I don’t know that I was ever not camera shy, but my reasons for being so changed over time. First, well, I was just a super shy kid! The only pics of my childhood are generally x-mas gifts being held up or riding my first or second bike or, well, maybe that’s it. I do have a rad pic of myself doing a cartwheel wearing knicker-bockers (just over the knee pants that button on the sides). But yeah, that’s it! As time went on, well, my family didn’t take many pictures at all, actually. Puberty sent me that special gift otherwise known as “OMZ! Don’t look at me I’m hideous!” As I grew fatter? Well, it only worsened.

Even into my late twenties, I would avoid cameras unless I was the one pressing the button. A friend of mine is the same way, but I never felt he had reason to be because he’s a brilliant actor/dancer/writer/handsome & everything-under-that-sun-of-ours! After discovering the Livejournal community of Fatshionista, I was suddenly bearing witness to hundreds of fats posting pictures of themselves, On The Internet! What? Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat? I know, right?!

After seeing some pretty terrible pics of myself I decided I needed to do something. Then I read a quote from Paris Hilton to the effect of she started posing for the paparazzi when she got sick of seeing bad photos of herself. Gee, I thought, that kind of makes sense. So I placed my little toe in the water and posted an OOTD (Outfit of the Day) picture on Fatshionista and was floored by the feedback I got. Not just on the outfit, but on my everything! And it was all positive! I was in a state of shock!I just couldn’t wrap my head around it! But I was sick of feeling icky when it came to taking my picture.

Experimentation! Ah-ha! Taking your own pics with a digital camera helped me so much! One day I decided to make every face I could think of and take a pic. The rule? No deleting! Then I did more OOTD posts. More positive feedback received. More OOTD posts. And so on. Then I got to the point where I figured out how to hold my head, smile the right way and stand for a camera! What? I know! And now? Now I pose for the camera! I laugh when they say “Cheese!” I flirt with it! It’s fun now! Had you told me I would be writing this a couple of years ago I would have thought you mentally ill. But it’s true! There is actually a full folder on my laptop with all pics of myself. That sounds so very vain, but some are just parts, like my nose or chin or ear. It was a learning experience, to say the least. We don’t get to see ourselves from many angles.

The subject of vanity and how others might see self-portraits as that I can understand, but for me it was a bit of confidence building/experimentation and just stubbornness, “I will no longer shy away from cameras, dammit!” And I think it’s worked for me. I still don’t love every pic of myself, but sometimes, even the goofy ones, I enjoy! If you can’t appreciate your own quirks, who will?! (Also great for documenting various hair dos, don’t and cuts!)

If you’ve always shied from the camera or dread those “Kodak moments” of your life, why not try it on your own. It is amazing what you’ll see when you control the shutter! Try it out and let me know what you find! Or team up with a trusted pal and see if you can do a fun and friendly photo-shoot! I have some plans for this myself, I’ll be posting the results if we can sync-up our schedules!

Thanks,

<3
S

I love shoes. My husband thinks I’m insane, but I assure him that my modest collection pales in comparison to most. While lusting after Marianne’s Fluevog’s I started combing the webz for discounted ones and found all sorts of neato vintagey stuff, that I love. But then I came across an oldie but a goodie for sure: Shoe Clips!

OMZ! These are adorable!!! and I realized that they’re not for grannies and strange aunties (I do identify with the auntie bit myself, but I digress) these are mad-rad! So then I headed over to Etsy (My beloved!) and guess what? Tons of friggin’ shoe clips!

The great thing about shoe clips is you can make some yourself out of all kinds of junk and if you’re truly crafty, you can make more masculine ones for dudes, too! I am picturing anchors or steampunkish accents. Lovely! I say get whacky, get creative and have fun with it, dammit! Life is too short to be miserable just ’cause you’re broke as a joke (like moi)! You probably have some plain-jane kicks in your closet, now you can dress ’em up or make them funky! I love this idea so much!

And because I love all things DIY, I am so going to do this:

You just need some flats, an old sweater, hot glue, buttons & a sewing machine. (I’m sure you could hand-stitch if you wanted to.) I am daydreaming of a small army of fats with DIY sweater boots telling the corporate retailers where to stick it with their too-small-for-my-calves boots! Ahem! *Clears Throat* Sorry. Depending on the sweater, I think this is a fab idea!

Have you made over something in your wardrobe into something mega-cool? Tell me about it!!! Send me any other fab-fashion ideas!

Fuck them for being so expensive.

Fuck them for carrying only very limited sizes.

Fuck them for offering things I didn’t even know I wanted (or dreamt of)

And just fuck them.

(This post was inspired by my fave design/fashion/food blog www.ohjoy.blogs.com I love the blog but damn! So frustrating to see amaing and gorgeous things and knowing I can’t have them.)

That is all. Thank you!

So, here’s a bit of an admission: I’ve been taping Oprah. It’s a bit of a guilty pleasure, a bit of wanting to see what she does during her last season and also wanting to know what millions of people are watching every weekday. I don’t watch all of the episodes. In fact I delete most. But I try to watch 2 episodes a week.

Yesterday I watched the episode called, “30 Year Old Virgin”. I was interested in what these two ladies had to say and to understand the motivation behind not wanting to have sex. It seemed apparent to me that both ladies knew exactly why they didn’t want to have sex. But I also appreciated seeing Dr. Laura Berman counsel them and start them on a hopefully healing journey.

But then there was this part where they take Carmen to Marie Claire’s offices for a mini-makeover. Carmen visits Ashely Falcon, author of the column “Big Girl in a Skinny World” and what killed me was that the first thing she said to Carmen after hearing about her daily struggle to get dressed was, “I am not the size I want to be right now, I’m not, it’s that simple. But you know what, I still need to get up in the morning, I still need to go to work and I refuse to be in a garbage bag.” Really? A garbage bag? Wow!

I don’t know why this surprised me. But it did, y’all! It truly did! Am I so disconnected from outside the FA world that I have a hard time hearing this stuff? Ugh! I guess I just felt that a huge opportunity was missed here. I didn’t feel at all that they tried to show Carmen a world without self-hate. Lots of us in the FA community have PCOS and I’m sure many have fallen into the spiral that Carmen did. But damn! 10 years of hating yourself so much that you would just rather stay in bed? It makes my heart hurt for her. She gave up on herself and life! I know ladies with PCOS who are sexy as hell, have lots of or steady men in their lives and I just fucking admire them! It’s not an easy life (for anyone, right?), but to just give up? Because you’re fat? Dear Maude, please help us all!

I wanted to reach into the television (yes, it was recorded so even if that was possible it would be for naught) and hug Carmen and tell her that she is worthy of love and life and joy and pleasure! I didn’t really feel that they did that. They told her she was beautiful (Ugh! Why is that always the first thing they say when someone asks for help?) and referred her to a psychiatrist and nutritionist and endocrinologist, but damn! I would have showed her the LiveJournal Fatshionista Community! It IS a revelation! And honestly? I’d want to meet each of her friends and demand to know what the hell, ya know? Why didn’t they make her feel worthy and loved enough to get the hell out of bed?

People don’t always ask for help. Many are very good at hiding their inner struggles. But this girl spent so much time in bed! WTF?!

If I could talk to Carmen right now I would say, “Carmen, you are an amazing person. There is an entire world out there just waiting for your impact! We are all waiting for your input and sparkle. We need you to participate in this world. Forget about men and sex for a minute and ask yourself why it is that you think it’s so terrible to be the size that you are right now? Because there is nothing you can’t do right now. There is nothing that will magically change with the size of your body. You deserve all of the magic and wonder the universe has to offer you. You just have to reach out and grab it!”

I know I have fallen victim to my own depression, but I would be dead without my friends. No lie! They have verbally and physically and emotionally saved me. Sometimes it took some tough love and other times some tenderness. But that is what friends are for!!!

If you need to talk to someone without judgment, email me! notblueatall@notblueatall.com I will listen and I will love. Please, reach out!