Diary of a Fat Teenager » books

Lessons from the Fat-O-Sphere

Lizzie — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 18:23:37 +0000

me, posing with my backwards book. lol.

Wooooooooooooooo! I FINALLY got a copy of the book! None of the bookstores near me had it at all and I debated buying the Australian version (I like that cover better) but I decided paying a bunch more money simply for a different cover was silly. So then I decided to just buy it on amazon because I needed another item for free shipping. Then my order gets cancelled because the credit card I have on my amazon account was canceled (I use my dads and he got a new card because he lost the old one blahblah) sooo I had to order it again. And pay shipping because I just got the book this time .

But yay! I’m so happy it came! I’ve been feeling more on the shitty side recently (long story short- I was totally crushing on some random guy who’s really nice to me at work and he’s new blahblah turns out he’s got a girlfriend. I work at a Target and we like to joke about finding a Target romance and such. -(Oh! Random side story: A few weeks ago I saw Kate and Alexis Gosslin when I was working (my Target is in PA) and SERVED THEM POPCORN!!! ZOMG! lol. I was totally shaking when I was scoping the popcorn into the bag- I am such a nerd. And my friend who works at Target was her cashier! Much spazzing ensued.)- Low self esteem and depressing feelings ensued after finding out and it sucked ass. To me it was an “It Figures” kind of moment. But I’ve been reading my book now and it’s really helping me to feel better. Especially the chapter about “Finding a good partner”. Obviously relevant to my young single self. And the fact that I happen to have it in my head that no one will ever find me attractive IRL because I’m fat. That does seem to be the one thing I can’t get over very well. And honestly I probably won’t get over it completely until I do find someone… *le sigh* I will probably re-read that chapter a lot.)

ANYWHO!

Starting to feel better, like I said in the last paragraph shitty-ness ensued and I’m glad it’s going away. It also helped that I went to Hersheypark yesterday with my mom and uncle and cousin. That was fun. (haha another fun random fact: My uncle is Coco the Bear- he skates on the ice during Hershey Beat games and we got free tickets the one game we went to, which is why we went to the park today)…. (sorry if you aren’t from PA lol, a lot of PA-ness going on in this post). But I had fun, which lifted my spirits a bit.

And in one week I’m leaving for a two week vacation in South Carolina (Hilton Head Island). Woooot! Vacation is much needed, since this summer I’m actually working a lot. I’m really looking foreward to going to the pool and being able to walk to the beach (they have really cute bicycle paths down there!) and taking some beach pictures! woot! It’ll just be nice to have a break.

Okay, well posting two days in a row is a lot for me, so hopefully these posts measure up lol. Hope everyone is doing well .

Now it’s time to get back to my reading lol! Even if it has taken my about two months after everyone else to get to read this.

(p.s. Kate and Marianne, you girls are amazing! I guess I’ll just say Thanks )

Like the Princess Collection, only better!

Lizzie — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:01:36 +0000

I know you have all been waiting patiently for this post (you’ve probably been waiting since the beginning of time- honestly.. I am sorry to have taken so long).. but it is finally here! BOOK POST!! Wooo!!! I <3 Books! So, here are my fat teenager reads (for now anyway )! I’ve tried to supply and Amazon link for most of the books I talk about, but if I don’t supply a link, if you go to amazon and type the title in it will come up (I feel like I linked about 50 zillion things..).. This post took me an awful long time to write/put together (I am tired of sitting!) so please enjoy!

Fat Acceptance Books

We shall start this collection with what pertains most to this blog- TEH FATZ! These are my Fat Acceptance type books! Sadly, I only have 3 (anyone have any suggestions? I do love Amazon shopping!), but here they are!

First Up: Fat Chicks Rule!: How To Survive in a Thin-Centric World, and The Fat Girl’s Guide to Life

And because I am such a lazy ass fat person, I am just going to quote from the amazon page what these books are about (because I have summarizing)

Fat Chicks Rule

A fun, fact-filled guide to living the big girl’s life with style, Fat Chicks Rule!: How To Survive in a Thin-Centric World, tackles the weighty issues that large women face in our thin-obsessed society. This lavishly illustrated book provides information on everything that the plus-size woman needs to know, including where to shop, the dieting scam, how to be fat and sexy, the fat acceptance movement, famous fat chicks in history, fat chick entertainment, snappy comebacks against the fat-phobic and much more. Dedicated to every woman who feels she needs to lose a few pounds but really doesn’t, Fat Chicks Rule! shows you how to live fat and happily ever after.

Fat Girl’s Guide to Life

Wendy Shanker is a fat, healthy, beautiful girl who has simply had enough. Enough of family, friends, co-workers, women’s magazines, even strangers on the street, all trying (and failing) to make her thin. She finally decided, “If I can’t take it off, I’m going to take it on.”

With a mandate to change the world-and the energy to do it-Wendy shows how media madness, corporate greed, and even the most well-intentioned loved ones prey on our shrink-to-fit minds, if not our shrink-to-fit bodies. She invites people of all sizes, shapes, and dissatisfactions to trade self-loathing for self-tolerance, celebrity worship for reality reverence, and a carb-free life for a guilt-free Krispy Kreme.

Wendy explores dieting debacles, full-figured fashions, and feminist philosophy while guiding you through exercise clubs, doctor’s offices, shopping malls, and even the bedroom. She believes that you can be fit and fat, even as the weight loss industry conspires to make you think otherwise. The Fat Girl’s Guide to Life invites you to step off the scale and weigh the issues for yourself.

These books (along with a big Geisha book lol) were my first (and only, so far, actually) Amazon purchases. I was amazed that I could get a book for .61 cents (I think that was how much I paid for Fat Girls Guide to Life, plus shipping of course). Anyway! I love both of these two books! I have read them both quite a few times, and I definitely plan on taking them (all three) with me to college.

I know I’ve said this before on my blog, but I’ll say it again (I <3 irony!). I got my Fat! So? book at, of all places, the Curves where my mom and I went back when I was in 10th grade. They had this table at the entrance on the lower floor (the curves was in a two floor building and it was on the second floor, while the table was below the stairs at the entrance) where people would put free books and magazines and stuff, and you could take whatever you want. The one day I went I saw that book and snatched it up immediatly. I don’t know why (okay, it was probably the colors on the cover and the cover drawing itself), but I did. I can say, with most certainty, that was my first experience of Fat Acceptance. I don’t know how I would feel about myself if I hadn’t grabbed that book. Nowadays I wonder why someone wouldn’t wanted to get rid of that treasure, or what would’ve happened to someone else who picked it up, or what would’ve happened to me if I hadn’t? Still, I have read this book atleast 4 times through and through, and will skim when I feel like it. I love all the pictures and fat drawings and the colors and the style, just everything. That probably the only thing i wish the other two books had, more cute stylish fat girl drawings. I love them, and I really want to try and draw them myself.

I’m not even going to give a quote for this book- if you don’t have it, just go buy it. Seriously. .

Women’s/Gender Studies Books

Books in this category include: College Girls: Bluestockings, Sex Kittens, and Co-Eds, Then and Now, Pink Think: Becoming a Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons, Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern, and The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women.

I’m not going to do a quote for these (I’ve already made this entry very long with the pictures and stuff lol), if you really want more info on them just click on the links (they go to the amazon page for it).

In all honesty I can only recommend Pink Think, as it’s the only one I have actually finished reading. I am about halfway through College Girls- I’ve just been so busy/nervwracked about college and work and thinking about hair that I havn’t had time lately to read more. I have to say that I love Lynn Peril’s writing and style- I was never bored during any of Pink Think, and I loved having pictures to see (sorry- I am a visual person!). I wasn’t until after I finished Pink Think that I noticed Peril was the person who writes Femoribilia in Bust magazine (I <3 Bust!)! I really enjoyed Pink Think and love College Girls so far- I find it fascinated to be reading about this since, as you know, I’m going to be going to college for the first time this fall. And OMG, after reading this book, I can’t believe I used to think that I should go to college because I can find my husband there… I just can’t believe I thought that way. So I would very much recommend this book, and I’m not even done with it yet! (Plus, it has lot of nice pictures!) I also read here (this really makes me want to minor in Women’s Studies), about her next book:

Her next book, which has a working title of “Swimming in the Steno Pool: A Social History of the Secretary, America’s First Businesswoman,” is scheduled to be published by W.W. Norton in 2009

So definitely check her books out (I mean, if you are interested in these sort of topics).

I’ve had Beauty Myth sitting on my shelf for, what seems like, forever. I read some, then I stop, I read some, then I stop. Sometimes it’s hard for me to get through, or it reads too much like a research paper or something. I do like it, I just thinks it’s one that I will try and finish now, and then re-read it when I am a little older. For me, some books are just hard to read. I remember when I was back in 8th grade and there was this one book that i read and enjoyed a lot, but it was so hard for me to get through. Some books are just like that for me. So, again, I havn’t finished this one yet.

Last book in this category is about flappers! woot! I havn’t even started Flappers, so I can’t really say anything about it, except that I am SOOO looking foreward to reading it. I love the cover design, all the photographs, and, obviously, the subject matter. So, again, looking foreward to reading it and I can’t say much else about it.

Young Adult Books

These first three are more relevant to the outcast/nerd type in all of us: Confessions of a Not It Girl, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, and The Queen Geek Social Club.

Confessions and The Earth are more relevant to body image type things. Now, in all honesty, I enojoyed Confessions, but I don’t remember much about it. It was a quick read, a good quick read, but a quick read non-the-less. I wish I could remember more of it’s details. The Earth, on the other hand, I absolutely love. I would whole-heartadly recommend it. It is one of the few YA books that has a fat character. I don’t even remember how fat the character is, but I picture her as myself anyway. I don’t want to spoil the book, but it handles everything great. And it seems very HAES esqe. And about gaining independence and such… I think I have to re-read the book with my more feminist outlook. The Queen Geek book was also enjoyable. It’s more about people who don’t fit in and want to be different kind of thing than body image. But I still enjoyed it.

(sorry about the quality of this picture- it came out fuzzy and I sharpened it Paint Shop Pro, but it still isn’t much better)… I don’t have much to say about these books other than if you havn’t read them, READ ‘EM! I love the lead character, and I love the interview with the author in the back of the one book. Made me appreciate the books even more. I bought The Sweet Far Thing wayyy back in December when it came out, and I STILL havn’t read it yet!!! I want to re-read the first two before I read it, but I still can’t believe I havn’t gotten around to it.

Again, if you havn’t read these books- READ ‘EM! I used these books (well, the first three, the fourth one wasn’t out at the time) for my 11th grade author research paper (the big project of that year), which actually, you can read here, if you like. These books show a future obsessed with plastic surgery and conformity and being brainwashed, stupid, and pretty- and it all seems so very realistic, like this actually could happen and it wouldn’t be surprising. Uglies, Pretties, and Specials all go together with the main character Tally, while Extras stands apart with a new main character, Aya and deals a lot with popularity, points, and what it all means. I really love Scott Westerfeld’s writing, having read and enjoyed Peeps and it’s sequel. He also has an awesome blog, and it’s nice to have that connection with book authors. And thanks to his awesome blog, I myself have just learned that an Uglies insider-type book is coming out, Bogus to Bubbly: An Insider’s Guide to the World of Uglies.

hm… any other books that I don’t have pictures of that you must read? All of Stephenie Meyer’s books- The Host (LOVED IT!), and The Twilight Series. The Host is not a YA book, but I still liked it. I know there are plenty of people who do not like The Twilight Series, but I would suggest that even if you do not like Twilight, check out The Host (even if you DO like Twilight, check out The Host).

Some other books I enjoyed a lot: Memoirs of a Geisha, American Shaolin (loved it! totally taking this with me to college!), Pride and Prejudice, any of the Georgia Nicolson books (sehr amusant!) and a bunch others that I can’t even think of right now.

So, there you have my readingzzz, where I get my genius from (along with reading everyone else’s awesome blogs). If anyone has any books they’d like to suggest for any of the above categories let me know- I’m especially looking for another fat acceptance type book- I only have 3! Plus I need some books to read over vacation lol. Enjoy my lovely list, and check some of these books out if you like.

o.m.g.

Lizzie — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:16:02 +0000

Seriously, August 2 cannot come fast enough!

And I’m debating how I want to buy the book. I’m sorry I’m not a “super fan” or whatever by pre-ordering the book a year in advance. I don’t know if I want to buy it off Amazon and have it shipped to me on time and such and maybe save some money- or reserve my copy at Barnes and Noble and go to the midnight party.

Or, if the awesome god visits me, Ehmulee and I could go to the Borders in New York City and go to their midnight release party (which we saw posters for). If that could happen I might just die of the greatness. Still, I’m happy I now have a friend to go with who won’t rub in my face how much more of a fan she is. So Ehmulee, you best start reading the books so I can spazz lol. I NEED SPAZZ PEOPLE! But anywho, I’d rather go to a midnight party for the book than just order it offline. I went to the Harry Potter 7 midnight party (right after being in the car for 12 hours coming back from vacation lol. That was a longgg day and night) with Ehmulee, and it was so much fun! So I guess we’ll see what happens. Either way, just finally having the book will be great.

I remember when I first bought Twilight at Barnes and Noble back in 2005. They had it out with a bunch of Halloween books, and it caught my attention, so I bought it. I read it, loved it, and lent that book out to everyone. (yeah! Trend starter! lol).. And omg, the movie!!! Those of us in Publications spend all our time spazzing about it and watching trailers! yay!! I actually do like all the actors they choose (except Alice’s hair wasn’t the way I pictured it, but I like it. And I thought of Victoira with red red hair, not strawberry blonde red hair) and I can’t wait for December. I totally need to get my uncle to get me the movie poster!! lol.

So, if you are a fan of the Twilight series, please, spazz away. If not, then just ignore this post lol. If you don’t like it, that’s fine, but please respect that this is my blog and I do love these books.

New Hair n stuff!

Lizzie — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:23:03 +0000

Firstly, I have emailed the password to those who did what I asked. So you should get it soon. If you didn’t get it, I’m sorry. If you didn’t comment this blog before that post, I’m sorry, I just don’t want to take any chances. It’s nothing personal. So again, I’m sorry, I don’t like to not allow people to read my posts, but that’s just how its gonna be for a little.

Anywho.

On to more pressing matters.

I want know: Does anyone here like House? I need to spazz about the latest episodes (I currently have no one to spazz about it with, sadly. I have Grey’s Anatomy and Ugly Betty spazzers, but nobody to spazz about House with me). I just want to know, if there are a few of you out there, I’ll make a post about it.

And is anyone a Stephenie Meyer fan? Agian, I need some spazzing time, but I’m not going to ramble on without somebody who likes it (well, I might anyway, who knows). (I should warn you, there will be spazzing when Breaking Dawn comes out, when the Twilight movie comes out, etc.). I need to spazz about The Host too. Furr realzzz. And OMG, I didn’t get the book it came out! I must be such a horrible fan.

Is anyone an Ugly Betty fan? Can I say that I LURVE Betty and Gio! They are so cute! HAHAHAH down with Henry XD! lol. I used to like him, but now I am totally in the Gio ‘n Betty boat. Go Gio!

Oh yeah, TEH HAIR!

It’s not really all that different. I have to say that the lighting on these pictures does suck, so the color shows up more and is brighter in real life. I’m really happy with it, and I think I’ll stick with it for awhile. (I’m going to have it up in an updo thingie for prom, so the color won’t be like OMG BLONDE! or anything lol. It’s still mostly brown)

Sorry for not having any Prom dress pictures up, I am just waiting until Prom so that it will be a surprise lol. So nothing till next Friday.

ZOMG! 2 more days till New York City! wooo!

Mac Useless

Lizzie — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:41:00 +0000

sorry for not posting very much lately… I have to write a crap research paper on Macbeth… It only has to be two pages, but for the life of me I cannot think of a thesis.

See (as Em-uh-lee well knows) I have a problem with coming up with thesis statements. I just do. Every stinking time I need to come up with one it takes me forever. I don’t mind writing the paper- I hate coming up with the thesis. We did a paper on the Elizabethan Era just a month or so ago, and what couldn’t I do? Come up with a thesis statement. I look at the text and just can’t think of anything. Everyone tells me I need to find some articles first. But how can I find an article that will be useful If I don’t even know what I am writing about?? argggg!

Unless I have a clear cut pin point topic that I know I want to talk about- I am useless at it. Like when I wrote my Uglies, Pretties, Specials research report (A Pretty Distopia… I loved that title lol, I was so proud of coming up with it!) I knew I wanted to talk about how what are society is doing now could well end up like the society in those books. I was clear cut and knew exactly what I wanted to talk about. Maybe because I could relate/understand the message, or maybe because I just loved the books.

We have a ginormous research paper coming up soon as well. We have to read three books by one author and write a research paper on that. My author that I choose is Maxine Hong Kingston (I’m reading Woman Warrior, China Men, and the Fifth Book of Peace). I havn’t even read half of my first book and I already have some ideas of what I want to write about. Maybe because I find it intersting- I don’t know.

Anyway, point is I cannot think of a thesis statement for this paper. We need to use one article as evidence along with the text. The article I found was “Tragic Action and Sexual Stereotyping in Macbeth”.. So, my thesis needs to go along with that.

I was originally going to do something with Lady Macbeth, because I thought it was unfair how everyone in the class seemed to hate her and blame her for everything (maybe I simply took offense because I was reading her part in class). I thought that wasn’t right. It was not all her fault- Macbeth had plenty to do with it himself. But, my article doesn’t have much to do with that I am NOT looking for another critical essay, after it took me so long to find that one. But the essay/article I found tends to blame Lady Macbeth for what happens, though maybe in a different and more evidencial sense (evidencial? is that a real word or did I make it up?)

So, I think now I am going to go for something like “How the feminine and masculine stereotypes affect the relationship of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth“

I hope I won’t sound like I am just spewing forth the same stuff as my essay that i am using as my evidencial support. That’s what I am mostly worried about (and getting this done of time, and citing everything right, and rewording my thesis)… I don’t want to be saying the same stuff.

Did I mention this is due Wednesday?

So… Thank god it only has to be two to three pages. That’s one good thing. I want to start working on it tonight and hopefully finish most of it then clean it up tomorrow night.

So, does anyone have any English advice for how to come up with a thesis? My current method isn’t working out too well. (or any Macbeth tips lol- for those who have read it and understand what i am talking about)

And I cannot stop watching Scrubs… dang that show is addicting! And i just keep procrastinating.

Eh-muh-lee, feel free to instruct me in the ways of English if you can (you have already tried like a bazillion times before, so I don’t know if there is much hope left)

I HATE THESIS STATEMENTS!