October 15th (tomorrow) the Occupy Wall Street movement comes to the Vancouver Art Gallery and environs. I was thinking about checking it out: I am a disenfranchised university graduate dissatisfied with the status quo. In particular, the way we love things and use people. This protest is kind of an umbrella-protest against just everything that is wrong with the world. It's like throwing a tantrum because everyone and everything is unfair and you are really frustrated and don't know how to fix anything. Like the hockey riots, it's a cry for help with the real issue being spiritual malaise.
At any rate, I have decided that 'Abandoning Wall Street' seems like a better idea. Why not stop buying things? 'Wall Street' and most people pay attention when their money is at stake. This is the issue, right? People with money and 'power' making decisions from their wallets rather than their sense of conscience. Stop buying shit and see what happens to the stock market.
Stop going to the grocery store. I think the Post-Apocalyptic lifestyle is a much better form of protest. I noticed that the Occupy Vancouver Wishlist includes many shelter and electronic items, but no food items. Maybe I missed the part about the hunger strike.
How much food will the protesters purchase as they occupy the city? The profit from that food goes right into the pockets of the shareholders of SBUX(Starbucks), KFT(Kraft), MCD(McDonald's) and many others. In conclusion, I think Occupy Whatever is a waste of time and effort if change is the true objective.
Friday, 14 October 2011
Day 36 - The Only Cure for the Blues...
...Is more chocolate!
A few years ago, Jessica Seinfeld (yeah, Jerry Seinfeld's wife) came out with this cookbook titled, Deceptively Delicious with recipes like spinach cupcakes and black-bean brownies. The goal was to trick children into eating nutritiously without even knowing it! Trés sneaky! Having on hand a ton of cooked azuki beans, I decided to attempt something in that vein, azuki bean brownies...
They don't look very appetizing, but I assure you, they are tasty in that vegan-healthy kind of way. Did I mention they also happen to be gluten-free? I've been making a lot of waffles lately; I am trying to conserve how much flour I use, which means gluten-free is wonderful by my books.
A few years ago, Jessica Seinfeld (yeah, Jerry Seinfeld's wife) came out with this cookbook titled, Deceptively Delicious with recipes like spinach cupcakes and black-bean brownies. The goal was to trick children into eating nutritiously without even knowing it! Trés sneaky! Having on hand a ton of cooked azuki beans, I decided to attempt something in that vein, azuki bean brownies...
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| Azuki Bean Brownie |
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Day 35 - Bored
Realized that I've been eating a lot because I am bored. Ordinarily, I would just be anxious about getting fat and come up with some kind of torture and deprivation regime, but the anxiety now extends to supply-related issues. It could have been the full moon, it might have been the congo - I decided that bangs would be the perfect solution to everything. If they didn't turn out, I could obsess over that and divert my attention to fixing them. If they did turn out, my self-esteem might see a nice boost and maybe I'd eat less. Either way, this seemed like a great idea.
When I woke up this morning, I saw that my hair is now a symptom of the general indecisiveness ruling my life. I cut one side too short, as often happens when you self-cut. But, I liked the longer side so much that I couldn't quite bring myself to match the lengths.
I think I should keep it like this as a reminder to be more decisive. This will be my wrist tattoo that says 'courage' or 'silence' or whatever. Besides, asymmetry is still considered high fashion, n'est-ce pas?
When I woke up this morning, I saw that my hair is now a symptom of the general indecisiveness ruling my life. I cut one side too short, as often happens when you self-cut. But, I liked the longer side so much that I couldn't quite bring myself to match the lengths.
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| The shorter side |
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| The longer side |
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| The front |
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Day 34 - The B12 Solution
This Thanksgiving my sister who is going to be the world's best physiotherapist, told me that our bodies store B12! This means that I can ingest a lot of B12 in one sitting and that B12 will be doled out to as my body requires it. The body is so intelligent.
The take-home message is that I don't need to 'ration' B12-rich foods; in fact, it would be best to consume them all now and rest assured that over the next few months that is all taken care of. The trick is to figure out how much is enough. While you can't have too much B12, over-consumption is rather wasteful in the current climate. From Wikipedia, the recommended daily intake is 2 to 3 mcg. Each packet of Emergen-C has 25 mcg. So, I need about 180 mcg total (upper-bound estimate), which is about 8 packages of Emergen-C and I have more than that many. Problem solved.
The anti-anemia triumvirate is folate, B12, and iron. These are necessary for red blood cells, which do important things like carry oxygen through the body. Dizziness, weakness, fatigue is due to a lack of oxygen. I believe I have all three covered and look forward to my next blood test results.
The take-home message is that I don't need to 'ration' B12-rich foods; in fact, it would be best to consume them all now and rest assured that over the next few months that is all taken care of. The trick is to figure out how much is enough. While you can't have too much B12, over-consumption is rather wasteful in the current climate. From Wikipedia, the recommended daily intake is 2 to 3 mcg. Each packet of Emergen-C has 25 mcg. So, I need about 180 mcg total (upper-bound estimate), which is about 8 packages of Emergen-C and I have more than that many. Problem solved.
The anti-anemia triumvirate is folate, B12, and iron. These are necessary for red blood cells, which do important things like carry oxygen through the body. Dizziness, weakness, fatigue is due to a lack of oxygen. I believe I have all three covered and look forward to my next blood test results.
Day 33 - Chicken Paninis
This Thanksgiving Saturday while working at Kumon, I discovered a dumpster of Chicken Paninis (and garbage)! I was hesitant at first, since I didn't know how long they had been in the dumpster, however with the weather the way it is, a dumpster is similar to an 'ice box'. I wasn't going to eat them, being a vegetarian, but saw rather the market-opportunity to barter with the omnivores in my life. My sister came out shortly, wondering why the garbage run was taking so long. I showed her the find and seeing the expression on her face, left them there. The new rule is: No dumpster-diving in my work shirt or near business hours.
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| This is a $6 sandwich! |
Saturday, 8 October 2011
Day 31 - Still Alive?
One month later and I am still alive. Visited the dentist and she says my oral situation is indicative of someone with not enough B12. I looked up B12 and the reason I have not been updating is likely due to this deficiency. I seem to get tired rather quickly and prone to kind of negative moods. My original B12 plan was kombucha (and it is flourishing!). The only problem is that the B-vitamins kombucha produces are B 1, 2, 3. I will instead be taking the Emergen-Cs that have B12.
I have been eating a lot of waffles lately. I love lakes of syrup in my waffles and so now I don't have very much left. I am thinking of getting some syrup from McDonald's tomorrow morning.
What I miss most (besides cake) is social eating -- the thrill of choice: choosing a restaurant; deliberating over menu items; customizing a Subway sandwich. Yesterday I was feeling a little low (no Emergen-Cs on hand) and I ordered a soy tea misto from Starbucks, knowing that the soy would be fortified with B12. How fortunate I was to encounter the last operational Starbucks before it was demolished. Definitely miss the luxury of this.
I have been thinking about this project and some of the feedback I've received. This idea seems completely normal to me, yet I often encounter a reaction of disbelief and horror. I accepted this as a lack of ascetic resolve and sense of adventure on part of the critic. My sister told me that my dad asked two questions when he learned of my project: Does she need money? Is she lonely? The first question makes sense, but the second is puzzling. I guess what I am saying is that I am questioning my sanity and reason for doing this. I then start to wonder if my mind is asking this because the project is getting a little difficult. And, is this type of over-analysis the by-product of loneliness? More practice required.
Not sure what I will make for Thanksgiving yet...but it will involve blackberries or azuki beans. Quite possibly some variant of Kale and Azuki Bean Salad or Azuki Paste.
I have been eating a lot of waffles lately. I love lakes of syrup in my waffles and so now I don't have very much left. I am thinking of getting some syrup from McDonald's tomorrow morning.
What I miss most (besides cake) is social eating -- the thrill of choice: choosing a restaurant; deliberating over menu items; customizing a Subway sandwich. Yesterday I was feeling a little low (no Emergen-Cs on hand) and I ordered a soy tea misto from Starbucks, knowing that the soy would be fortified with B12. How fortunate I was to encounter the last operational Starbucks before it was demolished. Definitely miss the luxury of this.
I have been thinking about this project and some of the feedback I've received. This idea seems completely normal to me, yet I often encounter a reaction of disbelief and horror. I accepted this as a lack of ascetic resolve and sense of adventure on part of the critic. My sister told me that my dad asked two questions when he learned of my project: Does she need money? Is she lonely? The first question makes sense, but the second is puzzling. I guess what I am saying is that I am questioning my sanity and reason for doing this. I then start to wonder if my mind is asking this because the project is getting a little difficult. And, is this type of over-analysis the by-product of loneliness? More practice required.
Not sure what I will make for Thanksgiving yet...but it will involve blackberries or azuki beans. Quite possibly some variant of Kale and Azuki Bean Salad or Azuki Paste.
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Day 26 - Free Taco Day
Oh, I almost forgot to post about the free tacos! On the way home from my sister's Kumon centre, we spied a sign for free tacos. At first, the other occupants in the car were skeptical because it was a sign made out of cardboard and they probably thought it was some kind of trap. I get that. You could trick a lot of people to Pickton farms that way. BUT, there was another sign and I refused to let it go. The last time I 'let it go' and now we don't have a canoe. That's right, my sister refused to stop to pick up a perfectly good canoe from a dumpster.
Anyway, despite the home-made signs, it was free taco day at Taco Del Mar establishment in Clayton Heights (some kind of anniversary). There was barely a line. I guess other people were put off by the less-than-legit-looking signs and that worked to our advantage. Like most things, tacos taste so much better free :-)
Anyway, despite the home-made signs, it was free taco day at Taco Del Mar establishment in Clayton Heights (some kind of anniversary). There was barely a line. I guess other people were put off by the less-than-legit-looking signs and that worked to our advantage. Like most things, tacos taste so much better free :-)
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