Carla Gypsygirl's Blurty

When you wish you'd moved to Paris, or at least Tasmania

I keep bumping into people from high school lately, which is very scary. I mean, it wouldn't be scary if these were girls that I was friends with. But, like in the movies, it's the nasty girls that I keep seeing. You know, the cheerleaders (them) versus the nerds (me). Although, seeing as Australia isn't as crazy about the cheerleader scene as America, these girls weren't cheerleaders...they were just girls who were cooler than me, and who weren't obsessed with getting into university, like me. You see, dear readers, your Carla Gypsygirl was a very different person in high school. She was super-ambitious, over-achieving and often nasty. And of course, a touch (okay, very) daggy. So when I see girls from high school, I remember what I was like back then, and I feel embarrassed and icky, and I just want to run away. Plus, the girls I see aren't the nicest girls, anyway.

Back in high school, I just wanted to be THE BEST at whatever it was that I was doing. So I didn't go out much, and when I was in class, I actually did schoolwork. I went to a public school, where attendance was emphasised over scholastic achievement. When girls in my year were out having fun, or busy chatting away in class, I'd think to myself, "Well, when I'm in my twenties, I'll be a successful designer/actress/artist, and you'll just be some loser working in a store." But oh, how things change! University was a bit of a tough ride for me. I got into the design course I wanted to get into, but it was just so hard and demanding. The design industry continues to intimidate me. After a series of employment disasters (if you read my blog throughout last year, you will know what I am on about), I decided to ditch the design scene temporarily, and get a job in a store. And so, I find myself in the position that I was once convinced I was too good for.

I purposely got a job in a store that is not near my neighbourhood at all, so as to avoid seeing anyone from high school. So you can imagine how I felt when two cheerleader/slacker types walked past me at work the other day. "Carla? Is that you?" one of them asked me. We had the usual exchange of "What I'm doing right now" speeches. Both of the girls had proper (i.e. non-retail) jobs. We talked about who was married, who had kids, who had gotten fat. Then finally, one of them asked me, "What are you doing here?" I replied with, "I work here!" Um, hello- OBVIOUS! As if I would stand in a store, wearing a name badge, when I don't even work there! Then she asked, "Are you happy?" What could I say, dear readers? Of course, I answered to the affirmative. And the truth is, I really do enjoy working in retail. It's just humbling and a bit humiliating to see people from my past...when back then, I was so full of precocious intellect, witty replies and hope. I keep getting scared that my peers at work think I'm a bimbo. Some days, I want to recite John Donne to them, just to prove that I'm not dumb. I spend so much time at work acting all glam and exclaiming how fabulous it is to shop, that I worry that people think there's nothing else going on in my head.

For some reason, I've started to see more girls from my school around my neighbourhood, too. I live in the same 'hood that I've lived in since school days, but for some reason, I rarely see girls from school. I guess it's because I don't hang out at the local pub or RSL...actually, I don't hang out at any pubs or RSL clubs at all. I also discovered that one of my new friends from my posh department store also lives in my obscure 'hood. So, gone are the days when I could jog (okay, walk) around the block wearing baggy, stinky clothes. Any outing now requires a small amount of styling. Because, as I like to say, you never know who you're going to bump into while you're on the bus home. It may be an ex-boyfriend, it may be an L.A. agent looking for the latest hottie Asian actress to follow in the footsteps of Lucy Lu and Zhang Ziyi...you never know. So this is what I wore last time I went out for a spot of exercise...

So chic! Observe the orange and brown legwarmers, the pink board shorts over original 90's leggings! Ha- that'll show them! I may not have the most flash career, but at least I look good, right? Who said I was shallow?

Carla Gypsygirl xxx