I guess that if you read this one, you know what I’ve been going on about. We ordered two computers, they got lost, twice, by DHL, sent again then Alienware started being incoherent about what would happen next. They finally decided to cut the suspense once we asked for a compensation – so far we had stayed 4 entire days at home in the hope we would be there for the delivery of the goods, spend many hours on the phone in order to try to get the goods ( I believe my husband had not far from 30 phone calls with Alienware- and then they say women spend hours on the phone) and by Thursday this week we had abandoned all faith in the power of communication. We were told that Alienware doesn’t do compensation but we should still complain nonetheless, The computers would be sent through DHL once again ( is it stupidity from their part or loyalty, I wouldn’t know). We were also told that the computers should be with us on Thursday at the latest in a spin version of the last interlocutor my hubby had the honour to talk to. Nothing happened on Thursday. But on Friday morning we were advised that DHL had the computers and miracle they had arrived at Heathrow. Nobody was able to leave Heathrow on that day, more or less,due to the fog that delayed hundreds of passengers but here you go, never ask stupid questions. So we waited to see if DHL in London was able to hold on to the goods until they’d reach our doorstep, and they did.
So after an intolerable suspense we finally didn’t need backup. The leads were missing, but hey, nobody’s perfect. My kids can know open the boxes and look at their gift with tears in their eyes. They will wait until next year before using them, which is nothing compared to the anguish we had to go through.

Next year, I am giving them money.

Despite the plethora of magazines that you find in the occidental world, I am always surprised to see how little women know about some general facts in fashion. The sad result is that most of them don’t really know what to wear and how to wear it. I do not intend to become the next Trinny & Susannah but I am also fed up to be asked the same questions.
The first truth is that no origin is better than another. This said- how nice can I be- if you want to look slim, don’t wear French couture. And if you don’t like frills and complicated patterns, do not turn towards English couture. You disagree? You are intrigued? Let me explain.
To understand how to be stylish, you have to figure out how and by whom the clothes have been created. Let’s start with the French. When I say French, most women think Dior, Yves St Laurent, Chanel and Agnes b. Dior is runned now by an English man, Chanel by a German one and Yves St Laurent changes all the time. Agnes b. is still at the head of her line so there is not much surprise here. But when you buy French couture what you ask for is this little je-ne-sais-quoi that makes the French women appear stylish and in control of their seduction. So despite their international origins the masters behind the French labels or names are doing their best to give their clients what they demand. So now look at the French women. Lately quite a few books have come out about their extraordinary waistline and incredible look. So if you want to appear effortlessly stylish, groomed, made up and grown up – in other words female- you buy French clothes. The good thing about it is that they fit any age. You can wear Agnes b. at 15,25,45 and beyond without looking out of date. This is called the capsule wardrobe. It means that you get a few basics that you can marry indefinitely for the rest of your life and that a single item can update when you’re looking for a change. But beware: French women don’t let themselves go. So in return you have to be average in order to wear these clothes. You can’t be more than half a stone overweight ( 3 kgs) and you can neither be small or tall. As for your humps, nothing too big above the waistline or too small under. French women are the only ones who dare to wear a plunging neck jumper on a flat chest and a low waist jeans on hips that make heads turn. They are not afraid of flashing bright colors- but only one at a time on some basic combination of clothes that would have appeared boring otherwise. They also play with foulards and jewellery to add a striking touch to a discreet outfit. Shoes and bags are usually expensive but never out of fashion. Now Dior has gone excentric since Gallianno arrived and Chanel has a German rigueur thanks to Mr Lagerfeld. As for St Laurent, only long and skinny women can get away with it.
When you turn towards the Italian, you have an entirely different picture. Italian women have always been seen as of generous in shape and the closest derivative you have to the stereotypes of the mamma. The results are schizophrenic as a whole. You either like Dolce & Gabbana for their dresses and clothes that gives a waist, tits and bum to any ironboard or you prefer Armani who makes them disappear altogether. Armani has become incredibly popular with young greedy bankers – especially it’s Emporio Armani ‘s line as it makes you look tall and thin. It also makes you look like one of these rich heirs that you see nonchalantly wandering from party to party in every posh magazines such as Hello, Vogue, Baazar and Tatler in the impossible research of a sense to their life until their parents die. The Armani line is better worn by people who are afraid to look out of place and want to be seen in ” the sure thing”. It usually says that you’re loaded and have no clue about what you should wear but want to appear tasteful and above any materialistic ideal.
Now the American are all about the simple way of life crossed with the American dream. Both refers usually to past times of grandeur and the worship of youth. So it has to be practical, comfortable and opulent. It is not so hard to tell the difference between Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan. They have targeted their clients and never changed their direction. Donna Karan is for the active woman -whatever her shape. It’s about a woman wo wants to please…to other women. It still screams power though as it shows pure lines and materials. Calvin Klein is for the working woman who doesn’t have time to waste. Ralph Lauren is the epithom of the (fake)gentleman farmer who takes his holidays at Martha Vineyard or Aspen. A classic.
I saved the indescripible for last. The English have a taste for the past and another for their multiple colonial paradises lost. They never surrender and it shows. Almost every year you have a line reminding you of the Scottish, the Victorians, the Mods and the Punk era. Eccentricity being part of their roots they obviously have to display it on the sidewalk as well as on the pages of their glossy magazines. The results are quite interesting but challenging. It is not always easy to mix summer flowery skirts with the harshness of winter. That doesn’t discourage one bit the ladettes of London when they have to display naked feet, legs or midrift by – 5 degrees. And there is sometimes a very small step from genius to vulgarity. With this ideal of constant mismatch in mind most women have forgotten to check that their body shape can support the style of their clothes. But if you want to show your individuality, your strength of character and your courage, I would advise you to wear English clothes. It takes sometimes to figure it out – let alone get accustomed to it- but it will certainly put you in contact with a great variety of individuals that you would have never thought of talking to – from builders to millionnaires. Now from Chloe to Burberry you have enough choice to let your inclination to good old classic be revisited and revised in order to show that you’re still in even when you’re out.
I haven’t covered here the nightlife requirements of the female wardrobe as it could cover an entire new chapter. But here again, I would take a look at the different nationalities dpendent on the event I am going to ( and the reasons why I have accepted the invitation in the first place).

The final straw is a simple advice. Do not dress yourself as who you are. Dress yourself as who you want to be.

Most of the traders I know turn towards NLP to raise their chances of becoming a better trader – this means ” to make more money” or for some of them ” jut to make money”.
Does it work?Hell yes. The funny thing about it is that it doesn’t matter whom they’ve gone to see, be it Paul McKenna, Richard Bandler, Michael Breen or Tony Robbins, or the first coach they have heard about. The result is almost always the same; their trading improves.( Their bank account should also improve, at least enough to cover their coach’s bill. If not, dump the coach). My wild guess here is that they would have made money anyway at some point as they are simply committed to do so. Now kidding apart, I believe that NLP is useful. Not only for trading, for life in general. And some general rules can be applied for both things. Rule number one: the difference between winners and losers is that winners lose more often.
You think I’ve lost it?.Think again. A winner is someone who gets where he wants to go. He usually aims for the top; top of the world, top of the guests list, top of the biggest pile of money. But there is no miracle about it- unless he ( or you or me, but actually not me ) have a very rich daddy or mummy or wife or someone who pays the bills, which is not so rare anymore- a winner has to work hard to achieve his/her dreams. He/she takes every opportunity to go forward. And he/she fails, but he/she tries again. Can I stop being politically correct? I’ll say “she” but you are allowed to read “he” or “they”or ” you” or “me” or even “we”. This cleared, let’s come back to the subject. A winner knows how to fail when she does: she learns a lesson about it and tries another way until she succeeds. So she adds experience to her knowledge and little by little, this becomes second nature ( and that’s why it is sometimes called intuition in the traders world).
A loser on the other side looks at things and get ready to play ( life or trading) when he’s ready. ( Nope. It’s not a she here. I am talking about someone else). So he’s never ready or when he is, he plays, fails, considers the situation, lets the opportunities pass, tries again when it seems safe to do so, fails or succeeds, gets scared a little bit, gives up until he’s really ready and so on. In other words, he misses the point entirely.
Of course I am not the devil advocate. I am not telling you that you should jump on everything you believe is an opportunity without second thought. That’s why it took me 2 entries to explain to you that you should have a plan. But once you have it, follow the plan. Now you may have a different course of events-trades- on your way that may force you to reconsider your initial plan. But if you’re clever, that should be part of your plan too.
So at the end a winner gets more than he first gave when a loser is the opposite. And if you stop and consider this for a minute, you will see how true this is in every domain.
I stop the lecture for today as Christmas is already coming. My time to be lectured – although don’t expect to see me at the mass.

No, I actually didn’t start dieting. I don’t intend to diet, actually, just lose weight. I know that most people set goals like : ” on Monday I’ll start dieting…” and on Tuesday they blow it because a piece of chocolate crossed their path and they had to execute the whole box. So the new goal is set for the week after and they use the rest of the preceding days just gorging themselves so they have more weight to lose on the following Monday.
But I believe in getting prepared. So I am tidying up my fridge and my food cupboard, setting times for exercise and reading a few books to give me a clue. My first trial is to get my mind ready so I have started to listen to Paul McKenna’s cd ” I can make you thin” ( included with the book of the same name). The book gives you sensible advice and no magic trick. So far nothing new under the sun. But I am more than curious about the cd as it puts me straight into trance when I start to listen to it. I am not able to remember anything after I have heard that I am supposed to count backwards, a task that is even made more difficult as counting in English is not among my linguistical habits. But I admit that I do wake up when I am ordered to. So I expect the suggestions to work.
Now, what is the power of NLP when targeting the problem of losing weight, staying thin and becoming healthy?. NLP for the non initiated means Neuro Linguitsic Programming. Now check Wikipedia to find out more about it. NLP includes a form of hypnosis invented by Milton Erickson and refined by Richard Bandler and probably John Grinder, the 2 co founders of NLP. Milton Erickson used to say that hypnosis was not very successful when used for weight loss but Paul McKenna, who’s built a whole business out of it, seems to believe otherwise. So I am willing to give it a go, especially as it is supposed to be without pain, no effort and easy. In five words, too good to be true. But what do I have to lose- except a few kilos? So here you go.
Lots of people think that NLP is the answer to all their problems. That hypnosis is going to get rid for you of anything annoying. But the truth is, despite all sorts of claims, that it doesn’t really work this way. It can,of course. But it is not a general rule. The truth is that you have to repeat the exercises, the new behaviour and the hypnotic suggestions in order to make it work. I have seen people cured of their phobias, bad habits, depression and/or heartbreak in a wink. I have seen people becoming alert, enthusiastic or happy after a session. But for any new situation, or any long haul change ( like becoming more successful at work you have to work on it and do it often.
I have given in the past the Paul McKenna book to a few friends and some members of my family. They all told me that they had lost weight the following week(s). But after 3 months most of them were back to square one. When asked what went wrong they all told me that listening to the cd again and again was fastidious. They had better things to do- like watching TV while sipping wine and munching a packet of crisps. So here you go. What you need first is discipline and motivation.
When I am in dieters’ kitchen I sometimes see pictures of their “old self” (i.e. when they used to be thin) on the fridge’s door. It supposed to be helpful and keep them focus on their goal. But my advice in the matter comes from Richard Bandler; he said that if you want to lose weight, you have to study the people most successful at it- the anorexics. I happen to have met a few in the past, and one thing I remember is that they all told me that what was the starting point of their illness ( anorexia is an illness by the way ) was a picture of themselves on which they were fat and in their own eyes ugly. So maybe you should have an ugly picture of you on the fridge or on the mirror of your bathroom, showing you how fat you look. I hope that this doesn’t make your partner run away when he realizes who he lives with.
New Year’s Eve is not so far, so I am getting ready. And I shall of course start my weight loss program on a Tuesday, or a Wednesday,or whatever. When I feel like it.

I am one of the lucky few who never put on weight. I could eat like a horse and with no shame or guilt just gob any piece of cake or chocolate that met my way. As I have had quite a bad health all my life, I ‘ve been wary since my twenties about eating lots of fruit and vegetables and always read a lot of books about diets and nutrition. I never smoked ( although I tried a few times) and never drank alcohol ( got wasted twice seriously in my teenage years and don’t like the taste of alcohol. I know. How sad). I did not do drugs either- I also tried that. But I don’t have an addictive personnality so I have no merit.
I am fully aware that I probably pissed off a lot of women who saw me eat. My sisters were disgusted. They kept telling me that if they even ate half of what I was able to take in they would be obese within six months. I didn’t understand. But as I had no concern about myself, I didn’t care either. I was though sensitive to the female problems of dieting and weight gain. Throughout my reading and my learning I was able to dispense good advice on supplements to take that won’t kill you in the short or long run and nutritional advice about how to lose weight without losing your mind, your friends, your sense of humour and being exhausted on top of this. And when I had in front of me a woman I didn’t like I had no qualms about pigging out in front of her. I acually had to turn 38 when I realized how powerful that could be and start doing it- although not very often I must say.
Now I had heard the warning more than enough: when you turn 40, your hormones play havoc and I shall see what I shall see. Well I’ve hit 40 two years ago and I am still thin, thank you very much. I measure 163cm ( 5 foot 4″ ) and I weight 51kg ( about 8 stone ? – or more exactly 112 pounds). All’s well. Yeah, except that I have put on about a stone and a half since I was last pregnant and I haven’t lost it. I blame of course trading; sitting behind a computer all day has been a huge change in my habits. I used to cycle for 45 minutes every morning, walk 2 to 4 hours a day, have 2 minutes of stretching and so on. Now – nought. Niet. Nada. I get up from bed in the morning and end up behind my computer that is exactly 2 feet away from my bed. That’s not good.
Of course my clothes size has changed. I went from a 6 to an 8 (UK size or if you prefer from a 36 to a 38 French). I don’t like that at all. I have saddle bags, a tummy, large hips and a bum. Still as flat chested as an iron board, but I have always been okay with it. It allows me to have deep decolletage without being vulgar ( this is very French. You don’t have it, flaunt it).
So now I shall have a New Year resolution. I will lose weight. I do not intend to become a Bridget Jones and give here my daily routine of sins, but I will record my progress or lack of and my different trials of diverse methods in order to reach my normal weight. I expect to lose about 5kgs within the next 6 to 12 months, add some muscle and go back to being fit.
And as for the other changes- sagging, grey hair, wrinkles and hormonal fluctuation and so on- I shall fight. Not much, just a little bit. I am quite happy to be my age. And I don’t look too bad – I hope. As long as I don’t double check in the mirror.