Articles written by Amanda Le Bas De Plumetot

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About me - Amanda Le Bas De Plumetot

In a previous life I worked as an advertising copywriter. I have way too many pets and they are so badly behaved. I love to write but I earn my keep by selling cinema tickets.

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Food & Drink > Dining & Restaurants (Other) Should restaurants be required to list calories and fat grams on their menus?: 7 of 163
Oh my heavens - NO! Why on earth would we want to do that? For the sake of some guilt trip? To punish fat people? To make eating out as unpleasant and boring as possible?Okay, yes. I'm standing up right now and being counted: I'm fat. Overweight. Obese. In fact, morbidly obese. I'm afraid to get on my bathroom scale because I... More..
Society & Lifestyle > Personal Morals & Values Why we make mistakes: 12 of 236
We fell into water and learned to swim.Mistakes are a function of learning.The baby who gets up and then falls over just made a mistake. It made a walking mistake. It learned that if you get up you can fall over. It also learned that falling over did not hurt that much and that it could get up again and have another go becaus... More..
Creative Writing > Memoirs Testimonies: Struggling with ongoing weight issues: 1 of 17
How often I have avoided the camera at parties and gatherings, or offered to take the photo rather than be in it. Rather than be reminded, one more time, of what I look like. How often my gaze has skipped away from seeing my reflection in the glass fronts of shops or those big, shiny mirrors in public rest rooms. How often I ... More..
Creative Writing > Humor Humor: Work: 12 of 203
I have just about the nicest job in the world: I sell cinema tickets. Possibly the only bad thing about my job is the uniform. All very well for the tiny girls I work with, but a real squeeze for my fat behind. And low on the hips and not much give. All of which adds up to the fact that I'm pretty sure I show off my underwear... More..
Society & Lifestyle > Personal Morals & Values Have you ever made a promise to yourself and never kept it?: 2 of 32
How long is "never"?Just after my son was born (he's 21 now) I became a member of Weight Watchers. A year of diligent diet and exercise got me down to my goal weight and I became a lifetime member. This is something most people would find very hard to believe as they look at me now 60kgs overweight.So many years have gone pas... More..
Creative Writing > Short Stories Short stories: Childhood memories: 10 of 117
Summers were longer then, and warmer. Winters were colder, the crack of ice on puddles, the bite of wind, rattling the windows, the coziness of making a cubby under the clothes-horse in front of the fire. Dad watching football, Mum with her knitting.We lived with Mum's mother on a 1/4 acre block with a garden full of fruit tr... More..
Travel > Travel Diaries & Adventures (Other) Why do you like where you currently live?: 12 of 124
Is it a contradiction to say that I live in a rural urban suburb?As I write this, I look down my 1 acre block to a eucalyptus-green valley with flashes of red as distant deciduous trees take on their autumn colours. I can hear the low drone of cars on the main road that connects us to the city and the bell from our little sch... More..
Creative Writing > Reflections Reflections: The top 10 things you want to do in your life: 35 of 287
10: Be a daughter. Actually, I already am, but my parents took that risk. They decided to be parents and they had me. They gave me everything they could in life, and although I can sneer occasionally and say "they should have done better" the fact is, they, like most parents, did the very best that they could. They deserve so... More..
Politics, News & Issues > Death Penalty Is the death penalty an effective crime deterrent?: 20 of 118
Of course it isn't. Just take a look at history. Take a look at the world. Is there a lowering of crime in the places where capital punishment is used? No. Simple as that.Let's face it, there are two reasons that the death penalty is used. One is a kind of social revenge against transgressors of whatever law and the other is ... More..
Food & Drink > Dining Etiquette Should cell phones be banned in restaurants?: 36 of 207
I thought we were over this whole "cell phones are evil" thing. I mean, come on. Why is having a cell phone in a restaurant any worse than having a teenage boys or a small child in there with you? Frankly, my cell phone is far better behaved than most of the kids I've seen. Most of the time it sits in my bag and no one would ... More..