Various & Sundry, October 21

Whew! It's been a crazy couple of weeks and I'm gearing up for a garage sale tomorrow, but I wanted to post a couple of things to keep you occupied this weekend. Let's see here...

Loved this story about the man who accidentally received as size 1,450 slipper--not the 14.5 he ordered. Or it may be a PR stunt. Either way, this is a great photo:

In baseball-related news, according to the Futility Closet, "In 1990, weary of repetitive interviews, Phillies pitcher Don Carman posted this list of responses on his locker." It certainly...covers the bases.

Alton Brown also offers a great list of responses on how to fake it as a food and wine connoisseur. e.g.:

How to fake it as a wine connoisseur: Look at the wine list and narrow in on something like the Brunellos. Then look for a year that's missing, and say, "Do you have the '84?" And the waiter will say "no." And then they might recommend a different year, but you should reply, "Yeah but that year was too 'wet'" and they'll agree because they won't know the difference. And soon the conversation will get going and you're safe.

Very good, sir.

 I was touched by this report in Stars and Stripes about gay and lesbian servicemembers adjusting to life after DADT. The video interviews are particularly lovely.

I thought I knew both cheeses and fonts, but Cheese or Font showed me I don't. Quick now: Carnova--cheese or font? See? It's tough!

 And finally, the fabulous PeaceBang stands up for the rights of fat people to have opinions about aesthetics. Preach it, sister:

Vocation does not come in small, medium and large. The love of beauty and aesthetics is a calling, an orientation of the eye and of the heart. Pigeons, never let anyone tell you that you have the wrong sized body for the work you were called to do. Never let anyone tell you that you’re too ugly to be out in front. And never stop helping your people see the difference between admirable self-discipline around diet and exercise and moral righteousness. They’re two different things but have been intentionally, ingeniously and successfully conflated by the multi-billion dollar diet and beauty industries to be equivalent in the public mind. Self-hating people are much more susceptible to the latest weight-loss or beauty product. There’s a lot of economy riding on you and me feeling bad enough to go spend some money about it. 

Jesus never said nothing about loving only skinny kids. I was no better a person when I weighed 105 lbs than I am now. It just takes a whole lot more denim to get around my butt.

Amen, amen.