So, I have this question

It's about weight issues, so if you're easily offended and plan to flame me after reading, let me save you the time - if you flame instead of discussing nicely and intelligently, your opinion means nothing to me. Kiss kiss!
Also in the interest of full disclosure, I am obese. Significantly so, according to the NIH - a BMI of 37.1 which comes out on the NIH scale as "WAY FAT". I may be paraphrasing. (And it has nothing to do with my pregnancy, as I have not gained much of anything yet.) And it doesn't seem to affect my self esteem (at this point in my life) one little bit. I rock, and I know it. :-D
So, there's this study on weight discrimination, and there's a little bit of hand-wringing going on for the subject. There's lots of discussion about how we're all getting fatter, how our kids are getting fatter and showing signs of heart disease and weight related ailments before even teenage years. How all our food is junk and our lives revolve around TV and computer. Doctors and scientists point to this alarming trend as signs of the apocalypse. I think we can all agree that this seems to be the case (the increasing weight part, not the apocalypse part). There is where opinion diverges. Some people say that overweight people are just slackers and slobs, they're lazy, they should pay extra for their healthcare and their weight related issues, including wider airplane seats, extra for the bus, (OMG, think of the extra gas you'd save if your ass wasn't so big!) etc. Then there are the people who wring their hangs and say, Oh, it's not their fault, it's soooo hard to lose weight and stay active! We mustn't discriminate just because someone is overweight! Oh my goodness.

GAG.

Now, I'm not going to try to tell you that our version of "overweight" isn't completely fucked, or that it's easy to lose weight and stay thin. BUT. I know people who have done it, successfully. (I have not, but that's due to my choices, not my genes or the fact that Twinkies magically absorb into my skin because Nature says I should be fat.) However, our collective national weight is INCREASING. 100 years ago, people were, on average, thinner than they are now. Someone is trying to tell me that it's all genetics that make people get fatter over generations? Fatness as natural selection? I don't think so. We are becoming a nation of sitters. Especially people like me. I sit at a desk all day, then I come home and either sit in front of the internet or sit on my ass and knit or spin. I HATE exercise. I HATE to sweat. I LOVE to eat, the fattier the better. Given the choice, all things being equal, I will NEVER choose to exercise, or pick broccoli over ice cream. And this makes me fat. Yes, I had fat parents, and skewed food issues as a kid, but MY CHOICES RIGHT NOW are what makes me fat and keeps me that way. Knitting is more important to me than exercising. Air conditioning in my car is more important to me than walking to work. If the loss of some opportunities comes along with those choices, shouldn't that be a consequence I'm willing to accept?
I mean, if your doctor reeked of smoke, wouldn't you wonder about his priorities, and the kind of gall it would take for him to instruct you on health issues? Smoking is evil and addictive and hard to quit (ask me how many times I've done it) but we view it as a choice not to break the addiction and look down on people who still do it. Or at least pity them while we're fake coughing about the smell. We chide them for willfully damaging themselves and we scold them for making our collective healthcare costs and taxes rise. How is that different from being overweight? It's hard to lose weight and keep it off, just like it's hard to quit smoking and stay quit. It's expensive and damaging to the health, just like smoking. It causes chronic diseases, just like smoking. So if we cut fatties a break and say it isn't their fault, don't we have to do the same with smokers? (Cuz I'm so starting again if we do.) If your nurse is so obese that she requires oxygen, wouldn't you wonder about her ability to care for you?
I'm not suggesting that all weight discrimination is equal. I have a desk job that requires no more of my body than my brain and my fingertips, and the ability to occasionally walk to the printer. I don't even have to walk to a meeting room if I don't feel like it. So discrimination in my field is senseless. (Actually, you could make the argument that my fat ass is well-suited for sitting all day, and that since I am sedentary by habit and by nature, I'm less likely to get fidgety and spend time away from my desk.) What about police officers? Fitness level and weight (to some degree) is an important part of the job. What about flight attendants? If they have to scoot sideways down the aisle because they're too wide to walk straight, is that their responsibility, or should the airline make the plane wider to accommodate? Obviously I haven't mentioned people for whom weight is a disease or injury-related issue, or people who lack the ability to exercise in any traditional manner. I also haven't mentioned people who are discriminated against because the hiring officer doesn't like looking at fat people. I briefly touched on our society's skewed view of weight/overweightness. (For an eye opener, see this slideshow.) I'm not saying that people who are fat should be ashamed of themselves, or that they are inherently worth less than people who are thin. Or that fat people aren't sexy, or smart, or funny or all of the above. I do suggest that, in absence of medical reasons for overweightness, fat people can (and do) get thin by choosing to do so and consistently upholding that priority over the desire for cheesecake or the wish to sit and veg in front of the computer/tv/knitting pattern/whatever for a night or ten. And that if I don't choose to do so, I can expect there to be some consequences of my choice. Am I wrong?

I have almost nothing

Except I have this:



My sad camera-phone photo skills do not show the glory of this dessert. Peach, kiwi, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry and strawberry on fabulous custard in a touch-me-and-I'll-disintegrate pastry shell. Oh. Yeah.

While photographing that (what? My coworkers already know I'm insane) I felt the need to show you my desk, so you might understand me and the way my brain works.

(La, you might want to look away at this time. No, seriously. Okay fine, you were warned.)



Yes, it really does always look like that. Occasionally I tidy it up, file things, toss trash, etc. But then I can't find anything.

While I was doing that I figured I'd better at least pretend I still knit.



This sock has stalled for many many reasons, the last of which was that I was POSITIVE I'd knit it long enough for the foot but I wanted to measure to make sure. The sock to the right has been to Toronto and back for a fitting, and the length was good. (Width bad, hence new sock.) I was so sure I was almost done, and last night I measured to make sure and found out I have FOUR FLIPPING REPEATS left. Sigh. I can't afford to have SSS on this one since I still have to knit a THIRD sock (see "width bad" above). (At least having to knit both socks means I'll be eligible for sock-drawings for SoS, right?) I love sock knitting, but I will be thrilled when this particular albatross is in its new home warming the feet of a certain smart-ass Canadian/Danish blogger.

A random conglomeration of crap

If my little crepe myrtle looks like this after a little rain, you'd think I'd water it and make it look like that all summer, wouldn't you? You'd be wrong.



DH sold his boat last week, and the Bug was inconsolable. I had no idea that a 2 yr old could actually process the fact that the boat was going to live with someone else and that it wouldn't be coming back. Or maybe he just didn't want to share.

I left my Lene sock at work, so I have been doing something else this weekend.



The line at the "cafe" at Costco was too long yesterday, so the DH spontaneously decided on Chuck E. Cheese. OMG. What a hell hole. The Bug, of course, loved every ear-splitting, animatronic, shrieking, whining, crying, sticky, crowded minute.



The DH is in southern California for just today, while I am at home researching these.

I am particularly prone to infected tastebuds, and they SUCK.

Friday morning we all happened to be up quite early, so we got dressed and went to breakfast before work. We went to the neighborhood greasy spoon, where I got a nice bit of eye-candy.



The picture is craptastic because I was trying to kinnear them, but there must have been 30 cops in there having breakfast when we got there. (Shrub was in town on Friday so I assume they had just finished extra traffic duty or something like that.)

The Bug is being disturbingly quiet, and I must go check out what he's doing. Don't let the innocent pose fool you.

Playing along

(ETA proper linkiness and the warning that people are totally weird today and it's freaking me out. If I don't post for a while, somebody check the Tucson area police blotter to see if I need to post bail.)

So, KnittyOtter is doing a thing. I am blindly following the crowd going to play too, of my own free will!

1.) How long have you been knitting? 5 or so years, I think.

2.) How long have you been knitting socks? 2 years, since the original Knitting Olympics.

3.) What do you do with a problem like Maria? Seems like letting her out of the convent and giving her a bunch of urchins and a sexy Austrian in a uniform straightened her out right good.

4.) What is your all time favorite sock yarn? Cherry Tree Hill.

5.) Toe Up or Cuff Down? Toe up, please.

6.) What's your favorite color (this week or for all time)? Do you have a color family/season/palette you prefer? Any colors you just can't stand? Mostly hate baby pink. Love blue/gray/periwinkle/violet.

7.) Do you have a pet(s)? Three dogs, a young son, and a husband.

8.) Babies: Oven Roasted or Barbecued? I prefer them raw. They're so crunchy.

9.) Besides socks what is your favorite type of thing to knit? You can knit something besides socks?

10.) What's your favorite scent? White musk from the Body Shop. Hot sidewalk when it's raining.

11.) What music are you really loving right now? Like a song or a band? Nothing really.

12.) How many pairs of socks have you hand knit? I dunno, 15?

13.) What's your favorite treat? Salty or Sweet? Yes, please.

14.) What was the most interesting thing you smelled yesterday. Not good or bad necessarily, just the thing that stuck out most so that you actually took notice of it. My own perfume is the only thing I can remember right now.

15.) Needles - DPN's: Wooden, metal or plastic? Metal circs please.

16.) What is your favorite sock pattern that you've knit? What do you recommend? Um, I like them all kinda the same.

17.) The last Question: If you were stuck on a deserted island who would you want with you, what knitting would you want with you and would you ever want to leave? Cotton/bamboo blend tank tops. Addi turbo needles. The DH, the Bug and the Noob. And an always on, high speed internet connection and infallible laptop. Oh yeah, and a gourmet chef who enjoys giving massages.

A PSA

That's right, a public service announcement for the betterment of our nation.

If you work in a service industry, like, say, a restaurant, do not bring your child to work in lieu of childcare.
If you cannot avoid bringing your child to work for some inexplicable reason, ensure said child has plenty to keep her entertained and QUIET.
If you do not, ensure that she does not make herself at home at a customer's table when said customer walks in, hot and tired and overhungry and CRANKY.
If she does, ensure that she does not say, "Excuse me, that's my seat" when the customer returns from the bathroom, so the customer stands at her own table waiting for explanation from her husband and wondering who the fuck the annoying kid is.
If she does, when the customer asks her son what he wants for lunch, ensure that she does not answer as though the customer is providing her food.
If she does, ensure that her bossy self the annoying little brat the rotten little beast the adorable child does not tell the customer's 2 year old that he's coloring his picture wrong and demand he do it differently.
If she does all of the above, do not TELL the customer how cute the child is and ask if she is being a bother. ASSUME she is being a bother, and take her away from the table immediately.
If the customer finally succeeds in communicating to you that the child is a bit of a bother and the customer and her family would like to eat in peace, restrain the child and avoid allowing her to run past the customer's table multiple times, whispering and teasing the customer's child.
If she does, make sure when the customer takes her son to the potty, your child does NOT scold the customer for bringing the boy into "her bathroom".

These tips should help you avoid having customers want to return with a tranquilizer gun and deal with the problem themselves.

All cuz of Cookie

Cuz she's so much fun to blame.
Actually, I'm not blaming her for anything, but she's also fun to poke. (Hi Cookie! Don't plot my disappearance, please!)

Anyway, I felt the inspiration to get all lovey-dovey. Here's a list. Maybe tomorrow I will post a list of things I hate and blame Cookie for that too.

I love:

Cookie.
Rain.
The potential for rain.


The smell of rain.
The feel of rain.
The sound of rain.
Montana mountains.


The scent of Gramma's garden.
My rubber kid.


Magic loop.
My new sewing table.


My new sewing machine.


The drawers on my new sewing table.


The fact that my car said it was only 89 degrees out at lunchtime today.
My pumpkin scented candles.
The fact that Addis are bendable.


The Furminator.
The little devil on the How Evil Are You quiz.

You Are 50% Evil

You are evil, but you haven't yet mastered the dark side. Fear not though - you are on your way to world domination.

How Evil Are You?

Purty flowas.
Purty flowas in the rain.
The fact that the rainy season has started early here in Allah's Frying Pot (Can you sense a theme?)
Strawberries.
Nectarines.
Nectarines.
Nectarines.
Plums.
Nectarines.
The idea that karma will get those spammers.
Hand-knit socks.
The idea that, come January, I will never have morning sickness/all day sickness/night sickness again.
Nectarines.
The beach.
Dreaming about camping in Yosemite.
Dreaming about knitting by the campfire in Yosemite.
Dreaming about not getting eaten by bears in Yosemite.
The Ped Egg. (OMG, totally works.)
Bedtime.