Thursday, July 10, 2008

Weighty issue

So Facebook totally thinks I'm fat and I don't know why. Well, besides the obvious "because I am." But how does it *know*?

The reason I know Facebook thinks this is because there are always little ads on the left-hand side of the page saying things like, "33 and overweight? Special study of an ancient asian root allows a safe loss of up to 30 lbs over a three month period!" or "Are you in your 30s and want to lose weight?" with a picture of some hideously obese woman.

I know why they know I'm a woman and I know why they know I'm 33 but HOW DO THEY KNOW I'M FAT?

Speaking of losing weight, ever since Earth Day (April 22), I have set my alarm earlier than necessary and hauled my ass out of bed. I've thrown on sweats or shorts, a t-shirt, and a hat. I've slurped down some yogurt and then laced up my runners and gone either for a 5 kilometre walk around the lake in my city or I've gone to the gym and ellipticalled until I can't elliptical any more.

I'm doing this for a very dumb reason. In fact, it's so dumb that I'm not going to get into it here. Let's just leave it at I want to prove a friend wrong. But, if a side benefit of all this dumbness is that I'm a healthier person, who cares how dumb the reason is, right? Whatever gets me out of bed in the morning!

The walk itself is extremely beautiful. Yes, it's a man-made lake and yes, none of the trees are here because of nature, but it's still really really pretty! Don't believe me? Here are some pictures.

Map of the park



The fountain they added to provide some water circulation
and our legislative building in the background



Always with the geese



There was some sort of rowing thing on the lake



Who cares if they're hand-planted - they're still pretty!



Did anyone actually think fishing in this lake was a good idea?



Wait a minute - that's not lake water, is it?


I wonder, though, how much weight I'll have to lose before morons stop shouting things out their car windows at me. Things like, "Hey fattie!" or " Wide load!" or "Look out! Earthquake!" or other equally encouraging comments. Sometimes I really dislike people.

9 comments:

  1. If I had such nice scenery along that walk, I would get up early too and have some exercise.

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  2. What I hate? Is when the ads in the sidebars show before pictures of women who are actually pretty slim to begin with.

    People don't actually yell shit at you, do they? I mean, you're not tiny, but you are definitely not a "wide load", either.

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  3. This blog is just so unenjoyable and whiny. I don't get the name. It should be called the Pity Party.

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  4. Hey Anonymous,

    If you don't like it, don't read it. It's not rocket science to figure that one out instead of leaving nasty comments. Particularly if you're too much of a coward to leave your real name or a link to your blog, if you even have the guts to write one.

    And Nat, Facebook keeps trying to sell me some sort of weight loss tea. I bet they just assume that most women in their 30s (or most women in general, come to think of it) are insecure about their weight. Pretty good guess on their part, I'd say.

    Also, if you ever need a buddy to walk around the lake with, I'd love to join you, and so would my pup! Call me!!

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  5. I'm with Savia. I'd hazard to guess that every woman over 30 gets those ads. I wouldn't agonize over it. You probably get spam that encourages you to enlarge your wang, too. I'm guessing you're not sweating that too much, right?

    Also, I think some people actually eat the fish they catch out of the Charles River, which is right down the street from me. I wouldn't even dip my toe in the Charles, never mind eat a fish from it. Blech.

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  6. Schmutzie - yeah, sadly, they do.

    Anon - I've taken your re-branding suggestion to my marketing department. We've talked it over and we feel that a change at this juncture would be detrimental. Thanks for your input, though.

    Savia - I like your theory. Makes sense. And YES to walks with you and pup.

    EJP - I'm totally looking to enlarge my wang, but I never get those ads so I haven't. Their loss! :-)

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  7. You have to read this blog post: http://community.feministing.com/2008/07/facebook-advertising.html

    Maybe we should all become men on Facebook so they can quit telling us we're fat?

    Personally, I'm deleting my gender altogether. Enough is enough!!

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  8. I'm under 30 and those ads still get to me. I wish we had something as beautiful as your lake here, man made or not. It's awesome either way.

    No matter how you got started walking and going to the gym it's awesome that you're going! I have such a hard time lighting a fire under my butt. I've tried the eliptical but can't go for more than a couple of minutes!! lol I'd rather be playing slo-pitch.

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  9. They know I'm big-boned too, by the way.

    And even more amazing and eerie? They knew a friend was having marital problems--she was freaking out because every other ad had something to do with, "Do you need marriage counseling?"

    Facebook is evil. Gorgeous pictures, though :o)

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