We know you’re not going on a diet this year, so what ARE you going to do in 2010? Or what aren’t you going to do? Or whatever. Happy new year!
Posted in December 2009 …
Notes toward an elegy: In praise of food
First rule of nutrition: eat or die. Second rule of nutrition: there are no other rules. My mother died two weeks ago. She had been deeply ill – dying for so long, so slowly. What we knew would one day happen did: she lost the ability to eat. She had a stroke that made it difficult … Continue reading »
Holiday Meal Planning, Kate-Style
Shapelings, this is the first year since Al and I met that we will be spending Christmas at home instead of in Vegas. Since our families are spread all over two countries and we found out that some friends — specifically, Sweet Machine, Ottermatic, their respective partners and Ottermatic’s bestie (hereafter, OTMBFF) — would be … Continue reading »
The Gifts That Keep On Sucking
I found this list of terrible gifts. I think my favorite is Fart Insurance pills. (the list includes classist commentary on Mama’s Family. My apologizes) I tend to give gifts that are fun, but somewhat useful. For example, my step-dad is a Loctor (an MD who is also a Lawyer) and a rabid sci-fi geek. … Continue reading »
Gone to the Island of Misfit Toys, brb
Shapelings, it’s the holidays in a big chunk of the world, and we’re betting you won’t be reading as often and we won’t be writing as often, either. We may pop up an open thread or two, but we don’t have as much time to mod as usual, so please be patient and play nice … Continue reading »
Friday Semi-Fluff: Letters to Santa
Ohferbleepssake. This Christmas, the Pennsylvania Medical Society is asking children to ease up on the milk and cookies for Santa Claus. That way, his ample waistline won’t be further widened by the 787.5 million calories he would otherwise consume in that state alone. No, see, I get that large chunks of this are written with … Continue reading »
Wednesday One-Liners
Hello there, Shapelings: • No doubt you remember hearing the story of Samantha Clowes, a British bride-to-be who died of heart failure while sustaining herself on diet of 530 calories a day. Well CNN sheds more light on medically supervised diets with the unintentionally hilariously titled article Extreme diets: Life on 800 calories a day. … Continue reading »
My Heart Aches – ACHES! – For Men Who Act Like Douchebags
Yaaaaaaaaaaaawn. This is almost, but not quite, so weary-eyeroll-inducing that it’s not worth the effort of typing it all out. (And the “almost” caveat is due entirely to my gleeful anticipation of the snarky Shapeling comments to follow.) So first, Salon’s Mary Elizabeth Williams writes this about an ad campaign to designed to get British … Continue reading »
Separate But Equal Holiday Gifts
I like to think of myself as thoughtful gift giver, but after spotting The New York Times gift giving guide, I might have to reconsider. The New York Times has thoughtfully created a separate – but equal – guide guaranteed to other your friends of color in style. As Gawker puts it: So, if that … Continue reading »
Fat Visibility in YA Fiction
Shapelings, let’s talk fatness in young adult fiction. YA fiction often positions fat as shorthand for countless negative qualities the writer is too unmotivated to develop – like presenting bullies as fat kids, which reinforces fatness as something sinister and deserving of scorn – or as the genesis of a butterfly story, which reinforces fat … Continue reading »
