Sunday morning roundup

As Russian authorities crack down on activism--under the auspices of protecting intellectual property--Microsoft is forced to pick a side. But I have another question: has the Russian government learned nothing from the recent fires? How short-sighted is it to invest in pollution, without considering the long-term political (as well as environmental) consequences?

And then there's Egypt.

Anti-corruption efforts in India slowly gain ground, or at least become less deadly.

A sting operation reveals a crazy cross-border smuggling arrangement.

The changing nature of prostitution. (No, I didn't follow the Economist's discussion on the topic).

Frank Rich finds cause for hope in the political environment. His assessment is insightful; Maureen Dowd's is annoying. On a local level, sales of political merchandise in DC only tell part of the story.

Nicholas Kristof on the interfaith mood. Ted Koppel says stop abetting the enemy.

Debunking the science of neurosexism.

The Times is remiss not to talk about Jordan Marsh, which was demolished years before. One of my favorite memories as a kid had nothing to do with shopping--even though my mom certainly loved her Filenes Basement--and the ones in DC don't come close. Filenes and Jordan Marsh used to put on amazing, animated window displays for the holidays, and there would be lines out the door. Now mom loves her Christmas Tree Shops and Ocean State Job Lots (and Building 19s and whatever dollar store).

Rhymes with Orange on Gracie's home gym.

As someone whose last three vacations were partly funded by frequent flier miles, I can't agree with this call to arms against loyalty programs. I agree that the segmentation is over the top and pointless; still, it's not like it costs anything to join. Just shut up and collect the points.

Toilet signs from around the world.

Yoga in the park

Some of you have suggested that I post pictures of myself on this blog in order to provide a frame of reference for mom's nagging me about my weight. I've long resisted these suggestions out of the belief that my weight wasn't the point; mom's commentary was the point, regardless of my actual shape. However, as I've come to believe that mom's commentary is more amusing in light of my actual shape, I am posting some pictures that P. kindly took. You can see for yourself the gut so enormous that stops all conversation, and the butt so massive it's a wonder it fits through doorways.

Friday evening roundup

Ernessa, I really wish I could make it to your book signing, but I'm busy all next week but Thursday. Hope it goes well!

***
Latin America's doing okay.

Big food really is energy intensive.

The luxury market in Japan is changing.

Fortune stops short of exposing Trader Joe's business model.

Curves are in this season.

***
I deliberately left my house a bit later this morning to stick around work less, because I'd be going to a friend's happy hour... and then I felt like crap and opted to go home. The saddest part about that is, I'm really in the mood for a glass of wine, and it's just kind of pathetic to drink at home.

Thursday evening roundup and ramble

Had you ever heard of Cel-Ray?? I had not.

I find this sanctimonious call-out of part-time foodies unhelpful. Could each side please take the smugness out of food politics?

***
I found myself telling a few people at work mom stories. Not intentionally. It just kept coming up in conversation. I told my supervisor, who’d seen the name of my blog on my picasa page when I showed him some Istanbul pictures (he's thinking of going). His response: “um, you’re fairly tiny.” I also told a friend I’d run into in the hallway, who, upon hearing the stories, asked me whether my mom was first generation. When I told her she was Russian-Jewish, she said it all made sense. She then told me of a (Russian-Jewish family’s) baby shower she’d attended, where the parents would, perhaps every thirty minutes, interrupt whatever else they were talking about to point out that their daughter was fat.

Later in the day, I nearly tripped over myself getting up from a chair in my supervisor's office, as one of my four-inch heels was caught under the bottom of the chair.

A.: Why can I not stand up?
P., smirking: Because of your stomach fat?

Thursday morning roundup

Although hatemongering may be much more fun, and easy, a 9/11 widow opts for a more constructive way forward.

Contentious successions in Egypt and North Korea.

***
This is one of those days when I'm too tired to bike to work, but the alternative is washing my hair here, and biking to work (and washing my hair there) is the path of least resistance.

those who don't learn from history...

A.: I told you this would happen.
Mom: On what grounds! How dare they?!
A.: They count on the fact that most people would sooner pay them than fight the bill, either because they're busy or confused or intimidated.
Mom: We need to take this to Call for Action! I will not let go of the whole history...
A.: Okay, first, call them and get them to drop the charges. Then go on your crusade for consumer justice.
Mom: Never have I encountered a company as shameless as Verizon!
A.: Every time you change utilities, something like this happens. They see it as an opportunity to screw you over.
Mom: We'll write letters.
A.: Call. them.
Mom: Tomorrow. I'm too tired now.
A.: Of course tomorrow.

Wednesday evening roundup

The Post would do well to point out that while the FDA is close to deeming genetically altered salmon as safe as all farmed salmon, all farmed salmon is nasty.

An insightful look at the burning of religious symbols.

Don't tell mom, but apparently, having a fat girl is a failure.

L'Shanah Tovah

As a nation, we can't compete on price on compact fluorescents.

China's globalized economic growth encounters hostility.

Daylight Savings Time and Yom Kippur aren't mixing well in Israel.

I really like the last line of this article on interfaith families. In many ways, to be Jewish mirrors the "we're not confused; we're complicated" statement.

Are we on the verge of a revolution in less frustrating (and more environmentally friendly) packaging?

On settling

Yesterday's letter to Carolyn showcased some pretty twisted logic, but
the same writer got even crazier today. And made me think, "I guess that's what happens when you settle."

I thought Paul Rudnick's column was funny, but that it was kind-of unfair to people without legs, who deserve better than being grouped with those other losers.

Reflections on the weekend

In case you were wondering, the Google translator defines "плотная" as:

* dense
* thick
* massive
* solid
* stout
* gross
* impermeable
* burly

***
A friend this morning wrote me with the following:
"I was telling my mom and my aunt yesterday about your mom's obsession with your weight after reading your post and my aunt said "That girl who came over the other day? She's so skinny!"

Tuesday evening roundup

Japanese men are taking e-dating to a whole new level.

Where not to stay in Rome.

How not to alienate your customers and infuriate the general public. That refers to a railway company, but mortgage lenders and such might also take note.

River cleanups can succeed. But it's harder when the culprit is farm waste... so eat responsibly.

And I hadn't even read this piece about maximizing one's search hits when I blogged about Lady Gaga the other day.

Tuesday morning roundup

US-China relations update: relations between our respective film industries are warmer than those between governments and billionaires.

Anne Applebaum on Europe's new regional divide. Meanwhile, Russians are freaking out over the buckwheat shortage.

I'm sure BP wishes it had spent less on lobbying to avoid safety measures and such, and more to implement them. Well, the egg industry isn't learning from that experience.

Is mom right on both counts??

(1) Most people are ineffective at gauging their own weight.

(2) In the course of our hike the other day, Jay said to me--I don't remember in what context--"OMG, you are Liz Lemon!" Well, I just heard Jenna tell Liz that she had to stop telling other people how to live their lives.

Emphasis where it's due

We need to remember that there are two themes to this weekend: I am not just fat; I'm also cold. As such, I wanted to share the story of another woman whose mother branded her 'cold'.

Has mom found that I've put on weight?

Last night, when I said/hugged mom 'goodnight':

Mom: You've gotten very... solid.

This morning, when mom insisted that I try on a blazer (again)

Mom: You've certainly put on weight.

Sunday, continued

Dad: Why is Lady Gaga called Lady Gaga?
A.: How do you know about Lady Gaga? I barely know about Lady Gaga.
Dad: Bill O'Reilly talks about her. He says she's a genius.

[Pause]

A.: Jay likes her, too. I don't know much about her--only that she doesn't like pants. I've heard her music at the gym, and I knew it was her because the instructor named her when the song came out. I guess she's okay.
Dad: He says she could be the next Madonna.
A.: [Shrug]

***
Mom: Where are you going?
A.: JP.
Mom: As long as I don't have to drive there.
A.: R.'s picking me up. I'll take the T back, you'll just have to drive to NH.
Mom: They both live in JP?
A.: M. lives in JP; R. lives in Brookline.
Mom: I won't live in Brookline. Too many Russians.

***
M.: How's your mom?
A.: She's very concerned about my belly fat. Says it's the worst kind of fat.
R.: Did you have to get an extra seat on the plane?
A.: It's a wonder I fit in your car.

[Pause]

A.: You're a doctor; need I be concerned about my belly fat?
R.: I don't see any belly fat.
M.: You need to put a picture up on your blog; otherwise, people are not going to appreciate the absurdity, given that you're not actually overweight.

***
A.: Mom, I'm waiting for the train now. I'll call you when I get to Reservoir, should be at NH just before you if you leave the house around then.

I called from Reservoir maybe fifteen minutes later.

I waited a while at NH, started to wonder whether mom might be confused about where to get me. I was about to call when I saw the car.

Mom: Hi.
A.: Hi.
Mom: Waiting long?
A.: A bit. Did you leave when I called?
Mom: We finished having our tea. Is that okay?
A.: I'm not in a position to argue. [Not out loud: it's okay on a beautiful day like this; when it's five degrees out, I'm not taking the T; you're coming to get me whereever I am--and you'll have brought that on yourself, because you're neither willing to loan me the car, nor to leave the house in time to keep my extremities from freezing off]. Did you already have dinner?
Mom: Yep. We thought you wouldn't be back for dinner.
A.: Um, you specifically asked me, and I specifically told you I would. More than once. But whatever, it doesn't matter. I mean, it does, from the perspective of your not listening, but not from the perspective of dinner.
Mom: We'll find something for you to eat.
A.: I'm not worried about that.

Can we let it go for ten minutes?

Mom: That shirt was loose on me. Look how tight the straps are on your shoulders.
Dad: Your shoulders have grown. You've been lifting weights, and your shoulders are more toned.
Mom: Her belly! Her belly has grown!
Dad: Whatever. The point is, you've gotten more toned.
Mom: Her belly!
Dad: Whatever. She's active...
Mom: No! A belly's the unhealthiest thing to have!

Mom, in contrast, is the paragon of warmth

Mom: I understood--it was confirmed with the dog [that came up to me]--dogs love me. Dogs find that I'm full of positivity and warmth. This has always been the case. Bees, too. They don't sting me. They accept me as one with nature.

[Birds chirping]

Mom: Do you hear the birds? Are there birds where you are? Do they chirp?

Who knew

Mom: Did you know that Ella's leg got crushed?
A.: No! What happened??!
Mom: Well, you know, she has two girls--you know, she absolutely adores those two girls--and did you know that the girls...
A.: Mom, what happened to her leg?
Mom: I'm getting there!

She eventually gets there, and then goes on about a friend of hers--an old family friend--and eventually arrives to the following:

Mom: She keeps suggesting that I hook you up with her son, but I keep telling her that I wish him better than that. You would destroy him in an instant.
A.: ??
Mom: You're cold, you're harsh, you're rude, and you're entirely without warmth. Given the opportunity to 'choke off one's neck,' you'd do it. You think you know everything, and that you do everything best, and every time someone doesn't do that thing the way you do, you judge them. You deem them inferior.

***
This is especially fascinating to me because I'm not really good at most things. I'm not sure what things I'd judge people on. I have no musical/artistic/creative talents, nor am I good at anything practical (computer/home/car repair). What am I going to judge people on? What, exactly, are people going to fall short on, as far as I'm concerned? Sure, I can write, and believe that being able to string two sentences together is a basic skill, but I don't go around skewering people for their writing skills (or lack thereof). Is mom projecting again? Where does she get this $hit?

Mom takes a stab at subtlety

I'm sitting here, minding my own business, reading the paper, when mom pops in.

Mom: A., I have a question for you... you've clearly put on weight since the spring. Why do you think that is.
A.: ??
Mom: Is it because it's been hot out, so you've been moving less?

Moving less? I bike, on average, fifty miles a week over three days; I lift weights, with cardio drills in between, another three days; my "rest" day normally entails yoga and/or yardwork. So, no, I have not been moving less.

A.: I've been moving plenty.
Mom: I mean, your physical appearance has clearly changed and you're bulkier.
A.: [shrug]
Mom: Maybe because it's the summer?
A.: I doubt it.
Mom: You've changed. Your stomach has gotten really big.
A.: [shrug]

In case you've forgotten, my stomach was already enormous in the spring.

***
last night

Jay: There's nothing wrong with your stomach. Really. I keep looking at it just in case I missed something, but nothing turns up. You do have a bedonkeydonk.
A.: Then WTF?
Jay: Do you have to ask?

earlier yesterday

Jay: Well, I was looking at our Panama pictures the other day, and you were emaciated. Twinkie thin.
A.: Yes but that ship has sailed. A while ago.

I was twenty-four when we went to Panama.

Jay: I'm just saying. Not suggesting emaciated is good.
A.: For better or for worse, this is what I look like. This is my body shape. If I were going to shed pounds, I would have shed them this summer without even trying. But I didn't, which means this is the body I am going to have to live with.
Jay: You're. Not. Fat.