Friday, October 19, 2007

Fat Rant Find

I saw this video clip posted over at my friend Stevie's blog, La-Story. I agree to some extent on Joy's creed for fat people - We should not keep our life on hold because we are fat. But, of course, I also have to admit that I haven't worn a bathing suit in about 5 years!



I don't agree, though, that it's something we should just live with. As I posted in a comment on Stevie's blog, "How many fat old people do you see walking around?" None? That's because obesity can kill you or at the very least shorten you life span.

I also gree that size zero and double zero is just insane. However, size 8 and 10? Obviously, depending on how tall you are and your age, I don't think getting down to an 8/10/12 is out the question, hard to do, but not impossible.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

12 Hours Before WW Weigh-In

My thoughts starting the night before....

"These pants feel loose. Maybe I lost a pound this week."

Waking up the next morning....

"Oh, my Gawd! I'm so bloated! Why did I eat all that pop corn last night? What was I thinking!"

Getting dressed before I leave to WW meeting....

"These pants still don't fit me like I want them too, but maybe I lost at least 1/2 a pound."

Climbing into the car to drive to WW meeting....

"Oh, geez, I'm huge. I can barely fit this seat belt around my stomache."

Driving to the meeting....

"Please, just don't let me have gained anything. I'll be happy with that, no gaining. Even if I didn't lose even a 1/2 a pound, as long as I didn't gain back any weight this week, I'm good with that. I can live with that."

At the meeting, standing on the scale, holding my breath as I peek over to see the WW woman write in my card....

Exhale, "Ah, really? Oh, thank God! A pound?"

Start breathing normally again.

12.5 pounds gone, so many more to go!





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Friday, October 12, 2007

Academic Publishing - "Uncle Already!"

So, it's official. I'm giving up on academic publishing. I have had a real struggle with this personally because of the fact that I make money writing non-fiction, so why spend time writing academic work (which is way harder) for no obvious financial gain?

Today, I received an email from a group that had conditionally agreed to publish an article of mine as part of a book. For over a year now, they have pretty much sat on it. I made it through the first peer review. Then I was asked to participate in the second peer review, and I was super careful to thoroughly examine each article I was sent (a total of 3). All of the articles had a good deal of grammar problems, and I guess that should have been a sign.

The latest email explained that the book was changing, they had way too many articles for it, and that attached are peer reviews for me to use in revising my article so that it could be reviewed again (3rd review). I looked at the reviews. One says my article is total crap and I could say the same dribble in a table. The other says my article is fabulous and I should include pictures. What the?

This is just a little of the saga that has gone on with this supposed book for over a year now. I won't bore you with any more details.

It's not that this one issue has turned me off. It's been just about every place I've sent something. I send it, and maybe I hear back. When I do hear back, it is sometimes even a little encouraging. Then I get something like "We will get back to you in a few months." The months come and go and nothing. I write them back and, again, zip. It's just amazing to me how unprofessional these people are who are supposed to be "academics." You can't email me a simple canned "thanks but no thanks" email? I know they are all probably very busy, but heck, if you can't do the work, then don't take it on. There really is no excuse for soliciting a call for papers and then not following up on your end of the deal.

I hate to say the cliche "those who can't do teach," but in this case it really seems to fit. I write and get paid for it. They don't.

Friday, October 05, 2007

Episode #3 of Metal Chik

I'm a little behind, but this is a cool video from Metal Chik.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Finally! A Break Through!

In my Dee Nile post early, I complained about hitting a plateau of sorts. I guess 3 weeks counts as one, but whatever it was, I finally managed to lose another pound. Yes, pathetic that I'm so glad to lose one pound, but after 3 weeks of nothing, I was seriously starting to lose faith. I added two days of exercise, just 20 minutes each day, and I kept my hand from venturing into the nut jar that is out every night on the kitchen counter. Even now, it sits there trying to seduce me, and it is still hard not to just dip my hand in for a quick cashew.

Other than that, I really didn't suffer much during the week. I even managed to go out to eat at Outback, which I found to be a very diet friendly place. I haven't eaten there much, but I knew I could at least have shrimp, so it seemed safe for me to go, unlike a place like Friday's who has deep fried mac & cheese for appetizers. We had a coupon, so I looked them up on the net. Yup, I'm never, ever, never going there, ever. At Outback, though, there were lots of choice, fish, shrimp, lobster, and lots of steamed veggies. Plus, they didn't push the bread on you like most places. We had a loaf; I had a few pieces. That was it. They didn't even ask if we wanted more, which I guess some people might think that's a bad thing. I was just relieved.

So, here is to 10.5 lbs. I don't miss you!

Monday, October 01, 2007

Welcome 2 October!

I love this time of the year! My two favorite months are October and March. One reason is due to the weather. About now, the temperature in Florida is starting to change. It's very subtle, but while it still gets into the mid-80s down here, you just don't sweat as much as you usually do. In fact, at 8:30 this morning, it was 74 degrees! The wind is blustering and it's been raining some, so to us natives, it really is starting to feel like fall.

Another reason I like October is because of Halloween. I spent most of my childhood wearing costumes of some sort as I was always pretending to be someone else, so I have a fondness for Halloween in general. It's too bad we lose that affinity for pretending when we grow up. Today I have a lot of school work to do since I have class tomorrow, and I've got a new jewelry book I'm working on that I hope to bang out a few more pages on. Maybe today while I'm working, I'll pretend that I'm actually a world famous novelist and that instead of grading essays, I'm actually making the finishing touches to my latest novel manuscript.

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