Is there anything objectively wrong with wrinkled clothes? Is it an workplace safety issue? Do the clothes wear out faster? Does it contribute to global warming?
It’s really down to other people’s preferences, yes? If “the wrinkled look” suddenly came into fashion, we could reclaim the time we waste neatly folding clothes without worrying about how people would treat us.
Let’s make that happen, please.
We have our first muggy, rainy day in a while, and after a short, brisk walk I find myself… sticky. Gross. Time to go home for a shower.
For some reason, I’m still struggling with the end of Man Bites World. I have no idea why, but I’m pretty unhappy about my progress. Usually, I struggle with a scene because I’m doing something wrong with it, somehow, but in this case I’m pretty sure I have it worked out nicely. I just can’t seem to focus on it. Bad me.
Earlier today, I dropped off a copy of Child of Fire (Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble online, Borders, Powell’s, Mysterious Galaxy, Indiebound.org) with the owner of the bookstore that’ll be hosting my signing. I wanted her to see what she was getting in for, not to mention ask if there was anything she’d need. As it turns out, I need to print up a copy of my author photo for her. No biggie.
Now I need to pick up some thank you cards, my library holds and head home. I have to introduce my son to Godzilla movies and get started on those speed reading books I’ve been meaning to tackle.
Evidence is increasing that obesity is not simply a matter of self-indulgence and self-control. While I’ve seen articles here and there about chemical influences on weight and diabetes, this is the first article I’ve come across that ties several research threads together.
Obviously, this all comes with the caveat that it’s science reporting, which is likely to be wildly inaccurate in the details and the implications. However! If the research is solid, it could go a long way to understanding the health implications of the chemicals we use everyday, not to mention the difficulties people have with their weight.
And while I’d heard of the problems associated with DDT and other pesticides, this is the first time I’d heard of preliminary results linking childhood obesity to soy.
It’s interesting stuff, and it really challenges the typical moralizing about food and weight in this culture. Also interesting is that that article linking obesity to chemicals hasn’t attracted the trolls the way the article about the link between obesity and genetics has.
On a personal level, I took my son to the pool yesterday for his “swim lesson” (really just an excuse to get out and move around). Generally, I don’t like swimming–I dislike being submerged in something I can’t breathe, and my son really hates it–but it was great to spend an hour playing without a full day’s worth of knee and ankle pain.
Let’s not dwell on the fact that the dude in this blog looks like Howdy Doody after a visit from the Blue Fairy. Seriously. Let’s not.
Instead, let’s focus on his efforts to create a “meatini”–a cocktail of dead animal flesh. (No, I will not be making one).
The world = Strange place
A salad still counts as a salad, right? Even if it’s small? Even if it comes served in a split french roll? With a whole bunch of lunch meat? Right???
I had a delicious salad for lunch today.
In other non-news, I’ve been meaning to followup on yesterday’s post about the difference between art and craft, but I slept poorly last night, and now I can’t muster any enthusiasm for it. I guess I’m not going to have a thinkier blog until a thinkier person starts writing it.
Expect more funny links and abbreviated complaints about healthcare reform!
And arguing about Hugo winners, I will continue with my lifelong quest to be behind the times by posting… San Diego Comic Con photos!
Most people see a person in costume and ask them to pose for the picture. Which they do. Me, I liked taking pictures of them while they were looking at their watches, impatiently waiting for a pal, or sitting in a corner for a rest. What I wanted most was a picture of a cosplayer eating one of those sandwiches out of the plastic clamshell, or maybe a hot dog, but it was not to be.
Candid!
But here’s one picture that’s not candid:
Yeah, that’s me posing beside a poster for the book
You can see pictures of my panel, my signing, and the people at the con by skimming through the set.
First things first: I’m not usually a fan of Megan McArdle’s political blogging, because it often seems like a triumph of preconceptions over evidence.
However! This interview with Paul Campos, author of The Obesity Myth, is pretty interesting stuff. I wish I’d seen it before I hit the bookstore today.
What’s that, you say? Bookstore? That’s right. I was about 12 pages from the end of The Patriot Witch by C.C. Finlay and it was so freaking good that I had to rush out and buy the next two, just in case they vanished from the bookstores or something. Now that I own them, I can read them at leisure (which means: right away).
I also bought Breakthrough Rapid Reading and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Speed Reading (because I’m a complete idiot). I’d tried to read the former once before, but I borrowed it from the library and I had to–no joke–return it before I was done. No, really, I’m not kidding.
I think, in an effort to embarrass myself into learning to read faster, I will blog about my attempt to learn speed reading. Nothing like a little humiliation to goad the lazy.
Tonight, I’ll be meeting my family (wife, son, visiting sister-in-law) for dinner at my favorite restaurant. It’s provincial French, and very simple. Not too fancy, but delicious food.
I wish they’d put the Normandy Chicken back on the menu, though.
Should I mention that I had completely forgotten about it, and that my wife had to call me to remind me? No, better not.
How do I know? They have a giant cake and buckets of ice cream in the break room.
It’s like a slow motion hate crime against fat people. :P
My son’s school is having a benefit pizza party tonight. Mom and boy are already there, hanging out at Volunteer Park or the library nearby, and I’ll be catching a bus over there later to join them. It sucks that they have to kill three hours between the end of school and the start of the party, but it didn’t make much sense to have him ride home on the school bus for an hour, demand food at home, then take a Metro bus in the other direction.
As for me, I’m making progress on Everyone Loves Blue Dog, but I can’t shake the feeling that I should have finished by now. I really really want this thing to be in my rear view mirror. Man Bites World is sitting fallow while I tinker and trim, and I am itching to get back to it. … Blue Dog is solved. It’s done. At this point, I’m just managing the reader’s experience, which is important (very important, I know) but it isn’t interesting.
Also, I’m tired. Tired enough to feel kinda sick. If we owned cell phones, I’d call my wife and beg off.