On a quick list of “things that have bugged me lately” I offer the following:

Given the endless and I mean endless discussion of obesity, dieting, weight, eating disorders, sugar, “lite food”, Type II diabetes, healthy eating, every form of diet and diet BOOK out there flooding your eyes, ears, on tv, in the news, magazines blah blah BLAH blah blah, whathefuck was Kentucky Fried Chicken EVER THINKING? I mean I am sick unto DEATH of all the above, the obsession with skinny, eathing tasteless crap, “women’s magazines” that offer endless diet tips on the cover right next to great recipes for brownies, but DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN. They are advertising a “bowl” – pardon me a “Famous Bowl” (jesus famous WHERE? This is like Disney’s “Classic” crap that they tell you is a classic before the damn thing is even released – and then goes straight to kid video dumps. – but a bowl that consists of – (if you haven’t seen this, brace yourself) a huge glop of mashed potatoes, covered with corn, covered with fried chicken bits topped with cheese and gravy. It’s truly um well, disgusting comes to mind. I mean truly. Who’s in charge there?

Item the 2nd; recently there was a letter to the editor in the Seattle paper where someone was whining about how once again, Seattle could be a “world-class” city but it’s not. This expression, as I first heard it on moving here, is one of my peeves. What it means I do not know, but I heard it used when years back, Seattle decided against hosting the Olympics. That’s actually a fascinating discussion there (for some) because during that debate I actually spoke with someone who told me about the extensive bribery that went on during the process, up to and including offering free college educations for the children of IOC members. And this was years before that was public knowledge.

Seattle has great stuff; the food here is fantastic and represents/reflects the diversity of the city; Asian to Norwegian, serious vegetarian to seafood that’s as good any anyplace I’ve ever lived. The museums are excellent, with a great range of things to look at and see and learn about. The public spaces, while not what we would love, are some of the best I’ve seen, as is the public art. We have fine hotels, our public transit rocks, we’ve got fabulous stuff for visitors to go and see and do. So what the fuck is this “world-class” crap? What does it mean and who CARES if Seattle IS a “World-class city”? Does that mean we get to host WTO? Oh, wait,I forgot. We did that. It was the stupidest move made In this city in decades – apparently the boosters were completely unaware of Seattle’s history as a labor town or an activist community. Fun fun fun.

There was something else but I’ll stop now. I’ve got another list – the one that talks about how holy smoke Verizon’s customer service is REALLY excellent and how hugely wonderful WisCon appears to have been (30 years of feminist science fiction; they invited back ALL past guests of honor. Stu was one of the relatively few men to have been so honored and oh MAN, does it sound like a fabulous weekend.) Just reading the program book is an amazing experience as they recount 30 years of guests of honor, feminist programming, humor and creativity.

And I’m behind on reviewing several good books that I've ahd the fortune to...what? Oh okay, um, let’s see.

THE SNAKESKIN SHAMISEN, Naomi Hirahara
VANISHING POINT, Marcia Muller
THE VIRGIN OF SMALL PLAINS, Nancy Pickard
WINTER’S CHILD, Margaret Maron
NO GOOD DEED, Laura Lippman
IRON TIES, Ann Parker
DISCO FOR THE DEPARTED, Colin Cotterrill
FAMILY BUSINESS, Janet LaPierre
A STOLEN SEASON, Steve Hamilton

But I’ve been having some problems concentrating due primarily to back pain so I’m waaaaay behind.

And thanks to Rachel at St. Martin’s I get to stop everything because she just sent me, by request, an ARC of the upcoming biography of James Tiptree, Jr. Which I will open just as soon as I finish watching the WNBA games tonight and why the HELL do they have to have two games one right after the other dammit anyhow.