"i am january..."

as i was browsing through the forwarded messages i have in my e-mail the other night, i came across a subject line that says "eow!!!"

usually, i wouldn't pay attention to forwarded messages and, more often than not, would erase them instantly...but this particular subject line caught my discriminating attention. could it be another case of an unknowing insect trapped helplessly in a bowl of sisig meal sold at the loft? or another one of those freaky alterations made on pictures by some curious hi-tech artist using the wonders of adobe?

i opened the message slowly (as i got an icy piercing look from my UM when i opened an e-mail that sounded off like a crazy japanese cartoon when i clicked on it...grrr), and the message read "kung gusto nyo ng pampagising, eto ang tignan nyo..." there were six picture attachments. i opened the first one, and true enough, it awakened the living daylights out of me when a picture of a NAKED 70ish old woman (who looked like a Filipina) popped into view! i thought it was another one of Ka Paulding's creations (doing tricks on pictures), but no man, those do not have alterations on them! imagine that body that looked like skin on a sharpei that needed stretching and ironing! most of her poses were forgiveable as i tried to be open minded about it, but i nearly fell off my chair with this one particular shot that showed her hand on her crotch! i don't have an idea why the hand had to be there, but i have not seen anything that grossed me out the way that that horrendous pose did! one male officemate asked me if i would pose that way out of desperation and given a sizeable amount of tf...i quickly replied, "no way! not even if it will change this country's course of history!" that said, i quickly closed that message and got back to work, trying to erase the horrific image in my head.

so i got home the following morning and, as usual, sat in front of the tv before going to slumber land. i scanned through almost all of the channels until i finally came across the Hallmark Channel. there was an advertisement on the movie Calendar Girls. the preview caught my attention...here's an interesting synopsis of that movie:

"Chris and Annie are the best of friends – very different, but very close. Living in a small village in the Yorkshire Dales, their peaceful lives are shattered when Annie’s husband dies of leukaemia. An active member of the local Women’s Institute, Chris enlists the support of her fellow members in a fund-raising initiative for the local hospital. Her seemingly traditional idea is to produce a calendar, with a different woman photographed for each month. Each one will be engaged in a classic WI task, such as jam making, flower pressing and knitting. Sounds traditional enough, but her idea has a radical twist - the women will be in the nude. Before they know it, the women are hitting the headlines at home and abroad. Whisked off to Hollywood on a whirlwind publicity tour, they take their turn on the talk shows and in magazine photo-shoots. Amidst the hype and glamour, the friendship between Chris and Annie is put to the test."

very creative, isn't it? it's a true to life story and unfortunately, i didn't have the chance to see the movie (as it was shown at night). so i searched the internet for it's webpage and came across the synposis, the photo gallery, video streaming, etc. the movie presented an entirely different facet of how a nude photo of an elderly woman should be looked at and appreciated...here are some of the pictures on the calendar:

"CALENDAR GIRLS is inspired by the British story of the Yorkshire
women who set out to raise money for the Leukaemia Research Fund by posing nude for an alternative Women's Institute calendar. Their courage and chutzpah turned a local story into an international media phenomenon and inspired millions of women worldwide. The calendar girls raised well over half a million pounds and even out sold the Britney Spears Calendar in the United States."

guys, you'd probably agree with me, that these women (and the pictures!) are beautiful, inside and out! i used to dread the idea of gravity taking its toll on me, but after seeing these pictures, (no John, i'm not posing nude for anyone), i somehow felt liberated...free from fearing the inevitable...having a wrinkled, furrowed and sagging body. let's face it, we are candid about facing the three inevitables, but are we ready to accept and let those pass without a nudge and exerting some effort to, at least, deter their eventuality? but then again, look at these women! they did not have to go through painful surgery for these photo shoots...yet, look at the results! this is ART (will you agree with me, Tito Rolly?). the calendar gives us a fresh outlook about aging, getting wrinkled and gray...

now although i couldn't forget those nude pictures of that old lady (talk about visual retention...and yes, I AM VISUAL), i pretty much appreciate the Calendar Girls...now, if and when i reach that age and someone approaches me to pose for something very artistic like this in order to mitigate someone else's suffering or poverty...well...maybe, just maybe...i would consider and say "i am january..."