Sparing a few minutes to raise my falling IQ level

Reading my last few posts has me a bit troubled. Either I'm getting dumber or people around me are getting more intellectual. It's not that there's anything vacuous or wrong about being in love, or being in a relationship, or having your heart broken (all beautiful things, except that last one), it's just that all this boy-craziness I've been going through for the past month is starting to feel a bit shallow. It's like with every minute I spend obsessing over a man, doing that stupid lovey-dovey giggly thing I do (annoying even to myself), I can almost feel my IQ dropping by a few points.

So I figured it's high time I dedicate some of my lines, and some of your time to a greater purpose- something a little bit bigger than me, my love troubles and small weekend distractions. So let me tell you a little bit about some very modern women who epitomize brave self-expression. These are just some of the beautiful ladies I admire and aspire to be like, whether I'm crying into the deep-fat fryer or swinging from a trapeze.

Are you ready to meet them? Ok, allow me to introduce you to...

Naomi Klein is one of the bravest women I know of (wish I could've just said know but sadly I don't know her). Her books are investigative journalism at its most thorough, honest, raw and urgent. It's taken me 5 months to read The Shock Doctrine and I'm only one-third of the way through- not because I read slowly but because I have to put it down every few pages to fully grasp the magnitude of what she's saying/uncovering. She came to lecture at my grad school when I first moved to Toronto in 2007 and not knowing who she was or what she fought for, I completely missed it. Now I know better. Naomi, the rest of your 14 chapters await.

Tina Fey needs no introduction [insert snappy witty comment here]. If you own a TV set you've heard of her. And if you don't (you know who you are you three), well go out and buy one, turn it on at 9PM thursdays and see for yourselves. Comedy tends to be a male-dominated sport (as Chris Hitchens stupidly tried to argue), but this lady has fought for a place in it with zingers that are equal parts snarky and earnest. Tina, I like to think we have share a teensy bit similar sense of humour but I flatter myself.

Lucinda Holdforth has only written one book four years ago, and you'll probably find it in the discount non-fiction. It's a memoir of famous Parisian women and of french salon culture in the 19th century- which happens to be a subject she is so passionate about she actually quit her comfortable job in the Australian government, moved all the way to Paris on a whim, and wrote about in a very personal way. Now your own personal feelings on french salon culture aside, for someone to give up so much- risk so much- just to follow something so abstract simply because it makes them feel more fulfilled, is incredibly gutsy. Lucinda, I envy your streetwise Parisian ways and how you refer to Chanel on a first-name basis (no it ain't Coco). Nothing short of brave and inspired.

Nigella Lawson keeps popping up on my blog. I just realized four out of my eight posts have her name mentioned somewhere, and for good reason. To her, food is purely sensual- none of that uptight, aseptic, old-fashioned ingredients-in-neat-bowls nonsense. Eggs are made to be separated through the fingers and chocolate cake to be licked off the back of a spoon, preferably in the middle of the night. I have in fact actually met her. And yes she is just as sexy in person (minus the greasy hair, but that's probably thanks to an 8-hour transatlantic flight). Nigella, your recipes are great, but your cooking is even better.

Thank you ladies. What you say and who you are inspires me.


RocM notes: I could say that there are of course many many other women- and men for that matter- who also inspire me, but seeing that it's my blog and that I can say what I want on it, I won't.