SPF -20

Continuing the theme of regularly doing things I swore I'd never do, I took a nice radiation bath on my way to the gym today. Some might call it "tanning."

I remember a couple of years ago I was mentoring first year students at Carleton and one of them submitted this awful story about tanning. She was getting to the bottom of the phenomenon by interviewing...the owner of a Fabutan. Oh and she also read a pamphlet...that she found at the Fabutan. The conclusion was, of course, that tanning is actually GOOD FOR YOU! I immediately emailed her back and told her that if she wanted to pass she'd better get a dermatologist on the phone pronto. You know, somebody that could remind her of the whole cancer angle.

Quite frankly, back then I didn't get it. But "luckily" Toronto has opened my eyes to many things. Stuff that seemed minor in Ottawa is a big deal here. Like not having visible abdominal muscle. Or being pale in January.

Honestly I know it's bad for me. I do. But when I see someone who's got the whole albino look going on, it doesn't exactly load the pistol. I'd be a hypocrite if I judged people for seeing me the same way. And they have. Just look at my pale and near-sexless Toronto pride, for example.

So I'm going out this weekend and I want to look good. Plus all that light's gotta be good for the old seasonal affective disorder, right? So what's the harm? Oh yeah, the cancer.

PS A tip for those considering taking up this horrible practice. ALWAYS tan less than the nice lady at the tanning place tells you to. You notice that lovely orange look she's sporting? She thinks it'd look great on you too. See The Onion for a necessarily dire warning.

2 Comments:

  1. Sarah O. said...
    I don't know what's worse, the rotisserie look, or the fabric dye look. People in Britain rely more on the self-tan, and walk around like commercials for Sunny D, while I have seen quite a few crisp, wrinkly faces due to too much tanning bed here in Canada. I honestly like the variety - a healthy, sunscreen-ed tan in the summer, and that gradual fade to ivory that occurs by mid-January. Granted, white legs can look shocking at the beach come July, but if you do have the "visible abdominal muscle" that you mention, why can't you just compare yourself to a Greek god marble and run with that? Of course, I'm the Perpetual Single, so maybe my opinion has no weight here!

    Sorry for the long post. And also for divulging that I have actually thought about this, once or twice. I'll jsut go back to writing my thesis proposal, and *not* think about Richard Armitage... heee.
    Threnody said...
    Well I don't have the visible abdominal muscle yet, but I am getting pretty close.

    I'm not going for a deep, dark tan. Really I just want to take the edge off of the paleness and that'll be fine.

    Perhaps part my motivation is that I'm not going out like I used to, so I have to make every time count. By getting a tan I help my odds of..uh.."success" teehee

    Good luck with the thesis :=)

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