Carla Gypsygirl's Blurty

As Shakespeare says: "What's in a name?"

Happy Nude Year, everyone! I have been happily wishing everyone a “Happy Nude Year”, and only a few people have twigged that I am talking about nudity and not newness. Don’t people listen anymore? Actually, I am noticing that I am frequently wondering why people don’t do things the way they used to anymore. Does this mean that I am getting old? Am I old-fashioned? A square? Okay, so example number 1: an old friend of mine recently sent me a text message which invited me to her wedding. She sent me this SMS about 2 weeks before the wedding. I used to be super close to this girl, but as with a lot of friendships, we have drifted apart. I was actually quite offended to have been invited through a text message. I mean, I would rather have not been invited at all. I like knowing that someone has gone to the effort to write my name on a guest list, and then make me up an invitation. I don’t like to think that someone was sitting on the bus and then thought suddenly, “Oh, I should invite Carla to my wedding! I’ll SMS her now!” I don’t mind being invited to parties or coffee through a text. But I think a wedding should require a certain amount of paper, y’know? Even some glitter. I asked a few friends if they thought this wedding text invite thing was rude, and most people were unsure. I mean, what is polite and impolite anymore with all this new-fangled technology? Some things, however, are always obvious. For example: part of being a woman is knowing that you should never, EVER ask another woman if she is pregnant, even if she has a huge belly. Unless you are a doctor, of course. I still get super embarrassed when my doctor asks me if I could be pregnant if I am complaining of nausea or something. I always say, “Well, my boyfriend and I are Christians, so…” and she never really gets it until I have to fully explain all the nitty-gritty of abstinence. Then she just says, “Okay, we’ll talk about this after you get married.”

Even though my store was open today, I told them that I wasn’t going to work. There’s something yucky about working when you know that most people are having tasty barbeques or recovering from parties. I am enjoying having a bit of a breather. Over Christmas and the sales, I started to become really appalled at the rampant consumerism of our society. A lot of my customers talk about fear- they say stuff like how scared they are to have a Chloe bag instead of a Louis Vuitton, because they’re not used to the design. This New Year’s Eve, I wanted to scare myself in a real way. I gave part of my lunch to a homeless man, and I was so scared to do it. I thought he might yell at me and say, “What you doing, giving me this leftover crap?” But instead, he was really grateful. He took my chocolate and plum and then said with a grin, “You must be doing well to be handing out food to people.” I just smiled, blew him a kiss and walked away. I’m not doing well compared to people my age, but at least I get to eat food and sleep on a bed. I wanted to hand out food to homeless people this New Year’s Eve, but the city supermarket was closed, so I couldn’t buy any food. As fireworks exploded over the city, I walked past a homeless man asleep in a doorway. He just looked grey all over, from his hair to his clothes. I wish that our city wasn’t so decadent on the outside- I wish that we were decadent in spirit.

The photo above was taken during the drive to Canberra. It captures how I feel right now…like something exciting is happening, and I’m waiting, but I’m also feeling melancholy. All I talk about lately is the film I’m going to be in. I feel so excited! I feel so blessed to even have this opportunity. I want to make the most of this. Canberra, however, was not that great. The city itself was quite nice, but different to how I remembered. Last time I was there, I was probably a kid, and I remembered everything being a lot bigger. I was surprised this time around to see that the city is really small and surrounded by big hills. The streets are really wide, and I felt like I was in the country. I was down there to see one of Geoff’s friends graduate from the army. I mostly had a bad time because I was trying so hard to be nice to Geoff’s friends, but my actions ended up totally backfiring. So many people got really drunk and said a lot of things behind my back. This one girl told everyone that I was being disrespectful towards Geoff, because I don’t want to take on Geoff’s surname when we get married. I have no idea how this girl knew that about me, because I hadn't told her. This girl also told everyone that I was jealous of her dancing with my man. So I went up to her and confronted her and everyone was staring, and then I ran off and cried! It was mostly really embarrassing and hurtful. The last thing I would want to do is hurt Geoff through our marriage. I have been so surprised that people of my own generation would not understand my desire to maintain my identity and independence though keeping my surname. It was also surprising that many people don’t support my right to choose whether I change my name at all. Now that I am engaged, so many people have started to call me “Mrs Schnieder” as a joke. It annoys me that people immediately assume that I will throw my own surname away in my girlish fever over getting married. It annoys me at weddings when the minister or celebrant announces at the end of the ceremony, “And now, I present to you, Mr and Mrs…” What if the girl doesn’t want to be a Mrs? What if she would prefer to have a neutral title like Ms, just like how men have the title of Mr? And, after all, Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet asks, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet." Since being engaged, I have noticed that no matter how hip and funky you are, your true colours will show when it comes to wedding stuff.

Hmmm, this post has been a bit of a sad one. Hopefully a nice sleep and some funky craft will make me feel a bit better. Hope you guys have a totally rocking New Year!

Toodles,
Carla Gypsygirl