ok I'm done.

Very cute indeed, vw.

Apparently there is an anti-gay marriage group named NOM who made an over-the-top ad that some people find laughable. I found it scary in it's viewpoint.

Wired has a story on the leaking of the audition recordings for the ad [link]

cutest purse indeed

Nice pube cereal, there, Torque.

A pool, a pool cover, a ping-pong ball, and two kittens: [link]

vw, that purse is gorgeous. You are the queen of beautiful craftiness!

Daniel, those auditions were painful. I can only hope that the reason they had so many obvious non-actors (the flat affect! the pauses! the distracting jewelry! the SWAYING!) is that most of the actual actors who got called in took one look at the sides and walked out in disgust. (And oh, the man in the first reel who started at about 6:00 pinged my gaydar so hard, it was completely heartbreaking to hear him recite those lines.)

Thanks so much, guys! I'm SO pleased with how it turned out. I saw that fabric, and I HAD to make a purse out if it. Mom had just bought a pattern, and I thought it would be too perfect. So we made the most non-matchy matching purses ever. I'm hoping to get a picture of them together today, because it's quite striking!

I'm shamelessly ignoring the pubic hair discussion.

With the health discussion (I'm late on this I know) there is definitely a virtue/vice when it comes to weight and weight related issues. That's why all kinds of ads and recipes for "guiltless" whatever.

You look at celebrities - Jessica Simpson gains about 10 lbs and it's on the news. There's a "Scandal" because a picture of Kim Kardashian is run untouched and it shows her with cellulite. Then the retouched picture was ran , not only was the cellulite gone, she was slimmed down (and her skin tone was lightened, but that's another issue). And she had to defend that.

John McCain's daugther as been under attack for her weight because she's not a stick and it's another weapon that people can use against her.

Beyonce gained some weight to play Etta James, but she was still far skinnier than Etta James actually was. It was a a big deal she gained that weight, she was brave. And of course she shed it. There's no way I think anyone involved with the movie would want Beyonce to actually look like Etta. And if Beyonce gained all that weight?

Look at all tabliod rags talking about "worst beach bodies."

Then read magazine articles , or the weekly people feature about people who have lost weight. There's always talk about "I'm so ashamed I let myself get that big" or "I can't believe I did that to myself".

Women (and more and more men) risk their health with fad diets or semi starvation so they won't be ashamed of the way they look. So they won't be considered lazy or slobs.

I hear it and read it all the time, fat people are slobs, they are lazy, they have no self control, they are disgusting. And that is directed at me and people like me. It becomes personal. If you are like me (and Steph and whoever else) you have to fight against what that does to your self image and self worth.

It becomes so personal and so painful.

Edit sorry that this kinda turned into a rant.

That was an excellent rant. Excellent.

I stlll fight against those self worth issues every. damned. day.