moominmuppet

Hooboy, exhausting day. I'm waaaaaay less joint-achy this week than I have been in the long time, but the full body 'beaten-with-a-bat' muscle soreness has been more present than absent, and the fatigue just won't quit. So, of course today was a bus day that went straight into a surprise two and a half hour meeting. Blarg.

Yesterday's day off wasn't much recuperation, either, although it had some definite high points. Way-too-early-for-a-second-shifter I had an appt over at main campus for a consult on the Mirena. I'm now officially approved (including the all important financial pre-approval), and we'll be scheduling the actual appt soon! Yay! Very excited to see what effects going off the extra estrogens has for me. Got home from that, took a much-too-brief nap, and headed out to patient-instructing with Liv. Except that there was a noshow, so that basically amounted to getting into a hospital gown, getting back out of one, and hanging out with Steph and Liv for a bit. After that, 45-minute phone interview with the researcher for the study on fat identity I signed up for. I really enjoyed it, and liked working with her, so I'm reposting the invite again:
If you identify as fat and participate in online communities that promote fat acceptance, then I would love to talk to you.

I've spent the rest of my day today writing a long, detailed, and relatively stressful letter about an issue that came up yesterday, so no linketies today. Brain Too Fried. Going to stare blankly at something simple for the next hour until I can go home and collapse.

Whenever I take surveys with a lot of free text answers I try to copy them out for my own reference. These are my answers to some of the free text questions on the survey for the new version of Big Big Love about sexuality and fat. I may expand on them if I have enough brain cells rubbing together (I'm kind of migrainey and brainfoggish, and wasn't in much better shape when I first answered the questions, so this isn't always as coherent or detailed as I'd like)

Clarification, for those unfamiliar with the fat acceptance/body acceptance/Health At Every Size movement -- the use of the word "fat" throughout this may be disconcerting. Here's an article about why both Hanne and I are using it: Reclaiming the Word "Fat" as a Positive Term

Also, early on in the survey it asks a multiple choice about preferred terminology. I don't know if this actually changes the wordings of the questions, but I'm retroactively curious.

(for reference, here's the link from my linketies the other day)
A new version of Big, Big Love is in the works, and Hanne Blank needs input in the form of a survey about sexuality and size Hanne is all flavors of awesome, and her original is still a classic. I highly recommend participating in the survey if it's a topic of interest to you; she's thoroughly trustworthy and nonexploitive.

( includes some sexually explicit commentary -- sibs and others who don't want to see it are hereby forewarned )
OK, I think that's the relevant stuff from the survey. If you have questions or want clarification or whathaveyou, feel free to ask either anonymously or not (you can also message them to me rather than commenting here, if you prefer). I'm in the mood for some writing prompts, and questions are always good for that. I'm making this a public post instead of locking it to the sex filters because I want more public and straight-forward conversation about fat and sexuality, and this makes it accessible most broadly, including to my facebook friends. Facebook folks, here's a link that'll take you to the actual post so you can follow any comment threads. I keep meaning to put these on all my posts, but forgetting.

Well, apparently everyone else is out or asleep, so I guess I may as well tackle a few other writing prompts I've left myself, since I'm not tired or in the mood to go out.

( some thoughts on reactions to my fat )

Firecat points to a Health at Every Size brochure from the Wellness Council of America

http://welcoa.org/freeresources/pdf/10thingsyoucandorightnow.pdf

Very good to see this getting out there more. It's a topic I can rant about for hours.

The day the WHO stops using "Runs a weight loss clinic" as a criteria for "obesity expert", I'll be a damned happy camper.

And as a bonus, the Wikipedia entry has a lot of good external links, if you're curious about more

cupcakecomplex's awesome Cupcake and Cuddlebunny: Retro-Inspired Couture for Plump Dumplings

and cassidyrose's passion, Big Moves, dance for all sizes.

Check 'em out!


OK, back to housecleaning for me. It's already so much nicer in here, and that's doing excellent things for my mood and energy. Air flow! OMG, what a concept! The critters are all excited to have windowsills again, and in a bit I'm opening up the porch so they can go hang out there (we've got an awesome setup with a full-length second-floor porch, and all my cats are too lazy to get off of it (except grf's cat, Cat, who's not here at the moment). The dogs love getting to watch the sidewalk and the other houses (and their dogs). I know we're in for at least another cold snap or two before it's reliably warm enough to keep the door open (and then when the Mayflies hit, it's time to close up for a bit, too), but it's lovely today, and I'm enjoying it immensely. I'm pondering the idea of using a colored sheet for a full length door covering, actually. I think if I hang it right, the pets can easily walk past it, but it'd keep people from being "shocked and offended" by glimping nekkid me in the living room, and keep most of the bugs out without needing a screen door with a pet door in it. As much as possible, I leave that door open all summer, since it's not accessible from the ground, and the apartment that holds heat so well in the winter does it in the summer, too. Since we're sans A/C, fans and air flow are our friends.