She also has a bizarre aversion to nuts (absolutely no euphemism intended for anyone with their mind in the gutter) not that I can blame her, I'm the same. Still- she can go to the extent of taking a bite of a chocolate bar and being able to tell within seconds whether there was peanut oil on the packaging machine. No- I didn't think Marshmallows tasted anything like peanuts either, but heck, there you go- there is no escape from the monkey manna monster- even in icing sugar and gelatin.
It's funny isn't it? How previously held conceptions can so easily be proven wrong- and how some people go through life convinced they will be. (not that I'm ever one of the perpetrators.) Like- travelling four hours to London to visit a gallery for school when your in your teens will ever be even remotely enjoyable. I mean, there's the bus journey (How many bottles can possibly fit on the metaphorical wall?!); cold tandoori chicken sandwich (it tasted awful when it was cooked...); and of course, the galleries themselves ( is that a security guard or a dinosaur?).
I've never been more glad to be proved wrong. Eating chicken and avocado sandwiches, chilling on the grass in trafalgar square before checking out some michelangelo's and notebooks written by Leonardo da Vinci- as well as seeing what Raphael would consider a first draft, and I can only say is jaw dropping- well, it wasn't a walk in the park, but it was surprisingly- at risk of sounding 'nerdy'- fun.
Then there's the guy on the bus who wanted to be a rock star and secretly reads poetry (ok, maybe not too surprising), the musician would-be archaeologist and the girl who loves pink and can make any calculation on demand, in spite of her pretty girl persona. I love it- and I've mentioned it before, but I just want to say it again. People aren't just multi-dimensional, or multi-faceted. They don't have to be suffering from schizophrenia to have multiple personalities- and nor do they need to be a genius to be brilliant. Being human is enough- and yes, sometimes it seems like you just met the dullest person on Earth- and it's possible if they say 'one more thing' one more time you'll call it a day and fall asleep. But then, they might suddenly mention the day they met a sea monster- and poof- just like that you're wide awake. (story courtesy of Martin Hesp if you want to ask)
You've got to dig- you've got to be patients, you've got to go through a full draw of small print, but eventually, out of nowhere, you find marshmallow's containing nuts, and the world is no longer quite so normal. It's just a bit more fun- got a bit of garnish on it's rough, bumbling surface, and it makes you think- lets not say the seas polluted and grey and howling like a dying leviathan. Lets just say it looks like sapphire, and today the sun's pouring gold onto the surface and there's nothing more beautiful.
There is nothing on this planet that is not stunning- it is the only thing most of us will experience and we have to figure that out. Yes- there is pain and cruelty and darkness- but you have to get your head round the fact that something, somewhere, will have catalysed it- and it will have been incredible, and odd, and surprising, and laughable- just for a second. And that's what makes it worth it.
