Debbie says: Okay, we’re supposed to be on vacation. But this is too good not to share with you all. Bookmark it; it will come in handy. “Diets don’t work.” 18 blog entries with evidence, from 13 blogs. Four mainstream news (or internet news) stories. One book reference Plus, the NAAFA site and the WebMD [...]

Debbie says: Neither of us celebrate Christmas, but both of us are taking a holiday break. We’ll be back very shortly after the New Year. Meanwhile, we hope you don’t need our Guide to Sane Holidays, but if you do need it, please use it. Here are a couple of the tips from that guide. [...]

Laurie says: Since I finished Women of Japan, I’ve had time to think about and look at some of my non-project images. I took this photograph of June Gladney at the Masquerade at the World Science Fiction Convention at San Jose in 2002. She looked fabulous and her performance was courageous, dramatic and literally breathtaking [...]

Debbie says: This week we got two links which connect us to the U.S. national elections. First, Mike Huckabee, Republican candidate and well-known weight-loss poster child may have had weight loss surgery. This is absolutely not proven, but Plutarch makes a strong circumstantial case. Greater than >100 lb. weight loss with diet/exercise is rare, and [...]

Laurie and Debbie say: If you love the holidays, love your family, and are looking forward to the next ten days, you don’t need this list. If you’re still reading: 1) To the extent possible, do as much or as little holiday stuff as you want; it’s supposed to a celebration, not an obligation. 2) [...]

Laurie says: I always look forward to the Dance Concerts at Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz. Every time I go, I walk out elated at seeing size-diverse talented young dancers, performing with intense professional energy, in varied and frequently exciting new dance works. I went to the Winter Dance Concert on Sunday. This is not [...]

Debbie says: Here’s a glorious response to the story Laurie wrote about last week. If you think Santa should be fat, sign the petition. For every signature, DVA Advertising and Public Relations will donate food to Second Harvest. We’ve received petition signatures from all 50 states and beyond! We’ve had visitors from 40 countries! And [...]

Debbie says: In the epilogue to Atul Gawande’s book Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance, he gives five “suggestions for becoming a positive deviant.” I liked them all, but the one that struck me was “count something.” He says, “If you count something you find interesting, you will learn something interesting.” Over at Jezebel, “intern [...]

Laurie and Debbie say: Last week, we gave our response to a particularly stupid and nasty Dan Savage column, in which Savage advised a man to “Tell your wife [who has been gaining weight] that you no longer find her attractive. It’s called being honest.” A couple of days later, Savage recanted, “What the fuck [...]

Debbie says: In the kinder, gentler 1950s, it was okay to be overt in advertising about what now has to be covert. So the ads still tell us that women are weaker and stupider than men, and need to be kept in their place, but they’re somewhat more subtle than the selection shown aat this [...]