Hello. This is my little self-indulgent internet realm.
I'm Christine, a Danish girl living in Glasgow, Scotland with my husband Kevin.
This is where I gather various things, mostly to entertain friends and family.
I've started a spring diet as many months of overindulgence means I have gained a distinctly rounder shape, which is unacceptable and must of course be addressed as a matter of priority.
The Atkins diet has been suggested to me by several people as a means to lose weight. The basic idea is that eating meat and vegetables will make you feel fuller for longer and kick off your metabolism, unlike starch-filled carbs which will just make you eat more and keep you from burning the excess body fat. Being a keen nutritionist, I agree with the late Dr Atkins in that Westerners eat far too many refined carbohydrates like sugar and white flour (and white rice, potatoes and pasta for that matter), but I cannot get behind a dietary plan that aims to cut out carbs completely to lose weight. I believe that complex carbs like brown rice and whole grains are an essential part of a healthy food regimen. And studies show that a low-fat diet has the same long term weight-loss effect as a low-carb diet. As dull on the palate as macrobiotic food may be, I did lose 19 pounds while eating large measures of couscous and white quinoa!
I believe moderation is the healthiest approach to anything. I believe in unprocessed foods like brown rice and apples. I also believe - like Dr Atkins - that a cooked chicken breast will keep me full for longer than a chunky piece of bread, and that most types of bread are essentially bad for you. I believe that the two main principles in my own weight loss plan should be to only eat the amount I require, instead of emptying the plate no matter how much is on it, and to cut out the afternoon chocolate intake at work and the evenings spent on the sofa, merrily sharing a tub of Häagen-Dazs almost mechanically while being engrossed in a movie. I believe in identifying your own bad food habits in order to lose weight, and snacking is mine. (I'm also culturally conditioned to comfort eat, which doesn't help - a lot of people in the Western world grow up with an unfortunate oral fixation which makes quitting the sweets/booze/cigarettes even harder.)
In short, when it comes to dieting I follow the same beliefs that I apply universally: That everyone is different and has different requirements, and that a knowledge of the individual coupled with an extensive knowledge of nutrition means I can tailor a diet that fits me perfectly. It's called a holistic approach.
I'm a jeans-and-T-shirt kinda gal. I'll dress up when there is occasion to do so, but as anyone who sees me on a daily basis will know, I really don't care for fancy clothing. I like my plain but warm cardigans. I find clothes shopping frustrating and prefer to buy things online.
I've been saying I wanted a new pair of Doctor Martens for a while - I just hadn't got 'round to actually buying them, mostly because the regular black 1490 ten eyelet boot doesn't seem to have won the favour of the current-time fashionistas and thus I haven't actually seen them in any Glasgow shops I happen to pass.
I like DMs because they're good value. My father shook his head when I bought my first pair as a teenager; he reckoned they were just a ridiculously expensive fashion item. Ten years later they were finally worn out after continued use day in, day out, summer through winter, and I lamented them with a comparison to the countless pairs of lesser quality footwear I had owned and which never seemed to last as long as my affection for them.
It wasn't the name that attracted me, it was the high standard of manufacture. Therefore, I am by no means bound by any loyalty to the Doctor Martens brand. In this week's Time magazine there was a page about Oakley (the eyewear makers) and their constant innovation. It was basically an ad, like the iPad tablet "review" 3 weeks prior. Unlike the Apple article, this one had the desired effect - it brought their boots to my attention. The Elite Assault Boot was designed for the U.S. Elite Special Forces to use in assault missions (says the spiel on the Oakley site). With soles like tractor tyres, it is not stylish footwear for a lady. But the point is, these boots look like they could actually outlast ME.
I told Kev that these ultra-durable boots were only sold in a handful of shops worldwide, one of them being a London Oakley store. I mentioned that seeing as I'm going to London in April I should probably give them a ring in March to check stock levels and sizes. I told him these boots were fire-proof and puncture-proof and would keep your feet safe through a nuclear armageddon. I may have embellished a little, but he got the idea.
And he asked what they cost, so I showed him the article in Time, which sets the price at $500. A quick conversion of today's exchange rate makes that £323. And Kev's response - as if I was buying a pair of high-fashion heels from Milan which could only be worn on that one day of the year where Scotland is dry - was, "That much - for a pair of SHOES?!"
*sigh* Men! Never happy...
Doctor Martens (left) - Oakley Elite Assault Boot (right)
The most active part of the site remains the My Music page. I have just uploaded fresh and slightly better versions of Please Don't Play the Piano and The One I Loved. I'm working on Someday, Xenia, Wolf's Moon and a couple of other songs at the moment, and now that I have bongo drums I'm plotting ways to work them into the songs as well! Still quite chuffed with my recording of Moon Woman - if you've not heard it yet, please indulge me and do so.
I have removed the guestbook. To be honest, guestbooks are a relic from the 90s where people visited each other's "homepage" and left a polite message. Not on trend in 2010. It's had a good run - the guestbook has existed since I first created christinereid.com back in 2004. I'll add a feedback form to the site eventually when I get my arse in gear and learn some PHP. Until then, anyone whose opinion matters has my email address...
By now the site has had its current design for over a year (since The Big HTML Revamp), and it was always intended to be temporary - something that would suffice until I had the time to put some fancy CSS together with clever images and all. I suppose this year I should aspire to either paint something a little bit more interesting or get some photography to make the damn place more stylish (you wouldn't believe the comments I get about the green background... and pretty much all of them are from my own husband). Suggestions would be appreciated.
