New Fitness Culture Scrapbook #18
This is a collection of five things I found out about in the past week that felt relevant to my work.
They can be read as individual curios, or, as I understand them, as waymarkers towards a more interesting and inclusive culture of fitness.
The other day I wanted to buy some Fru-Grains to celebrate my partner’s birthday - this was what we used to do in my family when I was growing up - but found out that they aren’t produced anymore! Thinking about that led me to this old article by the former Granta editor Ian Jack about sense-memories of foods we can’t taste anymore:
“"What is your favourite meal?" is a question travellers sometimes ask each other, like two men on a cartoon desert island, when the local food is hard to find or unappetising. Years ago, sharing a taxi for a day or two with a BBC correspondent in northern Pakistan, I carefully arrived at an answer. Parma ham and melon; pasta with a rich bolognese sauce, grated cheese and a green salad; fresh fruit including peaches served in a glass bowl filled with water and ice. My mother was still alive then, and would never have served any of these dishes. Only after she died did I change my account of perfection to the lunch she would always prepare when I went to see her: haddock bought that morning from the fish van and fried in breadcrumbs and egg; freshly made chips; a floury buttered roll; the whole served with a slice of lemon and a dab of HP sauce. My Italian fantasy can still be achieved in any good restaurant, whereas my mother's haddock and chips will never be tasted again.”
I thought of this again when reading Like a Beacon by the poet Grace Nichols.
In London
every now and then
I get this craving
for my mother’s food
I leave art galleries
in search of plantains
saltfish/sweet potatoesI need this link
I need this touch
of home
swinging my bag
like a beacon
against the cold
The poem was shared with me by Lucy Aphramor as part of their amazing Slow Knowing, Deep Learning course.
The Brazilian illustrator Fernanda Peralta draws stunning, fantastical scenes of bodies, nature and interiors.
I first saw her work in the Architectural Review accompanying a story by Josephine Budge about “care under climate crisis”.
My friend Sam showed me this Needs Inventory from the Center for Nonviolent Communication after we were speaking about the difficulty of actually identifying what we need. Seems like a nice place to start trying to plan fulfilling days from.
I almost can’t bear watching this video of the North Korean olympic weightlifter Rim Jong Sim lifting heavier despite an early knee injury at the 2015 World Weightlifting Championships but it is intensely powerful and inspiring in its own way.
She won silver that year and in 2018, and then gold in 2019, so it ends happily enough.