It’s been a while since we’ve done one of these roundups, and a lot of good stuff has been posted in the Fatosphere and elsewhere about living larger than average. So here are some of the highlights.

First up, Adios Barbie has a great interview with the fabulous Marilyn Wann, pictured above. Wann  has a lot of great things to say. Here’s just one example:

 There is kind of an attitude that bullying or teasing is somehow a necessary or required part of growing up. And I think that it’s just adults being fearful and cowards because this is not necessary. This is something anyone can stand up to. There is even a wonderful book by an eight-year old girl in Chicago about how she didn’t choose to be fat and she shouldn’t be teased for it. I think it’s up to all of us as human beings to stand up against hurtfulness.

One of my personal favorite blogs, Family Feeding Dynamics, has a great two-part series on food insecurity and how it affects how people eat. The second part is mostly a link to Morgan Spurlock’s experiment on living on minimum wage for thirty days… but it’s worth clicking for Katja’s concept of a really compelling potential reality show. Seriously, Katja, I think you should shop that concept to the networks. I’d totally watch that show and laugh my well-padded posterior off. Heck, if I had the money, I’d produce the sucker!

The always amazing and glorious Sleepy Dumpling at Fat Heffalump has a great essay on how dieting really affects many people in terms of both physical and mental health. The essay itself is powerful, and the comments are quite interesting, too.

Ragen at Dances With Fat has an excellent article on David Letterman’s recent fat-joke attack on Chris Christie. If you don’t like a politician, fight the politics, not the waistline. It wasn’t right when people pulled that on Bill Clinton, and it isn’t right when they do the same to Chris Christie. Believe me, if you’re talking about someone who has ever held elected office, you can find something to disagree with and make it funny. The same subject is given another excellent dressing down by the ever-awesome  Red No.3. I highly recommend reading both, because they have different points to make.

Happy reading, folks! There’s a lot of great fat to chew over.

As autumn creeps in and the weather turns colder, there are few things I love as much as curling up with a good movie or two… or even three. And after a long day, I love having something to laugh at.

So here are some of my favorite comedies in no particular order, in case you’re looking for a source of a few good giggles anytime soon.

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First off, I would like to say that I love each and every one of you, deeply, profoundly, and ecumenically. Last week I inflicted this gobsmacking image on you:

… and you gave as good as you got with ten hilarious captions. In fact, you came up with such glorious responses that I’m declaring two runners up as well as a winner. You were That Good.

Second runner up is the fragrant moiraeknittoo with the fabulous gaming reference:

Man, they really ARE angry birds.

Does that mean you’re calling these children green pigs? I’m just asking.

First runner up is the delicious and nutritious Karin for referencing kami kazi home decorating shows:

Ty Pennington – the early years

I have frequently mused that his background might be very much like this illustration.

But there was a clear and present winner, my friends. Not only did she come up with a true gut buster of a caption, but she also managed to capture the spirit of the Manolosphere in the process.

The laurel goes to the superfantastic Julie for this deathless question:

Does State Farm classify toddlers as vandals or an act of God?

Congratulations to all of our winners! And thanks to everyone for playing.

Howdy, all! It’s time once again to play Twistie’s Sunday Caption Madness!

You all know how this works. I post a picture that’s beyond desperate for a good, silly caption or two. You provide said captions via the comments function. Next saturday, I declare a winner and we shower said winner with caviar and cocktail rings… well, I declare a winner, anyway. It’s probably for the best that the rest of that doesn’t happen, because caviar stains and cocktail rings hurt when hurled at one. Don’t ask me how I know this, just trust me.

Anyway.

Today’s picture, while it does not come from my actual family album, brings back fond memories of the sort of shenanigans my brothers and I pulled when nobody was looking, and it looks a little like this:

Ready… set… snark!

Hello, my darlings! Did you miss me? I know I did! But I’m back now, with all kinds of lovely things to talk about… and a couple not so lovely, but let’s leave those for next week, shall we? Right now I want to talk about having a good time and trying things.

This is my very good friend, Kat, and her horse, Joe, participating in a recent gymkhana.

They came in last place, alas. Still, considering that Kat hadn’t been on a horse in two years and had only just gotten Joe, she feels that getting through the entire course was plenty of win. And, in point of fact, it is. Rising in the ranks can come later.

Sometimes the most important thing isn’t whether we competed well or got precisely the result we would wish for on a star, but the fact that we got up and did something we don’t normally do.

I did a couple of those sorts of things on my recent vacation. I tried my hand for the very first time at making lemon curd. Why in the name of all that’s delicious did I put this off for so long??? I am now officially a curd-making fool! I’m eager to play with various citrus fruits, adding different flavorings, and making bigger batches.

Of course, trying out a new dish (especially a pastry-related one) isn’t that huge a risk for me. I have a natural affinity for the kitchen, and if I fail… it’s a few wasted ingredients and an hour or two, not the end of the world.

But I did do something much scarier for me. As some of you are aware, Mr. Twistie is a musician. He gigs with a couple bands in addition to the one he heads and writes for. One of these bands had a gig at a KOA campground with a nightclub and docks, and the idea arose that it would be fun if all the guys in the band brought along their wives. I had nothing else on that weekend and our next door neighbor was happy to look in on the cat, so I said sure. That’s not the scary part.

The band was hot, the room was dark, and I have night blindness. When the lights dim, I can’t tell what’s a foot in front of me. It’s the worst inheritance I got from my mother. So on the incredibly rare occasions when I go to clubs, I tend to park myself in a chair and not move for the rest of the night.

After a while of sitting in a room that looked like this to me:

… one of my friends came over with a parrot. Someone had brought a pair to the party and R had one of them on her shoulder. She wanted to introduce me. Well, I reached out and gave the bird a pet, and what did he do? He reached out with his beak, took a firm but gentle grip on my shirt, and hopped straight onto my shoulder! I’d never held a bird before. There was something intoxicating about this creature choosing to come be with me.

And then I did something else I hadn’t done before. I got up into the darkness, made my way onto the dance floor, and danced solo with that parrot on my shoulder. What’s more, I managed to dance around with no visual clues in a sea of seriously drunken people without physical harm to me, any other dancers, or the parrot!

Now that was a chance taken!

Would I do it again? That kind of depends on my mood and the situation. Am I glad I did it once? You bet your sweet bippy, I am!

Sometimes you just have to do something utterly unexpected. It’s how you know you’re still really alive.

… do all those things that are frowned upon. You know, indulge yourself.

Whether it’s a bubble bath, another shot of espresso, a pair of wicked heels your calf muscles will regret loudly in the morning, an evening of Lifetime movies and Cherry Garcia, a gloriously fudgey brownie, a bottle of good wine that’s just a little bit too expensive, or the joy of really speaking your mind to someone without considering the consequences, there are things in life that really need doing.

Of course you can’t do all of them, and you can’t do them all the time. That’s why they’re indulgences and not physical necessities. Food, water, air, shelter, caffeine… these are basic necessities. Without them we literally cannot live for long. Okay, maybe caffeine is an exaggeration, but only a tiny one.

But indulgences are the things that make life feel really, really good. Any one of them  may be completely extraneous to the business of staying alive, but without them we don’t feel all that much like keeping on keeping on. That’s why along with the Red Cross bringing food and medical aid to disaster victims, there are also organizations that provide the children in those disasters with stuffed animals and groups that bring handmade quilts to people who are suffering dread long-term illnesses in hospitals. Sure, the quilts and the Teddy bears aren’t strictly needed. They just make surviving worth it.

So remember to indulge yourself in the rough times. Heck, even in the not-so-rough times, it doesn’t hurt to say yes to something every twice in a while just because it makes you smile.

Speaking of which, my friends, I’m off on a month of vacation from blogging. It’s been a couple years since I took more than a few days off, and I’m not quite sure what I’ll be doing with myself. It is, however, time to get in touch with a few things inside me.

Fear not, though. Come September, I’ll be back and tilting at windmills seven days a week. That’s kind of my indulgence. I just have the wonderful good fortune to get paid to do it.

Take care of yourselves! See you all in September.

Across the US of A, temperatures are rising to a potentially lethal level. That means many of us could use a hand coming up with ways to keep cool to keep safe.

When the mercury rises way too high, one of my personal favorite ways to stop steaming is to take a brief (Hey, it’s California! We’re always low on water!) tepid shower. That’s right, tepid, not cold. It actually cools me more and makes it a little easier to adjust back to the Hades-like horrors.

I also like to dab a cool, wet washcloth over my pulse points. All those places people recommend you dab perfume for the greatest potency? Yeah, those are the spots for a touch of cool water.

Keep well hydrated, and wear as many natural fibers as possible, because they breathe better than synthetics. I do my best to get my hair off my neck. I make sure to eat something salty now and again, because sweating makes you lose salt, which can make you sick. If you find that salt tastes sweet to you, you have reached a dangerous point and need to eat something salty now.

How about all of you? Any great tips for staying frosty when the sidewalk is hot enough to fry an egg?

And please, those of you in the sweaty zones? Stay safe.