these past few months while i've been home, i've realized i hate to eat alone and hate even more to cook for myself. i spend most lunches by myself at home now, and the thought of having to go into the kitchen and make myself something to eat is just absolutely unappealing. it's a bit incongruous since i generally like to cook. i try out new recipes, i like to be creative with what i have in the fridge, and i like to set a pretty table. but it's like a performance. without someone else to appreciate it, the appeal is gone.
every day, i usually give into hunger sometime around one o'clock and have a cup o' noodles, a trader joe's burrito, or leftovers. in fact, without leftovers, i'd probably end up having nasty processed packaged food every day. it's a sad sad existence.
what does all of this mean? that i operate on attention?
Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
i know it sounds hypocritical...
okay. so i called oprah my hero in my last post. and she is. the empire she's built and the influence that she holds over america are impressing at the very least. she's got america reading good books. she's really reinforced the idea of a healthy lifestyle. she's got women connected to their emotions. she endorses quality hand cream. i do appreciate all the positive things she's done for women in this country.
having said that, despite my love for oprah, sometimes i cringe at some of the things that come out of her show. i wonder if she herself realizes the ripple effect that one sentence from a guest may have on a national scale. more specifically, she had a very prominent ob/gyn on her show today to answer women's health questions. nothing too scandalous, right? but one woman asked a question regarding the hpv vaccine. the guest spent a grand total of 45 seconds on the topic, saying that money would be better spent elsewhere (like a national dietary program that enhances the immune system) than on the vaccine.
not going into whether she's correct or not (because that's enough for another topic and another rant), it just seems a little irresponsible to make such a general advisement in such a short time, without having a true discussion on it. if the entire industry is advising that their patients get the vaccine, and she's the rare dissenter, then shouldn't she spend some quality time arguing her position? maybe bring in another point of view?
i just think that oprah likes to think that she has this little show, when her show isn't little at all. it's huge. women go buy what she says is good. women do what she says is healthy. women like to use the same products she uses in her home. they shop at the stores she does (when they can afford it). oprah makes best-selling authors. she starts a singer's career with a five minute profile on her show. she may even help a man get elected to the presidency.
so you can understand that little twang of apprehension once in a while.
like i said. it may sound hypocritical. it may even BE hypocritical. i don't care. it's okay to admire someone and still be critical of their work once in a while.
i still love oprah and her cole haan shoes. she introduced me to my favorite gingerbread body souffle and laloo ice cream. she's brought the color purple to broadway. she brings me an hour of entertainment every unemployed day.
she's the reason i have seashells in my bathroom.
and the ice cream alone was enough.
having said that, despite my love for oprah, sometimes i cringe at some of the things that come out of her show. i wonder if she herself realizes the ripple effect that one sentence from a guest may have on a national scale. more specifically, she had a very prominent ob/gyn on her show today to answer women's health questions. nothing too scandalous, right? but one woman asked a question regarding the hpv vaccine. the guest spent a grand total of 45 seconds on the topic, saying that money would be better spent elsewhere (like a national dietary program that enhances the immune system) than on the vaccine.
not going into whether she's correct or not (because that's enough for another topic and another rant), it just seems a little irresponsible to make such a general advisement in such a short time, without having a true discussion on it. if the entire industry is advising that their patients get the vaccine, and she's the rare dissenter, then shouldn't she spend some quality time arguing her position? maybe bring in another point of view?
i just think that oprah likes to think that she has this little show, when her show isn't little at all. it's huge. women go buy what she says is good. women do what she says is healthy. women like to use the same products she uses in her home. they shop at the stores she does (when they can afford it). oprah makes best-selling authors. she starts a singer's career with a five minute profile on her show. she may even help a man get elected to the presidency.
so you can understand that little twang of apprehension once in a while.
like i said. it may sound hypocritical. it may even BE hypocritical. i don't care. it's okay to admire someone and still be critical of their work once in a while.
i still love oprah and her cole haan shoes. she introduced me to my favorite gingerbread body souffle and laloo ice cream. she's brought the color purple to broadway. she brings me an hour of entertainment every unemployed day.
she's the reason i have seashells in my bathroom.
and the ice cream alone was enough.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
a little reprieve...
(no) thanks to genetics, i've been lactose intolerant since i was about 19. my body hates cow's milk so much even those nifty lactase pills don't work. i'm supposed to stay away from milk altogether, considering the immense amount of pain cheating brings on. but i do cheat. how can you ban such things as pizza, ice cream, and cream cheese on a bagel from your diet? i have no idea.
well (no) thanks to genetics again, i've now developed a quickly growing intolerance to eggs, olives, and lettuce. it's a delicate balance of how much contraband i can sneak into my diet and how much suffering i'm willing to endure. for example, dairy seems to bother me less with alcohol (no. i'm not kidding). egg whites are slightly more tolerable than egg yolks. aged cheeses bother me less than others. baby lettuce and olive oil don't bother me at all, while romaine lettuce and brined olives do bother me. it's a big headache all around: asking for non-dairy creamers in diners that probably have never heard of "non-dairy", scraping the cheese off a pizza slice, carefully choosing what to eat before a long car ride, etc.etc.
i did find goat's milk ice cream. i've tried them all - soy, rice, lactaid... but i think the goat's milk beats all of them hands down. i think the trick with milk substitutes is to make sure you're not looking for the same taste or consistency. if you figure out a way to enjoy the substitute for what it is, whether it be tofu or goat's milk, then it's so much better.
anyway, laloo makes the best goat's milk ice cream. black mission fig. yum! and of course, i found through oprah. say what you will about her and her show, but she's brought ice cream into my life again. with that alone, she's my freakin' hero.
well (no) thanks to genetics again, i've now developed a quickly growing intolerance to eggs, olives, and lettuce. it's a delicate balance of how much contraband i can sneak into my diet and how much suffering i'm willing to endure. for example, dairy seems to bother me less with alcohol (no. i'm not kidding). egg whites are slightly more tolerable than egg yolks. aged cheeses bother me less than others. baby lettuce and olive oil don't bother me at all, while romaine lettuce and brined olives do bother me. it's a big headache all around: asking for non-dairy creamers in diners that probably have never heard of "non-dairy", scraping the cheese off a pizza slice, carefully choosing what to eat before a long car ride, etc.etc.
i did find goat's milk ice cream. i've tried them all - soy, rice, lactaid... but i think the goat's milk beats all of them hands down. i think the trick with milk substitutes is to make sure you're not looking for the same taste or consistency. if you figure out a way to enjoy the substitute for what it is, whether it be tofu or goat's milk, then it's so much better.
anyway, laloo makes the best goat's milk ice cream. black mission fig. yum! and of course, i found through oprah. say what you will about her and her show, but she's brought ice cream into my life again. with that alone, she's my freakin' hero.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
oh... so quick to forget
just finished reading 'everyone worth knowing' by lauren weisberger (okay. so it's not moby dick. but a book is a book).
found out from the book jacket that the author is a cornell grad. so it wasn't surprising to see a couple of cornell mentions: the hotel school. the statler. cayuga lake. ithaca. hippies.
i spent 10 years (on and off) wishing to get out of ithaca. now that i'm out, i get all giddy at the sheer mention of ithaca and good ol' cornell university. they say that new moms are like that too. they forget all about how much labor and delivery hurt, and want a new baby right away. maybe it's the same kind of masochistic leanings i'm experiencing right now.
found out from the book jacket that the author is a cornell grad. so it wasn't surprising to see a couple of cornell mentions: the hotel school. the statler. cayuga lake. ithaca. hippies.
i spent 10 years (on and off) wishing to get out of ithaca. now that i'm out, i get all giddy at the sheer mention of ithaca and good ol' cornell university. they say that new moms are like that too. they forget all about how much labor and delivery hurt, and want a new baby right away. maybe it's the same kind of masochistic leanings i'm experiencing right now.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
i'm back!
the chaotic holiday travel schedule is finally over.
recap:
12/05-12/09 = Philly/Lansdale
12/09 = NYC
12/09-12/16 = Back in Philly/Lansdale
12/22 = New Jersey
12/22-12/26 = Philly/Lansdale
12/27-01/02 = L.A.
paul and i ended up spending a week apart in december, so i can hang out with his mom and prepare for christmas. considering the monstrous amount of work needed to get ready for christmas in that household, an extra pair of hands was more than necessary. so aside from working myself into a sinus infection and being on the road all the time (including the 7 hours it took us to drive to jersey, when google predicted a 4 hour trip), the holidays were fairly pleasant.
the true highlight of all of this really was my trip back home. i haven't spent any holidays with my family in years, so it was nice to hang out with my 'rents for new years. paul and i lounged around in california's mild weather, eating some exquisite asian food. it ws relaxing and bittersweet at the same time. i realize every year that i really miss my family. now that i'm married and spending so much time with my husband's family, i really see how much i'm missing with my own family. i hope to rectify that soon, but the reality is that my parents work an insane schedule and we're too poor to visit all that often. after the plane tickets, the car rental, etc., we calculated travel costs in the excess of $1500. eek!
of course, hanging out with my family meant ducking the inevitable onslaught of "when are you having babies?" we managed to convince the family that (a) no, we're not infertile (that i know of), and (b) no, we're not insane for wanting to wait.
lastly, i saw a cousin who i hadn't seen since 1988 (yes - that's the late 80's). she now has a husband and two kids! it was so great seeing her. she was my favorite cousin in korea. her older kid (age 3) is a freakin' genius. he started reading at 1 1/2 (that's ONE and a half), now reads in both korean and english, speaks both languages fluently, does 65-piece puzzles, can identify most animals at a zoo, and speaks in complex sentences. i love this kid! he actually gives me an inkling of hope for a future baby (way way down the line). only if there could be a guarantee....
recap:
12/05-12/09 = Philly/Lansdale
12/09 = NYC
12/09-12/16 = Back in Philly/Lansdale
12/22 = New Jersey
12/22-12/26 = Philly/Lansdale
12/27-01/02 = L.A.
paul and i ended up spending a week apart in december, so i can hang out with his mom and prepare for christmas. considering the monstrous amount of work needed to get ready for christmas in that household, an extra pair of hands was more than necessary. so aside from working myself into a sinus infection and being on the road all the time (including the 7 hours it took us to drive to jersey, when google predicted a 4 hour trip), the holidays were fairly pleasant.
the true highlight of all of this really was my trip back home. i haven't spent any holidays with my family in years, so it was nice to hang out with my 'rents for new years. paul and i lounged around in california's mild weather, eating some exquisite asian food. it ws relaxing and bittersweet at the same time. i realize every year that i really miss my family. now that i'm married and spending so much time with my husband's family, i really see how much i'm missing with my own family. i hope to rectify that soon, but the reality is that my parents work an insane schedule and we're too poor to visit all that often. after the plane tickets, the car rental, etc., we calculated travel costs in the excess of $1500. eek!
of course, hanging out with my family meant ducking the inevitable onslaught of "when are you having babies?" we managed to convince the family that (a) no, we're not infertile (that i know of), and (b) no, we're not insane for wanting to wait.
lastly, i saw a cousin who i hadn't seen since 1988 (yes - that's the late 80's). she now has a husband and two kids! it was so great seeing her. she was my favorite cousin in korea. her older kid (age 3) is a freakin' genius. he started reading at 1 1/2 (that's ONE and a half), now reads in both korean and english, speaks both languages fluently, does 65-piece puzzles, can identify most animals at a zoo, and speaks in complex sentences. i love this kid! he actually gives me an inkling of hope for a future baby (way way down the line). only if there could be a guarantee....
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