hummingwolf: Drawing of a creature that is part-wolf, part-hummingbird. (Hummingwolf by Dandelion)
hummingwolf ([personal profile] hummingwolf) wrote2007-11-29 07:55 pm

Linkies

First: If you are a LiveJournal user and you don't follow [livejournal.com profile] news, you probably should. Anyway, the most important bit is that LiveJournal now has new settings & flagging tools for "adult content," which you can read more about here. Note that by default, your search settings are "Use Moderate Filtering"--filter out explicit adult content. My guess is that many of you, when you do use the search feature, don't want to filter any results out at all, so it's a good idea to go to your viewing options (settings) page and change that.

Right then. In news unrelated to LJ, but related to the late great TV show Firefly: "I, Malcolm" by Nathan Fillion. Oh, Captain! (Link via [livejournal.com profile] musesfool.)

Unrelated (or at least not directly related) to any Joss Whedon show, [livejournal.com profile] nancylebov links to The Fantasy of Being Thin. The essay begins with this quote:

Obese patients are often encouraged to believe that weight loss is an appropriate way to combat depression, save a failing marriage, or increase the chance of career success. The irrationality of hopes pinned on weight loss is so striking that dieting might almost be likened to superstitious behavior…. Passing from childhood into adolescence, leaving home, marrying, starting a new job, having a baby, experiencing marital difficulties, adjusting to children leaving home, and growing old — all these life situations may become unexamined reasons to diet. In other instances, concerns over weight mask even more serious problems.”

-Wooley and Garner, from “Obesity treatment: the high cost of false hope,” published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, vol. 91, no. 10, 1991.


Many of you will recognize that the essay applies to more than just dieting. "Because, you see, the Fantasy of Being Thin is not just about becoming small enough to be perceived as more acceptable. It is about becoming an entirely different person – one with far more courage, confidence, and luck than the fat you has." Replace "being thin" and "fat" with, oh, "having a college degree" and "being a college dropout" or whatever other combination of words applies in your life.

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