Among yesterday's mail from FlyLady was a Missus Smarty Pants piece on one's shopping style. I smiled blankly and nodded through it until I got to this:

And there is the rare breed of woman [with] an alien mindset that any kind of shopping equals stress! They believe clothes shopping is utilitarian; a necessary thing to do when you need something (like a guy). Sometimes this attitude is because they don't feel good about themselves. The clothes they select never fit right; the stores only add to their stress because in their minds, they are a maze of confusion and a sea of clothing racks that never end.

I laughed at this while admitting its truth. Clothes shopping is utilitarian for me because finding off-the-rack clothing that does fit right is a rare occurrence. It's not the fault of clothing manufacturers, I'm just not built like modern sizes. Off-the-rack clothing either fits me in length or around, not both. My waist/hip ratio is too close for misses' pants, I don't like low-rise juniors' pants (they fit, but my belly hangs out) and girls' pants are simply too short. Luckily I know how to sew and Levis makes boys' 26x30 jeans.

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Also, Michael Chabon writes about LEGO bricks. Oh yes.