Day...oh, who cares? 174, and Who's Surprised? Not me.

I haven't been keeping close track of how many days it has been now, but the important part is that I haven't drifted back into the 180s.  Even after a long holiday weekend, I tipped the scales at 174, a nice modest number and less than a handful of pounds from my main goal.  My stretch goal is still somewhere around 165, but 170 is a good number for a guy my size.  It means I get to remain a guy my size, and maybe start searching for pants a size down from where I am.  Some days, the belt just doesn't quite feel up to the challenge of keeping my 36" pants up, and moving back down to a more modest size would be a great thing.

In other news:
I saw this news item back in June: a new young driver in South Carolina, stepping up to the photo booth at the DMV for the very first time, the closest thing the US has to a rite of passage common to every kid, was told:

"Hold it, kid.  Scrape off the makeup and then we can take the picture."  You might be just a bit outraged, when has the DMV ever demanded a woman take off her makeup before she can get her picture taken?

Except this new young driver is male.

Chase Culpepper is male but doesn't conform to any gender.  Whether that's by choice is beside the point.  He wears clothes that lean toward the feminine, he definitely looks feminine with his eyelashes, skillfully done makeup (I've worn enough on stage to know what it takes to look good, as opposed to merely clownish) and hair.  More to the point, there's quite a few photos of Culpepper dressed and made up this way.  I can't find as many of Chase in a less-feminine guise, though there are some to be seen.  Either way, he's a good-looking kid.  Got lucky in that respect.  I do not make an attractive woman, and it takes a good thick layer of makeup to get me to where I make a passable woman.

But here's the point: women are not required to remove makeup before license photos.  Chase was required to remove his because DMV personnel considered it a "disguise," a deliberate attempt to alter his appearance to make future identification difficult or impossible.

Well, looking at his photos, I would say there's probably at least a 50-50 chance that if stopped by police, Chase would look like his photo, regardless of how he was made up or dressed, either in the picture or in person.  Knowing that, what the hell difference does it make?

And with that exact question in mind, the Culpeppers are taking the South Carolina DMV to court.  Who's shocked?  Raise your hand!

Hmm, no hands went up.