Craig Lassig for the NYT

So, this picture was taken the day after my wedding reception, when I could barely walk, was so tired I wanted to die, and — stupidly not having anticipated either of those eventualities — had to give a reading. And then had to meet up with a photographer for the New York Times right before that. Best planning ever. But at least this one picture turned out surprisingly well!

In case you’re wondering, the giant, black-and-white finger growing out of my left shoulder belongs to a model in the Victoria’s Secret window display behind me. (The juxtaposition of her and me was supposed to be all deep and shit, but then the lighting didn’t really work out.)

Anyway. That photo, by the lovely Craig Lassig, accompanied this Thursday Styles piece by Mandy Katz, which was a sidebar to this article. Two mentions of the book in the NYT in one day! I am beside myself! And also beside a giant, black-and-white finger.

In other fancy media news, Lee Randall wrote a terrifically flattering column about Shapely Prose in the Scotsman yesterday. And then the following conversation took place on Twitter.

KateHarding @randallwrites Just saw it now! Thank you so much!!

randallwrites @KateHarding no, thank you. i need such regular boots up the jaxsie to keep me relatively sane.

KateHarding @randallwrites I will be the boot up your jaxsie any time. Though I’m only guessing what a jaxsie is.

Lee kindly confirmed that a jaxsie is exactly what I suspected it was.

Also, I just set up an interview with Never Say Diet over at iVillage, and in the course of that up-setting (uh, wait…), I discovered that Linda Vongkhamchanh wrote the most fantastic review of Lessons there, over a month ago! WAY TO FAIL ME, GOOGLE ALERTS. Anyway, check this out:

Harding and Kirby, both self-proclaimed fat girls, have founded the ultimate fat girl’s bible, with lessons of positive body image, healthy living, and most importantly loving yourself and being healthy in your current body and at your current weight. It’s possible to be fat and healthy, just as it is possible for someone to be slim and unhealthy. Interesting concept, right? It totally goes against society’s view of women, where skinny is in and fat is just not all that. We love us some revolutionary non-diet literature! And, not to mention, their witty firsthand accounts that go along with the life lessons for the rotund reader make them all the more trustworthy.

Love!

From the aforementioned Trib article:

OK, so the best article that ever has been and probably ever will be written about me is in the Chicago Tribune today. (Thank you, Nara Schoenberg!!!) If you live in the area, you should totally go pick up a hard copy to see the hilarious photo on the cover of the “Live” section. Nara called me a couple of weeks ago and said, “You know, we have some photos of you on file from the RedEye article, but they don’t really capture your attitude. Or your… sort of commanding, regal quality.” To which I replied, “SNORF.” Here is a list of actual questions Nara asked me after that:

• Do you have anything in your house that’s… throne-like?
• What kind of pink fruity drinks do you like?
• Would you consider wearing a tiara?

(Answers: No; fruity-tinis and champagne cocktails; I would consider it, but that doesn’t mean I’ll do it.)

So we set up a shoot at Vive la Femme, because that is where a fat girl in Chicago goes when she needs to be photographed wearing a cocktail dress she doesn’t own, holding a glass of “champagne” (ginger ale), on a black couch with leopard print pillows and a faux-fur throw, in front of a bright pink wall. Stephanie even did a quick “alteration” with paper clips to make the dress fit better through the bust, then helpfully kept reminding me to keep my arm in front of the fucking paper clips for the photos. They are running one FULL-SERVICE OPERATION over there, I’ll tell you what.

Anyway. I can’t get the photo scanned until later, but in the meantime, Fillyjonk’s whipped up a piece of art to give you the general idea. (This is a picture of my first trial run for hair and make-up for the upcoming wedding reception. I say first trial run, because I felt like such a clown done up like this, I scrambled to find another salon to try before I left Minneapolis, and I’ll be going with the second. Keep in mind that in photos, the 90 lbs. of black eyeliner and purple eyeshadow actually look MORE SUBTLE.) All hail the queen. (And no, it was not remotely my idea to title myself “Queen of the Fat-o-sphere,” for the record, but I do find it hilarious.)

Obesity becoming U.S. civil rights issue for some

Launching an anti-dieting blog called Shapely Prose, Harding and other fat-acceptance advocates online — calling themselves the fat-o-sphere — are also educating one another about how to improve overweight people’s health.

She and other bloggers with names like FatChicksRule and Big Liberty say society’s “war on obesity” makes overweight people hate their bodies and suffer from low self-esteem.

“Being fat doesn’t make me lazy or stupid or morally suspect,” said Harding, 34, of Chicago, who also has written a book, “Lessons from the Fat-o-Sphere.“

“The message we’re promoting is health at every size.”

I really wish she’d noted that I co-wrote the book with Marianne Kirby, instead of implying that I was the sole author, but otherwise, pretty good article.