This weekend I was too tired & sick to do much of anything, but luckily it was raining and it all worked out to a cozy Sunday on the couch with the puglet and husband and the heater all working in harmony with the Cooking Channel to give me nearly all the comforts I could ever ask for. I do love the Cooking Channel! I just discovered it a couple of month ago, but it was love at first sight, honestly.

Sunday morning after a bite to eat and some fabulous espresso drinks, we headed home and I literally curled up with the pup on the couch. We snuggled in for a full day of cooking shows. The first few, I believe, were three episodes of “Two Fat Ladies” and oh how I had forgotten how much fun their show was to watch. I remember my grandma watching them and talking about it. I remember watching a couple of episodes with her long ago and generally enjoying myself (cooking & baking is a new found love for me).

The title alone is so radical and just smacks of you got a problem with it? To put the word FAT in the title of a show? WOW! And the ladies themselves were such a hoot to watch working together in the kitchen. Not only that, no, they also ride a motorcycle (one in the sidecar) and one episode ended with them doing a bit of a spin-out…Fabulous!

At one point Jennifer Paterson burst into song as she was cleaning up a counter. I turned to my husband and said, “Well, at least you now know, when you die, this will be my future without you!” because y’all! I totally burst into song all of the damn time at home, especially while cooking! Too funny!

While they were hardly afraid of calories, they were often seen as a bad influence on the Brittish diet for their use of butter and lard in their dishes. Paterson often ended an episode by smoking a cigarette and having a nip of something alcoholic. Glorious!

It did make me a bit sad though, as I knew one had died. In fact it was Jennifer Paterson, of lung cancer. On her death bed, she called Clarissa Dickson Wright asking for a tin of caviar. When she arrived though, Paterson had already passed away. “Dickson Wright said that after Paterson’s funeral, she ate the caviar as a tribute.” (Quoted from wikipedia.)

I just fell head over heels all over again for these “Two Fat Ladies” and cannot imagine what it would be like had they debuted now. *sigh* I have come to see them as radical revolutionaries in the Fat Acceptance movement. Intentional or not, they are among my fat heroines, for sure.

But damn, this just bothered me!

Okay, she hated herself, starved herself, did all of those terrible things you do on diets and then struggled with her body image. I get it! I understand, I really do. Later reading the book, “Size 12 Is Not Fat” by Meg Cabot and later deciding she was beautiful just as she was at a size 12. This I’m okay with. Yay!You’re accepting yourself and that’s rad.

She then mentions the Marie Claire Incident and follows up with, “Are you listening, size 12s? You’re beautiful, just the way you are. The choice to see yourselves that way is all yours.”

What if you’re over a size 12? Is that still okay? Do I still get to be “beautiful?”

Perhaps I’m reading too far into what appears to be non-news, but it just rubbed me the wrong way. Ya know?

I get daily emails from “The Universe” and this was yesterday’s (so FA it rocks!):

The path to enlightenment is not a path at all, it’s actually a metaphor for the time it takes for you to allow yourself to be happy with who you already are, where you’re already at, and what you already have – no matter what.

Just do it,
The Universe

(If you’d like the Universe to send you emails, go to www.tut.com)

This one just reminded me of how I felt after finding the Fat Acceptance movement and also when I decided to dedicate this blog to FA. It’s like waking up and realizing you don’t just have a full and wonderful day ahead of you, but an entire life! <3

Monday after work, sitting in my car cueing up the iPod so I could listen to the Fatcast on my commute, I looked up to see a small family walking past. The smaller of the two children locked eyes with me and just smiled a great bog fat smile; I returned the smile instantly because I just couldn’t help it! And this brief interaction got me thinking. Smiling is awesome!

In the same vein as The Fat Heffalump’s challenge of positive posts in November (I will try, but if something strikes me I will post about it, too) I thought about a fun and positive way for the pubicly fat among us to sort of challenge those who would have us all hide ourselves away or die all together.

SMILE!!! I know, radical, eh? Ha! But seriously, why can’t we smile at passersby without fear or judgement? I have often attempted this, but other people’s frowns ended up bring me down. Not this time! I will smile, a big fat genuine smile, at anyone who passes me on the street or catches my eye at a stoplight! I will smile and say, “Hi” to any within an ear/eye shot! And if they don’t like it? Um, well…too bad for them!

What do you think? Is it possible for fats to live down the sad stereotype and just smile at strangers happily? I think so. I shall give it a go for all of November and get back to you on my findings. I hope you try it, too! Just think of a world full of happy and friendly fats! Oh wait, we already live in that world! Ha-ha! Rock on!

Beej, of thebustytraveler.blogspot.com, suggested this blog and I love it both as a fat and as a beginning seamstress/DIY/crafty-gal! I was quietly catching up on some recent posts when I came across this one and just WOW & YES! More, please?! Ha-ha! I am falling for “Psycho Sue” and cannot wait for more fun sewing tips and “Fatshion for Wayward Girls!”