A random thought on foodiness

It occurs to me sometimes that my rather unhealthy obsession with food stems back to childhood.  Not in the way most would think though.  I grew up mainly living with my grandmother, who on Christmas or Easter, could be a great cook.  However the rest of the time our meals were totally dull and easy -- some sort of meat, baked potato and some sort of canned vegetable.  To this very day -- I can't force down more than a bite of canned veggies.  This is also true -- I was around 12 years old (whenever kids stop getting kids meals at restaurants) before I EVER had a salad and only then because I was served one with a meal at a restaurant.  After that I wanted salad all of the time and this seemed to totally shock my grandmother.  There were lots of foods we just never had, like ethnic foods.  Even pasta, except for mac and cheese, was something we never had.  Once I became an adult I realized there was a whole world of food out there that I had never been given and that were totally delicious!  I blame that for turning me into such a foodie, kind of like I am making up for lost time.  :-)  Luckily, for most of my life I had an incredibly high metabolism.  I could easily out eat my sister's 200+ lbs husband without blinking an eye and without gaining an ounce -- God, I miss those days!  I know that I am over 40, but this new waistline totally depresses me at times, but at least I can blame it on Grandma.

Pregnancy and Purity Balls

I was just watching TV and an ad came on for something called The Pregnancy Line.  They give a number that women that just found out they are pregnant and don't know what to do can call for help.  So I looked them up online and the site asks for your zip code so they can refer you to someone near you, where you can hear more about your "options."  So I did that and the only clinic they gave me was something called "Care Net Pregnancy Center."  I am pretty familiar with woman's clinics here and I had never heard of that, so I became even more suspicious than I already was.  They didn't give an url for this clinic so I googled it and sure enough -- it is a fundie Christian group that puts on "Purity Balls" among their activities.  So warning to all women that really want to know your options and not simply why you shouldn't have an abortion -- stay away from something called The Pregnancy Line.

Possibly I am wrong, but isn't illegal for such groups to advertise on TV without disclosing that they are a religious group or referring people to religious groups?

Let me leave you with a couple photos of purity balls so we can all remember how creepy and incestuous they seem.

 

Rudeness is not excusable because you are a man and impatient!

Just venting -- Early this evening I made a run to the grocery store.  I always shop at this particular one even though there is another right across the street.  The reasons being -- it is normally less crowded because it is slightly more expensive, I don't need to keep track on one of those stupid store cards to get the sales price, but most of all I shop there because everyone is so nice and they all know me and talk to me.

It was around 9 pm and there was only one line open when I got in line.  There were probably about 4 people in front of me, most only having a case of beer (it is Friday night in NM).  I think one person maybe had around a dozen items.  This asshole gets in line behind me and automatically starts bitching loudly about there only being one line open.  Mind you, this is after he asked someone and they said another would be opening in a minute -- they were just counting the drawer or something.  Even this man's wife (or whoever she was) seems to get annoyed by him and she takes off and leaves him in line alone.  Then he starts griping to the woman behind him.  Two of the people in front of me have already checked out and there are only two to go.  So I say it is no big deal because the line is moving fast.  I have been in line all of about 2 minutes and already they are opening another lane which they take the person in front of me and me to.  So now he only has 1 person in front of him and he asks to see the manager!  The guy that has just opened the new lane tells him he is the manager and the guy complains about having to wait in line!   OK, so I had enough of this and I said loudly (to make sure asshole heard me) that I had no idea what people were complaining about since I only had to wait in line for about 2 minutes and they all got in line after me.  That was greeted by total silence from the line next to me.  Apparently asshole realized he had pretty much complained about nothing. 

However, the thing that irritated me even more was that although he got quiet after that he then started whining to the woman behind him that basically he couldn't help being an asshole because he hated waiting in line and is impatient and she totally excused his behavior by telling him that she didn't like waiting in line either.  Yes and that would have been fine if they had actually had to wait in a line for more than 2 minutes!  I felt as though this older woman also thought he was an asshole but was excusing his behavior because she didn't want any trouble.  I couldn't judge the reaction of any men to him, since there were none around.  The guy was kind of tall and was wearing a harley davidson jacket, but so obviously was a biker poser -- the kind that would be terrified of a real biker.

I know it is a small thing in the scheme of things that are ruining the world, but I really wish that other people would have a bit o' balls and not let people get away with rudeness.  If rude people were constantly shamed by society they would keep their rudeness to themselves.  I also wonder about this man's wife or girlfriend that was with him -- does she just ignore this crap and let him think it is perfectly OK to act that way?  Most women wouldn't put up with another woman acting that way, but many will totally let men get away with it.  That pisses me off too! 

An Idea That Is Way Overdue - Star Wars Themed Lingerie!

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Monster Island News: An Idea That Is Way Overdue - Star Wars Themed Lingerie!

ABC, Fox Refuse to Air Lane Bryant Commercial

The irony and hypocrisy are amazing. Fox won't air a Lane Bryant commercial featuring real women, with real breasts, but they'll air inappropriate, sleezy "cartoons" like American Dad and Family Guy. (Both shows I like by the way; particularly American Dad, but they are utterly tasteless.) But showing full figured women with big boobs is tasteless...

ABC, Fox Refuse to Air Lane Bryant Commercial

Apparently, in a startling display of censorship, both Fox and ABC refused to air the advertisement. Lane Bryant’s website-hosted blog, Inside Curve, maintains that the two networks presented unrealistic demands for re-edits and prohibited the ad from running during critical air times, including “Dancing with the Stars” and “American Idol.” According to Inside Curve, Fox only relented after Lane Bryant threatened to cancel the ad buy completely, and compromised by running the advertisement in the last 10 minutes of the show.

The reason is shocking: both networks insisted that the advertisement contained “too much cleavage.”

Allow that to sink in for a minute. A lingerie company for curvy and plus-sized women, which primarily features full-sized bras, is showing too much cleavage. Versus, say, Frederick’s of Hollywood or Victoria’s Secret, well-known for creating edgy cuts of lingerie that are roughly the equivalent of two postage stamps held together by a single string. In other words, advertisements featuring large–preferably augmented so as not to be too large–breasts are acceptable; naturally large, full-figured breasts are not. More to the point, naturally large, full-figured breasts are obscene, suggesting that the networks have an awfully thin (and hypocritical) threshold for decency.

The article is very good and insightful, with links to blogs and articles commenting on this. For example, this:

“People who shame women for wearing “too-revealing” clothes like to center their objections on women’s clothing “choices,” but make no mistake—this is not about what we choose. This is about the things we don’t choose—having chests or butts or legs or necks or hair or any other part of our human bodies that others decide to project their particular sexual interests—and their slut-shaming—upon. The man who is horrified at a woman’s “overly exposed” breasts will likely never have to worry about wearing one shirt—one shirt out of a lifetime of shirts—that happens to accidentally set off some random person’s slut meter, because of the way his body just is.”

In my opinion, part of this is sexism because it's about power and self-determination; as Roseanne once said, (paraphrasing) "People don't like it when women take up space."

More Shoes and Stuff

I know it is easy to think that I love shoes and mostly I do, but not in the summer.  I live it NM, it is hot here and in the summer I can’t stand to have my feet confined in a shoe, any type of enclosed shoe (or socks) makes me miserable.  So that is why when I bought new hiking shoes Tuesday, they were Teva sandals.  Oh yes, I know the problem with sandals, little rocks can get under your feet and it is easier for creatures like ants to get to you and bite you -- I am willing to put up with that.  I haven’t had any Teva shoes for a while, but they do have great soles for hiking, especially compared to what I had been wearing which were burkies and betulas. :-) 

Actually, I noticed yesterday when we took a short hike that the soles slip less than my New Balance athletic shoes.  I only had one very minor slip, unlike most days.  Slips where I don’t fall on my ass wouldn’t be so bad except they almost always cause me to twist which throws my back out of whack.

Just so you know that I don't only buy shoes, check out these great notebooks I got at borders for 75% off: