increases in the production, availability, safety, abundance and affordability of food". Thus, this change in artistic depiction is proof to the fact that portion size has indeed gradually increased over the millennium.

Wansink, author of a book titled "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think", states, "we think that, as art imitates life, these changes have been reflected in paintings of history's most famous dinner".

I am not entirely sure that I needed this 'accepted truth' to be proven through the analysis of frescoes...though judging by my last meal at an American Eatery, I dare agree and accept the results of the researchers' findings.

Overeating appears to be the most common eating disorder affliction in modern western society, and goes hand in hand with 'universal all you can eat buffet' behaviour.

Food consumption has been reduced to a mindless process of food hording...piling on all you can carry...resulting in the typical 'my eyes were bigger than my stomach' phenomenon. The respect and attention that should be offered to each meal has escaped through the fire exit, only to be replaced by a frivolous eating pattern that fails to value quality over quantity.

Smiling...as I'm preparing to cultivate my personal herb garden this spring...more taste- less mindless eating...dr eyecandy.

From Pussycats To Powderboxes

2010-03-23T19:34:00.007+01:00

I had an interesting chit chat with a friend today about body image, which mutated into a hilarious discussion about Vaginas, then twisted into a very heartfelt dialogue about violence toward women and finally took a turn down a dark tunnel...into the direction of female genital mutilation (click here for another entry on voluntary genital mutilation for the sake of beauty).

Here's a piece by one of my favourite spokes women on the subject.

"Eve Ensler, creator of "The Vagina Monologues," shares how a discussion about menopause with her friends led to talking about all sorts of sexual acts onstage, waging a global campaign to end violence toward women and finding her own happiness."

Eve Ensler: happiness in body and soul

Smiling...because Eve started a dialogue that's so crucial and that we're all a part of...dr eyecandy

"My Butt Is Big"- Courtesy Of NIKE

2010-03-22T12:00:00.000+01:00

Opening the giant wooden treasure chest, currently safekeeping campaigns of days gone by, I came across this gorgeous derrière print ad by NIKE.

After returning from my gastro orgasmic culinary excursion to the Italian rolling vineyards, winding roads and Mama's cooking at the Agriturismo outside of Montepulciano Tuscany, I'll consider the 2005 NIKE campaign, via ad agency Wieden & Kennedy, as the underlying score for my first spring jog through Berlin forests.

Bubblebum training is officially in session...and seeing that nature's first spring breeze is a soft and fresh little affair, I'm in for the goose bump raising sensation, which photoshoppers kindly ignored to veil with their smoothing magic wand.

"MY BUTT is big
And round like the letter C
And ten thousand lunges
Have made it rounder
but not smaller
and that's just fine.
It's a space heater for my side of the bed
It's my ambassador
To those who walk behind me
It's a border collie
That herds skinny women
Away from the best deals
At clothing sales
MY BUTT IS BIG
And that is just fine
And those who might scorn it
Are invited to Kiss it.
JUST DO IT."

Polar pulse belt in place, smiling and ready to run my way through Berlin...dr eyecandy.

La Dolce Vita

2010-03-18T11:39:00.005+01:00

I woke to the sound of chirping birds, a blue sky and a light breeze that floated through my bedroom window carrying the fresh scent of spring.

While the German air and temperature gears up for Berlin's most beautiful season...I am off to spend a weekend in my beloved Italy with a friend.

We'll be cruising around the Tuscan hills in our Fiat Cinquecento, Lucca, San Gimigniano, Firenze...while we spend our evenings and nights at the Agriturismo in Montepulciano. Sipping wine...while "Mama" serves us organic Tuscan culinary treats.

I can't wait! What a beautiful way of welcoming spring 2010.

Smiling...dr eyecandy

Forhead Tittaes

2010-03-16T21:51:00.001+01:00

Oscar winner Marion Cotillard introduces a new product to help women be taken more seriously in the workplace.

view clip

What do I think? Let me hear what you think first.

Smiling...dr eyecandy

American Apparel- Best Bottom Search

2010-03-09T22:11:00.002+01:00

Boy do I love being reduced to body parts...NOT!!!

Surely I chuckled when Cubans dubbed me "langosta cubana" thanks to my curvaceous Beyonce behind, but when my boyfriend suggested that I photograph my tush and enter the "American Apparel Best Bottom Search" I couldn't help but cringe.

Thanks for believing that I'd stand a chance...sweet compliment...but that's exactly where that thought ends for me.

Luba's, American Honey's, Donk's, Cherry's, Boom boom's rears are among the 1368 submissions...and it looks like round, cellulite free bubble bums are the trend.

On a positive note...the only positive note I'll find in regard to this ridiculous search that is in no way classier than the local University sport pub's wet T-shirt competition...these behinds at least have a tiny bit of flesh on them, as opposed to the usual 'drug addict like' looking models that regularly market the brand.

I wont even award American Apparel with a link on my site. I just don't feel you'll benefit from looking at these mostly well lit booty submissions.

Don't reduce me to eyecandy...not now, not ever...dr eyecandy

Designer Vagina Maham

2010-03-04T10:29:00.003+01:00

My reader "Kitt" posted a valuable comment regarding the Prototype Vagina topic I blogged about a few days ago. Thanks Kitt...I hope you don't mind me sharing:

"I have just watched an excellent documentary on the above subject [vaginal rejuvenation] here in Australia. It has pinpointed the exact source of paranoia and sense of inadequacy that may drive a woman to have cosmetic surgery on her vagina. Soft porn magazines, with a M5 rating such as Penthouse, are allowed to show full frontal nudity. However, the censorship board proclaims that the vagina should be "neat and tidy" i.e. no protruding bits. Women in these magazines are shown as having a crease only. Interviewed were several graphic artists whose primary roles are to tidy up the vaginal area of a woman prior to publication of a photo.

I'm disgusted that a new generation of women now have a new source of shame. It is beyond irresponsible to portray women as 'cleaned up' so as not to offend an outdated censorship scale. It is beyond sickening that young males see the airbrushed vaginas as normal, alienating any woman who does not look like a picture. With the rising trend of brazilian style hair removal and an unrealistic expectations of what a vagina should look like, it seems the only naturally occurring 'pleasant to look at' vaginas will be found on prepubescent girls ... this shit never ends."

The problem will strike harder in cultures that are 'uptight' about nudity...especially North America.

I always argue that there's nothing healthier for a woman's self esteem, than to hit a German gym, visit the sauna and finally shower, in the nude, with other women around you.

I'm not suggesting, "get weird and stare the other ladies down"...but DO take a good look and you'll find that we come in all shapes and sizes. We all have our share of cellulite, some of us may have protruding vaginal lips, some suffer from razor rash trying to achieve that clean Brazilian, some have pimples on their tush, most have stretch marks...and guess what...ALL OF THIS IS NORMAL AND NATURAL!!!

With all this airbrushed artificiality around us, it's more important than ever to take the time to view real women. You'll be surprised how beautiful 'natural' women are...despite their perceived 'shortcomings'.

It's only natural to compare ourselves to others. But let's be fair to ourselves and compare ourselves to 'real' women and not glossy, fairy tale figments of the marketing industry's imagination.

Smiling...because if you make an effort and admit all you have is beautiful since natural, you'll see you'll feel better about yourself...dr eyecandy.

Marketing Mind Mirroring

2010-03-02T21:39:00.002+01:00

Did you ever wonder how a product ends up on your grocery store shelf?

Have you ever stopped to consider why you reach for a new product that previously never made it into your shopping cart?

Nothing's left to chance...I'll tell you that!

"Heartfelt Snacks" was the umbrella name of the session that the marketing research company had invited me to.

The bright board room resembled any other, except for the 'cross examination' one way mirror, behind which the brand development execs sat, the dangling microphones, the cameras and the girl in charge of protocol who sat against the back wall.

Along with six other ladies, I spent the afternoon tasting my way through an entire bouquet of a popular low fat milk brand's potential new products.

We started out verifying and denying various statements such as, "When I hit an afternoon low I like to reach for a simple, healthy, but non filling snack to re-energize".

Next, our sample group was asked to determine our likelihood to purchase any of the eight new product ideas...I can't disclose them, but funky milkshakes a la cumber wasabi were the least of our worries.

Our group commented on everything: the packaging, the product description, where the product should display the "under 0.1% fat" bubble...ultimately, why, look wise, we would or wouldn't reach for this newcomer.

For the following challenge we were in for the taste bud rape part of the session. So we daringly looked, smelled, tasted and unfortunately in some cases after tasted our way through a pastel palette of liquids and mousses...judged their colour, consistency, taste and the sensation the concoctions left in our mouths.

All our suggestions, critiques and sensory responses were accurately recorded and are sure to be evaluated and considered by experts.

Yup, that's the "taste lab meets consumer" part of product development. Companies spend millions on these processes before any product ever hits a shelf.

The heaps of information the seven of us provided in our 3 hour session (needless to say we weren't the only sample group at this stage ), is crucial consumer response. Thus, these sessions are repeated at each product stage...until the product is deemed "good to go".

I feel that it's important to remind ourselves that nothing we consume is ever left up to chance.

There's a science for everything...what the product looks like, where it's placed in a store isle and on which shelf, when and where we'll encounter the ads for it...all serving to trigger one consumer response: PURCHASE AND CONSUMPTION AND, IDEALLY, REPURCHASE.

Smiling...cause we sent these products back to the lab for now, where they wont harass anyone's taste buddies...dr eyecandy.

Prototype Vagina

2010-02-27T11:34:00.008+01:00

As I lunge into my life's first ever single phase...head first and already feeling the cold...I find myself drawn to a self exploration, transcendental quest.

At 27, after a 3 year journey of holding my best friend's hand through her lost cancer struggle, I suppose it's only natural to find myself backed into a corner opposite the little wicked life gnome,while he's busy waving his tiny index finger in my face shouting, "What do you want? Why are you here? Where are you going?"

The current situation has me reading lots about other people's 'life quests'. My most recent bed time story, entitled "Thanks for Coming- One Young Woman's Quest For An Orgasm", by New York Times and Village Voice writer Mara Altman, is as hilarious as it is investigative.

Where am I going with this??? I'll tell you. I just got to the part in the book where Mara visits Dr. 90201 David Matlock at the Sunset Boulevard Laser Vaginal Rejuvenation Institute. Altman's encounter with Dr. Matlock- the (perhaps self proclaimed) pope of the designer vagina- is an enlightening one so I thought I'd share.

"Dr. Matlock could turn any vulva into a perfect pussy. I didn't know there was such a thing as a prototype pussy. I wanted to know what one looked like- maybe I'd want one [...]", writes Altman.

I'll spare you the gory details about the stapling and the reek of burnt skin ...but as Mara watches the 2 hour procedure she comments, "when I saw [the vagina] in a state of adversity, at its most vulnerable, I began to understand its natural beauty".

Altman and "Clitty Rose" [Altman's vaginal pet name] end up racing out of LA as fast as they can, which in LA traffic is, "not very fast at all- but the most important thing was, we were getting away with our bat wings intact". Period.

What a sad world we live in...where women willingly clip their butterfly wings in the name of 'beauty'.

More than ever I believe that this is the time and place for dreyecandy.com...so guess what little wicked life gnome...I'm on cruise control and heading in the right direction.

Smiling...cause my butterfly's still flying and will be...dr eyecandy

ps. there's been some concern about wording and content in regard to this blog entry...I hope removing the images and weakening some of the language resolves the problem. My sincerest apologies for the problems this entry has caused.

Spring Cleaning

2010-02-25T15:19:00.004+01:00

As I bounce around the cities antique stores, flee markets and home and hardware shops, I have little else but decoration, colour wheels and home furnishing on my mind.

My apartment is a war zone...and I crave a zen garden to write.

After my 6 month absence, I dedicate this week to transforming my home here in Berlin into MY home again. It's been vacant for too long...it doesn't look like home, it doesn't smell like home and until that's changed I don't sense a single letter coming together in terms of my writing.

Home for me equals retreat, beauty and comfort...as soon as that's the case again, I will rummage my brain for new topics for dreyecandy.com.

It's an important time of change...spring cleaning. But stay tuned...very soon I'll be off to a brand spanking sparkly fresh start.

Bare with me...please!

Smiling and keeping my gaze ahead...dr eyecandy

Same Same But Different

2010-02-23T13:22:00.004+01:00

Feeling truly uninspired and fighting an onset of last minute winter blues, I find myself dreaming of foreign places. Places that smell like cardamom and taste like coconut.

I spent some time in a home and hardware store looking at colour patches for my current home paint project. Hibiscus red, Caribbean turquoise...wasn't it just a minute ago that I saw these shades expressed in Cuban nature.

Oh how I miss these gorgeous shade saturations. I keep staring at the ground hoping that flowers may sprout in response to my desperate gaze. If only the lily of the valley sensed how much I needed her beauty- I'm sure she would ignore the season and hurry.

Knowing it's only a matter of days or weeks until Berlin bursts into bloom, spring hormones start flying, and artistic inspiration creeps out of its winter crooks, I once again go into hiding in my movie theater recliner. "Same, same but different". An enchanting German Theatre BonBon...a colourful love story and thus just what I need to fight these grey winter blues.

Smiling while cinematically dream journeying to Cambodia...dr eyecandy.

Why Eyecandy Won't Suffice Without Brains

2010-02-19T15:55:00.002+01:00

Hmm...not sure what's going on here or what Ms. Carolina is trying to say.

It's funny...though sad...mmh, mainly sad I suppose.

As I head off to my final film at the Berlinale, "The Killer Inside Me" with Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson, I wish all of you a great weekend.

Smiling...dr eyecandy

Miracle Growth For A Thinning Crown?

2010-02-18T14:18:00.003+01:00

When it comes to the miracle touch of photo 'enhancing' software not even royalty is spared.

"The cover picture, showing the 27-year-old prince with his hands in the pockets of his jeans, smiling cheekily at the camera, was taken by a former drug addict and rough sleeper and is the first official royal portrait to be taken by a non-professional." (Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1251341/Prince-William-black-haired-prince--suspicious-hairstyle-Hello-cover.html#ixzz0ftUO2J1G)

'The "Real" William' images have been sold for an undisclosed amount in support of charity.

It seems that whoever bought them doesn't care that the 'real' prince may have undergone some touch up wizardry...seeing that during the last few weeks William has been criticised for his thinning blond hair.

Does a man with as much charm as the next king of England really have to worry about his thinning crown? Please! I prefer him au natural...and I'm sure most are with me.

Smirking...as I'm sure Prince William was when he saw this picture of himself...dr eyecandy.

Dr Eyecandy Goes Berlinale...Alors On Danse

2010-02-17T17:05:00.003+01:00

Lights! Camera! Action!

The 60. annual Berlinale Film Fest has hit Berlin and the rush has gone straight to my head.

Thanks to fate and a good friend at the German Wine Institute, I've had the pleasure of walking the red carpet regularly, taking in at least two films a day. My nights are spent on dance floors, at random locations around Berlin where I'm joined by the stars and creative folk of the film universe.

The Berlinale bubble I currently inhabit is a welcome distraction to the city's grey skies and moods...a bubble filled with fantastic cinematic rides into all parts of the world and more often than not deep into the human psyche.

While I take it all in I am aware of the beauty of film...the beauty of telling a story...of taking captive audiences on magical journeys. Berlinale entries are not about glitz and glamour...but about life itself. Raw, sometimes beautiful, but on most accounts brutally honest.

In order to deal with some of the mind blowing journeys some films have taken me on, my head clearing drug of choice is dance. The most honest form of the expression of human emotion.

Smiling and addicted to the cinematic high that is Berlinale...alors on danse...dr eyecandy

Now Who's Feeling Fat?

2010-02-15T17:37:00.004+01:00

On behalf of the National Eating Disorder Information Center, Toronto based ad agency Zulu Alpha Kilo sent out a 'tiny' (pun intended) gift to editors of noted fashion magazines and the 'ad people' in Canada and the US.

The message is clear...but watch for yourself!

Smiling and giving this campaign a giant two thumbs up...dr eyecandy.

Madly In Love With Me

2010-02-11T23:01:00.008+01:00

"There is nothing more beautiful, powerful or free than a woman who truly loves herself." - Christine Arylo

Here's a challenge I love to support!

"Do you dare to fall madly in love with yourself, and...

Take care of yourself, not just everyone else
Design a life that supports you, not depletes you
Create relationships full of unconditional love
Celebrate who you are today, not who you may be later
Focus on what you've done, instead of what you haven't
Express–instead of repress–your body, mind, spirit"

Visit MadlyInLoveWithME.com for more info on this great campaign.

Smiling and madly in love with me...dr eyecandy

Hot Yoga, Salsa, Snow Biking: How To Kill Winter Blues

2010-02-10T19:18:00.004+01:00

It's only been a few days since my return to Berlin and I'm finding it difficult to settle in. The harsh outdoor temperatures and mountains of sluggish brown city snow that are in desperate need of a clean coat of flakes, have visibly taken their toll on the city's spirit.

I'm working hard to avoid the contagion of melancholic winter depression apparent in the faces of the pale, non smiling Berliners around me.

February...certainly the worst time for a fresh start at home. The stark contrast to the colourful life I left behind in Cuba and Guatemala pains me deeply.

In order to keep my spirits flying high I play a game that consists of picking the grimmest person on the subway and I provoke them to smile back at me. Instead of letting the grey skies rub off on me I make a conscious effort to share some of my summer smile reserves with those in dire need.

While I figure out my next steps here in Berlin, I attend daily hot Yoga classes where I sweat my heart out for 90 minutes while exercising in a 40 degree Celsius studio. The other day I randomly stumbled into a Salsa class and ended up dancing for 3 hours with complete strangers...the side dish of laughter and a good time were included free of charge.

In terms of transportation mode I've taken to riding my bike around the city...despite the ice fields. The cold air will whip any onset of winter blues right out of your face and frankly that's all I crave right now. When I get too cold I simply escape into the warm embrace of the floating Sauna at the 'Badeschiff'.

This week the Berlin film fest 'Berlinale' opens its curtains...courtesy of the German Wine Institute and a great friend, I've been able to score an incredible amount of tickets for competing films, meaning as of Friday I'll be snuggled into my comfy movie chair as the world of film whisks me away into strange worlds.

Looks like I'll survive until Spring hits...when this city magically cures its frostbite, blooms and revives its spirits as it gets its groove on.

Smiling while on my way to Yoga...dr eyecandy.

This is Nella's Story

2010-02-09T19:48:00.004+01:00

Frankly one of the most heartbreaking and preciously beautiful stories I've read in a long time.

My sister who is training to be a mid wife shared "Nella's Story" with my mother, who shared it with me and now I'd like to share it with all of you.

An account of true beauty well worth reading...enjoying the small things in life!

Nella's Story: A Birth Story

Wishing Bunny, Lainey, Austin, Brandon and Brett all the best in life and many more joyous moments!!!

Nella is beautiful and so is her story.

Smiling...dr eyecandy

"Social Contagion" Does Not Make Eating Disorders Harmless

2010-02-08T12:51:00.007+01:00

'I'll have what she's having', appears to be the common mind set when it comes to experimenting with weight loss remedies. People, regardless of age and gender, are obsessed with the 'ideal' look and body shape.

Whereas our common sense's obligation would be to set off alarm bells,warning us that unhealthy behaviours like injecting steroids, vomiting or omitting meals on a regular basis do more harm than good, many individuals appear to believe that these methods are acceptable 'because everybody is doing it'.

The 'social contagion' element is a dangerous one. I watched it sweep the night clubs in regard to cocaine, where nose candy consumption used to be an act veiled by the secrecy of bathroom stalls...it is now ever present and in your face, after all...no need to hide...since 'everyone is doing it'.

Is the same true for Bulimia? During a recent visit to Italy I was shocked as I watched two 'beauties' disappear into their bathroom stalls with their toothbrushes, heard them purge and then stared while they brushed their teeth together as if it was second nature to them. Has a 'friendly throwing up' session become 'normal' ...after all, 'everyone is doing it'?

Does that make it any less harmful???

Perception yells 'YES' while the answer is an obvious 'NO'!!!

Here is an old, but relevant, story by the Washington Post about Bulimia...the heartbreaking story of Sarah Siskin.

Sarah's Death at 19 Left Her Family Struggling to Understand the Power of an Eating Disorder

It's important to continuously remind ourselves of the risks involved in seemingly 'simple' weight control remedies that may quickly spin out of control...and Sarah's story does just that.

Read it. Then share it. dr eyecandy

Home Sweet Home

2010-02-03T16:45:00.004+01:00

Last year I turned my back on my home base in Berlin...my beloved city.

It's now been close to five months since I departed...only bouncing back for a single day to bid farewell to my best friend of 21 years.

A month in Guatemala, some time in Seattle, much time in the Canadian Rockies, Toronto, Edmonton and finally Cuban Paradise...renders me 'ready' to turn that one way ticket into a round trip back home to Berlin. Or so I'd like to believe.

I am desperately scared to return to the place that breathes my best friend with every pore and every memory. I feel like I'm returning to a large unattended construction zone with a sign on the fence warning me to 'keep out'.

But it's time to go and make decisions...career, personal happiness, my onward life's purpose...the big ones are all up in the air for me to figure out.

I suppose it's time to get to it.

Smiling...about returning home...but also trembling at the core...dr eyecandy.

(Subscriber please visit dreyecandy.com to view my song of the day)

Cuba- Me Encanta

2010-02-02T03:02:00.002+01:00

Setting foot onto the island of Cuba once again felt like hooking up to an IV that shoots rhythm, colour and a sensual love for life into my veins...a constant sugar high I am so readily addicted to.

Saturated shades of Caribbean ocean blues, hibiscus reds, Chevy purples and princess pinks paired with the constant side dish of dance and laughter...an exciting concoction that makes me feel at home in this sensual bubble of time travel. Cuba, where I feel like I fit in like I do no place else in the world.

I don't do particularly well while locked into artificially created travelers 'wet dreams' like Varadero...that, although breathtakingly beautiful, are so estranged from the actual place I long to visit...voided of the cultural experience I so desperately crave.

After performing a bit of a 'I carried a Watermelon' stunt a la 'Dirty Dancing' I ventured off the resort on the public workers 'Guagua' (bus)...to spend my nights and days with my Cuban friends in the nearby city of Matanzas.

My Spanish, though infantile, is getting to the point where I can converse. It's only been a couple of weeks of wearing this new language but my Spanish shoes are getting more comfortable by the day.

Living with my ballerina friend, who I'll refer to as Yaima for the purpose of privacy protection, I got to taste a spoonful of the actual Cuba.

I believe it to be a western arrogance: the certainty with which we assume that Cubans want to leave their 'politically difficult prison', as this view clashes with my recent experiences.

'Sure, I may not be able to buy the eggs for my cake on Monday...but so what...I'll jut make the cake on Thursday and dance while I wait'...seems to be the going mind set I commonly encountered.

Life is simple in terms of commodities...two forks, and a bent up knife that has often doubled as a tuna can opener may have to suffice...but the Cuba I met is so incredibly rich in the non-commodities I miss in the western world. Passion, smiles, sensuality...five kids dancing under the dim glow of an orange street lamp at 2 o'clock in the morning, while the rest of the family and friends sit in their rocking chairs in front of their turquoise and yellow houses in the street...playing music, singing and laughing.

'Why does the whole world believe we want out?', said my friend. 'We work in the Hotels! We see the people that come here and escape their lives back home! I would never prefer to live in a place that sends us a crowd whose idea of a good time is being hammered day in and day out...only dancing and smiling with a drink in them! The place they come from just doesn't tempt me! Cuba te amo! And I would not leave home for the world.'

Agreed Yaima! So I now long to go back to the place that appears to be one of the richest in the world despite its questionable politics.

Smiling...soy una langosta Cubana...dr eyecandy

So Again I Am Asking You, What Is Your Body Weight?

2010-01-29T01:00:00.000+01:00

(This is the last repeated blog while I vacation on Cuba...and that's a promise...but this one I loved)

I received a very agitated comment by a dreyecandy.com reader regarding my post "Hardly Healthy: How Mrs Beckham Keeps Her Hard Body", challenging me to reveal my body size because, "then we can talk".

But read for yourself and hear what I have to say:

"Dear Dr Eyecandy,

with great passion have I read your blog this morning and I cannot stop to wonder one thing! I would like to know about your body weight. not that i am romantically interested in you but I do believe it is a crucial question. I will tell you why.
I, as a fashion lover and person who has great appreciation for the art of clothes, cannot help to wonder, why in god´s names these clothes should not be presented on people who are outstandingly beautiful, with bodies one has to be blessed with and heights that no one normal would look good with.
I was at this year´s fashion week in milan and had the great opportunity to go and see the Versace fashion show. What i have seen where not skeletons or sick girls, i have seen something that i never thought exsisted. i always told myself, of course, with all the photo shop and make up i would look just as good. BUT I WOULDN`T!!!! NO help in this world would make me look like these girls, walk like these girls or radiate like they do.

A model earns about 20.000 USD per day at the milan fashion show week. don´t you think, that if you were already born with that body and constitute that it isn´t worth it living a healthy life, working out and not engaging in some pleasures "normal" people do?
don´t forget that hardly any of those girls are older than 21, that is not a female body, but a girls body. these girls are naturally skinny because they don´t start drinking with 16 and eating micro wave food and pizza after coming home from a club, they are hard working, disciplined and beautiful women.
of COURSE fashion is art, it is something out of this world it is selling you a time to escape, a nice little dream when you hop in a dress or coat! and it is supposed to be presented the best way possible. and i am sorry to break it down to your blog, it looks best on tall, fit and amazingly beautiful women, BECAUSE IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE UNREACHABLE!!!!!!!!
me personally, i don´t work in the fashion industry, quite the opposite. i am 5"11 tall and way 110 lbs. not because I was born with this weight, but because i live a healthy life, i go to the gym go running and don´t engage in all the pleasures, like "drinking, eating nasty food and not caring about myself and instead writing a blog to bitch about it".
i was taught that appearance is your first impression getter. appearance tells a person without knowing you everything if the person wants to get to know you.
getting up at 5.30 am before work to go running my dear is not a punishment nor i do it to bother stronger girls, i do it because i don´t want to die of diabetis, like most of our population nowadays and because i know that my Alexander McQueen dress will look MUCH better on me with a fit body.
And guess what, i EAT. do i eat everything i want to? of course not! do i eat after 6pm during the week? no! but you know what, the weekend, i enjoy just like you do, but i don´t pig out!
it is called DISCIPLINE my dear, not sickness. THAT is what you girls writing these blogs are missing.
so if you want to portray MY way of living as unhealthy and ME being a bad role model for anybody, i will challenge you to meet me in a couple of years to see who is gonna be healthier, you or a girl eating pizza and all that she wants all day long!
don´t you know that your brain functions are much higher the lesser your calorie (of course no under than 1200 kcal per day) intake is! not ALL blood goes into your digestion!

so again i am asking you, what is your body weight? THEN we can talk!"

Alright darling...let's do this...we shall talk!

I am a curvy (by that I mean sexy a la Beyonce, not obese) 5"6 (1,72m), 27 year old female with a terrifically healthy BMI of 22.6. This puts me in the normal weight range equal to 18.5-24.9. A size 6- 10 regarding on the sizing of a given brand.

(That's me on the right...horribly obese and unpresentable...just like you assumed...right?)

That said I am also a Pilates instructor by passion with the physique and muscles to show for it.

I love fashion and rock a wardrobe that most women would drool over.

You my dear on the other hand, at 1,80m (5"11) 50kg (110) with a BMI of 15.3 are severely underweight, seeing that your BMI puts you far under 18.5.

So who exactly are you referring to when you say, "you girls writing these blogs" and what exactly am I "missing"?

It's so typical and a true testimony of our times for you to assume that I would be obese and not much to look at in order to engage in my attacks on current media dictated beauty standards.

News flash honey: while I appreciate your comment I will place it in the same weight demented bracket that I put Karl Lagerfeld's recent burst out, attacking Brigitte, the leading German women magazine's, decision to refrain from using professional, but way to skinny, models.

The creative head of the fashion dynasty Chanel (who by the way used to be quite obese) said , "these are fat mummies sitting with their bags of crisps in front of the television, saying that thin models are ugly."

Well guess what...I'm no 'fat mummy' and still fuming and ticked off to the core about the ill skeletons showing off beautiful works of art that are fashion ensembles to die for.

As a healthy, beautiful and fit woman of our day and age, I fall into the Crystal Renn bracket of society...the bracket of women that is fed up with unrealistic beauty standards that are driving young women and men into eating disorders, while creating a severely harming body image ideal. Have you read Crystal Renn's 'Hungry'. I suggest you do.

And guess what, though you suggest you, "EAT" you also add, "do i eat everything i want to? of course not! do i eat after 6pm during the week? no!".

You may call it "DISCIPLINE" my dear though at the height and weight you're at, I call it "sickness" as you are medically underweight. I can only hope that you'll seek help about your current size and mind set.

Smiling...about being healthy, beautiful and a fashion lover...dr eyecandy.

body talk- students build positive self esteem

2010-01-28T01:00:00.000+01:00

(the last two repeat blogs...and then I return from Cuba with new impressions and new material)

BodyTalk is a joint educational venture between the UK Charity Eating Disorder Association and The Dove Self- Esteem Fund. "BodyTalk aims to help young people build positive self-esteem by understanding and dealing with feelings about physical appearance, in particular weight and shape. The workshop is designed to address aspects of the Personal, Social & Health Education
Framework for KS3 students (11-14 year olds) as given in the UK National Curriculum."

BodyTalk is a free and comprehensive workshop that can be downloaded on dove's campaign for real beauty website . The workshop hopes to contribute to the development of positive self esteem in kids and teens by asking them to confront their selves and their individual beauty, thus supporting a strong and healthy body image.

The workshop includes exercises like complimenting each other and speaking out about what kids like about their classmates, i.e. "you always make me smile when you giggle", "you have beautiful freckles", "your tooth gap is cute", "you're the best speller in the class", "you are the fastest runner" etc.

Being severely influenced by media suggested beauty ideals presented in teen magazines, shown by tv stars like the 90210 The next Generation gang and promoted by other teen idols, kids often feel uncomfortable about their own bodies at a very young age. Too many children begin an endless and destructive cycle of dieting alarmingly early on in their lives and some slip into serious eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia or a mix of both. (I recently went to the event "Anorexia doesn't dress you" where Doctors reported that they were treating kids as young as 8 years old...devastating...read what I wrote on anorexic-body-images after the event)

The artificially perfectioned media constructed dream body turns into the unachievable benchmark kids compare themselves to. If their body doesn't measure up...which it can't because it's real and healthy...they tend to conceive themselves as "ugly" and "undesirable". Seeing that the teen years are all about coming to terms with ones looks and character, this is a dangerous trend resulting in self esteem problems and insecurity issues that are carried into the adult life.

The Dove Self-Esteem Fund supports and promotes projects developed to take preventative measures in regard to eating disorders in many European Countries as well as Canada and the US.

I tip my hat to Dove for putting their advertising budget in the right place. Thanks for allowing us big bums, freckles, and bellies.

Although I can't bite my tongue hard enough to keep from saying that I think it's unfortunate that we had to wait for a brand and an advertising agency, both the root of the problem, to serve us a first step towards a solution. If it's ok to look the way we do why does Dove like all the other brands try to convince us to buy firming and anti aging lotion?

Well done regardless...I hope you check out the body talk program and introduce it to all the teachers and parents you know...just a tiny step in the right direction...so kids stand a chance to grow up to be healthy beautiful adults, like the ladies above (who I hate to say it, are as photoshoped and made up as any other commercial plastered on the screens and pages of your favourite media outlets)...I'm such a party pooper...dr eye candy

Thank you Eve For Giving First Our Vaginas And Now Our Trees A Voice

2010-01-27T04:01:00.000+01:00

Not Adam's beloved Eve, but Eve Ensler, playwright/performer/activist, shall be today's dr eye candy topic.

I was lucky enough to see the media celebrated Vagina Monologues in Berlin quite a while back. A newer one of her plays THE GOOD BODY, written and performed by Eve Ensler, debuted on Broadway in October 2004. So why would I mention this 5 years after the premier?

Because I love her bit about LOVE YOUR TREE where she turns her unique eye to the entirety of the female form. I had heard about LOVE YOUR TREE before, but it came back on my radar after seeing AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, Darryl Roberts' outstanding documentary about body images gone crazy.

The V-day website, V-day being the global movement to end violence against women and girls that Ensler kicked off, describes THE GOOD BODY as a production where Ensler "takes an inside look at the outside, exploring the cultures of beauty, food and desire through the eyes of women around the world".

In LOVE YOUR TREE from THE GOOD BODY Ensler speaks about her trip to Africa where she complains to an African woman that she's not entirely fond of her midriff. The woman gets her to look at a tree and asks her "do you like this tree", Ensler answers "Yes". The woman turns to another tree and asks "what about this tree? Do you like this tree?". Ensler replies "Sure". The woman seems pleased and concludes "now do you think this tree thinks it is less beautiful because it does not look like that tree", Ensler "No", "See" says the African lady. "You have got to love your tree"... (not the exact wording I'll admit..it's like when I tell jokes and screw up the punchlines...but once again you hopefully get the gist)

And that my children, is today's dr eye candy story. I ask you, and me, to stop comparing ourselves to other people and loosen the chains that we put on ourselves by engaging in constant competition with others, especially when the competition includes unattainable photoshop generated images of sexylicious models competing against us.

Eve Ensler has been quoted to say the following on unnatural obsession with unrealistic beauty ideals:

The greatest antidote to self-hatred has been finding ways to serve other people. If I show up, for example, for women in Afghanistan, it’s hard to really care about my stomach, isn’t it? It becomes kind of irrelevant. I find meaning in what I’m doing and significance in my life and I see myself framed in a whole new way. It’s hard to hate my stomach as much.

Because there’s meaning in my life. The thing the African woman says to me in the play - she says, "You’ve gotta look up, you’ve gotta look out." When you’re participating in the world, you see your own power, you see your own strength you see your own meaning. You begin to reidentify your whole sense of yourself, including your own body.

Part of that is reconceiving what you think beauty and good are. For me, when I look at my stomach, it's my messy uncontrollable place. It’s the part of me that’s found a way to survive through all the stuff I’ve had to survive. It’s not perfect, it’s not respectable in that sense, it’s not gonna make everybody comfortable.

And guess what??? That's ok!!! AMEN Eve.

Yours truly...dr eye candy

2010-01-26T01:00:00.000+01:00

(Still on vacation...so here's another blog you may have missed in the past)

As I woke up this morning I felt that dreaded gut grumble that I hate so much. Sure enough I knew what the cause for my instant grudge against myself was. As I descended the staircase into my living room I saw the moist chocolate cake remains on the living room table...and felt grossed out yet again about last nights uncontrolled binge.

They call people like me Alzheimer bulimics...we bake, cook, shop for the single purpose of preparing yet another well staged binge. We overeat like bulimics...but we forget to lose the gazillion extra calories in the loo afterward.

What a confession to make in an uncensored Blog...the voyeurists among you will use this to oil their gossip addicted machines. But hey, it's true and it's life, so I am sure that I am not the only one going through periods of self destruction, with my drug of choice being food. This is after all a blog about realistic body images...and I believe that this problem of mine is something quite common in this beauty over sensitised world. It's one step away from a harmful eating disorder...but it's an eating disorder nonetheless.

I believe if I didn't care so much about my appearance I would not feel the guilt and disgust that I feel after unusually large, delicious and high caloric meals. I would simply enjoy them and move on...period. The disgust and shame I feel are a direct reflection of this fixed media suggested beauty standard that I try to hold myself to. A beauty standard that doesn't leave room for female curves or sexy love handles.

I am an intelligent young woman and I know that I was blessed with a healthy body and yet I subject myself to these unrealistic expectations that I know are neither healthy nor pretty. I know that my boyfriend loves the elegant female curves on my body, the roundness of my tush...matter of fact so do I. And yet there is this split personality disorder thing happening that I expect myself to lose weight and tone up at all times, despite the fact that skinny actually doesn't even suit me. Now there's a confused oxymoron for me to deal with.

I wonder what it is about food that satisfies my emptiness after losing a good friend, getting over heartbreak, being frustrated about my current career whereabouts or simply following a bad day. Anyone suffering from this mind and body 'malfunction' knows that the self disgust following each binge cycle is never warning enough in the light of ingesting a delicious meal. Regardless...no matter how much you try to consciously allow yourself to enjoy the taste of your food choice thereby trying to justify the binge...the guilt and the shame are a nagging and certain visitor.

It's like the certainty about the much hated hangover after a night of drinking sweet cocktails that never prevents the enjoyment in the first place. Why do we engage in pleasures of which we know they'll leave us feeling terrible and helpless and full of self loathing? Is it the forbidden apple story that applies here too? The thrill of the chase? The longing for the forbidden?

Whatever it is, I'd like to control it more than I can. I would love to be strong enough to replace my drug of choice, being food, with something healthy, like running or dancing. Something that's less destructive. But most of all I wish I could practice what I preach. I wish I could finally rid myself of my constant attempt to live up to these silly unrealistic beauty standards despite knowing that they're neither pretty nor healthy and not helpful for anyone around.

I wish I could finally embrace my uniqueness. I find women like Eva Mendez, Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé sexy and beautiful. I should consider myself blessed for the curves, big bum and tiny waist that I got. So why would I even engage in this "tomorrow, on Wednesday, after Christmas, in the new year etc. I'll start dieting" debate. It's so tyring, exhausting and so not what I want to spend my energy and brain power on...simply not even worth my time. Hopefully I'll be better about it in the future. It's certainly a relief to put it out there...no matter what you'll do with this very private information about yours truly.

Hopefully you'll allow yourself a great meal today...just remember...if you're like me and you go for the healthy bland low cal choice instead you'll just end up including that burger and fries in your next binge cycle...enjoy your meal...yours truly a painfully honest dr eye candy

Wet Dreams, False Images...Reality Check

2010-01-25T01:00:00.001+01:00

One of the most renowned and emulated photographers of our times, Peter Lindbergh aka "the poet of glamour", slams the usage of Photoshop.

As the New York Times reports this week, Lindbergh says, “My feeling is that for years now it has taken a much too big part in how women are being visually defined today, heartless retouching should not be the chosen tool to represent women in the beginning of this century.”
I personally can't agree more...hurray!

Relax male readers...I am aware that the dreamy model on my favourite GQ cover may certainly have been Photoshop 'enhanced' and 'improved' as well...it's not just us girls being crushed by the pressure of living up to media suggested beauty ideals.

(Repeat blog...)

I mean we've all seen the brilliant Dove evolution spot, but have you seen this? Wet dreams and false images (check out the trailer) is a Sundance award-winning documentary that is a humorous approach to the whole 'digital post production' trend. The film raises some critical questions about the marketplace of commercial illusion and unattainable beauty standards of physical perfection. I think the approach is pure genius and 'dude with wall of porn' in the trailer is a true comic.

Rightfully so, a debate has been set off in France that challenges magazines and advertisers to publicise whether or not an image has been 'digitally improved'.

WARNING: Acne, wrinkles and scars erased; boobs enlarged; legs infinitely stretched; eye colour changed from grey to emerald green; digital lipo on thighs, arms, love handles, belly, tush and chin; vaginal lobes perfected to look like 'designer vagina' (America the Beautiful)...you get the idea! Not sure that advertisers will see eye to eye on this issue...yikes.

Now here's another picture that shows you just how far the 'retouching' trend has taken us.
Am I rightfully scared? Even babies are feeling the pressure...I think my 3 year old neighbour nicked my false lashes when she came to see me yesterday. Pretty Please!!!

And as if we didn't have enough to worry about with the current dilemma at hand...and I hate to do this to you...there is also CGI.

You may scream whhhaaaat???? while covering your ears and eyes.

But I started so I gotta finish this...CGI is short for Computer generated images...the new kid on the block when it comes to ultimate image creation. Forget fixing flaws...let's just create perfection from the get go. Las Vegas based (no surprises here) CGI expert Andy Flessas generates mouth watering and yummy looking burgers...that wait a minute...are not real...aaagghh. All images are created from scratch using 3D animation programs such as Maya (shout out to all my fellow robot creators in our 3D animation class at McMaster. Oh weren't they lovely those cute little robots. We gave them life). 3D software used by the right creative minds can generate anything starting from the Audis and BMWs you see on telly ads, delicious burgers, chilled beer bottles and even girls, boys, men and women that are hotter than Vici's combined angel crew. Scary isn't it.

On that note have yourself a real weekend...and try to look a little closer at whether or not reality has anything to do with the images media flashes at you 5000 times a day.

Thanks for reading...dr eye candy

I Kid You Not: 10 Ways To Spot A Loser Boyfriend

2010-01-22T03:53:00.000+01:00

(Repeat Blog...as I'm currently enjoying Cuba...perhaps you missed this blog)

Askmen.com recently presented a new Top 10 list of "Subtle Ways To Tell Her She's Getting Fat".

Before I say anything else...please read 'advice you can shove up yours' No. 3 called 'Sabotage Her Chair':

Sometimes as men we have to get downright nefarious to get what we want. You might not be proud of stooping to this level, but nothing says “better lose some weight” like a broken chair. After you loosen a few screws or remove some important slats of a chair in which you know she’ll sit and subsequently break, sit back and watch the guaranteed dietary transformation that ensues. It will profoundly amaze you.

Or how about advice No. 10 'Buy her clothes that are too small':
If you buy her clothes that are obviously too small for her, not only will she finally have to admit that she’s putting on weight, but she can easily return them for her correct size. First, she’ll have to reveal to you that the clothes are too small. “Oh,” you might say, “I thought you were a size 8. Isn’t that what you were last summer?” The onus is now on her to do something about it.

Honestly is this for real? Other great advice includes,'Take her to a place where she has to wear a swimsuit', 'Playfully grab her lovehandles' and 'Serve her unsatisfactory portions'.

Yeah...you may want to consider consulting askwomen.com instead. This advice stinks to the sky and back.

I've had a former boyfriend complain about my second helping once, commenting, 'well if you're gonna eat that, I don't want to hear you b*£@* about your size later' and that was pretty much the end of that relationship.

If you want some good advice...here it is. As soon as your boyfriend pursues terribly tactless advice like the pointers given on askmen.com...hand him the url for find-a-new-match.com and run as fast as you can.

Smiling...about the fact that the loser guys reading and following askmen.com will soon be single again...as their ex-women are on the lookout for someone more deserving of their curves...dr eyecandy.

Tapeworm Diet

2010-01-21T03:51:00.001+01:00

(Still in Cuba...still repeat blogs...did you miss this one)

I can't believe the lengths... no pun intended...people go through to lose weight. I found this on the Me Without Measure Facebook posts...thanks Jenn and Maggie...I'm utterly grossed out!

Disgusted not smiling...dr eyecandy.

Lend Me Your Ear

2010-01-20T01:00:00.000+01:00

(As I'm vacationing in Cuba...here's a story you may have missed in the past)

I've often blogged about the power of strong role models and that I feel that reliable, accountable and dependable older sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends play a vital role in creating an environment in which strong and ego healthy children prosper.

Just the other day, while spending time with my best little girl friend, age 7, I realized how many questions and real problems this young elementary school student has. She came to me with concerns about love and friendship triangles, body issues and other matters that currently mean the world to her. Some of the questions...like why people kiss, because she thinks it's gross...were simply not meant for her mother's ears, but other concerns like those regarding her family nagging her about her supposedly being overweight, were truly topics prevalent in her mind that deserved discussion with someone outside family borders.

When I remember myself at her age it springs to mind that I had a world full of people showing me the ropes and lending me their ear and undivided attention.

For starters I was blessed to grow up in an environment that allowed the financial luxury of having a stay at home mother. There was nothing better than coming home from school and immediately exchanging thoughts, concerns, and questions with my mother over lunch and homework. Us three sisters always gained my mother's undivided attention...there were no important phone calls, no TV and no other noise to distract from the open conversations that helped us thrive. My mother always took our problems serious and helped us come up with a great plan to either gather information on the subject or to combat it in an effective manner. She never smiled at or belittled our "puppy love", trying to mend our hearts by saying there are plenty other fish in the sea and she never disregarded even the tiniest of problems that to us seemed "like the end of the world".

My concerns, my worries and my problems were important from day one...and when my mother didn't have an answer or I was too shy to ask her about something, I would talk to my older girlfriends or my "cool" older cousin and receive the answers and advice that I so desperately craved.

Despite the fact that my role models unconditionally took the time to listen and assisted me in solving my questions and problems, they also demanded that I go about my life in an orderly fashion. The respect they gave me through their unwavering support and advice was something they expected me to pass on to those around me at a very early age.

Looking back I appreciate my role models' honesty. I value that they told me when I was in the wrong and expected me to fix things and apologize to make them right, regardless how much 'jumping the shadow' on my part this involved. I wasn't raised to be the princess on top of her thrown...but to be someone who can deal with friends and peers in a respectful manner.

I sincerely believe that by lending me their ear, even as a young child, my role models played a vital role in helping me build my self image, self esteem and self respect, allowing me to become a (somewhat : ) ego healthy adult.

The next time a child comes to you for advice...don't push them aside, but do your best to lend them your ear. It's one of the most important gifts you will give them.

Smiling and thankful for the wonderful people that helped me thrive (especially my mother and father)....dr eye candy

Yale University's Rudd Center Helps Expose Last Accepted Prejudice

2010-01-19T03:46:00.001+01:00

(As I'm vacationing in Cuba...here's a story you may have missed in the past)

While I am happy to report that we finally live in a society that shows little acceptance for discrimination based on race or gender, I am tremendously saddened by the fact that at least once a day I am faced with a situation that involves ignorant people's prejudice against obese mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and friends.

I am regularly appalled by the publicly accepted weight bias obese individuals face in our society! Think about it. It's never been ok to laugh at the diabetic kid in class who needed their insulin fix before meals, or to publicly humiliate the kid in the wheelchair. So why is it still ok to harass, laugh at or mock obese people?

Simply, because people are still under the impression that it's "fat" people's choice to be "fat" and that with a little extra workout and increased discipline they too could be slim.

Sure that's it...and hey you with the depression...yeah you...just go outside look at the sun and feel happy, put some Richard Pryor on and start laughing! Don't you think if it was actually that simple we'd be at the finishing and not at the starting line of this obesity epidemic race? (If you are a follower of this antiquated view I beg you to catch up with the rest of us...get with the times.)

Do you even realize that by tagging obese individuals as "lazy", "stupid", "gross", "unhealthy" or any other adjective commonly attributed to obese kids and adults, you are part of the problem that I see with society. "Loneliness", "depression", "suicidal tendencies", and "self loathing" are just some of the feelings often experienced by obese persons as a result of exposure to constant harassment by friends, family, teachers and even health professionals. Why would you want to do your part in pushing them over the edge?

Like any other human being with a medical, social, or environmental concern, do obese people not deserve to be accepted, integrated, supported and most of all respected???

What's so funny and acceptable about "fat talk"? Why is it ok to stare and harass sweet girls like Bene? Who by the way I think you should meet in the following video. Bene will be sure to give you a piece of her mind and I am absolutely in love with her. But see for yourself. (If you are a subscriber please visit my blog in order to view the video.)

Doesn't Bene Cordaro rock? I hope she taught you something today if you didn't know it already.

Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity has released three of these videos "demonstrating myths and fact about weight prejudice, and the nature and extent of weight bias at home and in school, and at the doctor's office."

The other two videos shown on the Rudd Center website are hosted by Emme, former supermodel and activist. "Each video uses both expert commentary and dramatic representation to address the obstacles obese individuals face with weight bias in American society. The videos also present strategies to help combat this rapidly growing problem."

I think these videos should be shown to absolutely everyone...perhaps we should hack into the Superbowl program and screen them during commercial break.

Please pass them on and refer friends, family and everyone you know to these films...and let's make the world a place where even this last accepted prejudice is no longer supported, accepted or tolerated. We must enforce a "zero tolerance" policy on the subject of weight bias...I hope you agree...dr eye candy.

Au Naturelle - A True Love For Nudity

2010-01-18T01:00:00.001+01:00

(As I'm vacationing in Cuba...here's a story you may have missed in the past)

My mom has always been au naturelle...and I don't mean she's a nudist or that my family vacationed in the Four Seasons Family Nudist Resort in Freelton, Ontario, Canada. (Hat tip to my beloved all time room mate Steph at this point...she's no nudist but her family lives in Freelton.)

I remember how I used to envy my girlfriends in elementary school because they got to play with an elaborate collection of Marylin red lipstick, flashy blue eyeshadow (yes I'm a lovechild of the graceful fashion decade known as the 80s), and old perfume bottles that were hand me downs from their moms. All I ever got was an empty tub of Vaseline or something as exciting as Nivea lotion - now the beloved smell of my childhood. I wasn't even allowed Barbie dolls.

click here to continue

With Glowing Hearts

2010-01-16T03:03:00.003+01:00

In past years, the Olympic flame has chosen various modes of transportation:

The fire travelled by boat to cross the English Channel, was carried by rowers in Canberra as well as by dragon boat in Hong Kong back in 2008. The flame first travelled by airplane in 1952 on its way to Helsinki. It has been transported by horseback and was once even spectacularly transformed to a radio signal, which got transferred by satellite from Athens to Canada, where it was received and used to trigger a laser beam to re-light the flame for the Calgary Olympics. A Native American canoe, a camel and the Concorde are amongst some of the other alternative methods of transportation.

Who would have thought that one day, my dad would be one of the Olympic flame's chosen modes of travel. But on day 78 of the Canadian Olympic torch relay, that is today, my father captained the Canadian Obesity Team as well as representatives of the Students and New Professionals as they carried 'the flame' across Camrose, Canada.

The 20 runners looked stunning in their white suits with their logo hats and red, maple leaf Olympic mitts.

What an emotional event to be a part of...and as the photographer in charge...I got to run the 1km distance alongside the team, in an attempt to capture their auspicious moment.

Smiling...what a great way to become part of history...dr eyecandy

ps Cuba is calling and I can't resist...so I'm out for the next two weeks!

She Made My Day

2010-01-12T20:10:00.005+01:00

Steph, my good friend and roommate over a 3 year span made me smile today. My mail man delivered a precious sparkly golden package tied up with a red ribbon...that had my name on it.

A while ago Steph mentioned that she bought something for me because it reminded her of me...today I hold that 'something' in my hands...feeling touched and honoured.

"{She} ...by Kobi Yamada

She must be something special. She is. Celebrate her.
She loved life and it loved her back. Celebrate her passion.
She listened to her heart above all other voices. Celebrate her wisdom.
She pursued big dreams instead of small realities. Celebrate her priorities.
She saw every ending as a new beginning. Celebrate her resiliency.
She discovered her real measurements had nothing to do with numbers or statistics. Celebrate her self-esteem.
She was kind, loving and patient…with herself. Celebrate her tenderness.
She woke up one day and threw away all her excuses. Celebrate her accountability.
She realized that she was missing a great deal by being sensible. Celebrate her spirit.
She turned her can’ts into cans, and her dreams into plans. Celebrate her goals.
She ignored people who said it couldn’t be done. Celebrate her independence.
She had a way of turning obstacles into opportunities. Celebrate her magic.
She went out on a limb, had it break off behind her, and discovered she could fly. Celebrate her faith.
She discovered she was the one she’d been waiting for. Celebrate her self-reliance.
She added so much beauty to being human. Celebrate her presence.
She walked in when everyone else walked out. Celebrate her friendship.
She just has this way of brightening the day. Celebrate her radiance.
She made the whole world feel like home. Celebrate her warmth.
She decided to enjoy more and endure less. Celebrate her choices.
She decided to start living the life she’d imagined. Celebrate her freedom.
She colored her thoughts with only the brightest hues. Celebrate her optimism.
She was an artist and her life was her canvas. Celebrate her brilliance.
She ran ahead where there were no paths. Celebrate her bravery.
She crossed borders recklessly, refusing to recognize limits, saying bonjour and buon giorno as though she owned both France and Italy and the day itself. Celebrate her joie de vivre.
She held her head high and looked the world straight in the eye. Celebrate her strength.
She not only saw a light at the end of the tunnel she became that light for others. Celebrate her compassion.
She designed a life she loved. Celebrate her joy.
She took the leap and built her wings on the way down. Celebrate her daring.
She said bye-bye to unhealthy relationships. Celebrate her happiness.
She remained true to herself. Celebrate her authenticity.
She made the world a better place. Celebrate her."

So much of this applies to the great women in my life...including you my darling Steph!!!

What a wonderful gift. I love it and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Smiling...because I have such a beautiful friend...dr eyecandy.

Contemporary Beauty?

2010-01-11T17:52:00.004+01:00

Émilie sent me the following clip about a special art exhibit hosted by The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa And Associated Eating Disorders (ANAD).

(subscribers please visit dreyecandy.com to view the video)

I would also like to share the ANAD Pledge with you as I feel that it should be adopted by all of us:

"I will accept myself as I am.

My uniqueness is a badge of honor, something to be proud of. There is no one in the world quite like me and I will strive to develop my special skills and abilities.

I will accept others as they are.

Each person is special and different. I will try to learn from these differences rather than be critical of them.

I will support diversity and freedom of expression in

the way people think, look and live.

There is no single standard of “rightness,” rather we live in a world of individuals, each of whom provides a different answer. Through our differences humanity continues to evolve.

I will not tolerate physical or mental abuse.

There is NEVER a reason for people to hurt other people and I will do my utmost to prevent such abuse. We are all equal and deserve the same thoughtful consideration.

I will actively work to change media programming and advertising

that exploits or demeans the human body.

Setting standards of physical “perfection” is harmful to everybody. The media needs to understand that real human beauty lies in our differences, not our similarities.

I will work to improve the lives of individuals, communities

and the environment.

As a responsible member of society, I understand that the more good I do for the people and places around me, the better off everyone will be. We need to think not only of today, but of tomorrow and our children’s future.

I will support good health through proper nutrition, regular

exercise and adequate sleep.

Good health enables us to achieve success in life— at work, at home and in our
personal relationships."

Surely Anorexia Nervosa, amongst other eating disorders, is a complex illnesses triggered by more than media's skeletal images. Nevertheless, the heightened exposure to media's beauty ideals increasingly pushes children, teens and adults into flirts and dangerous long term relationships with health endangering eating behaviours.

Smiling about the fact that organizations like ANAD dedicate their time and resources to those in desperate need of help... dr eyecandy

Curves Ahead

2010-01-08T18:42:00.003+01:00

"What's the skinny on today's models? Big is bigger than ever, and these bombshells of plus- size are proving that there's plenty of room in the fashion world for women who look like...women." (Vmagazine.co m)

Surprisingly these plus size ladies flaunt Chanel, Versace and other big designer names proving that there is room for high fashion in the plus size department...who'd have imagined.

I also enjoyed Vmagazine's "sample size, shmample size"...this year's fashion flatters all body sizes.

Though often attacked for taking a 'big is beautiful' stance that's not what dreyecandy.com is about. Surely I highlight stories on plus size models...but that's simply due to the fact that they remain rare. My intention is to promote a 'beauty comes in all shapes and sizes' attitude...I'm not a plus size myself...so why would I discriminate against the naturally skinny or 'normal' weight body.

It's the diversity of bodies and beautiful features that makes each of us unique. 2010 is the time for each of us to step up and celebrate our individual beauty!

Smiling...dr eyecandy.

Talking Scale Tells Teens When They've Had Enough

2010-01-07T21:17:00.005+01:00

Can this new technology monitoring portion size and how fast someone consumes their food really help obese adolescents change their behaviour?

"Obese adolescents who monitor the speed at which they clear their plates learn to lose weight far more effectively, the dietary study has shown." (Guardian.co.uk)

Researchers in Bristol, England, discovered that using a computerised, talking scale known as a Mandometer enabled adolescents to modify their behaviour thanks to the scales instant consumption feedback.

This portable scale is slipped under a plate and its connected screen plots food consumption over time while it compares it to the recommended consumption rate. If a meal is consumed with too much haste the device reminds the eater to "slow down"

"By tracking portion size and how fast people eat, the youngsters, aged between nine and 17, [who participated in the study] managed to lose more pounds than those merely following standard dietary advice, according to the article published on bmj.com today." (guardian.co.uk)

The study performed at the University of Bristol showed that, "After 12 months, the Mandometer group not only had a significantly lower average body mass index and body fat score than the standard care group, but their portion size was smaller and their speed of eating was reduced by 11% compared with a gain of 4% in the other group". (guardian.co.uk)

One of the most important findings was that the BMI improvement was actually maintained as long as six months after the end of treatment. The authors suggested that this may indeed be indicative of a long-term behavioural change.

By no means will the Mandometer replace regular treatment and professional health care efforts, but it may serve as an additional tool in treating adolescent obesity...and with a complex problem like obesity, any progress and additional techniques are greeted with open arms.

dr eyecandy

A Chesty Sacrifice for Olympia

2010-01-06T13:00:00.000+01:00

Making Olympic gold is clearly never an easy goal and often forces athletes to exploit all possible means in order to increase their chances for a medal.

An extreme example is the story of Australian hurdle champion Jana Pittman. The 27 year old athlete recently had her breast implants removed in order to elevate her shots at a medal. “I don’t need to be glamorous, not at this point in my life. I can always get my breasts enhanced again when I finish my career. I know there are no medals for being beautiful.” (womansday.com)

Pittmann says:
" “I’d always envied girls who are naturally petite, with hourglass figures. The only time in my life that I’ve felt feminine was when I was pregnant.”

Jana’s breasts went to a DD when she was expecting her son Cornelis, 3, and while she was breastfeeding. “Then I felt like a different person, soft and womanly, and I absolutely fell in love with my big boobs.” "(womansday.com)

As a consequence the young athlete underwent breast enlargement surgery in July 2008 only to now have them removed for the 2012 Olympics in London.

According to diepresse.com Australian sprinter Melinda Gainsford-Taylor would have handled matters differently. The athlete supposedly commented that a larger chest could be helpful in cases where a close race forces the judges to declare the winner according to a finish line photograph.

Well perhaps Jana Pittman will come to realize that she can be a successful and beautiful young woman even without her double Ds.

Smiling...dr eyecandy.

BeautifulPeople.com

2010-01-05T19:54:00.006+01:00

Today is a good time for real agitation. The site BeautifulPeople.com has had me fuming since I first watched America The Beautiful, a documentary by Darryl Roberts.

Taken from BeautifulPeople.com:
"

Do looks matter to you, when it comes to selecting a partner?
Do you want to guarantee your dates will always be beautiful?
No more filtering through unattractive people on mainstream sites
Meet beautiful people locally and from around the world - now
Attend exclusive events and private parties

"

Apparently there's no bottom to the shallow bucket!

As I blissfully consumed my muesli this morning I nearly choked on my apples when I opened the Globe and Mail and read the following:

"Dating website kicks out 'fatties'

The dating website BeautifulPeople.com has kicked off 553 Canadian members following complaints that they had gained weight over the holidays"

Apparently these are only a few among 5,000 discarded members worldwide, who "sealed their own fate by posting new pictures that reportedly showed heftier versions of themselves."

I suppose we could argue that they received a taste of their own medicine...provoking naked Schadenfreude (what a great word with no equivalent in the English language).

Robert Hintze, BeautifulPeople.com site founder, relieved himself of the following word vomit in a recent press release, "letting fatties roam the site is a direct threat to our business model and the very concept for which BeautifulPeople.com was founded".

Perhaps the sunbed that helps this guy maintain his 'beautiful' tan has resulted in serious UV damage to the 'nice' and 'tactful' part of his brain.

A more appropriate site name would be BeautifulPeopleOnTheOutside.com...at least that way people don't get their hopes up for finding a partner with an intact value system.

Smiling...because this amount of shallowness simply provokes my pity... dr eyecandy.

How A Magazine Bonus Crushed My Hopes

2010-01-04T22:21:00.005+01:00

Finally it hit news stands!!! The 'model free' Brigitte issue I've so long awaited.

Back in October I wrote:

"Today's news makes my heart race and is a giant leap in the battle against malnourished models. 'Brigitte' magazine, Germany's most renowned women's publication, announced that they will no longer be using 'skeletal' models for their fashion stories. Andreas Lebert and Brigitte Huber, chief editors of 'Brigitte', the mother of all German women's magazines, made it known that they will be modeling 'real women' rather than 'famined' models...(read on)"

Eagerly flipping through the online pages of the first publication without 'real' models (it's the best I can do until my Canadian international magazine retailer receives their analog copies), I find my smile twisting into a frown.

Did I laugh too soon???

Though the images are beautiful, the pages are still filled with thin females, be they professional models or not. Sadly it seems that 'skinny equals chick and beautiful', is here to stay as our going beauty standard.

The thing that really ads the salt to my sizzling blood though, is the free bonus this first 'model free' New Year's edition includes...oh shame...a DIET booklet for my purse. As if that weren't enough the dominating headline on the magazine cover reads, "The new diet...this is how it fits into your life". All of which only serves to underline the reoccurring 'thin remains beautiful' message.

Surely the Brigitte Diet has a long tradition with its readers, but P-lease...couldn't they have at least pretended for a second that we had a shift in body image attitude coming our way?!

I am disappointed to say the least!!!

Granted, most of us probably included the annual, "I will be healthy, eat better and work out" chant in our New Year's resolutions...but for a magazine that has been priding itself and receiving so much positive press on doing its part in reversing the 'skinny fad'...this weak attempt simply doesn't cut it for me and thus certainly comes up short!

Saddened and disillusioned...I had simply hoped for a more honest attempt and not for an oxymoron...dr eyecandy.

Seize The Day And Have Fun...NOW

2010-01-02T17:52:00.003+01:00

I'd like to start the new year off with an easy to follow guide for immediate pleasure.

Social scientists have discovered a flaw in the human psyche that we shall all enjoy correcting.

Here's a simple New Year's resolution with an added instant high: Enjoy the beauty of life...NOW!

Apparently the people in the glasses and the lab coats found that our species has become remarkably adept at procrastinating...so much so that we procrastinate having fun!!!

We have become a society of procrastinators of pleasure. Thus, it's time to recover!

The bottle of wine we've been saving for a special occasion, the gift certificates that are catching dust in that messy kitchen drawer, the miles we're saving up for our around the world trip...

Newsflash...most of these items will more likely than not, either expire or simply be postponed indefinitely.

Although most of us correctly assume that we will encounter times of lower financial means, we also incorrectly assume that somehow, miraculously we shall have more time for enjoyment in the future.

Always waiting for that special occasion, "once you start procrastinating pleasure, it can become a self perpetuating process if you fixate on some imagined nirvana. The longer you wait to open that prize bottle of wine, the more special the occasion has to be" (Edmonton Journal, 3.01.2010).

Shouldn't a quiet night home with your loved one or a good friend be reason enough to buy delicious cheeses and enjoy them with a glass of the wine you've been saving for god knows what?

It's about building simple and sometimes extravagant pleasures into your daily routine. Use those miles and surprise your darling with a weekend getaway to the city of amour...where in fact you'll be able to purchase another palette flattering drop of wine.

Seize the day and live in the present. Treat yourself to regular pleasure and embrace the beauty of living...NOW.

Plus...you'll feel glamorous, beautiful and on top of the world sipping your wine on an otherwise ordinary Wednesday night, or redeeming that massage coupon you were given for your past birthday on a regular Thursday.

Why not give it a try, I'm certain you will enjoy this recipe for instant magic.

Smiling...while perfecting the art of living all available immediate pleasures...dr eyecandy.

Once In A Blue Moon

2010-01-01T04:31:00.000+01:00

After a year of swirling skies I find myself more than ready to ring in the new year!

It seems that the moon was on my side...full, giant, orange and most importantly smiling...it hung low in the sky and mesmerized me...a blue moon at that (second full moon this month) on new year's eve...that's gotta be good!

Of course I engaged in the old tradition of pouring lead, which apparently is unique to Germany...so I'll quickly explain. You heat little lead figurines (pig, chimney sweeper, four leafed clover) in a tiny pan over a tea light and then pour the liquid lead into cold water where it freezes into a new figure that will tell your future for the new year.

We used wax instead (you gotta make use of what you're dealt) and I poured what resembled an embryo (and no, it doesn't count so much what I think I poured...others around you decide what it resembles...and they all saw an embryo).

I love it! An embryo is more than I could have hoped for- it means rebirth! The start of something new and fresh! Just what I need after the past 3 roller coaster years.

Ready for my rebirth I attended my 4th Moksha hot yoga class today...with -26 outside...I figured a 37 degree plus room is a great location for my second arrival.

I wish you all a fabulous new year...it'll be a riot...I'm sure of it!

Smiling and looking forward to that new incarnation of myself and my life...dr eyecandy.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T17:49:00.005+01:00

Wishing all of you a sunlit, healthy, love + friendship filled, successful year 2010...may there be plenty of reason to smile!

Smiling...dr eyecandy.

New Year's Resolutions: Watch Us Keep Them in 2010

2009-12-31T00:46:00.002+01:00

Here's a little something I recently wrote for the Me Without Measure Newsletter:

We’re quickly approaching the year’s end and it’s time to start reflecting on the positives and negatives that 2009 had in store for us.

As repeat offenders most of us are guilty as charged in terms of making and breaking New Year’s resolutions. We all actively engage in illustrious promises to ourselves…only to forget about them come February. The one thing most New Year’s Resolutions have in common however is that these brainchildren become orphans only a few weeks subsequent to their birth.

May I therefore offer you some guidance in regard to making and for once not breaking the healthy changes you wish to include into your future lifestyle?

I recently interviewed an expert on the subject, Dr. Michael Vallis, a health psychologist at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, who laid out seven ground rules to consider while preparing for one’s New Year’s resolutions. Like everything in life honest resolutions involve careful consideration and planning.

The first thing that gets in the way of executing lifestyle changes…be it gaining weight, loosing weight, exercising more or quitting smoking…is hope.

We live in a media dictated world that fantastically suggests that we can have anything we want NOW! Dr. Vallis warns us, “we are all repeat offenders because it is human nature to long for things that we don’t have and we live in a society that promotes the idea of rapid dramatic change (when reality is that much change is slow, gradual and more subtle than dramatic).”

Bigger, better, faster, easier flies into the face of reality and our resolutions for a lifestyle change is out the window, faster than we can say the word HOPE.

Dr. Vallis went on to explain to me that the biggest hindrances to our New Year’s resolutions are in fact our unrealistic expectations as well as the little detail that we “tend to bite off more than we can chew”. Sound like you? Certainly sounds like me!

Set yourself up for small goals…don’t jump from not working out to working out seven times a week. Don’t plan to gain or loose 30 pounds, but start with 5 pounds instead.

You’ll have much more occasion for celebration when you reach your steppingstones on your way to achieving that milestone you dream of.

Most importantly be sure to have meaningful reasons for wanting this goal.

Loosing weight in order to look like Meghan Fox is sure to backfire…because guess what…even if you reach her weight…you still will be and look like you. So don’t set yourself up for sure disappointment.

In the end ensure that you award yourself for meaningful accomplishments. Be sure to tolerate the work and sacrifice involved in achieving your goal and finally, “make the new behaviour part of your self-esteem. Humans are principle based and will work hard to stay true to their principles.”

I strongly believe if you take these considerations to heart that your new lifestyle’s waiting for you just around the New Year’s bend.

Good luck and enjoy your new year's preperations!

Smiling…dr eyecandy

All Rise For True Fulfillment

2009-12-28T18:11:00.008+01:00

I feel that today is a good time to explore my value system...on that note...thanks for the empowering comments that some of you sent me regarding my last post "I will dare to just do what I do and just be who I am".

Thus far my life has been far from conventional...I've always been too loud and too intense for my environment...often feeling that the initial thing that attracts people to me is the exact thing that repels them later (although somehow this is only ever true for the females in my life).

In the end though, it was this character trait, this intensity and the ability to find joy in every niche that helped me succeed at the single most important thing I've done in my life...tending to my best friend of 21 years during her 3 year cancer struggle...sticking by her side...bathing her in friendship, unconditional love and laughter...making sure to breathe her into me so that she'll now be with me until my final sunset.

I struggle to understand why I got "advice" from every corner: "You need to take care of yourself now", "You need to work at you career", "You need to learn to compartmentalize", "You need to not let it get to you", "You need to learn to take yourself back, give less...or you will loose yourself".

Granted...people who love me were concerned for my well being...but I feel that many of them simply never understood.

They interpreted my skipping from one job to another during this time as me being uncommitted...when really the sole purpose of all of those jobs was to silent their voices and concerns for me.

The one thing I was committed to was my best friend. Period! That was the one responsibility that I didn't give up on...that's where my energy went, where my heart was. I could have cared less about any of the so called "career moves" that seemed to mean so much to every one else.

I often felt that being there for my best friend...because it didn't pay and I later wouldn't receive a letter of recommendation...wasn't valid in the "real" world.

Coming from people that could spend an entire evening complaining about how terrible their day was because their printer didn't work, or that used each breath to share how much they hated their job...I tried not to let their voices resonate with me...though it put me in a constant mode of justification.

It seems that most people are so set in abiding the terms...that they forget what's truly important. Of course "important" is a term uniquely defined for each of us...but in my life it has always been defined by interpersonal relationships.

The people I love are what make my life count! When I listen to the complaints around me...most of them could be cured by individuals daring to follow their heart and not sacrificing their dreams for the monetary values and "social admiration" that the cookie cutter life pretends to offer.

Sure! I'm responsible for affording my life...but am I not equally responsible for defining my values and living the life that I enjoy living. After all there's only this one life for me to live.

Why do many of us put so little trust in ourselves? Why are we so quick to doubt our gut feeling about what works for us and what doesn't.

Someone very important in my life recently said that I don't stay committed to the things I do and thus jump from one thing to another...always searching...for what exactly?!

It hurt me to hear, but it also made me reflect...

Isn't it true that there are only a selected few who are born with a vivid picture of the "doctor" or "lawyer" they'll be one day and don't I have the right to explore my options in search of what it is that fulfills me?

Sure I've changed professions a lot. I have done it all...from heading NIVEA market launches, VIP red carpet coordination for DISNEY, babysat Basement Jaxx and Akon during the Soccer World Cup, as well as probably any other job you previously didn't believe existed.

But by deciding they weren't for me and acknowledging that they didn't fulfill me I made a daring call to stay true to my principles and to pursuing my ultimate goal of finding a profession that suits me.

It's the one true luxury goal I pursue in this life...it's the one I've chosen to afford.

At the end of the day, true beauty to me, is being the one gorgeous pink flower that gets covered by a blanket of snow, while all other flowers have gone with the flow and dropped their petals just because that's what roses do when winter comes.

Smiling...because it's an exciting, though difficult journey...dr eyecandy.

I Will Dare To Just Do What I Do And Just Be Who I Am

2009-12-27T20:18:00.004+01:00

After all that's what I do best!!!

As we are quickly approaching the end of 2009, I can't help but drift off into that parallel universe of self reflective mode. Who am I? What do I want? Why am I here? And Where am I going?

I usually blame this state of mind on the dark and gloomy winter days in Berlin...but since I'm currently inhabiting sunny Alberta I can't very well put it on the weather this year around. There's glittering snow on the ground, which is beautifully offset by the dark blue sky...and my brain wheels are racing nonetheless.

For a large part of my life I found myself chasing after the elusive goals that society set for me...trying to fit a mold that my mind and body simply refused to squish into.

Social demands, as far as I'm concerned, restrain me...they lower my creativity, my love for life and somehow also, my love for myself!!!

Study successfully and develop your knowledge...agreed! Look after your health...check! Fit the media dictated beauty ideal...uuhhuummm...ya no! Work at a sky rocketing career and earn lots of money...if that involves an office job and a nine to five schedule, slaving away at something that in the end wont make the world a little bit of a better place when I switch my desk lamp off...it's simply not for me and frankly investing time in something I'm not passionate about is really too big a price to pay regardless of how much someone is willing to give me!

Other than being skinny, thus "fabulous", earning lots of money, seems to be the one other goal that everyone's racing towards, stumbling over their own feet, stepping on others while often losing the focus for what's really important.

According to the little universe I inhabit, most of the artificially crafted and commonly promoted "life goals" are severely overrated. Make lots of money! Why? So I may buy a lot of meaningless things that in the end only leave me feeling like I need more meaningless crap only to discover that none of it ever actually succeeds at warming my heart? No thanks...tried it...didn't work for me!

Having a stellar career that doesn't actually fulfill you is like that elusive 120 pound mark that many of us feel would make us a happier and more desirable person!!! Well guess what...not to burst your bubble...but when you get there it never feels as good as you thought it would and doesn't actually fix anything that wasn't already happily intact before.

In my eyes, true beauty is defined by someone who lives their life with passion and purpose...who shares their laughter with friends...is confident about their way of life...keeps their heart wide open...and their senses switched to receptive mode!

So for the time being I've decided to do what I do best...I'll dare to keep doing exactly what I'm doing...I'll write...I'll teach Pilates...I'll tend to my friends and family and focus a lot less on material and elusive goals that the western world seems so keen on selling as being equal to happiness and success. For me...they're not...and that's that...it is what it is!

Smiling...because it doesn't cost a thing and gives me high emotional returns...dr eyecandy.

Light As A Floating Feather

2009-12-27T02:56:00.004+01:00

nydailynew.com reports "Brittany Murphy talks about being too thin in last interview before death with Fox News' Pop Tarts"

Whatever the reason for her recent departure, the talented Hollywood starlet supposedly stated, "I am a bit thinner now than what I would like to be," Murphy, 32, admitted to Fox News' Pop Tarts at an event just 2 ½ weeks before her untimely death Sunday."

I certainly hope that her rail-thin figure had nothing to do with whatever drew her curtain at such a young age.

Cardiac arrest may indeed be a body response to a serious eating disorder...the grey number of girls who have lost their lives to this dangerous side effect of bulimia range into the thousands.

In no way would I argue that this is what happened...but people have speculated this option as a theory to include as a likely cause...until the true reason is determined it will stay on the list of possible causes of death...

Unfortunately one of Bulimia's ramifications is indeed cardiac arrest:

"The most dangerous health risk posed by bulimia is cardiac arrest or heart attack due to an electrolyte imbalance of the mineral potassium." (princeton.edu)

Few sufferers realize the danger that bulimia poses and I feel that it is important to get the word out there. It's a real risk and it threatens all those who choose this dangerous body weight control technique...it's not a fix...but a serious illness that poses a real danger to your health and your life!!!

Saddened by the fact that such a young vibrant woman has checked out forever...whatever the reason may involve...dr eyecandy

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T05:50:00.003+01:00

For the moment being I've retired from the ski hill after a 3 hour lesson with both my dad, my sister and Charlie, our ski instructor here at Sunshine ski resort in the gorgeous Rockies of Banff.

Unfortunately an old knee injury has forced me into an early time out.

Lounging out in front of the fireplace...ski boots off...enjoying a large dark hot chocolate and an almond biscotti the size of my head...life could certainly be worse.

Gazing out the panorama window at the sharp edge, where the snow covered continental divide meets the dark blue Albertan/British Columbian sky...I'm reminded of the heartfelt emotional slopes 2009 had in store for me. Without question it's certainly been the toughest year I've encountered to date...thus far, up until a few years ago, I had been one of the lucky few who actually inhabited a small sheltered universe...and blissfully so.

Regardless how I twist and turn my reflections in the bright winter sun, I find it difficult to find the shiny side of the coin. I need to accept the fact that indeed life is not always fair...in fact...sometimes it is tremendously unfair!

Not only did my group of friends lose one of its brightest smileys on the ill fated french bird that got swallowed by the giant puddle...but I also said my final farewell to my best friend of 21 years, who I lost to the beast that grew inside that lovely bright head of hers.

In retrospect it appears that this year's flowers refused to bloom, birds forgot to sing, while the sun all to rarely shone through the clouds...so deeply hidden that I missed the enchanted purpley orange sunsets that often allow me to forget the world around me.

It's this overpowering mental and emotional pain that forced my hand to release the words from my heart...I write, therefore I am!

Dreyecandy.com being just one of the tools...though the most important...to get me, my mind and my heart unstuck!

It's a daily effort to take the 'glass half full' approach to life. But it's an effort that I owe to myself, to the people I love, the ones that love me and most importantly to the friends that had their curtains drawn before their day!

Losing myself in the clear blue sky reminds me how thankful I am...spending Christmas in this awe inspiring setting...my heart beating strong, my lips and eyes remembering how to smile...with two of the people that mean the world to me.

Wishing all of you a very merry little Christmas with your loved ones!!! Thank You all so very much for all of your support and friendship!!!

Smiling...because up here in the mountains I am so close to those I miss most this holiday season...dr eyecandy.

True Beauty: Deeper Than The Eye Can See

2009-12-24T04:30:00.002+01:00

Mandisa's True Beauty (subscribers please click here to view the video on dreyecandy.com)

Smiling...dr eyecandy

An Early Christmas Gift

2009-12-22T18:14:00.002+01:00

I just received a wonderful comment and here it is for you to read:

"Happy Holidays! My name is Lisa Hope and I am the assistant editor of Disorder.org. I am contacting you today in hopes of developing a strategic partnership with your website; we have seen your site and think your content is great. Disorder.org is an online gateway for people to find information regarding disorder diagnosis, symptoms, and treatment -- and is continually adding content. More specifically, Disorder.org is starting a campaign to promote awareness about eating disorders of all types. If you're interested in a partnership, please contact me at lisa.disorder.org@gmail.com."

My answer, dear Lisa, is YES, YES, YES!!! Anything to further our cause.

I began writing dreyecandy.com from the very bottom of my heart and I hope to share my content with anyone it touches! It's my own little NGO...my hobby that is more than a hobby...it's a passion! I'd rather be broke and write (like I do now)...than have a chalet in the mountains and stay silent about our current body, mind and soul crisis.

Smiling and heading for Banff today...hopefully I'll be connected so that I may get a chance to wish all of you a very special holiday season...dr eyecandy

Yet another reader's comment that I'd like to share

2009-12-22T00:25:00.002+01:00

Thank you for your story...it's a real inspiration

Smiling...dr eyecandy.

So Again I Am Asking You, What Is Your Body Weight? was my story...here is a comment I enjoyed and feel like sharing!

Anonymous said...: "I know I'm late to this post...

First of all, I read an article written by a woman who worked behind the scenes at Victoria's Secret runway shows. She said they used tons of makeup to cover cellulite, stretch marks, butt zits, spider veins, and stuffed their bras to a ridiculous extent. Those models on the runway ARE airbrushed. They AREN'T real.

Second, I struggled with eating disorders for nine years. How did it start? Quite honestly and simply from seeing pictures of Twiggy and Victoria's Secret models - I thought if I didn't look like them, no man would ever love me. I didn't start my period until I was 15 because I didn't have enough body fat. I exercised OBSESSIVELY, all the time, and felt unbearably gross if I slacked off at all - even though I was incredibly restrictive with my eating. Finally, with therapy and medication, I was able to overcome my obsession with food and weight. I'm 5'8" and my healthy weight is 132 - it's what I always somehow go back to, it's what I typically maintain without trying. I have a problem with losing weight when I'm stressed...I'm 124 right now, but I work hard to eat all the calories I need, even if that means supplementing my diet with Boosts that help you gain weight. To the girl who's 5'11" and weighs 110lbs - I look sickly and quite honestly unattractive at 115lbs, and I'm three inches shorter. My bones are small, so I don't carry as much weight as people with bigger bones do, but still I look best at 132. I do exercise, ALMOST every day - but because it makes me feel good about myself, more confident when I'm naked in front of my guy, it relaxes me and helps relieve stress - NOT to keep my weight down. And I don't typically do cardio because I destroyed my knees by running excessively when I was younger; I do a series of ballet-inspired exercises, lunges, and stretches, to help strengthen and relax, to help me center myself. My guy likes having things to squish and grab and play with. He would be very upset if I didn't have a nice layer of softness. As I said, I've lost a little bit of weight recently due to stress (argh SO irritating), and he commented disapprovingly the other day that my arms are looking skinny, and he's always bringing me fast food at work or taking me out to eat and encouraging me to eat the largest portion available. haha. Soft is beautiful and sexy! Don't let Hollywood and the fashion industry tell you those lies anymore."

Ultimate Economics: Skip Lunch and Afford Your New Expensive Jeans In No Time

2009-12-21T18:00:00.004+01:00

If you catch me reading tabloids and women's magazines...it'll be for research purposes only. While on my 7 hour layover in Ciudad de Mexico on my return from Guatemala to Edmonton, I bought up the airport kiosk and got a medley of magazines ranging from Spanish Esquire to Español National Geographic to Seventeen Magazine.

This time around the result I'm hoping for is that I'll pick up some Spanish sex and passion vocabs...I couldn't very well talk to my host family about "Te ama o sólo te usa" (does he love you or only use you?), "5 misterios de los hombres...Descofrados" (5 mysteries of men)...so I choose to revert to my magazine teachers.

"Ahorra, luego gasta" (save, to spend), a column I found in Seventeen Mexico, makes me wanna pull my hair out!

I am flabbergasted at the suggestion that I should skip lunch for three weeks in a row...allowing me to save up around 400 dollars, so I may spend them on that pair of jeans I've always wanted, as well as spend that money on going to the spa to polish up my look. Needless to say that this clever scheme will allow me to fit a smaller size of pants...just imagine!!!

EXCUSE ME, PLEASE COME AGAIN??? Initially I hoped that my Spanish wasn't there yet, after all it's only been 3 1/2 weeks of me learning the language, but I'm afraid that the advice I understood, was precisely the advice this teenage magazine was dishing out to its young readers.

Looks like I just found another reason to quickly master my Spanish skills- in order to write an open letter to Seventeen Magazine voicing my complaint.

Not smiling...because this may in fact be the worst advice I've ever been given...dr eyecandy.

FINALLY!!! Ralph Lauren Boycott covered by CNN

2009-12-21T02:01:00.001+01:00

It's about d$&% time!

Smiling...dr eyecandy

I Love The World

2009-12-20T07:00:00.002+01:00

Each of us harbours an infinite capability to love...

I love sipping hot peppermint chocolate sitting by the fireplace while it snows outside...I love the way crisply frozen grass feels under my bare feet when I walk around naked after getting out of a sauna...I love how the winter sun warms my entire body when I close my lids and concentrate on the orange spot between my eyes...I love the way the red berries on the tree outside my window look when they're glazed with snow and sparkle in the sun...I love a hot bubble bath with candles and my favourite tunes...

So why is it that we are so quick to love things...while being equally willing to indulge in self hatred with an unmatched eagerness?

Why do we beat ourselves up about eating too much cake, despite the fact that we enjoyed every bite? Why do we think that our life would be significantly more enjoyable if there was less of us (in terms of individual size, not in terms of world population)? Why do we feel that we need curly black hair when ours is naturally straight and coffee coloured? Why do we believe that others will love us more if we looked a little more like Megan Fox and a lot less like ourselves...but most importantly...WHY are we convinced that WE would love ourselves more?

"The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it, but the way the atoms are put together"...I love how this concept applies to every breathing and non breathing being on this planet!

I just have to post "the symphony of science" again...in case you missed it yesterday...click here to view it online if you're a subscriber. Sagan, Feyman, deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye...at their best!

Granted...there are a few species, like the naked mole rat, which evidently prefers to be called sand puppy, that may indeed have been lining up in the wrong cue when they were giving out the more preferable atom combinations, but that doesn't mean it doesn't live it's life with love and purpose...despite the fact that it looks like a very ugly, wrinkly penis with buck teeth.

I just wish we'd use the so generously used "I love..." phrase and conclude it with a big smiling confident "ME" more often. Because if we LOVE pink and LOVE chick flicks and LOVE Flowers...we should certainly be in a position to spend a little more of that LOVE on ourselves.

Here is another beautiful clip for you because "I Love The World"..."but you have to think about the complexity to really get the pleasure"!

Smiling...because the world is a beautiful place and we're part of this mesmerizing beauty...dr eyecandy.

ps. the picture up top was taken at one of the most beautiful spots on earth...my friend Brock's island...heaven on earth.

Symphonie of Science

2009-12-19T18:20:00.003+01:00

"The beauty of a living thing is not the atoms that go into it, but the way the atoms are put together"

Smiling...because I have so many things around me that involve perfectly beautifully assembled atoms...dr eyecandy.

Twiggy Commercials Banned In UK...Goal Team!!!

2009-12-18T02:26:00.003+01:00

Back in October I wrote:

"All rise for a standing ovation!

The United States aren't the only place where advertisers are feeling the heat over retouching claims. More recently an Oil of Olay ad featuring a wrinkle free 59 year old Twiggy (the images show Twiggy 'retouched' and 'au natural') provoked such an uproar in the UK that it forced the British Parliament to propose outlawing retouching in advertisements aimed at teenagers. Liberal Democrat Jo Swinson, who lead the issue noted:

"Today's unrealistic idea of what is beautiful means that young girls are under more pressure now than they were even five years ago. Airbrushing means that adverts contain completely unattainable images that no one can live up to in real life. We need to help protect children from these pressures and we need to make a start by banning airbrushing in adverts aimed at them. The focus on women's appearance has got out of hand - no one really has perfect skin, perfect hair and a perfect figure, but women and young girls increasingly feel that nothing less than thin and perfect will do."

Once and for all the cat is out of the bag and any company still employing these excessively unnatural retouching opportunities offered by software such as photoshop is really cutting deep into their own flesh. We are sick of being fed famished images...they don't fill us up! So perhaps advertisers and brands should consider spending the retouching budget on feeding their models instead!"

Well goal team finally!!! Yesterday, the ASA came through and banned the complete set of Olay Twiggy ads, ruling that the post-production retouching could give consumers a "misleading impression of the effect the product could achieve." (Guardian.uk)

Smiling...because baby steps will get us there eventually...dr eyecandy.

Ralph Lauren Boycott Update

2009-12-17T20:16:00.004+01:00

People are writing and reading about it! Good! Thanks for the press...here's a dreyecandy.com mention. Awesome...I love it!

We're almost up to 8,000 fans on facebook!!!

Darryl Robert's, our head brain, recently posted: "I just received a call from a MAJOR news organization 10 minutes ago and this weekend, they're going to cover our Facebook Ralph Lauren boycott. They said the noise that all of you have made is phenomenal and very newsworthy. I will post tomorrow which network and what time the story will air. This will be national!"

We're still going strong and getting stronger by the day!

Join the mission at ATB Action Network Boycott Ralph Lauren.

Happier Than A Bird With A French Fry...

2009-12-17T19:07:00.006+01:00

It's my final day in Guate and I just returned from the Carribean Coast...Puerto Barrios and Livingstone, which locals call La Buga.

Due to several recent attacks in this area on tourists leading to the unfortunate death of two tourists in late October, in addition to 100 deaths of dengue in September, there weren't many foreigners on the road.

The few that were, stayed at Casa de la Iguana with me...a rustic Caribbean style haven...where I had the chance to meet an excellent crowd of travelers eager to share their stories.

There was a lot of talk about values and happiness...not surprising in a bubble far away from all of our homes.

The people I encountered were part of that rare segment of sensually passionate travelers- the ones that are not deterred by potential dangers; the ones addicted to the fresh breeze of smiles that gently embraces your soul and spirit, while traveling through the beautiful landscapes of Guatemala...

Kanen Flowers, the founder of Lifezero...a concept that challenges us all to lose all excess baggage...emotional, material, spiritual...him and his wife will be touring the world for the next 4 years...no airplanes allowed...attempting to create as little waste as possible...

Then there was my friend from England, both parents are Indian...he's thought of a new way to build houses and is involved with a project here in Guatemala that allows kids to collect plastic bottles, fill them with trash, build walls that hold this "trash" together with chicken wire, and finalize the project with concrete...they're building schools and ridding nature of many tons of garbage. What a worthwhile cause!

One argument we all agreed on is that people who have less, and in some cases, close to nothing but the smiles on their faces and the clothes on their back, are the ones with the best set of values. They aren't greedy, they are generous and often go out of their way to help you with any means possible.

The love of life is something none of us have experienced in our various home countries...not in Germany, not in Israel, not in France, not in the United States, not in Canada, not in Spain, not in Holland...at least never in quite the same way.

It was the bus ride back to the city that struck me as particularly special...a group of strangers, assembled at random, sharing a lag of our journey together...all adults...but spirited like children...singing and giggling and sharing hugs and kisses upon our arrival in the central bus station of Guate.

There is something so genuine about the sincerity of the people in this country that I will miss until the day I return.

I've watched them closely...hoping full heartedly that their zest for life has rubbed off on me and will thus catalyze more creativity and drive for my future.

Smiling...because life took me here...crying...because I have to say my good byes...dr eyecandy.

Skinny Reporting Misses the Point of Ralph Lauren Boycott

2009-12-17T02:11:00.000+01:00

Click here to read the Huffington Post Article on the Ralph Lauren Boycott.

Remember it's never to late to join the cause!

"As for the Ralph Lauren Boycott, filmmaker Roberts and his posse have yet another one scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 20 at the Ralph Lauren flagship store in New York City at 72nd and Madison."

So if you're in the area...make sure you come out and show your support!

I've already donated all my Ralph Lauren and Polo items to charity, as well as refrained from purchasing the Ralph Lauren bedding that I would have bought under different circumstances.

Smiling...because we'll keep going!

A Bird With A French Fry

2009-12-14T12:39:00.004+01:00

The artist Dazeychic made my day yesterday. I thought this illustration of hers underlines my current state of mind...so I went ahead and purchased one of her prints.

Being happy and feeling blessed, I believe, is a conscious decision we make on a daily basis.

Thus I decide each and every day that, "today I will be happier than a bird with a french fry"!

Thanks for this wonderful image dazeychic.

Smiling...because life has dished me more than one french fry...dr eyecandy

Fyi: The Ralph Lauren Boycott Support Number is at 6.763...how wonderful. Keep signing up!

Filippa Hamilton: Ralph Lauren Model Speaks Out

2009-12-14T04:32:00.003+01:00

Watch the Ralph Lauren model in question, Filippa Hamilton, speak out on Todayshow.com.

It's been posted before...but here it goes again.

Smiling about the fact that this boycott is gaining steam...dr eyecandy

Ralph Lauren Boycott Update

2009-12-14T04:17:00.003+01:00

"In late September, an ad by fashion giant Ralph Lauren surfaced in the United States showing an image of recently fired Filippa Hamilton that was so drastically retouched that the 120 lb 23 year old model looked sickly, emaciated, and almost alien."

Surely you'd like to know where we're at with the boycott!

Here are the facts:

6. 688 Fans are ready to have their voices heard Ralph! So I hope you're listening and will readjust your stance!

"Tomorrow we start negotiations w/ Ralph Lauren Co. to see if they're ready to commit to a measurable change in the way that they advertise to women. From your comments and the comments of industry leaders we put together a "conditions" list to call off the boycott. If they refuse, we'll continue the movement by boycotting their Chicago store on Michigan Ave. on Tuesday. I'll keep you posted. Your voice will be heard!", says Darryl Roberts.

Thank you kindly Darryl that you're not giving up on all of our behalf...I trust we'll make a difference if we stand strong together!

I can't wait to hear what Ralph Lauren's people have to say!

If you're not signed up already or know of a friend that hasn't joined the cause and should...find the "ATB Action Network Boycott of Ralph Lauren" and become a fan to back our opinion.

Smiling confidently...and hoping for the best...dr eyecandy

Beautiful Age

2009-12-13T04:46:00.002+01:00

The gorgeous lines around her lips are a testimony to the many times she has smiled to comfort one of her eight children to make them feel like life was going to work out for the best...

The creases on her cheekbone tell the tale of the many mornings on which the warm Guatemalan sun kissed her face to wish her "buenos diaz"...

Her strong and withered hands are the lyrics to a life story that includes hard manual labour...it was with these warm hands that she fed the ten hungry mouths of her family...washed their robes...hugged them each good night...picked them up when they fell...and put them back on their path...

The colour of her hair, with time, has faded from black to snow white...just look and see how well it contrasts with the colour of the ribbon she uses to decorate her braids...

The colour of her robes are the colours of her heart...the many facets that her love entails...

You can see it in her eyes...they sparkle and tell a story...of days gone by...and of a life that gave life...and love...and thus received it in return.

Here outside of Totonicapan, Guatemala... in a remote village...I encountered true graceful age and beauty in the form of Doña Veronica Saquimux...thank you for inviting me into your home, into your heart and into your family. Mucho gusto! What a pleasure and enrichment it's been for me to have met you.

Smiling...about the beautiful people I met and locked into my heart...dr eyecandy

Ideas Worth Spreading: Fight Against Sex Slavery

2009-12-10T03:25:00.005+01:00

Today's story makes me so sad that I can barely breathe.

"Sunitha Krishnan has dedicated her life to rescuing women and children from sex slavery, a multimilion-dollar global market. In this courageous talk, she tells three powerful stories, as well as her own, and calls for a more humane approach to helping these young victims rebuild their lives."

Please click here to here Sunitha Krishnan speak about this tremendously important and flabbergastingley gruesome reality.

Sunitha Krishnan...you are truly beautiful!!!! Thank you for dedicating your life to this meaningful cause and giving these girls a desperately needed voice...we are listening...dr eyecandy

hat tip to Marianne for sending this link to me...I hope everyone views it and passes it on.

Wind In The Sails Of The Ralph Lauren Boycott

2009-12-09T04:51:00.004+01:00

Looks like the boycott train is gaining steam...but read for yourself and join us! Here is a copy and paste post of the boycott update I received, from my friend Darryl Roberts, the director of "America The Beautiful"...it's long but well worth your time:

"I received this famous quote yesterday. It seems fitting, so I thought I'd share it with you:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

The last 7 days have been tumultuous to say the least, but I believe we're back on the right track.

Before reading about the Ralph Lauren/CNN situation and the Huffington Post story that ran yesterday, please sign up on our Boycott Ralph Lauren Facebook Page.

A college professor that specializes in media strategies sent me a 3 step strategy to fight Ralph Lauren. This is step 1:

We MUST get 10,000 people signed up to the Facebook boycott page by Friday. The specific details as to why this is so important are below.

If you want to sign up before you read the rest of this newsletter, then sign up and come back. Thanks!

Sign up for the public boycott of Ralph Lauren here:

ATB Boycott Ralph Campaign

If that link doesn't work - go to: www.facebook.com/boycottralph

I need you to read this email in it's entirety. If we're going to "persuade" Ralph Lauren to never put out egregious ads like the ones we've seen recently, then I'll need you to do a couple of very specific things.

This boycott isn't about Ralph Lauren per se', (even though his recent ads are the worse I've seen) it's about the entire industry.

If Ralph Lauren buckles from all of the publicity and grassroots support that we mount, we'll send a message to the entire industry that we've had enough.

We got a break yesterday. A prominent writer in San Francisco, Greg Archer, heard about the CNN segment being cancelled and wrote about it in the Huffington Post.

This is no joke - The Ralph Lauren people saw the article 6 minutes after it was posted and started reacting. I can't go into any details because it would jeopardize some great people that are on our side fighting. The link to the article is further down.

Within 12 hours of the Huffington Post article being posted, it's appeared on the website of the NY Daily News, Yahoo Buzz and 20 other sites that I've seen, including a website that covers Ralph Lauren's stock performance. Maybe now his board of directors will see our stance.

Now we have to show Ralph Lauren how much we support this boycott. Companies like his take the position that it's not real unless they can see how many people are on board, which is why some organizations start petitions. You can count the numbers.

We're going to use the social media platform to mount our boycott, so he can not only see how many people support it, but he can read your comments as well. This is a dangerous strategy, but it will work if you go all out and support it. I'll explain the danger shortly.

We have some great organizers on our team. We have some very astute college students. We need all of you to help spread the word.

He won't stop unless we make him. A university professor sent me these pictures yesterday. Ralph Lauren should be ashamed.

As you may or may not know, Ralph Lauren is designing the outfits for the Winter Olympics ceremony for 2010. Athletes come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Here is a picture of a real Olympic Skier. Her name is Emily Cook:

Now, here is a Ralph Lauren sketch that obviously shows his vision and design for this years Olympic Skier:

The drawing looks just like the ridiculous ads he's been running. Why am I not surprised. He must be stopped!

The Ralph Lauren/CNN Strategy

FYI - When I mention the things that the Ralph Lauren Company "may have" said, I'm going to use the phrase "I think." You already know how quick they are to sue!

I got thousands of emails from you indicating that you were upset at the initial ad that Ralph Lauren put out. Then he apologized and people forgot about it.

After apologizing for the first ad, someone sent me 2 additional ads that were worse than the first one. These 2 ads were still in circulation after he apologized for the first one. If he was truly sorry, why didn't he pull those ads as well?

On behalf of all of us, I sent Ralph Lauren and his executive staff an "open letter" explaining how advertising to young girls in this manner was harmful and disrespectful.

I also asked him to commit to never doing it again. They ignored my letter even though most of his top executives read it.

CNN saw the letter and called me and asked if I would come on Sunday to talk about the boycott. Yes! Yes! Yes!

They called Ralph Lauren to get his side of the story. The Ralph Lauren Company called CNN back immediately. I felt slighted. :)

"I think" Ralph Lauren's position was who care's about his boycott. We looked at his website and only 2 people have commented on it.

I explained to CNN that I don't use my website. I have a newsletter that I send out to over 100,000 people and they email me back and I like the intimacy and personal communication. "I think" Ralph Lauren's position was give me a break. 100,00 people. Yeah right.

"I think," Ralph Lauren said it would be different if he had a national organization behind him. That would be different.

I said as a matter of fact I do. I told CNN about the support of ANAD. One of the largest eating disorder awareness organizations in the country. I told them the the boycott was on ANAD's homepage - www.anad.org

"I think" Ralph Lauren's response was, they don't matter either. They only have 150 people signed up. That's not news. Why give them airtime. It's not news. "I think" that's what they said!

Then "I think" they said why is Darryl Roberts singling us out? Everyone advertises the way we do.

What a position to take. How sad!

I then told CNN that the YWCA of America, IAEDP as well as countless universities support the boycott as well. I even had organizations email letters of support directly to a producer at CNN.

Now Ralph Lauren was stuck. The boycott was credible. Myself, Dr. Maria Rago from ANAD and a former supermodel turned activist Emme were going on CNN.

CNN told Ralph Lauren they were thinking about getting someone that used to work for an advertising agency to come and speak from the perspective of the industry about airbrushing to make the segment balanced. You know CNN is an awesome News Network and they always look to present both sides.

This is my opinion - Ralph Lauren exercised a stroke of brilliance. Actually I'm not sure it was brilliance, maybe it was more diabolical strategy.

"I think," The Ralph Lauren Company told CNN, okay, we may have someone come on and debate Mr. Roberts.

My response - "Great. Let's do it."

I never heard anything else about getting a representative from the advertising industry. A representative from Ralph Lauren would make for a better debate.

Wouldn't you know it, The Ralph Lauren Company waited until the last minute and "I think said,"we're not coming on the air and issued this to CNN:

Below is a statement that we would like to ensure is read in its entirety in response to Mr. Roberts' claims.

"For over 42 years Polo Ralph Lauren has built a brand based on quality, integrity and a wholesome American lifestyle. Polo Ralph Lauren has apologized for the poor retouching of the images in question and takes
full responsibility for the error." -- Polo Ralph Lauren

I explained to CNN that he apologized for the first image, because he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but he has yet to apologize for ads 2 and 3. Furthermore we don't want his - apologize as I get caught- statements anymore. We want a firm commitment that he won't do it again.

CNN was now looking for a guest from the industry 3 hours before the segment was to air in order to make it balanced. It was impossible to do, so they canceled the segment. Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren!

In my opinion, they were never coming on. "I think," they pulled the Jedi mind trick, to stall everyone from finding another guest. Of course my opinion does not reflect the views of anyone else.

I was really upset. Not because we didn't do the CNN segment. I was upset because I'm accusing you of damaging the spirit and self-esteem of million of girls with your draconian advertising and your response is to play games, strategize and make sure the boycott doesn't build steam.

What about the girls? What about just agreeing to not do it again? Do you even care about the girls?

I know I have to keep fighting. As I go deeper and deeper into the belly of the beast, I see what women face and it's so wrong.

The Huffington Post article was a big break because the word is now getting out there wide. A major publicist has come on board to help us fight. She has friends at all of the national TV shows and she's putting a strategy together now.

I'm talking with organizers to stage protests outside of Ralph Lauren stores. Anything to disrupt his bottom line. Since that's all he seems to understand.

He will give us what we're asking for only if he has to. If we can get him to do it publicly, it will be a big victory for women and their cause. Young girls will know that their voice does make a difference.

This is where we have to buckle up and execute one last push. This is how we do it:

It seems that Ralph Lauren's strategy is to discredit all boycotts by saying only 300 people signed up.

There were 3 boycotts started on Facebook and none of them got more than 300 people. So they were discredited and eventually lost steam. The way to victory here is in numbers!

I had a strategist from a major university tell me that in the corporate world they need to see 10,000 registered complaints to acknowledge there's a problem.

The publicist told me that when goes out to all of the newspapers and TV shows if she could show that we were 10,000 strong, our message would get out everywhere.

Yesterday I started a Facebook page called the ATB Action Network Boycott Ralph Lauren. It's a coalition that I started and it stands for America The Beautiful Action Network. We will stand up for and fight to help protect the self-esteem and mental and emotional well being of every young girl and boy that we can.

I have the best board of directors in the world with the tens of thousands of professionals on this email list. :)

This is only going to take a few minutes, I need you to sign up for the boycott on our Facebook page. Ralph Lauren needs to see how many of you support the boycott and it needs to be at least 10,000. If we don't reach 10,000 then this particular movement will be discredited by Ralph Lauren.

We need 10,000 people to sign up by Friday. Forward this newsletter to everyone that you know asking them to sign up before Friday. Call them back and make sure that they did it. We have to create a viral grass roots movement. Write comments on the Facebook page. Let Ralph know how you feel. Trust me they will monitor our page heavily.

If we fail, they will snuff out our movement and we'll be sitting ducks waiting for the next offensive ad to complain about.

We have to do this for every girl that has ever felt unattractive because she doesn't "measure up." For every girl that feels her body isn't beautiful. Every girl that's had or has an eating disorder. Every parent that's had to mortgage their house to pay $30,000 a month for their child's eating disorder.

Let's once and for all show the fashion industry that the party is over. You may have to register for Facebook if you're not already a member. It's free and only takes a few minutes. Get everyone you know to register.

If we get 10,000 people signed up by Friday, the wheels will be in motion and we will win. If we don't, we can only blame ourselves.

I'll do my part. I'm asking you to take a few minutes to do yours.

Sign up for the Boycott Ralph Lauren Page here:

ATB Boycott Ralph Facebook Page

if the link doesn't work, go here: www.facebook.com/boycottralph

Read the Huffington Post article here:

Huffington Post Article

Thank you and together we can win!

Darryl Roberts

REASON #1 FOR THE BOYCOTT -

REASON #2 FOR THE BOYCOTT -

AND REASON #3 FOR THE BOYCOTT -

"

Join us in making a difference!

Smiling...that we are finally speaking out, especially in light of recent events...dr eyecandy.

Weight Prejudice Going Strong at Licoln University

2009-12-08T00:35:00.004+01:00

"When seniors at Lincoln University graduate next spring, as many as two dozen could be banned from taking part in the ceremonies. The historically black college in Oxford, Pennsylvania, says it will withhold diplomas from obese students who fail to meet a new requirement for all undergraduates.

The school requires any student with a body mass index of 30 or higher to take a Fitness for Life health and nutrition class.The enforcement of that requirement has caused an uproar on campus. The university so far has stood firm, insisting that the measure sends an important message about battling obesity in black America"

Continue this unbelievable story, kindly brought to my attention by Elham Irani, at npr.org.

Needless to say that I am outraged by this hurtful discrimination and not smiling...any comments? dr eyecandy

Also read:

Yale University's Rudd Center Helps Expose Last Accepted Prejudice

How About Those Lovepounds Meggie?

2009-12-05T19:09:00.003+01:00

Right about now would be a great time for them!

She's been in our hearts since the days of "When Harry Met Sally"...an intelligent, funny, charming and absolutely gorgeous lady...without any of those negative diva allures...Meg Ryan.

But it seems that the days of natural charm and beauty have past, and one may argue that Meg now resembles a gliding skeleton, with unnaturally smooth and botoxy plump skin. That Kidman look...you all know the one I mean.

Although she is a happy mother and currently in love with "Nip/Tuck's"Julian MacMahon, our darling Meg isn't looking the part of a woman in tune and in love with herself.

Oh please Meggie...cook some great food with your new hubby and enjoy it...a few golden love pounds would certainly suit you oh so well.

We know you're not 20...but you are gorgeous! I'm sure that a few wrinkles from that sparkling and contagious smile of yours would work wonders for you.

Not smiling about your current state dear Meg...dr eyecandy.

Any Press Is Good Press? Don't Think So

2009-12-04T16:56:00.004+01:00

Oh Peta, how I love to hate thee when you give me this much ammunition.

In another sorry attempt to win our conscience for the protection of animals Peta has failed...yet again...so guess what...it's burger day!

In their recent advertisement PETA has another naked woman- Playboy's Joanna Krupa - holding a cross and angelically floating in mid air. All to call attention to the fact people shouldn't buy animals.

So how exactly is that going for you PETA? Have you actually seen a recent influx in Playboy subscribers liking the BBQ any less? Any recent figures and stats...anyone?

Yeah...I didn't think so. After pissing the obese community off with their tactless "Save The Whales" billboard, Peta has now gone and ticked off the Christian church. Way to go? You've just scored into your own net.

Does Hugh Heffner hold any stakes in PETA? I wonder.

At this point I don't even find myself getting angry anymore...the distasteful advertisements are expected.

Also read:

A letter to Peta

Save The Whales

PETA's Selective Censorship

Sadly smiling and shaking my head while losing all hope that PETA will ever get it...dr eyecandy.

Ralph Lauren Boycott

2009-12-04T01:40:00.004+01:00

Today's post is gonna be one of those cut and paste kinda deals, as I'm asking you to join me and my friend Darryl Roberts, director of America The Beautiful, as well as over 100,000 women around the globe thus far, to dedicate yourself to boycotting Ralph Lauren products until Mr. Lauren steps up to the plate and commits himself to healthier advertisement.

Here is some of what I wrote on the topic in the past.

Advertising Ghosts

Tyra's Weight Loss Challenge and A Ralph Lauren Follow Up

The following is Darryl's open letter to Ralph Lauren:

"If you agree in principal with this letter and would like to be put on a list to receive ongoing updates with my/our Ralph Lauren boycott - Click here and leave your email address (please forward this email to everyone you know and ask them to sign up as well):

Boycott Ralph

if the above link doesn't work, you can sign up at: boycottralph@americathebeautifuldoc.com

- RALPH LAUREN BOYCOTT - Join Us!

cc: The Executives of the Ralph Lauren Company

Ralph Lauren - CEO
Scott Myers - Marketing Director
Michael Morelli - VP of Advertising
David Lauren - SVP of Advertising
Laura Johnson- Public Relations Manager
Trecia Laird- Senior Marketing Manager

Hello Mr. Lauren,

Let me preface this entire letter by saying that I'm truly sorry that we have to meet under these terms and conditions. I would rather have met you at the Four Seasons Hotel and had a juice and pretzels with you, because I'm sure you're a really interesting guy. And I assure you, I'm a really nice guy as well.

Fortunately for me, I've had the pleasure of meeting tens of thousands of young girls while promoting my documentary "America the Beautiful." To look in the eyes of over 100,000 college women and hear their pain (body image, self-esteem) has been an experience that I will never forget. I've also heard from over 80,000 parents that are in pain because they have to hear from their sons and daughters in pain. It does truly become a generational cycle.

I'm sure that you're fully aware that a lot of the American population feels that the unhealthy ads in magazines are damaging to women. The damage comes in various forms; body image problems, low self-esteem and for some of the women, they get a full blown eating disorder like your niece Jenny.

I had a professional in the eating disorders world tell me last night that images like yours don't cause eating disorders in every girl that sees it - What happens is girls that end up with an eating disorder had a 50-80% predisposition for getting an eating disorder in the first place and the negative magazine fashion ads and other factors are the gun that pulls the trigger. For the millions of other girls that don't get an eating disorder, they're left feeling fat, ugly and worthless.

Ralph, there is no turning back for me. When I met these women traveling from city to city and country to country, I looked them in the eye and promised them that I would do whatever I could to make the world a better place for them.

In my last letter to you, I mentioned that I would never buy anything with the RL (Ralph Lauren) label on it. Well, over 100,000 people emailed me and said they were joining me. They said they wouldn't buy anything with the RL label on it as well until you promised to stop the very harmful kind of marketing and advertising for which you've been accused. Some of their emails are below.

In case you're wondering "what harmful marketing and advertising?" - I have exhibits A, B and C of your advertising below.

Most of the emails that I've received are from adults. They're fed up with it Ralph.

Believe it or not, they get hurt as much as the young girls that read the magazines and look at the ads. "How? You wonder." When a young girl reads these ridiculous fashion magazines and gets triggered into a full blown eating disorder, who do you think gets left holding the bag for the $30,000 a month treatment? I've met parents that have had their entire savings wiped out and some have taken out second mortgages on their homes to pay for the treatment of their young daughters. Trust me Mr. Lauren, they're sick of it.

To be clear, this isn't just an issue of eating disorders. In my film, "America the Beautiful," I interviewed a 7 year old girl and a 12 year old girl, both of whom insisted that they were ugly. They couldn't tell me specifically why they were ugly. They could only reference celebrities and ads of models as references of how they're supposed to look. And you know what was funny about the whole thing, neither one of them were ugly. They were quite attractive girls actually. Their self-esteems have been assaulted by ---- I'm sure you get the picture by now.

Mr. Lauren, women live in a very toxic culture. Men as well now that I think about it.

For the record, I'm letting you know that exactly 112,489 of us will no longer buy anything that you're associated with until you give us a committment that you will no longer use droconian advertising like the ads below. We don't want any money from you, nor do we want any free clothes. We just want young girls that read fashion magazines to be safe.

Also for the record, ANAD, the largest eating disorders awareness organization in the US is supporting me with my boycott. You can read about them at www.anad.org

I'll be in Washington, DC tomorrow meeting with the CEO of the YWCA to get them to support me with my boycott as well.

There are YWCA locations in 122 countries around the world, 300 locations in the US working in 9 regions - 25 million women strong. You can read about them at www.ywca.org

I'm going to talk to the press, arrange demonstrations, basically anything I can do to help women that suffer from these ludicrous ads.

I plan on having over 1 million people that agree with my position to not purchase any RL products as well until you agree to advertise to women in a way that respects and values them.

For clarity sake, this boycott isn't just about your company. It's about the entire fashion / beauty industry that advertises in a way that's harmful for women. We're hoping they will see that people are fed up and change their advertising practices as well. We picked you because you went waaaaay over the top with the 3 ads below.

If and when you send a formal announcement agreeing to stop with your draconian advertising, the boycott will be over and I'm sure some parents will forgive you and start buying your bedding products again.

Remember we're doing this for the safety of young girls Mr. Lauren, including your niece Jenny.

So, what's it going to be Ralph? It's your conscience. Your decision. We await your answer. Until then, I'm off to do my Christmas shopping with your competitors.

Respectfully yours,

Darryl Roberts"

Thank you for initiating this crucial cause Darryl.

Smiling about making a difference....dr eyecandy.

Beauty Is Nothing Without Brains

2009-12-03T02:53:00.003+01:00

Just a little something funny on the side:

Please visit dreyecandy.com online to view the clip if you are a subscriber.

Under The Gaze of The King of Beauty

2009-12-02T20:22:00.004+01:00

Osmel Ricardo Sousa Mancilla is the Venezuelan-Cuban impresario and the current president of the lucrative Miss Venezuela Organization.

It is Osmel Sousa who specifies the terms that define "beauty" and only a select few meet his impossible standards...and even this slim choice receives free plastic surgery as they prepare for their pageants.

He is considered the driving force behind the many Miss Worlds, Miss Universes, Miss Internationals and Miss Earths that his Venezuelan beauty factory churns out...making him the unchallenged king of his beauty pageant powerhouse.

I found this clip on youtube that will give you a very critical insight into a world that is truly too good to be true. Click here to view "Beauty Obsession- Venezuela".

Also read one of my past stories "Under The Knife Of The Venezuelan Sun"

Not smiling about the fact that men are driving our impossible beauty standards and that women are bending over backwards in an attempt to meet them...dr eyecandy.

Sleeping Beauty

2009-12-01T01:11:00.006+01:00

Unfortunately this sleeping beauty wont be waking up any time soon...

After what she perceived as being a simple procedure, the firming of her prize winning tush, Solange Magnano, former Miss Argentina, suffered pulmonary embolism and passed away last Sunday. After undergoing surgery past Thursday in a Center for Cosmetic Surgery in Argentina, the model woke from surgery in critical condition and was thus rushed to an intensive care unit in Buenos Aires.

Guillermo Azar, a fashion show producer, stated that the model underwent the procedure, because she believed it to be a low risk surgery. Magnano simply wanted to tighten her behind in order to take a few years off in a constant effort to maintain her looks.

Again and again, people seem to forget that cosmetic surgeries are surgeries nonetheless. They bear risks and complications.

Sadly I believe that Magnano's tush was most certainly pretty enough in the eyes of her husband and 8 year old twins, whom she now leaves behind without a loving wife and mother.

In recent years the plastic surgery sport keeps gaining players. Last year alone, a whopping 50,000 surgeries were performed solely in Argentina ...rates are 60% up from what they were in 2003. Low "enhancement" surgery costs are also luring many "cos(t)medically conscious" surgery tourist into the country.

Hopefully Magnano's unnecessary passing will at least make its mark in forcing aspiring beauties to think twice about the price they may want to pay for their vanity.

Sadly shaking my head...dr eyecandy

The Railroad All-stars: Estrellas De La Linea

2009-11-29T01:32:00.006+01:00

The story begins like many others- as a depressing and undesirably grimy snapshot of Centro American street life.

Rapidly growing so irresistable, colorful and amusing that the documentary "Estrellas De La Linea" ("The Railroad All-stars") gained international attention and appraisal. (receiving the Panorama Publikums Preis, 2nd place during Berlin's Berlinale-Audience Choice)

We are on location at La Linea, the most crime and violence infested borough of Guatemala City and home to numerous destitute prostitutes who live beside the railroad tracks, where they sell their bodies and souls for a mere $2 dollars a trick in order to support their families and children.

The looming threat of violence and police brutality forces these ladies, who are quite literally from the wrong side of the track, to seek a way to make the world aware of the danger and misery inherent in their situations, while raising support for their impoverished conditions and lack of government protection.

Like in so many other cases the women put their hope into "football", form a team and train rigorously for months on end. Their hard work pays off and qualifies this unlikely and desperation driven football team for a local championship.

As Guatemalan news outlets explode over the sensationalism of these events, the public goes up in arms. Parents refusing and objecting to letting these "low lives" compete against their darling children while uniting their voices to get the Estrellas expelled after just a single game. Unfeasable arguments such as, "their sweat could transfer infections, perhaps HIV" seem to do the trick.

Being trained by and exposed to life's much harder battles than this one, the ladies' determination skyrockets, sending them on a city-to-city tour, across Guatemala and El Salvador, challenging every official team they can find.

This heartfelt documentary by writer- director Chema Rodriguez captures an inspiring glimpse of these women's stories, both individually and collectively. Colourful splashes, charm and humour in an unlikely place, allows us a look into a world so foreign and dark, so compelling and heartbreaking that you'll be tearing up as you share their pain, their frustration and their hope as second class citizens in a world that doesn't acknowledge their existence...or feel the need to protect their lives, rights and families.

Smiling...that Miguel-Alejandro (my host brother) shared this amazing yet heartbreaking tale with me...dr eyecandy

Vagina Monologue: Please Leave Me Alone!!!!

2009-11-28T00:30:00.000+01:00

Female Cosmetic Genital Surgery, including a procedure called "vaginal rejuvination", is recently experiencing significant increase.

Being a relatively new entry in the vast field of plastic surgery, it is cetainly one of the most drastic expressions of modern media pressures on women to maintain a young and unnaturally youthful body by any means necessary.

Don't get me wrong...granted, there are some severe tears that need mending after childbirth and other 'medical conditions' that require medical attention.

However...for the sole purpose of vanity...you have got to be kidding me and it's a bad joke at that!!!

"Some women may feel unattractive, or wish to enhance their sexual experiences by removing some of the skin that covers the clitoris. The purpose of a labiaplasty is to better define the inner labia. During this procedure the urethral opening can be redefined, and if necessary improvements to the vagina may be made. The problem can be caused by genetics, sexual intercourse or difficulties in childbirth."

IMPROVEMENTS???? NO THANKS!!! Believe it or not I'm at bliss without vaginal enhancements and improvements by a doc and his or her scalpel...currently resting comfortably assured that my main lady is quite beautiful the way she is.

Certainly birth will one day be a major strain...but it'll come in handy that I'm a Pilates instructor and there's truly a lot that can be done without anesthetics and surgeons.

When did anyone get the idea that it was necessary to give women the unbearable 'tightness' complex??? Again...don't you think if nature had intended us to stay youthfully untouched...it would have created us that way?

Personally, I feel that if yours or your partner's sexual pleasure solely depends on the radius and contraction ability of your vagina or on the size of your labia minora...you have a few other things to figure out...but that's just my opinion.

For one, stop watching excessive porn and looking at too many photoshoped Heffner bunny vaginas...it's like the myth that women come every time and need no foreplay...it's not true...that's why they call it a myth.

Feeling sad that some women are so out of touch with their bodies that they're willing to take these drastic measures to regain their confidence... dr eyecandy.

Value Village

2009-11-27T05:16:00.004+01:00

I am on route to my language school in Antigua, Guatemala on the public bus as it winds its way past the coffee and cocoa plantations, along the only cement artery that cuts through the lush green surroundings that are dotted with vibrant florals. Looking around I find myself thinking that God must have painted this landscape the day he discovered love.

According to western standards some may argue that the buildings I pass are run down and in dire need of restoration...instead I find them simple and charming...bursting with pastels...like ocean green and buganvilla pink.

The great thing about my daily bus ride is that I don't even need to allow my eyes to wander outside the bus's interior to witness true beauty. As I share my 2 person bench with 2 stranger, I admire the gorgeous garments of the Mayan women who join the ride. Handwoven as if they were determined to capture every colour of the rainbow in each fabric.

There is something peculiarly beautiful about Guatemaltecas...and I believe it is grace. The women carry themselves with an amount of pride foreign to western societies as they stride with determination...smiling as they go about their daily duties. Always courteous, always gentle...their eyes and body language radiates kindness. Though very soft spoken they're never timid. Knowing that they carry the gift of ample history on their shoulders...they deduct their lives with purpose and dedication. So sweet with their children...so generous with their grace.

Though poverty is ever present here in Guatemala...the people don't exude desperation thus I find it difficult to believe that crime rates are as high as they are.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll practice carrying a basket on top of my head hoping I'll learn even an inch of the poise that the gorgeous women in Guatemala possess.

Smiling about my current surrounding and the love I'm finding in this foreign but peculiarly familiar country...dr eyecandy.