The Fat Girl's Guide to Living

We asked, and you answered: “What’s the FIRST word that comes to mind when you think of yoga?” From your 100+ responses, we randomly selected a winner:

::drumroll::

Sherri, who wrote “***energizing***” as her one-word association with the word “yoga.”

Congratulations, Sherri!

Please email your mailing address to: letters AT fatgirlsguidetoliving DOT com so we can send your copy of Plus-Sized Yoga: Beginners Yoga for People of All Sizes by Donald Keith Stanley.

Thanks for playing along, everyone! Tee and I got a kick out of your creativity and humor when answering this question. And Sherri and anyone else who picks up a copy of this book: please write to tell us what you think of it–we love reader mail! Stay tuned, as we’re planning more reader giveaways in the future.

From a sketchbook Toni’s mom saved from her artistic days.
(Russell Iredell, Drawing the Figure, 1941)

Rod Stewart once confessed: “I seem to have a particular liking for blondes. The most memorable is always the current one. The rest seem to merge into a sea of blondes.” And while Rod may be a bit of a prick, at least he’s honest enough to confess that he has a “type.”

Lots of guys do. I don’t.

Not that I’ve had a long list of partners. Six, to be exact. But I’ve been fortunate enough to have loved, and been loved by, some extraordinary women. Each is fiercely independent, intelligent, and passionate about life. If you asked me to name the one thing that most attracted me to them, it would be this last item: their passion for life, biting into each new experience as though it were a ripe peach. But physically, they’re all very different – tall, short, A cup, double D – and they wear a wide range of dress sizes.

So when it comes to the physical, women often want to know: what do men like? I have no idea. I don’t speak for other men; I only know what I like. It can be anything from the generous curve of her lips, a quickness in her glance, the way she puts her hair up in hot weather, that little soft place behind her ears, the sway of her hips in a summer dress, or her voice whispering my name in the dark. The best magic comes in these small moments.

I will tell you where I got my appreciation for the female form, at the risk of providing way too much information. No, it wasn’t from porn. Oddly, my dad had at various times in his life fancied himself a painter. Though he made a few expensive trips to the art supply store and issued the urgent request that my mom set up his new easel before lunch one Sunday, he never once set brush to paper. But he did buy books. Books of paintings and books of photography. Among them, The Artist’s Model, probably issued in the early 1960s. And late at night, when the apartment was quiet, teenage Charlie would sneak a few looks at the beautiful nude models featured in its pages. See? Probably too much information.

So, the first women I saw naked (and the only women I’d see naked until age 19) all had generous curves, and were photographed in black and white with the most advanced lighting techniques of the day. And fortunately, back then there was neither silicone nor a size zero.

I’m not sure there’s much more I can say. Although one of my wife’s favorite stories about me comes from when we were dating, when she asked, “How did you know you’d be attracted to me because the other women you’ve dated are so much thinner?” I thought about that for a moment before answering. Being the classy guy I am, I said, “Well, I felt you up pretty good in the car.” Yes, that was my answer. And rather than taking it as an insult, it remains, to her, quite endearing.

Go figure.

We’ve got a great, growing family of bloggers here at FGG, with Michelle’s yummy weekly Foodie Fridays food porn column, Peony’s popular confessional, Sex and the Single Fat Girl, and now Charlie’s new monthly hit, It’s a Guy Thing.

Now we’re ready to add another new voice to our clan – a weekly contributor who can help with everything from researching and answering ASK FGG questions to interviewing for/writing up full guides on topics like fashion, health, skincare, recreation and just about everything else under the sun as relates to overweight women who wanna get living now.

Most weeks we’ll assign our new writer 1-2 blog posts based on reader questions or guide ideas already packed into our editorial well, but we’ll also encourage great ideas that are a unique, compelling and relevant match for our audience and editorial mission. Pay right now is $10/post – a small token for the brilliant contributor we know you are (and hey, you’ll be making more than we do) – but if you can hang tight with us while we’re building FGG’s potential, we promise our contributors will be the first to benefit in raises and other perks.

The writer we’re crossing our fingers for is:

:: Smart and witty; a skilled researcher with a curious inner journalist who’s not afraid to dig deep to get some great (and accurate) information, then present it with FGG’s signature light, upbeat but practical, no-nonsense style.

:: Comfortable and conversational (but always professional) when interviewing sources. Knows how to weed out the marketing speak from the real nitty gritty, can draw out the good stuff.

:: Self-sufficient with information-gathering and meeting deadlines, but OK with being edited for spelling, grammar, content and style when/where necessary.

:: Subscribes to FGG’s core philosophies and raison d’etre, and editorial policies, knows first-hand what it’s like to be an overweight woman with body image challenges, but also has the desire to do more, be more, live more.

:: Has experience writing/blogging for lifestyle and/or fashion publications, OR is a new/emerging writer with a strong writing style and an intimate understanding of plus-size fashion and related topics (though not all assignments will relate to fashion).

:: Has an eye for what’s fresh and unique, and/or can find a fresh/unique angle on just about anything.

What we are NOT interested in:

:: Angry, insulting (to anyone), “victim” or otherwise negative mentalities/material.

:: Excuse makers, serial deadline blowers or writers who need frequent prompting.

:: A writer who doesn’t consider it plagiarism if you “just kinda re-word content from other places a little bit.”

TO APPLY

Send the following to letters@fatgirlsguidetoliving.com by Jan 29, 2010:

1. Forget your resume. Give us an introduction to who you are, an overview of what you’ve done that’s relative to as many of the points we’re looking for (above) as possible, and tell us what you find compelling about writing for FGG.

2. Two writing samples — one short tip-style sample, and one longer feature-style sample. The more tied to FGG-style content, the better.

3. Three unique ideas for blog posts/guides that you feel would be a great fit for FGG. Include a title and short summary for each, along with your opening paragraph.

We’ll notify finalists by Feb 2, send along any follow-up questions we have, and select the writer that’s the best fit for FGG by February 5th. We’d like our new writer to be ready to dig in within a week or two after coming on board.

If you know a great writer who fits the bill, send them our way!

A handmade ornament from Toni’s childhood

We hope you’re all as busy as we are with holiday prep and cheer, but I wanted to break for a shout-out to all our fantastic readers: we hope your holidays are full of all the yummy goodness – in the kitchen and out – that you can imagine. We’re used to traveling all over for Christmas but logistics have us tethered to home this year and I’m SO very looking forward to the quiet, low-key day tomorrow.

If you’re celebrating, what are (or were, if you’re tuning in later) your plans this year?

We are thrilled to introduce our newest columnist, Charlie O’Hay, who will be writing from a guy’s point of view each month starting in January.

Charlie is a published poet whose work has appeared in over 100 literary magazines, including Gargoyle, The New York Quarterly, and West Branch. He was awarded a fellowship in poetry and literature from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts in 1995. He currently works as a freelance advertising copywriter and manuscript editor. He is married to Cecily Kellogg of Uppercase Woman and dad to a dynamic, beautiful daughter. Charlie blogs at It Ain’t All Pizzas and Cream.

Let’s extend a warm FGG welcome to Charlie! If you’ve got any questions for him ask away in the comments.

Self Portrait by Apple Green Amy

No post-turkey-day cooking photos landed in the FGG Girls group this week, but there’s a bunch of great new sassy images there, including this self portrait. I love the color pop in the eyes, lips, and hair – and the “up to something” ‘tude. That’s the FGG spirit!

Every week we select one photo from our Flick group as the FGG Photo of the Week. At month’s end, the girl behind the camera for one of those weekly photos wins a prize! November’s winner of our “cooking” challenge is photobonnie, for her entry “Stirring the Pot.” Congratulations, Bonnie! We have a custom-made FGG Book Bangle from Lonna’s Etsy shop for you. Email us at letters@fatgirlsguidetoliving.com so we can send it your way.

December elbows its way into our lives in two days, so grab that camera and  show us how you’re living.