Happiness is...

Every now and then I like to do a post where I list some things currently making me happy that I'd like to pass on to other people. Right now I need to keep my eye on these small pleasures so I don't become preoccupied with other things. Some people have Zoloft, I have music and TV and cooking and friends. I know some people need the stronger stuff and there's nothing wrong with it. I am just fortunate and somehow have the ability to cope without them. Here are my happy pills:

1. The song "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay. The strings of this song lift my spirits. They are easily my favorite musical sound. It is amazing how the same instrument family that can be used so effectively in a depressing song like "Me and My Charms" (Kristen Hersh) can also be used to convey a feeling of joy. Pretty powerful.

2. The show Bones. I just got into this show and it is awesome. If you aren't into procedural shows, don't worry because there's so much character interaction and development that the cases aren't the main focus. But if you like procedurals, there is that aspect as well and I think they do a great job in the way they portray the investigations and forensics. Also, it's a lot funnier and lighter than most dramas. I could watch the witty banter between Booth and Brennan all day.

3. The music from Bones. So, the official soundtrack doesn't come out until August, but I've loved so much of the music in the eps that I started searching for them on my own. I've been listening to that playlist almost non-stop. Favorites you should check out are: "Sea Lion" by Sage Francis, "Fountain" by Sara Lov, "Teardrop" by Massive Attack (may also sound familiar if you watch House), "Pride" by Syntax, "Bring on the Wonder" by Susan Enan and "The Other Way Round" by Gabin.

4. Trying new foods and recipes. I think I've gone entirely vegan at this point (as far as food goes, I'll worry about the rest later), so I've been buying new foods and experimenting with recipes. I'm usually not that excited to cook, but I've actually been enjoying it. There's just so much out there that I never knew about before. And it has been easier than I expected to go vegan. I think having both the preoccupation of a lifestyle change as well as the switch to healthier eating has been good for me right now.

5. Sephora! It just opened up in my mall and visiting there makes me happy. I don't even have to buy anything. Actually that whole section of the mall is just awesome now. There's a Borders, Sephora, Apple Store, Starbucks and Target all within eyeshot of each other. It is like the crossroads of consumer heaven and I'm not even going to appologize for absolutely loving it.

6. Watching the lightning bugs in my backyard at night. It doesn't get much better or simpler than the wonders of nature.

7. The video for "Lollipop" by Mika. The song is catchy and the little cartoon girl is adorable and the colors are like a really awesome trip from the 60s. Watch for the kissing dear who toot "Love" and the humping bunnies.



Actually Mika's whole CD makes me happy.

Lastly, none of these things would come close to making me happy if I didn't also have amazing people in my life that make me happier than anything else.

So if you're not happy, check out some of these things or try to look in your own life to find your own simple pleasures. Everyone has the ability to find happiness at their fingertips all the time. Just look.

I'm Only Going to Say This Once

I. was. wrong.

In a December 2006 blog entitled Hello, Dolly where I voiced my concerns about the FDA's decision not to disclose the sale of cloned meat, I made this statement:

I have never tried to be a vegetarian before. I know those little piggies and moo moos are cute, and I have heard the many horror stories about how they are raised, but I have decided that 1) I am not selfish about much in my life, so I can have a clear conscious about being selfish about my place on the food chain (and anyone with a problem with it can choke on a big fat carrot stick); and 2) those animals are mighty tasty! Mmmm boy!

I would like to formally retract this statement as I no longer feel this way and in fact feel ashamed to have written such a selfish and ignorant paragraph. Yes, I still believe that animals are "mighty tasty" and I am still eating them on occasion. However, I am slowly trying to adapt to a vegetarian and eventually vegan diet. I have come to realize that the price being paid for me to enjoy "tasty" animals is just too high and that health-wise I'm better off without them anyway.

Why such an attitude adjustment? Well, basically I got myself educated on the topic. Selfishly, I began to cut out animal products solely for health reasons. I read the book Skinny Bitch in Fall 2007, wherein they promote veganism as a way to lose and then maintain a healthy weight. I've encountered many readers who are turned off by this (especially since the topic gets sneaked in through the back door), but instead of being indignant about the fact that the book cover never uses the word "vegan" once, I became interested in what they were saying about the benefits of this lifestyle. Although I didn't immediately become a vegan or even a vegetarian, I began to actually think about the foods I was eating and their impact on my body as well as the world.

Since then, I have adopted more vegetarian foods into my diet and successfully had days where I only eat vegan (3 in a row so far this week). The hardest thing for me to cut out is cheese, but the rest is surprisingly easy. In general, I don't crave meat and I've found that going without dairy makes me feel so much better. When I have days where I slip and eat an ice cream cone, I usually pay the price later. It serves as a great reminder that my body doesn't need the trouble. Plus the soy or rice milk alternatives to ice cream taste amazingly good (I suggest Soy Delicious, Toffuti and Sweet Nothings Fudge Bars).

I don't want to try to guilt or sway anyone into a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle, so I'm not going to talk about all the reasons why it's a good idea. I'm just trying to put right a bad-attitude I perpetuated by my earlier blog-post. And maybe plant the idea in someone's head that being vegan isn't as extreme as once believed (admittedly, by myself) or make you a dirty-hippie-tree-hugger. In the end though, it has to be each individual who makes the decision for themselves. If you have any interest in learning more about the benefits to yourself, animals and the earth that can be had by adopting vegan practices, there are hundreds of resources available. I just read Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating and highly recommend it as a good starting point. Below I've listed some other resources I've found.

Web:

www.vegan.com (maintained by the author of "Vegan")
www.peta.org (you can send away for a vegetarian starter kit, they'll also probably send you address labels and try to get you to donate.)
www.skinnybitch.net (website that accompanies the book)
www.fatfreevegan.com (good recipe resource)
www.farmsanctuary.org (rescues abused industrial farm animals and fights for animal rights)

Other Reading:

The Complete Idiots Guide to Vegan Living (includes recipes and covers other issues beyond food)
The Vegan Sourcebook

There's also about a bazillion vegan and vegetarian cookbooks available. I'm a big fan of Borders lately, so check out their list.

Lastly, just a couple notes. The idea of veganism was seeded into my mind long before I ever read Skinny Bitch. In college, my friend Meredith was a vegan and although I never thought back then that I would ever try to adopt that lifestyle, she opened me up to the idea and even to the foods. She deserves some of the credit for my current beliefs. Oprah, however, deserves no credit. Yes, she has been doing a cleanse where she is not eating gluten or animal products for 21 days, but it just coincidentally coincides with my own vegan push. Don't get me wrong, I like Oprah, and think that having her embrace something works wonders to help spread the word about a cause or an idea. However, I think in the end changing a lifestyle just because a celebrity endorses something is not realistic for most people. You have to believe in it for it to really become your way of life.

And the next time I'm tipsy and staring down a piece of cheese pizza, I hope that belief will help me through.

PostSecret - Stamps + Chocolate

The marketing geniuses behind Altoids (just try to tell me their Curiously Strong campaign isn't effective, I dare you) have come up with a slightly viral, very interactive online campaign to promote their new Chocolate Altoids. Really, the word chocolate sold me right off, but apparently others aren't so easily swayed.

The concept is a la PostSecret. Annonymous people write short notes (up to 50 characters) that, once approved by the moderator, are added to the (chocolate) pool of other people's thoughts, shout-outs, secrets, put-downs, confessions, etc. The gimmick is that each thought becomes a white mint Altoid floating in a chocolate pool and anyone accessing the site can click on your thought and see what you wrote. You also have the option of approving your thought to be used by Altoids in the banner ads they are placing on other sites:


Therefore, anyone can be a copywriter! I bet that feels good to all you other ad students out there who paid $45,000 a year on a degree and countless hours on a portfolio only to be shot down time and again by the big ad agencies. Look! They don't even need you! They can pay joe-schmo $0 to write their ads AND get them to want to eat chocolate Altoids at the same time! Brilliant.

Good thing I want to be an art director.

Here's my special message to all of you:


If that doesn't put you in the mood for something chocolate dipped, I don't know what will.

Hello, Dolly

The FDA recently made the decision that food products which come from cloned animals do not need special labels at the supermarket. They say there is no difference at all between the original cow/sheep/pig than its clone, and there are no health risks associated with eating these animals. You can read the whole CNN article here.

I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this. My first reaction is to be creeped out. It has been over 10 years since Dolly the sheep showed up in the news, and that is a lot of time for cloning technologies to evolve and become more widespread. However, to me it still sounds like
something from a sci-fi movie, and a horrible made-for-tv one by the Sci-Fi channel at that. I don't understand the science behind it and therefore I fear it and its possibilities.

I also wonder about the safety of eating so much food that comes from a science lab. And I'm not just talking clones here. Almost all of our meats are genetically altered in some way - to make the cows produce more milk, pigs be meatier and chickens create more and larger eggs. None of this food is labeled either. Your bacon does not have a warning on it that says - "From a genetically enhanced pig." and your milk doesn't say "Now with more bovine growth hormones!". So I guess if that is the standard they've set, why would they start with labeling cloned food?

Cloned. Food. Just let that sink in. If the idea of eating an exact genetic copy of another animal made by scientists in a test tube does not creep you out even a little bit and make you seriously consider being a vegetarian, then you should just sign up for Fear Factor right now, because you would win.

I have never tried to be a vegetarian before. I know those little piggies and moo moos are cute, and I have heard the many horror stories about how they are raised, but I have decided that 1) I am not selfish about much in my life, so I can have a clear conscious about being selfish about my place on the food chain (and anyone with a problem with it can choke on a big fat carrot stick); and 2) those animals are mighty tasty! Mmmm boy!

I am, however, getting increasingly concerned about the safety of many foods (even fruits and vegetables with all their pesticidal goodness), and see that even being a vegetarian may not even be the way to solve this problem. The only hope is that someday soon my financial situation will allow me to buy all organics, and that eventually they will be affordable for everyone.

Until then I guess it's going to be:

Hello, Dolly
Well hello, Dolly
It's so nice to have you back where you belong
You're lookin' swell, Dolly
We can tell, Dolly
You're still glowin', you'rs still crowin'
You're still goin' strong.


Picture of Dolly taken from Wikipedia, click on the image to see full credits.

lent update #3: i suck at doing lent updates

so, lent is almost over and i've only posted twice about my goal of giving up junk food. some of you may think this is because i failed. you would be wrong. i think instead it's just become part of my life so i haven't really had anything interesting to say about it. now that easter is upon me, i have started thinking about eating junk food more. i just know that if i want to have it in a couple of days, i can. this thought also scares me. i am worried that once i start eating it again, things will get bad. it's hard, because i really haven't lost as much weight from doing it as i though i should have, and things like that fuck with my brain. the true test, however, will be getting on my mom's official electric weight watchers scale, because i bought a cheap manual one that i don't trust. i was home a few weekends ago and weighed myself then, so i will have something to compare it to when i go home again tomorrow.

also, i haven't worked out in a long time because the past two weeks i was too busy getting down with the sickness. i'm pretty sure Bally's doesn't really appreciate their members coughing and snotting all over their eliptical machines. when i get back from easter weekend, though, i've got to get my ass back in gear because there are weddings and graduations and shows and beach weather to think about. if that doesn't motivate me, nothing will. so i may have succeeded at my short term goal, but i now have to use it to help me achieve what i want for the long term.


"just take a breath, jump over the side"

lent update #2: minimize me

the other day i watched the anti-mcdonalds, pro-health documentary Supersize Me. i had added it to my netflicks list far before i decided to give up junk food for lent, but it couldn't have come at a more appropriate time. it's not that i really eat mcdonald's or any similar fast food that much. however, watching the film has definitely reinforced the idea that i should NEVER be eating mcdonalds, and that processed foods in general are unhealthy. it has me thinking that the extra expense to shop for food at whole foods markets may be worth it. kelly bought some stuff from there recently and when i looked at the ingredients on the cereal i could read and spell everything. no artificial flavors, preservatives or multi-syllabic chemical additives to be found. there is no contesting the idea that this must be better for us to eat.

it is the 19th day of lent and i have not eaten junk food. i have twice turned down "taco bell sunday" (erin's favorite day), ordered steamed chicken and broccoli and white rice for chinese and refused kelly's offers of fruitsnacks. i constantly drink water and have tried to up my exercise regimen, which can be the most difficult for me. unfortunately, i have not lost any weight. none. i have also not gained any, which i suppose is good, but i hope that my body has just been readjusting and i will soon see the results in the drop of the needle. if anything, i can say for sure that i FEEL better, and that, of course, is the most important thing and what will hopefully keep me going.


p.s. if you rent Super Size Me you have to watch one of the bonus features called "The Smoking Fry", you will never want to put McDonald's french fries in your body again.

Lent update #1

it has been 6 days since i gave up junk food and i am happy to report that i am succeeding so far. i don't think i've even looked twice at the bucket (yes, bucket) of lindt truffles in the kitchen since friday. well, not twice in a row anyway. i realize that i do have this compulsion to reach for the junk and i find myself looking at it to eat, but now instead of just grabbing it without thinking, i glance at it once, the thought runs through my mind, but i stay away. i am an extremely determined person when it comes to setting my mind to accomplish something that i want, however, thus far that determination has never successfully been tapped into when it comes to food. there has always been too much temptation and not enough motivation. i want to hope that this new self-control i am experiencing through this goal i have set for myself will lead to a lifetime of better eating habits, not just 90 days. when i used to go to weight watchers, the people who were most successful always talked about how they had to see their "diet" as a life-long change and not just a period of time when they would stop eating bad foods. only then did things click into place for them and they were able to lead healthier lives, indefinitely. i want to believe that i am working towards making that change. i hope i am. i really do.

fat tuesday

more like fat everyday. ok, i know. "don't be so hard on yourself." blah blah blah. yea, it's time i started being harder on myself. i am definitely 20 lbs heavier than i was when i graduated college and 40 lbs heavier than i want to be. "if you lose 40 pounds you won't even be there anymore!" oh trust me, i will be. i'll probably still even wear a double digit dress size. no kidding. so, in honor of the season of lent, i am giving up ALL junk food. i'm not even catholic. but i did it during my senior year of high school and succeeded, so i sure as hell should be able to do it now that i am a much more mature version of myself. that is why, in mature adult fashion, i am posting it on my blog so that the possible embarrassment of failing this endeavor publicly will keep me away from the junk.

when i told erin, my roommate, of my plan, she wanted me to define what i meant by "junkfood", since everyone probably has a different definition. hers only includes candy and chips, that skinny bitch. (loooove you.)
however, mine will be a bit more strict and also includes:
- any snacky food with no nutritional value - cheez its, fruit snacks, granola bars with gooey stuff in them
- fast food (excluding the healthy options at subway and quiznos)
- anything fried
- nachos
- ice cream
- sweets - cookies, candy, regular soda (which i don't really drink anyway)
- mac and cheese
- chocolate
- super buttered popcorn
- chinese food except white rice and things with vegetables

I will allow myself pizza on occassion, fat-free chocolate pudding, light popcorn, diet soda, and sugar free, fat free vanilla ice cream (mostly because I have a lot left in the freezer).

so, mostly this is a diet, but i guess i'd rather see it as a goal to make it through without these things, and maybe by the end i won't want even really want them anymore. unlike sr. year of high school when lent ended while i was in spain and nicole had brought half a suitcase full of easter candy with her. when dinner is the slab of meat you just saw hanging in the window by a hook, sugared marshmallow birds look damn tasty. (p.s. isn't the Peep inside the chocolate egg such a good idea?!)

lastly, on a more serious note, i want to try to make this time not ALL about losing weight, but partially about what Lenten is for, traditionaly (and i'm not really referring to all the religious ideaology). therefore, i will also be working on feeling better about the way i look no matter what. i realize that even with weight gone it may not mean i will like myself any more.

well, wish me luck in all respects. i will keep you updated on my progress and any possible setbacks.
wow, aren't you excited?! haha.

i never promised this blog would be interesting, and my plan to keep that non-promise is going splendidly.



coming soon: "orange you happy to see me?: test-running my new self-tanner"

random musings on the day

i heard a car accident happen today while i was on the bus coming back from class. i couldn't see it because it happened behind us and unlike school buses, there isn't a back window. all i know is that there was a screech of tires and a loud bang. it didn't sound like a bad accident but for some reason it gave me a chill and a feeling of unease. it's gone now, just took me by surprise at the time.


the new slew of supernatural/alien-related tv shows have NOTHING on the x-files. watch it in syndication. still the creepiest, most imaginative and intriguing series. plus, sometimes you get to see mulder in boxer-briefs. yummy.


gummi candy corn is the worst idea ever and paying 3.50 for a super small bag of it is really stupid.


unconsciously comparing your body type to that of every other girl in the room is probably an unhealthy habit. but still one that's hard to break.


reading "Helter Skelter" (book about the Manson murders and trial) is not that scary, until you realize your iPod has started playing "Don't Drink the Water". the creep factor tends to go up when your imagination gets a soundtrack.


i like my hair. i know, more random than the rest of the randomness, but i was just in the bathroom washing my hands and i had to share the thought i had. otherwise most of this post was going to be kind of a downer.

oh, well. just keep the david duchovny visual in your head and you'll feel better. i know i do.