tag:dreamwidth.org,2009-12-15:464635Boxing Day BabyA most unfortunate birthday indeed.Boxing Day Baby2010-05-30T05:21:10Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2009-12-15:464635:14018Victory over the forces of side-zips!2010-05-30T05:21:10Z2010-05-30T05:21:10Zpublic0Shopping was a RIDICULOUS success today, thanks to the aid of <b>syn_abounds</b>, <b>nessaneko</b> and <b>poor_toms_acold</b>. On the downside, the success was such that lay-by had to be arranged so I do not actually HAVE my pretty shiny new dresses of awesometude.<br /><br />But suffice it to say that amazing things were found AND I got 25% off by joining the Jacqui E VIP club.<br /><br />And now I'm back at home resting my weary feet and watching WWII documentaries, for which I have only five words: OH, FUCK YOU, NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=boxingdaybaby&ditemid=14018" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-12-15:464635:7959Where did the weekend go?2010-02-21T06:04:53Z2010-02-21T06:04:53Zpublic0Steampunk-y shopping today was a success! Beads and feathers and hardware, oh my. Now I just have to find <i>any</i> kind of instructions or patterns for small hat-veils to be adapted to a wire/bead medium. Sometimes it is so hard being creative and original, let me tell you Internets.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=boxingdaybaby&ditemid=7959" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-12-15:464635:5354New Year's wish/polemic2010-01-13T07:50:28Z2010-01-13T07:50:28ZJ playing GH: Metallicapublic0I have but one wish, dear peeps: stop talking about your weight.<br /><br />Let me explain why I'm not actually being a tremendous bitch. <i>[Editor's Note: Okay, on reflection that's probably a lie.]</i><br /><br />I know a lot of you out there are eating differently,* or exercising more, or taking up a new activity, or making other changes to your lives.<br /><br />Your lives are your lives and your choices are your choices and your changes are your changes.<br /><br />But I beseech you. Can it with the fucking weight talk. Stop with the ephemeral irrelevant subjective bullshit that is "weight".<br /><br />It's a fucking number on a fucking scale - and for God's sake, as a planet we can't even pick ONE scale to use.<br /><br />Do you want to have more energy? Do you want to be able to run a certain distance or lift a certain weight or achieve a measurable change in your body's biochemistry? Do you like working up a sweat thrashing out to 80s hair metal? AWESOME. <br /><br />Now some of these things might also make you lose weight. And some of them might make you <i>gain</i> weight. And they might have no effect on your weight at all. But as long as you have the energy or make the time or have the strength <i>who gives a fuck about a number</i>?<br /><br />You may honestly want to turn around and say "well, the *number* is what makes me happy!" I am sorry to be a tremendous bitch: if you are seriously basing your happiness and self-esteem on a number you may never reach and will almost certainly not maintain, you need to re-evaluate your concept of "happiness", because it looks like "self-acceptance" isn't on your list.<br /><br /><b>Side Note: On the Fitting of Clothes</b><br /><br />Of course there's always "I gained weight over Christmas so my clothes don't fit".<br /><br />Notice how we say our <i>clothes</i> don't do something, and then automatically assume the solution is to change our <i>bodies</i>?<br /><br />This was a realisation for me, so I vaguely apologise for the forthcoming shouting:<br /><br />IF YOUR CLOTHES DON'T FIT, <i>THEY ARE THE THING THAT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED</i>.<br /><br />This is not just "sizes are different between brands", and it is not "vanity sizing", and it is not "XYZ cut their pants differently". This is, <i>no piece of fabric</i>, however pretty or expensive, <i>is the boss of your body</i>. If it doesn't fit, <b>it is wrong clothing</b>. *It*, and not imaginary overnight-inflation of your hips, is what needs to go.<br /><br />If only because at the end of the day, your body is the thing you're going to be living in for the rest of your life, and it <i>will change</i>. It will sag, it will wrinkle, it will get bigger or smaller and clinging to those dream size-12 pants <i>will not stop it from doing this</i>.<br /><br />Easy choice: get hung up on a number (weight or size) that <i>will change</i> and is ultimately meaningless,** or do what you enjoy and buy clothes that fit.<br /><br /><b>Further Reading</b><br /><br /><a href="http://www.fatshionista.com/cms/">http://www.fatshionista.com/cms/</a><br /><a href="http://kateharding.net/">http://kateharding.net/</a><br /><a href="http://kateharding.net/bmi-illustrated/">http://kateharding.net/bmi-illustrated/</a><br /><a href="http://www.therotund.com/">http://www.therotund.com/</a><br /><a href="http://www.junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/">http://www.junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br /><br /><b>Disclaimer</b>: <i>Obviously, a shit-tonne of white middle-class able-bodied privilege here. Not everyone has access to Western supermarkets and clothing stores, much less full-time work or a disposable income, or even scales to throw away. You are reading this post online, from a computer: the mere fact you have electricity and spare time makes you part of the elite.<br /><br />Further, there are people who do need to know their weight, and do need to monitor it, and that's because <b>it could literally kill them to lose weight</b>. And a lot of those people? Have been told they're <b>lucky</b>, or that at least their illness "comes with benefits". That is our society's attitude to weight, people. Don't participate in it.</i><br /><br /><br />*And some of you are pretending it's not a diet, but that's an issue that *would* involve me being a tremendous bitch.<br /><br />**My weight? 98kg - I know because the doctor weighed me and I'd chickened out of arguing, deciding I'd only pick a fight if the BMI got mentioned. My size? perfect <b>XS</b> at City Chic, 12 at Zebrano, 14-16 at Farmers, 16-18 at Max/Bendon, perfect 18 at Jacqui E, 20 at Kooky. I could care about this, or I could be a happier person. Ask J.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=boxingdaybaby&ditemid=5354" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-12-15:464635:3799Curmudgeonly misanthrope2010-01-03T04:01:16Z2010-01-03T04:46:46ZPakistan pwning Aussie in the cricketpublic0I love my friends dearly, but SWEET JESUS it is nice to not have anyone in my house.<br /><br />I only figured out this afternoon after arriving home from a (happily successful) clothes shopping trip with [lj]poor_toms_acold that, since my last day at work on 22 December, J and I have not had a single day without seeing other people.<br /><br />So now I have 36 hours pre-going back to new!work to be hermitlike and not have to wear pants for anyone.<br /><br />Bra size update: 18E. Of which there was approximately ONE in the entire Bendon store. So I had to go to Farmers and only get 20% of instead of 50%. Bastards.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=boxingdaybaby&ditemid=3799" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments