I’m about half way through, and haven’t had this much fun reading in… well, in many many novels. Example line that made me put the book down I was laughing so hard:
“He tore his eyes away from the tops of those remarkable breasts of hers and tried to think unpleasant thoughts of particularly horrible things, like overcooked vegetables and cut-rate wine.”
See? You can’t not laugh. Or, at least you can’t if you think Victorian England, gastronomy, dry humor, and urban fantasy are some of life’s greatest wonders… but didn’t think you’d ever get them in one book. And since those are four of my favorite things, it was like Ms Carriger wrote this book for me.
I find myself defending this too often, so I’m posting online my thoughts on food and eating healthy. I’ve been thinking and reading and listening a lot about this since I quit my job in an effort to become a more healthy person, and food is an integral part of that. Here’s what I’ve learned:
1. Holy cow, everybody says something different. You can find a statistic, a doctor, a study, and a politician to tell you anything is satan in food form… and that anything is healthy.
2. So… you have to pick out what makes sense to you, do that, and pay attention what happens as a result.
Kinda like… everything else in life.
But here’s some things I’ve gleaned from my Mission: Impossible – figure out what’s healthy.
There’s vitamins and minerals that make your eyes and skin and teeth healthy. Those are important. But that’s not got much to do with weight. Weight has to do with how your body uses and stores energy, and that’s a combination of 3 things: protein, fat, and carbohydrates.
You need all three of these things. Protein builds muscle, fat allows your joints to move smoothly, carbs provide blood sugar for your brain.
Different types of carbohydrates produce different insulin responses in the body, and this is where things get complicated and everybody tells you something different…
“When you eat a food containing carbohydrates, the digestive system breaks down the digestible ones into sugar, which then enters the blood. As blood sugar levels rise, special cells in the pancreas churn out more and more insulin, a hormone that signals cells to absorb blood sugar for energy or storage… A new system, called the glycemic index, aims to classify carbohydrates based on how quickly and how high they boost blood sugar… Foods with a high glycemic index, like white bread, cause rapid spikes in blood sugar. Foods with a low glycemic index, like whole oats, are digested more slowly, causing a lower and gentler change in blood sugar.” – Havard School of Public Health
If you want to read arguments that will last until forever, google “glycemic load.” Basically I’m going with two things:
Carbs are not evil; they are healthy and we should eat them. Just most people in America eat too many carbs per day and double the pain by eating the kinds that cause glycemic index freakouts.
Vegetables are carbs, and for the vitamin and mineral content as well as low glycemic load are a much more fabulous way of consuming those necessary carbs than flour, regardless of whether or not that flour is “whole grain”
I’ve read in several places now (and been told by a homeopathic dietitian, but my cautious fandom and loving distrust of homeopathic anything is another post) that a lot of people who aren’t necessarily gluten intolerant or have celiac’s disease are still gluten reactive. (My personal take on this goes with the idea that man was around a long time before we became farmers, and a lot of us still haven’t evolved into grain-eaters, but that’s just the theory that sounds logical to me.) Basically, there are theories that say that in a lot of people, gluten can cause minor inflammation on a cellular level. So, from what I understand, a small part of the population was born with a body that handles gluten, no sweat. A small part of the population was born a body that flips a gasket when fed gluten. The rest of us have bodies that don’t keel over, but would run more smoothly without gluten.
So, to sum all that up, if I’m getting my very necessary carbs from bread instead of spinach, I’m not getting the vitamins and minerals, getting a higher insulin spike, and, as I’m gluten semi-intolerant, causing my body minor internal havoc.
Back to my title.
So, I’m not low-carb. I eat apples every day. And vegetables. And sometimes I eat pea soup (which is a lentil, not a vegetable). But I can’t remember the last time I had pasta, whole grain or otherwise. At first I thought this was a big deal, a huge sacrifice. Then I went Paleo for a month and that really did change the way I think about food. It was amazing how much in week two I thought I couldn’t live without a Snickers bar (but I did). But what was more amazing was how I came out the other side not caring that much about cookies, candy, sugary-drinks… pretty much the only things I still wanted that I’d been denied was alcohol and cheese. The whole experience made me a firm believer in the idea that sugary carbs mess with our brains in a serious way. 30 days of Paleo made eating healthy seem not like a chore, but something that I want to do. Bok choy tastes better than pizza, and right now if you asked me which one I want, I can with no hesitation tell you bok choy. A month of paleo a pain in the butt to do, but from a having done it perspective, I can’t recommend it highly enough. (Just don’t cheat… there seems to be a very strong correlation between the people who cheat and the people who don’t get it after it’s over. Week two is freaking hard. Put the cookie down.)
You are what you eat from your head down to your feet
Things like meat and fish and eggs you need to build up muscle tissue
Uh Oh! Appitite control? More Protein! We need energy.
All the motors in your body need a lot of fuel to go on
Things like carbohydrates fats and proteins, vitamins and so on.
What’s left over forms the building blocks you need, indeed, to grow on!
Yes you are what you swallow so the next time you feel hollow
Don’t just fill your face with any old kind of treat!
This goes for every kid or 6 foot athlete
Yes you really are is what you eeeeeeeeat!
Interesting article on an issue near and dear to my heart: misogyny within the storytelling community. Baggott touches on the side of the issue that I find the most disturbing, that recognized books “are not only written by men but also have male themes, overwhelmingly… war, boyhood, adventure.” As if writing about childbirth, love, community, and other “women’s issues” are somehow unworthy of praise. Not to say that women don’t go to war and men don’t fall in love, but I am sick of living in a world in which to be considered equal, I have to live up to a man’s definition of strength – be physically strong, fight well (kick-ass heroines anyone?… which, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE them, but that’s not the only way to be a strong female character), earn a lot of money, be a CEO…. If I’m strong because I’m mystical, compassionate, and good at working with people instead of mowing them down, clearly I’m not a feminist, or at least not equal to somebody logical, authoritarian, and violent.
Dude, the man who wrote Rambo and Titanic? Did you know he’s a Kanuck?? Yup. And he hates America. At least according to extreme right wing sites such as Movieguide (which I’ll get to in a moment. This might be my new favorite website to mock). I haven’t seen Avatar yet, but so far I’ve heard that while it’s stunning fabulousity is earning bajillions of dollars, it is a desecration of all known human values for its (a) America hating, people hating, God hating, capitalism hating left-wing madness and its (b) white-messiah-complex same old right-wing-racist-in-liberal-clothing storyline. Dude. I totally need to see this movie for myself. How can that many people possibly be offended all at once and it not be a South Park episode?
Umm… Let me start this by saying that I don’t agree with the way movies are currently rated, including items like two uses of “fuck” isn’t, in my opinion, less appropriate for children than decapitated heads being tossed over a castle wall (see http://www.mpaa.org/Ratings_Rules.pdf pg 8 for ruling on cuss words; see LOTR: Return of the King for a PG-13 movie with decapitated heads being catapulted over a wall) and how is it possible that Cassanova and Inglourious Basterds have the same rating? And how is Hostel not NC-17… while Clerks had to appeal their original NC-17 designation to get an R?
So… a new rating system would, in my opinion, not be inappropriate.
However.
Movieguide has a very special rating system for people who want to know if watching this movie may torpedo their chances at heaven. Again, I’m actually cool with this (I certainly wouldn’t mind if somebody put together a pagan movieguide to help me decide what to see and what’s going to just make me angry). What I don’t understand is, why in their Christian guide, they felt the need to warn people if the movies have themes that are: communist, environmentalist, feminist, internationalist, politically correct, and/or socialist. Does Christ hate the environment and love capitalism? I don’t remember that part of the Bible where Jesus said “you’re welcome for the healing; that’ll be $200.”
But what I really love about this site is the rating system they use, a shorthand involving 29 different elements like ‘O’ for “Occult worldview, occult elements or Satanism”, all of which can be increased by adding Os, so “OOO” means it REALLY ups the Occult, as opposed to O which has some occult and OO which is… fair to midlin’ occult? So you can have a movie with a rating that looks like: PaPaPa, PCPC, EE, FRFR, CoCo, AcapAcapAcap, C, B, O, LLL, VVV, S, NN, A, DD, MM (yes, that’s an actual rating… for Avatar) which translates as:
* PaganPaganPagan,* 2xPoliticallyCorrect, * 2xEnvironmentalism, * “Strong Non-Christian worldview, heresy or false religious elements”, * 2xCommunism, * 3xAnti-capitalism/anti-wealth/politics of envy, * “Mild or light Christian worldview or elements, Gospel witness, redemptive elements, or positive reference to Jesus Christ, Christianity or a Christian church or service” (apparently the movie gets confused at one point?), * “Mild or light biblical or moral worldview, principles, perspective, or character” (continue the movie’s self-delusion that it isn’t hellbound)* Occult* “Numerous obscenities and profanities (more than 25)”* “Very strong, extreme or graphic violence”* “Implied adultery, promiscuity, sexual perversion or sexual immorality”* “Partial or brief nudity”* “Light, brief or some alcohol use”* “Smoking and light illegal drug use and/or illegal drug selling”* “Strong or much miscellaneous immorality” (for those times when the above list isn’t long enough)
Unfortunately, Avatar doesn’t have my favorite shorthand designation, which is Ho for “homosexual worldview or homosexuality (incl. sodomy & lesbianism)”. I’d really love to see a movie with a HoHoHo rating; that would totally make my day.
And I just heard it for the first time. So here ya go.
I was reading an article the other day about my state’s revamping of history curriculum (which, I think curriculum should be regularly looked at and revamped. I’m good with this so far), and two of the committee chairs are pushing for a history curriculum that teaches the importance of Christianity in shaping America, and how, according to them, our founding fathers wanted a Christian nation. *head to desk* This new wtfery is beyond me. But some politicians see a lot of power in the religious right and are going to wield it like a club, apparently and, well, maybe somebody actually believes that the people who wrote “freedom of religion” meant “right-wing theocracy”.
Just goes to show that everybody truly does believe their views are the center from which all others are judged.
Anywho, I am jaded enough to know this sort of madness will regularly come from politicians, and feel confident that the majority of the committee will turn down their truthiness version of history. What always bugs me more than politicians, is the people that post comments on them. Somebody actually said something to the effect of ”Christians help people with Habitat for Humanity and Salvation Army; atheists do nothing.”
You know what? As a religious person, I am regularly shamed by the atheists and the agnostics that I am friends with. They are some of the most ethical, fun-loving, least hypocritical people on the planet, and every good act they do has no fear of hell behind it. They are good people… because it’s the right thing to do. I admire them. (Those screaming people with bad hygiene that you see on TV are about as typical of an atheist as Jerry Falwell is of a Christian)
And so, back to the song, I love it, because it reminds us that the celebration of family and the turning of the seasons is not a religious thing, but a human thing. I can love carols even as I don’t agree with all the words, and this doesn’t make me a bad person… it just makes me a person. Celebrating people, all people, our traditions, our faiths (even if that’s faith in humanity, or just faith that you and your friends can make a difference), this is a human party. And what better season to have one, than the end of the year when so many different cultures from all over the world have found a reason to gather? Christmas, a celebration established from many religions that came before it, is for everyone.
If Colt hadn’t gotten hurt, I think UT would’ve won. I feel so horrible for both of our quarterbacks… but hot damn if Garret Gilbert didn’t learn how to play college football in the most mind-blowing way possible. If he’s not scarred for life, nothing will ever phase him. Ever. OU Who? Gig What? Dude, I mounted a comeback against the Tide in the championship game. Yup! With our backup quarterback who’s seen no real game time (4th quarter crap time doesn’t count) we were one missed block (oh left tackle, we don’t blame you, but if you’d made that stop that ended up in a blind side hit and a fumble…) from a potential drive down the field which could’ve put us ahead for the first time since Colt left the field. It would’ve been the most bad-ass comeback ever. Arghhhhh!!!!
I love my team, and I’m proud of them. I hope Colt is happy with his draft pick, and I hope Gilbert realizes how impressed everybody is with what he did. He is going to be amazing next year. Can’t believe I have to wait eight months to see it!
"Maybe I just have a limited attention span, but life is keeping me pretty busy. I’m going to be dead a lot longer than I’m alive. Plenty of time to figure out the afterlife then."
Urban Fantasy is…
“In urban fantasy you don’t leave the chip shop and go to another world to find the unicorn. Rather, the unicorn shows up at the chip shop and orders the cod.”
–Elizabeth Bear
I’m about half way through, and haven’t had this much fun reading in… well, in many many novels. Example line that made me put the book down I was laughing so hard: