Other Thoughts | BulgingButtons

September 5, 2013
by BulgingButtons 9 Comments

Daily Prompt: Imagine All the People

The next time you’re in a public place — a coffeehouse, a park, a store — observe the people around you. Pick a person, a couple, or a group, and imagine what their lives might be like.

This is today’s daily prompt, and it was a perfect fit for me, as I found myself playing this little game just this morning. Today was unusual because I was able to have breakfast at Starbucks with my son. We had enough time to calmly sit down and have a conversation over our outrageously priced meal. Aside from the guilt involved and the nearly broken toes from his enormous feet stepping on them, it was very pleasant.

This was a new location for us, and we had fun taking in the scene. The woman in the orange dress was clearly on her way to work. She was wearing heels and make up and her hair was done. She was on a mission to get in and out of there as quickly as possible. I imagined that her entire life was similar to that snapshot. She seemed no nonsense and on the move. The thing that got me though, was that her stride and overall appearance seemed very loose. It was as though her skeletal structure was made of noodles. She sort of oozed. She didn’t seem unfit or overweight, just kind of wobbly. It was like her joints needed a bit of tightening up. I wondered if she was always in a hurry, and I wondered if she had someone to go home to at night.

I also wondered about the three gentlemen. First there was one. He was sipping coffee and reading a newspaper. A real one, made from actual paper. After a while, the second gentleman joined him. They greeted each other warmly and began to chat. A few minutes later, the third gentleman arrived. He pulled up a chair and again greetings were exchanged. I imagined these gentlemen had once worked as businessmen or accountants or sales reps or insurance agents. I imagined that they put kids though college, bought their wives necklaces for Christmas, and took trips every summer. I imagined that they once hosted barbecues in their neatly maintained backyards, and enjoyed the occasional round of golf. Sometimes their wives would drag them to plays or antique stores, but usually the weekends were free for sports and mowing the lawn.

The three gentlemen looked happy to see each other. They were obviously old companions. I wondered if any of them still had their wives. Were they divorced? Widowed? Did these gentlemen live alone? I think they did. Did they still own those houses with the backyard barbecues? Or had they downsized? Maybe they lived in condos where someone else would take care of the landscaping. Maybe they would have loved to go to a play or poke around in an antique store. How well did they know each other, anyway? Did they know each other’s kids?

They reminded me how important it is to have connections in my life. I wanted to share this little gem of wisdom with my fifteen year old, but at his age there’s really no need. I just hope that as he grows up, he maintains those connections with others, and spends time to nuture his real life relationships with flesh and blood people.

September 3, 2013
by BulgingButtons 3 Comments

Feeling a Little Less Wobbly

Remember that scene in Shallow Hal where Rosemary ends up on the floor of the ice cream shop because her chair breaks? You don’t? You didn’t see it? That’s ok. Rosemary is extremely obese, but Hal can’t see it because he’s under a spell that allows him to see people through the lens of their inner beauty. In other words, he sees Gwyneth Paltrow while the rest of the world sees her in a fat suit. While they are on a date, her chair gives way and she ends up on the floor. It’s a common fat person nightmare.

It’s a nightmare that until yesterday I was in danger of living. You see, we had these extremely cheap-o chairs around our kitchen table. They were the Swedish assemble it yourself and save type, and they served us well for about a year. After that, they started to wobble. All of them, not just mine. Tightening screws didn’t seem to help, so we got used to sitting in chairs that were a little wonky. Then one morning about two weeks ago, it happened. Mine shifted. It was like an amusement park ride, only it wasn’t amusing. All of a sudden I started listing to one side. My cat like reflexes steadied me, but I was shaken. A screw had broken, and the whole thing now resembled something Salvador Dali might have designed.

Now the good news is that there are three of us who use chairs in our household and four chairs. A shift was made, and we carried on. However, I couldn’t get the image of Rosemary on the floor out of my mind. It was only a matter of time with these wonky chairs. I was just too much for them.

Yesterday I decided that enough was enough. My errands took me to a warehouse store, where they had exactly what I wanted. They were sturdy, inexpensive, and similar in style to the old chairs. We brought them home, set them up, and I’ve been sitting pretty ever since. One less fat person thing to worry about. Now I can comfortably sit at the kitchen table and catch up on my work that I’ve put aside in favor of blogging. What a relief.

September 2, 2013
by BulgingButtons 6 Comments

Dusting Off the Welcome Mat

Last night before I went to bed I clicked on my blog stats. My fingers were crossed, but I told myself it was a very good day regardless. I held my breath, and checked the number of visits. Would my old record be broken? And who was I, obsessing about these numbers? What does this say about my personality? I’ve blogged about addictive personality before, but I’m still not certain how I feel about it, or whether my little mini-obsessions count. Anyway, there is was. The number of visits for the day. I was 5 clicks shy of my one day record. Dammit. And still 49 followers. Ok, calm down. It was a great day in the blog world. I had visitors from Hungary, Israel, Australia, Guernsey (which I knew is a cow, but didn’t know was a country), Canada, Great Britain, Switzerland, France, and the United States. C’mon, how cool is that? In my quest to color in my world map, I’m definitely making some progress. C’mon Greenland and South America, click on over.

I sometimes worry that this blog might be feeling a little schizophrenic. Yes, its main focus is about living life as a fat woman and how I’m seeking to improve the quality of that life. But in order to do that, and in order to freely write about what’s important to me, I will often go off that topic. After all, I’m more than just a fat person. I’m a parent and an educator and a quilter, to name a few of my roles. These are topics I also write about, with a strong dash of opinions on many things random. I will post my quilting endeavors, and I will write to daily prompts. Many of you have found me through those venues. I’m glad you have. I hope you can tolerate the many types of posts that I share.

Back to the main topic though, this morning I decided I was being rather silly about the whole thing. Yes, it’s an absolute thrill to know that people the world over are taking a moment to click through my site, and maybe they’re staying long enough to read my thoughts. What’s more exciting to me, though, is knowing that there are kindred spirits out there. You are the ones who leave a message of encouragement, or stop by the Facebook page, or leave a pingback (which I’m still trying to figure out). You are the ones nodding your head while you read, or laughing at something ridiculous I’ve written, or yelling at the screen because you are absolutely certain that I am dead wrong about something. Good. I’m glad you do. I’m glad you’re here and spending a few minutes of your precious time with me. Many of you are brand new readers, and several of you have become old friends, if you can have old friends after just two short months. For all of you, I’m dusting off my welcome mat, and reminding you that no matter who you are or where you’re from, you are welcome to stop by whenever you would like. And just for the record, feel free to bring a friend.