Paul Campos says it all:
This girl has already learned two ignoble truths about appearance in our culture: That, as a woman, nothing she accomplishes will ever be considered as important as how she looks, and that the conventional definition of feminine beauty in our culture is both extraordinarily narrow and radically different from what most [...]

Following Paul McAleer’s talk, I somehow found myself falling in step with Paul Campos, who was wandering out of the building in the same direction I was. Dee and I had planned to lunch with Paul McAleer following his talk, but there was a lot of confusion and lots of fat people headed for the [...]

We slept beautifully again, our second night in Massachusetts. I woke up early again, with the birds, and dove into the enormous Edwardian bathtub. I used up all the hot water on accident. I hope no one noticed.
Breakfast was pancakes and sausages. This time we left unfinished muffins on our plates, and I imagined the [...]

Bird songs woke me up at 6am. I decided to get a jump on the shower situation, since we were sharing two communal bathrooms among three guest rooms. I took a shower in a semi-converted Victorian tub, using a series of odd contortions, and vowed to use the Olympic-sized bathtub the next morning.
Breakfast was with [...]

Dee and I left Toronto around 9:30 in the morning. We got coffee and pastries in Cabbagetown, then didn’t stop until New York state, where we got gas and a map, and where I bought 29-cent Whatchamacallits. Because, Jesus Christ, 29-cent Whatchamacallits!
We are both Americans, and straddling North America in the way we do is [...]

Health as an indicator of social status.

I found this article on MSN.
Quote: “Instead of making weight loss a goal, Kater advocates focusing on choices that enhance health. She says it’s all right to hope for weight loss, but when people consider weight loss the goal, they almost always give up healthier eating and more exercise, if these good habits don’t [...]

Got off the phone and practically ran to the internet cafe to write about it.
She was calm, with a distinct Midwestern accent.
I told her about the problem with my family (ie they are all on the verge of trying some diet pill supplement thingy ordered from TV) and asked her how one goes about [...]