Hi everyone out there in BFD land! I certainly have missed you. And how has everyone been? Do we have stuff to catch up on or what? I guess I should first explain why I went away so abruptly and without explanation. Well, it’s Wigburg’s fault. Wigburg, who is currently, even as I type this, kicking me in the bladder. Yes, I’m pregnant! 25 weeks tomorrow.

And here’s the thing: I got really really really really really really sick. I wish I could convey to you how incapacitated I was. I was so sick that I could barely function. Just to get to work and home again was all I could do, for many weeks. Looking at a computer screen made me nauseous, so I didn’t reply to emails (my inbox is still stuffed) or moderate comments or post to the blog. Other things that made me throw up included eating, not eating, thinking about eating, moving around, looking at things, and talking (which made lecturing fun, let me tell you). At one point I was driving to campus and in the middle of the faculty parking lot I had to slam on the brakes, open the door, and puke on the concrete. Then I had to go brush my teeth and give a lecture. That was a fun day.

I got so sick, in fact, that I’m actually still a little sick. (It’s supposed to go away at 16 weeks. This in my case was a terrible lie.) It’s just that when I got to the point where I couldn’t leave my bed and was in fact doing nothing but curling up in the fetal position while occasionally projectile vomiting, I finally got some Zofran, an anti-emetic that I probably should have asked for weeks before I did. But in the meantime I was busy trying every remedy under the sun, from Vitamin B6 and Unisom to special Sri Lankan ginger cookies procured by a friend. And I was busy puking! Let’s not forget the puking.

In the meantime, and in addition, we bought a house! (I know. Lots of news from these here parts.) It’s a fixer-upper, and we’ve been working on fixing it up. That’s also been taking a lot of time. Add in teaching and traveling for the holidays, and there you have it. Where I’ve been.

The thing is, I have a lot of stuff I want to post about. We never talked about important things like Huge being cancelled (nooooooo!!!) (still sad) or the Harry Potter Theme Park adding fat-people seats to their ride just in time for me not to be able to ride roller coasters. Plus, now there’s all this fat and pregnant stuff to talk about, such as the fact that I still don’t really look pregnant and what that means (in fact, so far I’ve lost 15 pounds, even though none of my pants fit), or the fact that Wigburg is a girl, and that I need advice from all of you about how to help her grow up feminist and confident and awesome. And also, the fact that none of my bras fit, because apparently no matter how big your boobs are, they can still get bigger. Scientific fact.

I’m not going to commit to posting every day quite yet, but I will commit to at least one post per week, and see how that goes. I will also try not to turn into a mommyblog. But you know. There might be more mommyblog-esque content here and there. Once again: it’s Wigburg’s fault.

Posted by mo pie

Filed under: Huge, Kids, Meta, Mommyblog, Personal, TV | 47 Comments »

TSA Agent Does Not Enjoy Searching Fat People

November 23rd, 2010

Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. —Ben Franklin

I’m sure you’ve all read plenty about the TSA furor, which has been upsetting plenty of people. Friend of the blog Aych has written about her experience, and posts written by and about rape survivors have added additional layers of horror to the whole thing—and have suggested that the purpose of the pat downs is not actually to search people, but to embarrass them into choosing the scanners instead.

So I was reading this article about how the TSA agents don’t like the patdowns any more than airline passengers do, and what’s one of their complaints? Of course. Fat people.

“It is not comfortable to come to work knowing full well that my hands will be feeling another man’s private parts, their butt, their inner thigh,” wrote one male agent. Even worse is having to try and feel inside the flab rolls of obese passengers, and we seem to get a lot of obese passengers!

Well gee, I’m really sorry my “flab rolls” are making you uncomfortable while you are groping my private parts in public. Obviously I should fall in line and just go for the option where my naked body gets projected on a screen for you instead.

Posted by mo pie

Filed under: Advocacy, Fatism, Feminism, Politics | 38 Comments »

Not All Armor Is Chain Mail: Dressing Your Best For Uncomfortable Gatherings

November 22nd, 2010

Well, would you look at that, it’s suddenly the week of Thanksgiving here in the US. You know what that means, right? Parties. Dress ups. Cocktail hours. Company shindigs.

And the downside to all of that glam? The family gathering.

Some of us are lucky enough to have happy families, supportive and warm loving families that do not thrive on dysfunction and backstabbing (and to you I say: what’s that like? And also, can I pet your unicorn sometime?) but I for one do not. It’s totally the wrong response, but I find that I do much better mentally if I am wearing something that I absolutely love and that I know looks fabulous on me. Pants that pull or shirts that pucker are not allowed! To risk the chance of absent-mindedly plucking at your clothing in a way that would be misinterpreted as weakness or insecurity will certainly give some well-meaning relative an opening to corner you just to remind you that you have such a pretty face if only you’d do something about –you know. UGH!

For instance, I fell in love with this purple paisley number before it was even out and have been wearing the hell out of it for weeks*. I love it and it makes me feel like I can take on the world, even when I wear it to work with a modesty cami and a boring cardigan to deal with our unpredictable office environment. And while I was in San Francisco two weeks ago, I stopped into the Donna Corset Top hanging near their work area. Sexy and powerful and enough to give even Aunt Betty pause. I ended up being very crass and turning a social visit into a shopping one, but I was powerless to resist buying the Moda Italiana*: the wool is seriously like buttah. Clearly I’m not the only one who loves it, as they are nearly sold out but the maxi coat is exactly the same indescribably baby soft wool and also gorgeous.

I’m also keeping an eye on this cute sweater dress from wrap dress from already knows about the English score ASOS Curve but this dress is either totally rock star or tragically marred by that fat girl dress shop need to slap shiny stuff on everything. My instinct is that it’s saved by the blend of sapphire and black.

What about you? What are your power outfits? Where should we be shopping for our next It Girl dress?

*This post is totally unbiased and was not compensated. Both the SWAK dress and the Igigi coat were my purchases and neither company requested a review. Additionally, neither I nor BFD received compensation or requests from LucieLu, Kiyonna or ASOS.

Posted by Weetabix

Filed under: Fashion |