Russian Super Models & Aryan Babies.....or April's Secret Origin Story. Time for some humble bragging, as I think I have mentioned before customers at work have more than a few times asked if I am or more realistically were a model.

Time for some humble bragging, as I think I have mentioned before customers at work have more than a few times asked if I am or more realistically were a model.

doing my best Russian super model selfie pose

To be asked if I am a model is flattering and really makes my day. Most of these welcome compliments come from older women so perhaps to them I don't look completely over the hill.

To be serious for a moment I never dreamed that someone would ever say that about me. It was only a few years ago when I hated to look at myself in the mirror and that I feared that transition would be an impossibility, that I was too ugly too male.

The other day I was feeling rather unattractive when one such customer approached me. She said, "you must be a model, you are so tall and thin"......followed by a pregnant pause....then she added "and pretty too". 

LOL, she had no idea how close she came to death at that moment. Oh well two out of three ain't bad.

Later in the day a very well dressed and rather handsome man came in. He said that I looked like a Russian super model.

damn, I wish

For once I was at a loss for words (did I mention that he was really hot). A quick discussion of my racial/ethnic background followed. No, I told him I am English but perhaps there is a rouge Viking gene in there (you know from all the raping and pillaging) to account for blonde hair and blue eyes.

Honestly I am often asked if I am Scandinavian, I usually joking reply that yes, I am pure Aryan.  

Later in the day I was speaking with my mother about the super model comment and she told me an interesting story. My parents emigrated from the UK to Canada when I was very young. Passage had been booked on the Queen Elizabeth but a strike meant that they sailed on the German liner Bremen.

Not the one sunk in 1941 obviously but rather the post war Bremen, the flagship of the Norddeutscher Lloyd line (North German Lloyd). The Bremen was actually the former French troopship Pasteur that was refitted at great cost in 1957-1959 for sixty-five million DM.

On July 9, 1959, she began the Bremerhaven - Southampton - Cherbourg - New York route. A luxury ship she was considered one of the most beautiful passenger liners of her time.

OK sorry for the history detour, I can't resist, back to the story. My pink skin, blonde hair and blue eyes were apparently the subject of much on board appreciation. One German couple took a particular interest remarking that, "I was exactly what Hitler wanted".

Yikes...shades of Boys from Brazil. That reminds me of the Nazi Lebensborn program to promote the breeding of pure Aryan children between SS men and racially pure European women.

cheesy 1961 movie about Lebensorn program

The most famous child of this program was Frida Lyngstad, the dark haired singer for ABBA.

end note:

The Breman made its last New York run in 1971, after going through a series of owners the proud ship that was first launched in 1939 and took Canadian troops home after the war and French troops to Vietnam sank in the Indian Ocean in 1980 on its way to be broken for scrap in Taiwan.  Perhaps a better fate....

Hugs,

April




  

Small Victories, the black dog is brought to heel for the time being and a full tank of gas

Greetings cats and kittens, the weather continues to be siberian in its intensity but we soldier on.

work outfit, any colour you want as long as it is black, luckily black is both my favourite colour and the colour of my aura

I have been focusing more on my career job search than dating and although success in either promises happiness I know how deeply I want to be in a real relationship.

This is a quick post as I have two resumes to get out this evening.

Despite the weather, I have not experienced the crushing depression that had me in its grip since well before Christmas. But lets not count our chickens before they hatch, I am celebrating this small victory and hoping it will last.

Perhaps only Cassidy at Cassidy's Quest knows how awful the last few months have been for me and who helped me get through it.

In the spirit of celebrating small victories, happiness is a full gas tank

and a 1UZ-FE to turn all that yummy crushed dino juice into power and global warming. Local Petro Canada had run out of regular gasoline so I was able to fill up on high test at regular prices! woot woot!!!

Sometimes the best rockabilly is Italian rockabilly...

Hugs,

April

Dating and Some New Photos, I recently returned to a dating site and so far I have had offers for casual sex, fake profiles (eighties era photos), Benin nationals (its besides Nigeria) and finally someone asking if i was an escort.

I recently returned to a dating site and so far I have had offers for casual sex, fake profiles (eighties era photos), Benin nationals (its besides Nigeria) and finally someone asking if I was an escort.

I don't know whether to be offended or flattered by the last question....

I was feeling very positive about a follow up interview with a software company in Toronto. Won't know anything till March or April. They must like me as this is my fourth visit!!!

driving back from interview on the 401 highway

It was interesting as only a few minutes into what turned into a two plus hour meeting, the president says how at ease and personable I am compared with my last visit.  It was like "I had become more comfortable in my own skin". OMG I could have elaborated on that statement! Personally i think it was the red nail polish and matching lipstick....red is a power colour after all.

bathroom interview selfie, I know in this photo the suit is very Marlene Dietrich but I wore with  a black skirt and pumps

In my defence on the prior visit I was defending a marketing analysis I had written on a very complex industry. Apparently they really liked what I wrote but I came off as a bit subdued. Yeah I was trying hard to get the job and was still a little worried about passing.

At this point on my journey passing has become less of a concern. I pass in my current job and no one there knows my history. As far as I know no customers have ever read me.

It is amazing to look back and realize that I have not worried about passing for a while, that I can meet new people in either in work or a potential romantic setting and forget that I was ever someone else. It is beginning to feel that who I am now is who I have always been. In a sense that has always been true but now it shows on the outside too and I am finally beginning to realize that.

I worked Valentine's day, spent the evening with my daughters then went home alone. I do want a relationship, I see friends around me finding happiness together and I long for that.

The winter drags on and the promise of spring seems impossibly far away. My vintage cars are in storage so I have no artistic outlet. I went to visit my Stutz the other day, to pay for the next few months of storage and make sure no mice had dared go near her. The goal is to debut the Blackhawk at next years Detroit Autorama....see you there cats and kittens.

Hugs,

April

Here is Dave Edmunds, Never Been in Love, I still have this one cassette

Snowpocalypse II or as Archer would say...."eat a buffet of d*cks winter"

Like an idiot I said I would work today, driveway is shovelled (or one L, shoveled in American English) but Lexus is rear drive and even with snow tires will not get through unplowed neighbourhood streets to get to highway.

I HATE WINTER....Shovelled twice today and no doubt will do a third time before the day is out

earlier today...about two minutes after clearing driveway

                                                                         not today!!!!

Lets warm up with the Beach Boys on the British TV show Ready, Steady, Go

this cut from Dave Edmunds might be more appropriate,

Almost Missed a Month, a good friend mentioned I had never missed a month posting....

ok ok so sue me, I've been lax at posting. Its cold here and my fingers are too numb to type.

The above sketch is a portrait of me by my eleven year old daughter! I think she has captured my enigmatic beauty....LOL

I've got a bunch of photos and junk I have yet too post but need to move a lot of files around. In the mean time enjoy the one guy I always go to when I'm feeling blue, George Formby!

here is a great documentary on the man and his music

Hugs,

April

Most Pathetic Xmas Dinner......Ever

but speaking of turkey, check out my fav pop punk band the Dollyrots with a bopping version of Little Eva's 1963 Let's Turkey Trot. The original on the Dimension label went to #20. It was even covered by Jan and Dean and used in the movie Easy Rider.

I don't know what it is but this song is so crazy its brilliant. Enjoy the ear worm....

Added My Road Redux bonus feature, Rita Pavone's French cover from 1965:

as to the frozen dinner, not bad actually.