Creative Burst!

My creativity has gone into superdrive since being unemployed. Partially from boredom but also due to my own sudden and unwanted loner status as of late. I'm not really surprised that the past two years seem to not have happened anymore, oh well. While my right hands index finger is recuperating the next few days (over use of xacto blades) I'll be building more shadow boxes to create new art.

Below find out what you can make with some wood, watercolor paper, watercolor paint, xacto blades and some glue.

Fired, Unemployed and Bored

Not sure how else to put things except for that at the beginning of February I become one more person that is unemployed in Michigan. I've hit the double edge sword of unemployment which is that I could continue to waitress, and deal with the fact that Michigan's economy along with the country's is going into the shitter more and more every day which means less people are eating out, they are tipping less than before. Or I could sit around and wait until I could find a job working in an office doing nothing. I am hoping that I can find a job that will give me experience with my major, fingers are crossed.

Right now I am waiting for unemployment to kick in, applying for jobs non-stop online (about 95% are scams), and keeping busy making things for my etsy store. I've been building shadow boxes and thinking of ways to use them. The stairs down to the basement have turned into my drying area, between sanding and new stain coats.

You will also notice that I have put up a twitter update box on the right, add me, I'll follow you, my boredom will be gone...hopefully.

I would also like to take a moment to thank the Fat Rights Coalition for taking over Big Fat Blog once Paul steps down. Also a personal thanks to Paul for creating the one and only place on the internet where fat individuals can speak frankly about their life and experiences without the onslaught of bias and hatred from outsiders.

Introducing, FW Originals: Handmade Creations

I took up crocheting over the summer, what has become of that is me pretending that I know what I am doing whilst creating a few different things and putting them up on etsy. What will become of this, I have no idea. Possibly jewelry or different ideas that I have as the wind blows.

Anyway, above is a link to my etsy store. I will more than likely be posting new items as I put them into the store.

You Just Got Shown Up by a Girl! YEAH!

On the way to the fascist regime that is my job, I was driving behind a car that had a sign on its back window which read, “You were just passed by a GIRL” complete with the surfer style flower in a girly typeface. It just oozed femininity, in that cutesy kind of way.

This contemporary version of so called ‘girl power’ makes me ill. To an ordinary female this might seem like a remarkable message to put out there, but it is yet again another way for women to be considered subservient and second-class in societies view of us.

If women are suppose to act quiet, devoid of opinions and compliant, why do we have to show our defiance by consistently proving that we are better than men? Why can we not ask for equality and be treated as such instead of being referred to in demeaning ways?

I wish that contemporary feminists could be seen for what they actually are, intelligent, thoughtful, dynamic women with an opinion, not bra burning man haters. Let alone hiding behind this so-called version of passive 'girl power'.

Ditch your fat friends?

Lets start out our 2009 by using propaganda and falsities to spread hate and fear directed towards fat individuals. That is exactly what fox news and our favorite uneducated liar Meme Roth wants you to do for the new year.

Just a reminder on Ms. Roth herself she is the president of an organization by the name of National Action Against Obesity, who has tried to ban cupcakes from her child’s school, went on the today show to say that every women should be able to fit into her wedding dress the rest of their life (without looking at any form of study that shows we gain weight as we age), and for saying that Jordan Sparks shouldn’t win American Idol because she’s fat. Basically your all around hate monger Meme has no real education about health but is a marketing and public relations major using our societies fear of fat to make herself famous. A recent interview on Your World with Neil Cavuto, Ms. Roth stated that she does not like the new show Diet tribe with this reasoning, (Full interview here)

Here's the thing study after study shows that. Obesity is contagious -- first it runs and social networks if you have an obese friend. You have a 171% increase in chance that you too will become obese an obese spouse a 37% increase. So the idea isn't so much to dump your fat friend just because their fat it's more about dumping the friend that might weaken your resolve.

I am aware of the study that came out in 2007 that said fat spreads like a virus between friends but the numbers Ms. Roth puts out there are false and misleading. That being said if she truthfully believes that fat people are bad infliences then why can thin people not be so called ‘good influences’. I think what this whole thing comes down to is society yet again trying to put the blame on fat people for their own issues. People need to start taking personal responsibility for their own actions instead of saying it’s their fat friends fault.

Your server knows you, maybe a little bit too well

Most people think that they are so sneaky or private but what they might not realize is that frequenting a restaurant means that your server will more than likely know you. It becomes truer if you are one of the millions of neurotic restaurant patrons that frequent restaurants with their never-ending incidents of ridiculous issues or habits of acting as if they are better than the system. Also if you’re a regular trying to hide something get real. We all know what your doing before you do.

Working in a bar has its perks, if you want to know information about someone all you have to do is get their friends a little liquored up or become friendly with them and they will spill the beans. I once had roommates of a guy tell me all of his dirty laundry that would probably make his now fiancé not want to marry him, since he was hiding a side of himself from her which would not shed a good light on him.

The stories never end but some of my favorite regulars are some of the nicest kindest people that I have ever met, but the others are normally the ones that servers stay away from, don’t try to talk to or interact with more than they have to. Small incidents of pretentious behavior can make someone remember you forever, trying to argue with the server that because it’s the next day somewhere else in the world just makes you look like an asshole. And then asking if their boss knows how argumentative they are (after you tried to explain that on Monday its Tuesday somewhere else thus you should get your bottle of wine half off) also makes you look like an asshole. Also hanging your coat on a chair at a different table when we have coat hangers makes you look like a huge asshole, and you will forever be know as coat guy.

Next we have the adulterers, they come from different directions, every day meeting at the bar. We know they are having an affair from the fact that she wears a wedding ring and he does not. But there are more subtle clues that made us come to this conclusion, they don’t dress the same, or drive the same class of cars she drives a brand new $50,000 car where as he drives an outdated suv. If you ever look around a restaurant you can tell what couple is together. Their clothes match, older couples even have a tendency to wear the same patterns, which I tend to believe is the wife having her husbands balls in a vice. *I am updating to say that not only do they come from different locations but leave going different ways. Meeting up 4-5 times a week at the same time every day.*

The worst is people who frequent places with their family and the person they are having an affair with. The sad part is that its not just something between two adults, you are now bringing your kids into a situation that is uncomfortable for the servers who have to wait on you. The example that I am thinking of is a sad one since the wife in the family situation is obviously unhappy, the husband strung out and the kids taking the brunt of their marital issues. They have been regulars for a while but only recently we have seen the wife with a younger more beefy guy who is all over her when they come in together.

There is nothing worse than annoying regulars but for every good regular there are a dozen or so regulars that could be done without. But it does give us something to talk about.

Fat: The Anthropology of an Obsession

Looking at fat through the eyes of an anthologist is something that everyone should have the chance to experience; this book gives us just that. To live in a culture that is different from our own we find that the fear of fat is far more complex and different than what we may believe. The book puts together 13 anthropologists who share their experiences with different cultures and how they react towards fat.

From the deserts of Niger where Arab cultures find young girls stuffing themselves into what is deemed beautiful, the most beautiful girl in town is also the biggest. In Brazil the use of diet aids and cosmetic surgery shows how their society conforms to extreme beauty ideals. The book is finished by a chapter written with a fat acceptance activist which gives a great response to all of the questions brought up in the proceeding chapters, like why people ask for skim milk in line at starbucks but will add cream to it later hiding in the corner hoping to not be seen. We might not find out answers to how we can one day come to terms with fat but she gives a voice to so many that need one.

In all this book not only brings fat to the forefront of our culture and shows that it is far more diverse than we might of once thought.

To buy, Fat: The Anthropology of an Obsession

Oprah's Billions Have Nothing on Me...

I guess I haven't spent enough time watching the Oprah show in recent years to understand her mental state at this time. If its anything like how it use to be when I was in high school I am guessing that weight loss is a huge topic of discussion.

Now that I have read snippets of Oprah's upcoming article "How did I let this happen again?" I feel as though a good comment could be made about women in our society. You can be one of the richest women in our world and still feel that you are not worthy enough as a person because of your weight. It has nothing to do with the weight per say but the way our society views said weight. Doesn't Oprah also believe with finding inner peace? At what point is she going to speak as a women and instead of worrying about the number on a scale, worry about her health. There is a point when she needs to live a healthy lifestyle and exercise but stop putting such emphasis on weight loss.

There was a point when I was 18 that I had to decide that my body was mine and I could only take myself for what I am or continue to hate myself. It was only at that point I could find who I was, and find that my body is mine. Instead of worrying about how much I weigh, what I should lose, what I have gained or lost, I live my life. I don’t do diets, mostly because they are unhealthy but because living life is not about dieting it’s about being active and happy.

I understand that talking about weight loss makes money, but as women we need to wake up. Each day we meet with our girlfriends and talk about our bodies, put ourselves down, talk about other women around us, their weight our weight putting what is so superficial and personal on a platter for everyone to see instead of looking past that and loving each other for our mind and character as people.

Just think, how many times a day does someone comment on your appearance? As in the "Wow you look like you lost weight," "I love your make up" why not "Your so funny!" or "Your so intelligent"

I would hope that if a 23 year old waitress can come to peace with her body that Oprah could do the same.

Pardon my dust

Updating the template...not working out so hot.

Abercrombie and Fitch

Is it just me or does A&F smell? And I’m not talking about a nice smell but that surround you, full your lungs, make you cover your nose almost vomit smell of teen boy cologne that makes you wish you never went to the mall that day. I’ve noticed that different A&F stores have a different level of stench that they force the world to suffer through. I’m all good with walking into a store and smelling whatever they want me to smell, but when I’m walking past some stores and the odor from the store emits into the common space between other stores it just annoys me. At what point did I give them the right to invade my senses with their nasty overpowering odor?

Now mind you I have only entered A&F once in my life that time I stood in the corner with the moms watching as my coworker ran around like a crazed lunatic looking for whatever caught her eye. The dim lighting and over bearing music was enough for me to remember why I never ventured into that store. I also enjoyed Hollister that day, and yet again I sat with the parents as their children ran around spending far too much money on far too little clothes. I guess that’s what you get when you enter a store that has shirtless mannequins on their porch.

I looked for an email that I could possibly send them a note about their store but no such luck.