The sketch is from a very short "one-minute pose", which got splashed with red wine during the break and I wasn't even drinking that evening, but later I worked up the sketch and was pleased with the results... and it seem to fit my musing on pure chocolate, red wine and cold showers.
I switched from the deliciously rich and silky milk chocolate to the strong and sharper pure chocolate as an act of self-defence about 10 years.
Putting aside the superior health benefits of pure chocolate over milk chocolate, my initial "act of self-defence" was to protect my chocolate stash. I've always kept a cupboard full of chocolate and while I don't eat chocolate every day, I do most days.
About twenty years I read a wonderful book called "Eat Chocolate, Drink Alcohol and Be Lean and Healthy" (by Andrew Jobling). This is a great book; I suspect it was targeted at an American audience who tends to see chocolate as fundamentally unhealthy? While I can't say this book completely changed my life, I was already a long way down the road to finding out what the good things in life are about. However, it was definitely a big help. Upto reading this book, I thought of Chocolate and Alcohol as indulgences which are OK only if consumed in moderation?
Let's be honest, while almost undoubtedly Chocolate and Alcohol are best "consumed in moderation", I'm not always that good at moderation. And just maybe that is okay? There are days when I consume an extreme amount of chocolate and coffee, which is a very good combination. Typically, I like to finish off those sorts of days like these with chocolate and a glass of strong red wine, especially red port.. a perfect combination.
There are also days when I don't drink. Typically I don't like to drink more than 3 or 4 days a week? I recently moved from Amsterdam to Barcelona, both very beautiful and cool cities in their own right. After 12+ years in Amsterdam, it was heartbreaking to leave and in many ways, 2022 was a difficult if wonderful year for me.
I've been in Barcelona 5 months, and while I'm keen to learn both Castilian and Catalan, so far, I'm limited to simple expressions like
Tiene dos gatos y una guiterra
Me gusta cantar y dibujo
Vivo con mi marido venti tres años
This is a decent start but I'm still feeling a bit alienated in this very big new city. I'm not typically a big-city sort of person… I was born and bred in Norwich a historically significant city upto the 19th century; now it is a beautiful historic university city, popular with students and tourists, as well as the locals.
Barcelona is a fun city, with always a lot going on and plenty of friendly people to drink with. I love singing & drawing and there is plenty of socials in Barcelona. So over the last few months, I've been drinking a bit harder than I would normally like?
So for the last 10 days, I've had a drinking break, which is a long time for me, but it feels good. Not just as I feel like I have had a well-earnt rest from drinking, I'm also looking forward to having a drink with friends again - absence makes the heart grow stronger.
So what about the cold showers? A couple of years ago, I started hearing about the WimHof method, which is now extremely popular in Amsterdam… over the last couple of years, I got used to seeing people bathing in near-zero temperatures? My sister-in-law appears to have full WimHof as well. Apparently, she has regular baths in the open air and unheated public baths in London. I'm not yet 100% convinced, yes, most of the people practising cold water bathing/showers look very healthy but firstly, correlation is not causation? Personally, I have started taking partially "cold showers", as recommended by WimHof I start off warm and then reduce the temperature until it is no longer pleasurable. Also, as recommended by WimHof, by breathing deeply, I can take quite a lot of cold water; the sensation is most exhilarating and feels good.
