Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Apparently, I'm hot. This was confirmed in a conversation this past weekend at a friend's house. I told them about the phenomenon I've experienced ever since I joined MySpace, where I frequently get messages from guys inviting me to be their friend, where they tell me how "hott" I am.

The people I was talking to said, "You are hot, in an approachable way."

This is nice to hear, especially now that I've reached a plateau in my weight loss, with about 10 pounds to go to my goal weight. Of course, I don't know how much of my weight is currently muscle, because my clothes still seem to be getting looser.

After many years of being effectively invisible, hidden under 80 pounds of extra weight, I'm suddenly getting more attention.

It reminds me of in high school, when I lost 30 pounds to about the size I am now. Guys started being nice to me; people who previously snubbed me told me how great I look. My feeling at the time was, "I was the same person before I lost weight, and you were a jerk to me then, so I have no use for you."

Today, I just take it as a compliment.

Being hot doesn't make it any easier to look for jeans, especially for those of us who are blessed in the hip and thigh area. I recently spent a long time looking for a good pair of jeans. I finally discovered that Boscov's stocks more styles of jeans that will work on me, such as straight leg jeans. The current trend towards "skinny" jeans and snug-fitting boot-cut jeans does me no favors.

Recently, The Gryphon has been receiving more compliments, too. In fact, I'm stealing his line when I say, "Apparently, I'm hot." He said this to me at Com Con, after hearing a number of compliments from people about his hair cut, his weight loss and his new clothes. In fact, one person even compared him to George Clooney, a heck of a compliment.

He's taking it in stride, but he's definitely pleased to hear it.

Our kitty, Luke, has no trouble accepting compliments. When you tell him he's cute, he reclines, closes his eyes to contented slits and purrs.

Una gets plenty of compliments, and they make her grin her big doggie grin. I know that she likes being neat, because she's the only dog I've ever known who cleans herself. She has the cleanest feet of any dog you'll ever meet.

A celebrity accustomed to being told she was hot has recently come under fire for her weight gain. Supermodel Tyra Banks, host of America's Next Top Model and her own talk show, has gone up a few pounds since her modeling days. Recently, a tabloid ran an unflattering picture of her in a one-piece bathing suit, dubbing her "America's Next Top Waddle."

Now, I'm fairly certain chicanery was involved, perhaps even a wide angle lens. Other photos of her don't look bad.

She's gone on a media campaign to counter the nasty comments, asserting that she has a normal body. At 5'10" and 161 pounds, she falls into the normal BMI range for her height, just as I do. There's certainly nothing wrong with that.

The whole conversation about her weight is amusing and sad. After all, Marilyn Monroe wore the same dress size as me. A vintage size 12, which is what she wore and what formal dress makers still use, is equivalent to a current size 8. Of course, she was proportioned differently than I and had a team of stylists behind her.

Today, Hollywood would force her to lose 30 pounds, or she'd be relegated to playing the fat friend.

But I bet you if she had a MySpace page, she'd be flooded with messages about how "hott" she was.

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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