The One Kind of Shopping I Don't Do...

I've been reading lately about how some people touch up their photos in Photoshop, which is a fascinating practice IMO. I mean, if it works for Heidi, why shouldn't it work for you? And the technology is so available it's practically democratic!

Of course, it won't shock you to know that I don't do this. Naturally, if I did, my arms would look more like Cindy Crawford's and my boobs like Laetitia Casta's and my stomach like Gisele's and my legs - no, actually I'm keeping the legs as is. You get the point.

And knowing me, if I touched up my pictures, I'd go way overboard - like a US Vogue cover - and you wouldn't even know me to bump into me on the streetcar. Which isn't exactly genuine.

The Skinny on why I don't use Photoshop:

• I know I blame everything I don't do on my age but, seriously, the more likely you are to need it, the less likely you are to have it on your computer. I have access, of course, but I don't so much care to learn how to do it well. Is that terrible? Don't we all look a bit crappier for laziness?

• While I've adapted amicably to so many of the unfathomable 21st century conventions (Brazilian wax, anyone?), I'd feel a bit artificial about photoshopping. I mean, I wouldn't bother just to get rid of some red-eye. I'd be sculpting the abs and the ass and the boobs and the shoulders and then I'd give my nose a little shaping and I'd make my hair fuller and I'd probably end up a a whole new colour. And, seriously, I like me! So where does it end?

Today, I'd like to know: Have you ever (or routinely) photoshopped yourself? Why? Do you have strong feelings about the practice?

No, Really, I Want To Know

For a long time now, I've been kicking around the idea of writing about diet - specifically my diet - and my rather well-researched opinions about nutrition and (for want of a snappier descriptor) healthy lifestyle. I'm aptly qualified, you see, because my mother says I should be a naturopath - but then she also says I should be a therapist, stylist and talk show host - so just perhaps we should take that vote of confidence with a grain of salt!

I haven't yet posted on these topics, for a number of reasons, among them: It may be the most boring thing you've ever read; I'm not a health professional (not that this has ever stopped me in the past); and, let's face it, what works for each of us is based, in no small measure, on how individual chemistry gets it on with basic science. So I'm not exactly out to promote the book tour. Oh, and then there's the small matter that I'll need to write multiple posts, just to scratch the service of my high-maintenance ways.

Let's also call a spade a spade. There's eating and living well to be healthy (worthy goal) and eating and living way to be more lovely (also a worthy goal, IMO, but one that's fraught with complicated subtext). It's hard for me to detangle the two but that distinction may be very relevant to some of you...

So let me put it to y'all out there in Bloggywood: Might you actually want to hear about my strategy and opinions? (Please don't feel the need to be polite. Nothing is more wretched than coming to your fun fashion blog only to hear about some idiot girl's food diary...)

Oh, and while I'm asking the questions: How much time and/or energy do you invest in maintaining your health through diet and exercise / looking the way you want to look?