Rebecca Allen has an excellent post up about why pop culture matters, and why it's important to analyze it.

(and I've been surfing pretty indiscriminately this morning, so I don't remember where I grabbed the link from -- so no hat tip. Sorry.)

How to be a feminist boyfriend

M. LeBlanc at Bitch, Ph.D. has some great advice.

New Year's Resolutions

It's that time of year again. New Year's Resolution time. And what's the most common resolution in North America? I don't have any scientific evidence to back me up, but I'd lay money on "losing weight" being resolution #1.

You can't open a newspaper or magazine these days without coming across a story about how to lose weight "sustainably", or a profile of someone embarking on a resolution to lose a dramatic number of pounds in order to "feel better" about herself (it's usually a woman, of course), and "be healthier".

This isn't to say that the media isn't obsessed with weight loss the rest of the time -- they certainly are. But there's an intensification of the obsession at this time of the year, as well as (I'm guessing again, entirely non-scientifically) an increased likelihood on the part of "ordinary people" to act on the obsession. You can't step into a gym in the first few weeks of a new year without tripping over enthusiastic new resolutionists (much to the annoyance of the regulars, I'm sure).

What there isn't in the media is any follow-up coverage: we don't see stories about the people who, after losing huge amounts of weight, gain it all back (and more), damaging their health in a neverending yo-yo cycle. We don't hear about the people who suffer horrifying side effects as the result of weight-loss surgeries and diet pills. We don't hear about the people who live shorter, less happy lives than they would have if they'd just been satisfied with their natural weight.

Nor do we hear about the people who resolve NOT to lose weight. But that's my challenge for this year, both for myself and for you. Eat well, because it's better for you, and it's more enjoyable. Exercise, for the joy of moving your body and reach a goal (completing a race, hiking a trail, lifting a certain weight, whatever), but not to lose weight. Don't look at a scale. Don't obsess. Feel good about yourself and what you can do. Resolve not to feel guilty for eating a cookie. Celebrate being alive.

That's my resolution for '08.

Oh yeah -- and I resolve to blog more regularly. No, really. I mean it.

What does overweight look like?

There are some truly fascinating things on the Internet. Kate Harding of Shapely Prose is putting together a photostream of people in various BMI categories -- "underweight", "normal", "overweight", "obese", etc. It's really quite incredible.

(I recommend watching it as a slideshow with the info turned on)

Friday Random Ten

Bright Eyes, At the Bottom of Everything
British Sea Power, It Ended on an Oily Stage
Paper Moon, Remember Me
Portishead, Wandering Star
Death Cab for Cutie, Some Day You Will Be Loved
Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Sleep: Murray Ostril (They Don't Sleep Anymore on the Beach; Monheim (aka the first half of the second disc of Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven -- GYBE! doesn't work so well for random 10s, do they?)
Sarah Slean, Mary
Weeping Tile, Don't Let it Bring You Down
Delerium, Incantation
Stars, This Charming Man


Happy weekend, y'all.

Friday Random Ten

My brain's too hot for substantive posting today, I'm afraid. I haven't acclimated to summer just yet. So in the meantime, ten random songs from the iPod.

Counting Crows, Round Here
Tori Amos, Famous Blue Raincoat
PJ Harvey, No Girl So Sweet
Metric, Wet Blanket
Moby, Lift Me Up
Stereolab, Diagonals
Department of Foreign Affairs, The Small Print
The Frames, In The Deep Shade
Loreena McKennitt, Courtyard Lullaby
Cat Power, I Don't Blame You

6 Billion Others

6 Billion Others is, essentially, a series of interviews with people from all over the planet, answering questions such as "what is love?" and "what did your parents teach you?". It's a wonderful glimpse into the lives of people you'd never ordinarily meet.

(via redjenny)