"bl_list" via Large Libertina in Google Reader

Bless Me O Zaftique, For I Have Sinned…

2009-11-09T22:30:06Z

This one’s straight from the WTF files.

I was perusing a few plus size clothing sites in an attempt to find a holiday dress that would both fit the way I’d like and pay homage to my gothy-Victorian-Renaissance-y aesthetic. Needless to say, no easy task. However, I was having a bit of luck on Zaftique (though, WTF #1: $120 for knit and polyester? Where was it weaved, on the fucking Moon?).

I came across one dress in particular that seemed as if it could be perfect. But although I usually don’t read the textual sales pitch accompanying the dress, this time my eye caught a word I didn’t expect in a description of a piece of clothing — “sin”.

The offending dress:

Apparently having arms and legs is a "sin" now! Who knew.

Here’s the link to the dress.

I’m trying to figure out what they mean by “sins” here — maybe you could help me out. I must be missing something, because it seems to imply that the greatest density of sins 0ccur around the upper arm and upper thigh area.

Please help me out. Because, from the way the description reads, it could only imply that “sins” is literally equivalent with fat cells. And though I’ve seen fat moralized in many different ways before, this is the first time I’ve seen the actual tissue called evil.

P.S. Anyone else see the irony in this being a scarlet-colored dress?

Good Luck —

2009-11-09T16:20:00Z

Does Nobody Good —

2009-11-09T15:51:00Z

Body Acceptance Through Belly Dancing – Guest Post!

2009-11-09T17:54:24Z

Today’s guest post for Just Move Monday comes from Amy. Enjoy!

Sometimes I can’t really believe that I have been bellydancing for five years. If you had come to me even three years ago and told me that I would regularly appear in public wearing only a skirt, a bra and lots of sequins, I would never have believed you. Add in the fact that I’d be shaking my hips at complete strangers, and I think I might have tried to have you committed.

Like most little girls, I took dancing lessons. I took ballet, modern and tap dancing, and although I was very enthusiastic, I was not very good. My ballet and tap dancing teachers were wonderful, and never once did either of them even mention weight. But all the popular girls did modern dancing, and so I convinced my mother to let me try. That was a huge mistake. My modern dancing teacher was straight out of hell, and made no bones about the fact that me and a couple of other girls in the class were simply too fat (at age 11) to be dancers. I hated her classes, and eventually gave up a few months later. I didn’t dance again for about 10 years.

I first was introduced to bellydancing at a friend’s birthday party. One of her friends had been dancing for a while, and decided to dance for her birthday, in lieu of a gift. I was transfixed. Although she was beautiful, this girl was not thin, and yet she could move her hips and stomach in ways that I had never thought possible. I had to find out how she did it! And so a few weeks later I managed to pluck up the courage to go to my first bellydancing class.

I am very lucky to dance with such a wonderful studio. From the start, my teacher made it clear that the essence of bellydance is about embracing one’s body and womanhood, and awakening the goddess within. Self criticism and competitiveness are not allowed! Although she is a fairly thin woman, she also struggled with poor self-image in the past and has made it part of her life’s mission to help women love and appreciate their bodies.

So over the course of the next year, I gradually learned to awaken my never before used stomach muscles. I don’t think most women realise how many different groups of stomach muscles we have, and how little these are used in normal life, or even at the gym. Isolating these groups of muscles and learning to control them individually is the key to producing sharp, precise hip movements, as well as slow and sensual belly rolls and undulations. Bellydancing is an amazing workout… its a combination of cardio, strength, endurance and stretching. Its also fun! To me, there is nothing more boring than exercise for the sake of exercise. But dancing doesn’t even feel like a workout (although my sore muscles the next day would tend to disagree) – it just feels like an hour of great fun, spent with good friends.

I’d been dancing less than a year when I took part in the first student showcase. It was terrifying! There were going to be at least 1000 people watching my flabby white stomach shake itself around the stage! And yet, at the same time, it was exciting, and liberating. Seeing women of all ages, sizes, body shapes and skin colours dancing together was amazing, and it was especially heartening to see how little self-consciousness and body insecurity there was. I took the plunge and did my first solo dance just over two years ago, and it opened up a whole new world of possibilities to me. I’d never thought that I would be a solo dancer with the ability to wow the crowd, and yet… I did!

Fast forward a couple of years, and here I am. I am not a professional dancer (I already have one impossible job!), but I dance regularly as part of a group and as a soloist at charity events, bellydance festivals and studio parties. Finding bellydancing was the single most important event in my journey towards self acceptance. I still sometimes have days when I feel not that happy about my body, but at those times I like to think back on the compliments and applause that i have received over the years. Just recently, a woman came up to me at a festival and told me how nice it was to see a voluptuous bellydancer with a real belly, and how inspiring I was to her!

So, for any of you who are thinking of starting bellydancing… try it!! You don’t have to perform – I love performing, but it isn’t for everyone. But, I would recommend bellydancing to even the shyest person, for these reasons: it is a fantastic, fun workout, it teaches grace and poise, and it teaches you to love and respect your body for all of the amazing things it can do.

Dancing at a holistic lifestyle fair

Dancing at a friend's gothic themed birthday party

Tribal style, for a studio party

Picture a Day - Day 342

2009-11-09T14:08:00Z

This weekend was a whirl of activity and M&M's.

My best friend came to visit with her almost five year and six month old. My husband was relegated to the back room to play Legos for a few hours til he got blisters on his thumb with the five year old. (It's okay though, he really enjoyed it no matter how much he pretends he doesn't)

Meanwhile I hung out with my friend and her baby. He makes some of the funniest faces I've seen this side of a cheeseburger craving cat.

So I thought I'd try to share some of what must have been going through his little mind during the weekend.

Essie helped a bit sometimes.
I just love how serious he is all the time.

And many many things went into the mouth. Best way to play after all.
Essie was such a good girl, sniffing and occasionally licking the baby but otherwise leaving all his toys alone.
Teething: no fun in any species. Well except for birds.

Even Essie had to get in on the act reminding us she's still our little baby girl.
Hope this little funny baby series lightened up your Monday morning. Or maybe even encouraged you to pull out your camera and follow a couple babies snapping pictures of them being adorable.

Note: Introverted Wife is in no way responsible if and when you are arrested for stalking little babies as if you're their own paparazzi. Won't somebody please think of the children!

Number 274, please step forward…

2009-11-09T10:59:14Z

5, 49, 22, 11, 475, 15, 31, 138, 29, 36, 110, 42, 54, 9, 165.

Each of these numbers represents something in my life but really, they don’t tell you much about me do they?

They could denote my bust measurement, my age, the number of my photographs I have posted at redbubble, the number of years I have spent studying at university, my shirt size, my husband’s weight, the number of my house, my hip measurement, the number of hours I spent in active labour to have both my children, my bra band size in inches, my height, my shoe size, the number of years I have been married to my husband and my weight and the number of lovers I have had. They could represent all of these things, some of these things or none of these things.

So while all those figures denote something about me and may (or may not) provide you with snippets of information about who I am, how I live my life or what is important to me, they really don’t tell you much at all. You might like to think I have had 138 lovers and that I wear a size 5 shoe. You are entitled to think that but you may or may not be correct. You would be making assumptions.

You might think I weigh 138 kilograms or 165 kilograms or 475 pounds. You may be right or you may not. Each of the numbers is an arbitrary designation foisted upon me by a scale of measurement devised by some wise person who had an overwhelming desire to keep track of things. Time, weight, size, length, volume – they are all arbitrary measures. In themselves, they mean diddly squat. Society has placed meaning upon some of these numbers. Society has placed a moral value on some of these numbers. If I have been married for 5 years, I might still be considered a newly-wed whereas if I have been married for 15 years I am doing pretty well considering the current divorce rate in this country. If I have studied at university for 5 years you might assume I am doing a double degree or postgrad study or that I study part time. If I have studied for 15 years at uni, you might think I have a student debt the size of the national deficit (and you would be right) or you might think I am have done several degrees. If you think I have had 5 lovers you might think that for a woman in this day and age who has been married twice and had another long term relationship, that 5 lovers isn’t too many whereas if you think I have had 49 lovers, you might think that is the most disgusting immoral thing you have ever heard. Or else wonder what the heck sort of pheromones I exude.

You could (and are more than welcome to) make all sorts of assumptions about my life from that list of numbers. Some of your assumptions may be right, some will not be. I am sure I am preaching to the choir here. You know you can’t learn much about me by looking at those numbers. If I hadn’t told you what any of them may correspond to, I doubt very much that anyone would have been able to correlate each number with what it represents in my life.

Yet how often are judgements made (by ourselves in regards to our own self worth or by others in regards to our lifestyle or personal characteristics) when the number corresponds to that which flashes up on our digital scales? Or when it is sewn into the tag inside our new jeans? How often are we judged, not just by others but by ourselves for those numbers? We see some numbers as bad and some as good, depending on what we are correlating those number with. 1000 dollars in our pocket is generally good, 1000 dollars owed in phone bills is not so good. 165lb might be one woman’s dream weight but it would another woman’s living hell. It is all subjective and arbitrary. They are just numbers. Numbers can’t have meaning unless we imbue them with that meaning.

Don’t give numbers power over you. Don’t let a number on the scale or on the tag in your clothing dictate to you what your life must be like. Just because you are 220, 250, 300, 450 pounds or whatever other weight, doesn’t mean you cant have a productive life. Sure, you might not but you might not at 100lb or 120lb either. Wearing a size 20 jeans doesn’t mean you can’t be a good person. It doesn’t mean you can’t be a healthy person. It doesn’t mean you can’t be a productive person. Or a smart person, or an active person. It doesn’t mean a thing other than you wear size 20 jeans. Numbers do not have moral value. They are merely designations. We (society) are putting the meaning and the moral value on these numbers. We need to realise that we are only harming ourselves by doing this. These numbers are largely irrelevant, what matters is how you feel, whether you are able to do the things you want to do in your life and whether or not you are harming anyone else in the process. And even those things change from moment to moment. Everything is fluid, everything changes – constantly. We need to not get bogged down in what today held or what we think tomorrow may hold. We need to not allow numbers to dictate our lives, especially not numbers on scales or clothing. Let’s break free from being defined and dictated to by arbitrary numbers, let’s do something outrageous and try being defined by who we are as individuals and see how that goes.

Did I Mention That Shopping is for the Criminally Insane?

2009-11-09T02:25:48Z

by sylvia

oh yeah, I did - right here. But alas, I need to remember – just because it fits, doesn’t mean I need to wear it.

So me and the Bianca went shopping yesterday. Yes. We had every intention of buying something, because duh, why else would you go shopping? But specifically, we were shopping for dresses to wear to our company’s upcoming Holiday party.

Now, I’ve been going to this party for the last 10 years, and it is always a great time (I mean, how can you go wrong with an open bar and great food, and a live band), but had the most fun last year going with Bianca. We shopped,we got our hair did, we gor our drink on, we had a great time.

So we had to find us some gorgy dresses for this year. Because last year, umm – we were the belles of the damn ball (but not like Bella). Not that it was that hard, but DAMN – we looked GOOD!

So of course we need to top last year.And today was our first shopping day.And it was a total bust.We went to 7 different stores (7!) and tried on 23 dresses, all of which were at the first store. And seriously – we bought NOTHING(well, I bought some BumpIts and Bianca bought some earrings, but still….). Some were ok, some were bad, and some were just downright WRONG. I made Bianca try those on. Since when is this a flattering shape on anyone?

And in actuality, the dress I made Bianca try on was way, WAY less flattering than this one. Plus, one on the “straps” was broken, so it was essentially strapless, and the boob section was made for someone with perhaps a -AA chest (even though it was a 22W).

So maybe we hit the stores too soon. But it is always challenging for me to find a dress because most cocktail/evening dresses are sleeveless, and although I am on the positive pathway to accepting and loving my belly, my upper arms and I are not even close to discussing the possibility of perhaps maybe in the future thinking about discussing talking about the chance that we might do some contract negotiations.

Clearly, I need to work on that.

Last year, I bought this beautiful dress from IGIGI (blindly) and I fortunate enough for it to actually fit and look great (I had never purchased anything from them before). What I loved about this dress was the sleeves (duh), the color (I always end up wearing black to these parties), and the cleavage exposure:

So the hardest thing I had in front of me was to find some shoes and jewelry, and to help Bianca shop for her dress. Fortunately, we accomplished all of that in one day. Bianca got quite lucky finding a beautiful dress and awesome shoes all within her budget (you can kinda see her shoes here).

The day of the party, we got our hair did, and we met our husbands at the hotel, got our drink on, got ready, and applied the over-the-limit yet requisite amount of edible body glitter powder and then basically fielded compliments from people all over the party. It was so awesome, because we are probably two of the fattest people in our company, but we were getting tons of positive attention that night because we were so fabulous!

So that’s why we need to top last year’s party. I’m not saying that we should go above and beyond what we did last year, but I spent so many years trying to just get by at these parties and not get noticed for what I was wearing, that it was kind of a drug last year to be in the spotlight, so to speak. Sort of how it felt like when we went to the Poison concert earlier this year.

I found this dress at Kiyonna and I am in love with it. I’ve never ordered anything from them before, but I think I’m going to take my chances and order it and hope it all works out:

Oh yeah, I totally look exactly like this

Pre-Obese: Because Overweight People Keep Gaining Weight Forever

2009-11-09T03:00:01Z

Apparently “overweight” is also called “pre-obese” now?

Conference Finds

2009-11-08T22:19:00Z

There were quite a few vendors at the conference as well as a silent auction. I discovered quite a few cool products that I wanted to share. I haven't actually tested any of these myself, and I'm not getting paid (no samples either) by anyone to write about them.My favorite vendor was the rep from a new breastpump manufacturer called Hygeia. They make a personal use pump that is very light

Mustache Update: Day 8

2009-11-08T22:10:00Z

Rick didn't shave today so his mustache is a bit hidden but you can see that's it's coming along nicely.You can donate money in Rick's mustache's name here.Don't forget to enter my beret pattern giveaway.

Picture a Day - Day 341

2009-11-08T19:04:00Z

I'd like to return a dog I recently purchased.

Yes this is the one:Now I know she looks like a dog but there's something just not right about her.

In fact I'd even dare to go so far as to say you took a cat, dressed it up a dog and sold that to me.

Proof? Why I have the proof right here:What normal dog chases after a pointer's beam of light?

What's next? She'll start curling up on the dryer and chasing after balls of yarn?

I demand a full refund and also my parrot seems to be dead.

Priorities Priorities —

2009-11-08T03:42:00Z

Booby Conference: Day 2

2009-11-08T00:33:00Z

I'm completely exhausted. Today wasn't nearly as long as yesterday was but it was full of technical lectures. I have learned so much over the last two days and feel so much more empowered about my ability to help moms with breastfeeding issues. This conference was awesome.Jessica and I took some pictures which I should be able to share with you tomorrow. I'll also post a detailed rundown of the

Picture a Day - Day 340

2009-11-07T14:30:00Z

I thought today would be a great chance to share my pumpkin cheese cake recipe. It tastes super yummy and is incredibly easy to make.

You have to start out with a nice big glass bowl to which you add 12 ounces of cream cheese.
Then add 1 cup of sugar and 3 TBSP of flour.
Mix that stuff up like crazy til the cream cheese is nice and sweet. I suggest licking the batters a few times to make sure it's just right.
Reserve half of your cream cheese mixture for later in a smaller bowl.
To the other half of your cream cheese mixture in the big bowl add 15 ounces of pumpkin, 3 eggs, and 1 TBSP of Pumpkin Pie Spice. If you're also a huge nutmeg or cinnamon fan this is the time to play.
Just beat that til it's nice and creamy and then set aside.
Now for this version I wanted to try something a little different, so I added some cocoa powder and chocolate chips to my extra sugared cream cheese mixture. But it tastes just as good without it needing to be chocolate.

You just need to add 1 TBSP of milk and then pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds.
When it comes out stir it up so it's a little runny and easier to work with.
Now just take out a pre bought deep dish pie crust and pour in the pumpkin mixture.
Finally glob the tasty chocolate (or not necessarily chocolate, completely up to you) mixture on top of the pumpkin and swirl it around with the back of a spoon so it sinks in a bit.
Into a 375 oven it goes for about 60-65 minutes until a knife comes out clean.
Add some whipped cream and there ya go a pumpkin cheesecake that's super tasty and super easy to make.
Best of all, you only wind up dirtying two bowls which is about the smallest mess I've ever made when it comes to baking.

Me and My Scales Part 4: Scales of Doom

2009-11-07T15:20:32Z

This post has been in draft for a very long time. I haven’t posted much over the past year, but I hope this addition to the Me and My Scales series will kick-start it off again. This builds on my philosophy that fat and size acceptance are an ongoing journey, not a destination.

Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

I did not one day hear the Fat Acceptance Word and shriek: “Glory!” I was not saved.

I did not go forth and diet no more.

For a long time, I still weighed myself. I still rated my value according to the number on the scale. Yes, even though I let myself eat what I wanted. And after so many years of restriction and self denial, what I wanted was food and lots of it. And I still felt the need to binge – to consume vast quantities of ‘forbidden’ food in secret – although the binges became less frequent and a smaller amount of food over time. To the point that I have not binged in years, incidentally.

(No, I’m not claiming ‘good fatty’ status – just stating that for me food restriction, AKA dieting, was one end of a wildly tottering seesaw with binging on the other end. Allowing my eating to self-regulate eventually allowed the seesaw to balance.)

Clearly, this wasn’t self care, but strangely, I feel it was a part of my path being able to care for myself.

I really don’t know how to describe the ‘in between years’ when intellectually I understood that my body did not deserve my hatred, but I hadn’t come to the point where loving my body was natural to me.

But, at some point, the scales disappeared.

I am not sure when, exactly. You would think I’d have a suitably dramatic memory of tossing the scales out the window, or running them over, or some similar angry, defiant act. But I don’t.

Nevertheless, I was somewhat anxious when my partner John commenced home dialysis a few years ago and I had to allow a pair of scales into the house (so he can work out how much fluid is removed each night – ‘dry’ weight vs his pre-dialysis weight).

They sat ominously in the corner of the bathroom: THE SCALES OF DOOM.

I worried that I would be tempted (or perhaps ‘compelled’ is the word?) to re-enter an obsession with a kilo lost or a kilo gained, that I would be on the whole diet merry-go-around again.

But, after about 15 or so years of actively not dieting, and instinctive eating, I found that I was sufficiently at ease with my size and weight to look in the mirror and enjoy my shape, not for its potential if I lose a few kilos, but as it is now.

But I still have ‘bad’ days of course. Doesn’t everyone?

Accepting one’s body as it exists today is a challenge, particularly if one is DEATHFAT.

I remember one particular ‘bad’ day a few years ago relating to the production of one of my partner’s art works. We were sourcing most of the costumes for a 70s tableau from a costume hire studio – and all they had to fit my size were hideous mumus and caftans. I was reduced to humilated tears. It worked out fine in the end – I ended up wearing a black corset over one of the groovier caftans and it looked great – but the humiliation and SHAME OF BEING FAT burned deep that day, even though I declared myself ‘pro-size acceptance’ and had for some time.

That’s part of what I mean about size acceptance and fat acceptance being a journey. We have an idealised goal in mind, but we are human. We have doubts and failings and slips and stumbles. My weight has gone up and down during this time, but that is a natural thing which doesn’t bother me either way. I haven’t been on a scale in a long time, and could only guess at what I weigh (approx 115kg +/- 5kg). At the moment, I am on a downward cycle (My jeans from last year completely slip over my hips), but that is not through any conscious decision to lose weight. I don’t feel like I am depriving myself of anything – quite the opposite in fact! However I am sure that at some point, I will be on a gaining cycle again.

We are battling against anti-fat propaganda and pressure to be thin. In fact, I believe it goes further; it’s a pressure on women in general to be aware of the *beholder* (you know “beauty is in the eye of…”, etc.) That is, we judge ourselves (and are judged) by external things – how we dress, our make up, whether our hair is professionally coifed or tousled, our size – things that are basically superficial.

The realisation that we can base our self-esteem on things other than our appearance is a big one, but very, very hard. I don’t think anyone can perfectly achieve size acceptance 100% of the time, but being aware that it is a path we can choose is a really important first step.

Posted in Body Acceptance, Body Image, Fat, Fat Acceptance, Fat Activism, Fatadelic, HAES, Life, Size Acceptance Tagged: diet, scales, weightloss

Booby Conference: Day 1

2009-11-07T04:01:00Z

Jessica and I had a long but exciting day at the LLL conference. We got pictures taken with Jack Newman and Thomas Hale, and both of us bought copies of Hale's Medications and Mothers' Milk which we had personalized by Dr. Hale. I learned so much today and I'm really excited about tomorrow's lectures and Q & A session. I'll give you guys a full rundown tomorrow evening, when I'm back home and can

Guess the Painting

2009-11-06T19:00:00Z

When I'm not cleaning, trying to get better (work you stupid white blood and T-cells!), or watching all the unfolding drama at Etsy I've tried to get in a few paintings here and there this week.

I've had an idea in my head for a while that I've wanted to put down onto canvas. It was actually from before Halloween but well one thing and another. You know how it goes.

The first step was getting the background just right.

For the fun of it I snapped a picture as that was drying and thought I'd let you all take a guess as to what I was gonna get up to.
Really, take all the time you need.

What would I do with that strange choice of shades and weird smokey background?

Nope, got all the time in the world. Do de do.

Oh and while you're deciding here's another painting I'll be putting up for sale soon. It was an idea for something I tried for a friend, wasn't quite their taste so it's going to the highest bidder.
Okay times up.

It's a foggy forest!
I have no idea where the color comes from in this second pictures, it was all in black/white/gray I assure you.
While my husband was busy KOLing last night I just cranked out a bunch of trees in various depths and shades and have my first ever ready to sell 16X20 painting.

What do you think? It needs a few more additions, some extra branches but the life of the painting is mostly there.

I've got it hanging on my painting wall right now and I swear it almost follows you around the room. Or maybe I keep expecting a ghost to pop out from behind one of the trees.

Fat Actress brings out the Fat Hate

2009-11-06T19:56:26Z

Shorter Alicia Villarosa at this website I’ve never heard of before:

Sure Gabourey Sidibe is a great actress, but could she please stop being FAT at me?

Really, that’s pretty much what she says. And the whole post is loaded down with the usual everyone knows fat people die b.s. She even uses the phrases “GAG!” and “SUPER Fat” (sic) to make sure everyone knows just how really really fat Gabourney Sidibe is. (And how totally NOT okay with it the writer is.)
I think my favorite bit has to be this:

As well adjusted as Sidibe purports to be, there’s got to be an emotional disconnect between the mind and body.

So, even though she SAYS she has no issues with her body, she obviously DOES. Don’t you know that we know everything about someone just by seeing how fat or too thin they are?
She follows this up with :

Finding comfort eating one’s way to morbid obesity is not healthy, nor is it self-affirming.

I THINK she’s trying to say that not only does Miss Sidibe have to be miserable about being fat that she also MUST be a comfort eater because how else would she get to be so fat?

Her ridiculous rant about Sidibe’s weight and anyone who would try to say that maybe obese people are I don’t know, people, is inexplicably followed up with something along the lines of …But we’re also pressured to be really thin too and that sux too OMG. As though by pointing out that being pressured to be super thin is also bad too, yeah, totally, it’s bad too and stuff, she can balance out the giant plate of steaming hot fat hate that was served up as the first half of the article.

It’s funny because she kindof almost sort of gets to a point about accepting yourself the way you are:

So how do we reconcile the bizarre extremes; the pressure to be painfully thin and the backlash that glorifies obesity? Is there a middle ground? Hopefully and tentatively, yes. Real women can, and do, have curves; people do come in all different shapes and sizes. So the message is to be the healthiest you. That means not hauling around a mountain of excess of weight that limits activities and invites health problems. Nor does it mean starving yourself or over-exercising to the brink of cardiovascular failure.

Accept yourself, you’re a real woman, that is unless you’re “SUPER fat”, and then exercising yourself to the brink of cardiovascular failure is probably a good idea fatty, don’t you know that being fat is going to kill you, stop it already.

Villarosa employs everyone’s favorite line of logic. She must be mentally unhealthy and have a poor diet, because she’s fat. Since we’re drawing unfounded conclusions about people based on very little information today, I’m going to assume this writer is miserable about her body and has decided that everyone should be too (omg especially if they are SUPER fat.) Sorry lady, you’re out of luck here.

Late update from TheRoot247’s twitter feed:

DISCUSS—-> “Fat people: thin people :: domestic violence victims:non-victims” — A Colleague

Anyone who writes for this website is clearly an idiot. I mean it. It’s not like there aren’t resources out there for people who want to research obesity or domestic violence victims. There are tons of articles and commentary which might provide some enlightening information. (Y’know based on research and facts instead of what someone thought up over their after lunch smoke break.) Instead they publish the uneducated ramblings of some obviously privileged morons with no exposure to social justice issues. Way to really raise the bar for online content. So I clearly flew off the handle after reading this tweet. They apparently attempted to clarify it and it wasn’t intended to be quite as bad as how it came off at first glance. I still am not impressed, but that is no reason for me to malign a group of writers.

The Zaftig Chicks’ Guide to…Twilight?

2009-11-06T16:21:47Z

by sylvia

Have y’all been to this Regretsy site? It is totally awesome. Bianca and I have been spending some time there lately, as it has deemed itself a notable waster-of-time.

But here’s the thing – what is the fascination with Twilight? And yes, I know I’m a little behind the times on this one, but now that the second movie is coming out and I actually forced myself to read what I could of the first book, I’ve got to ask the question.

See, there are these ladies at work that spent countless hours of countless days talking about the books and the movies. It was downright annoying. Bianca and I would joke them (behind their backs, of course) but while we were busy talking smack about D-list celebrities, they were going on about these fictional characters. Which I guess is kinda the same thing, but I digress.

Regardless, they were obsessed. And by looking at the Regretsy pages, walking by Hot Topic, and even looking for dresses at Torrid, so are thousands/millions(?) of other people.

But why?

Why has this series, these characters, struck such a chord with so many people? Is it because Bella is basically uncoordinated and mousey and then becomes the “belle of the ball” when she moves to a new school, and the cutest boy likes her? Do the people obsessed with this wish that would happen to them because they are essentially Bella?

Is it like a romance novel for the tweens, pre-teens, teens, and middle-aged women?

And to top it all off, I had a dream last night about the movie. Granted, I haven’t even seen the movie yet, but there they were, the two main characters, blabbing about something and vampires in my dream. I tend to have really boring dreams.

I remember when Harry Potter was a mad craze, too. And I actually read some of those books. Maybe I’m just not the kind of person to get all crazy about something, unless it is booze or food, so I can’t quite relate.

But what is it about Twilight that makes so many people obsessed? Bianca and I have determined that we need to watch the movie before we can really snark on it anymore (cuz Lord knows I could not get through that book, and it’s not just because of my short attention span).

But in the interim, if anyone can shed some light on the phenomenon that is the obsession with Twilight, I ask honestly – please do.

Picture a Day - Day 339

2009-11-06T14:01:00Z

I am a mac girl.

In fact, I have been my entire computing life because all we ever had at home were macs.

While other people were learning about the blue screen of death and just getting into all those big computer games I was cutting my technological teeth on Clarisworks and Nanosaur (the game where dinosaurs shoot rockets).

Much like being left handed and having to learn to adjust to the right hand favored society I quickly became computorially ambidextrous. I flew on a mac but could also perform fairly standard things on Windows. It also meant that the rare times I'd run into a mac in high school or college I could fix the problem much faster than any tech support.

Before the Apple Store or the iPod and iBook helped to bring Apple to the masses, you pretty much had to rely on your own wits to fix your computer. Tech help had almost no idea what the hell to do with it short of take your money and hide it in the back hoping it'd go away. Luckily it rarely ever broke down.

So while I'll never have anything else and generally just curse up a storm when I have to use Windows on a machine there is one thing that's always been a bit of a pipe dream for me, and it's just a piece of plastic on an axle.My dream was finally realized when after about 5 years of abuse and at least 6 moves my old mouse was starting to die.

I started what I thought would be a long search to find a compatible mouse.

Once again growing up with Macs in an all Windows landscape that was the late 90's I was trained that almost nothing was mac compatible and you had to be extra super careful and do tons of research before purchasing anything for fear it'd never work.

Though that's all changed a lot now with Intel going in iMacs and those cool white machines inhabiting just about every coffee shop. Not to mention USB. I adore those three little letters.

So what would have been a much more expensive and much longer wait 10 years ago was a quick and simple here's $15, here's an optical mouse with a scroll wheel.

Oh how I love that little thing. You never realize just how great something is until it's gone, or it was never really an option.

And because I can't show off my mouse without also showing off my mouse pad:
I think you can about guess how old that is. It's fraying on the edge, Samwise looks like his skin is starting to flake off and Sauron's pretty much faded into the background but how else can I proclaim to the world that I am a nerd? And a hobbit loving one at that?

Okay so the entire post should probably do it as well but it's hard to get in mouse pad form.

What do you have on your mouse pad? We can call it show off your mouse pad day!

Did anyone else have a mac growing up when they were computational machine non grata?