Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Your body is a temple...

So in the course of a discussion last night, I discovered the latest diet fad in holy circles: the Maker's Diet , which comes complete with recommendations for Garden of Life products.



On the one hand, it's an incredibly brilliant feat -- stealing an entire subculture in a consumer market away from the mainstream diets. On the other hand, trying to show how "science" backs up the ancient dietary restrictions from the Book of Leviticus just screams dogma and denial. (Because, of course, only the science we selectively agree with justifies God's eternal wisdom... The evidence that doesn't jive with the doctrine is just plain persecution.)

If you flip through the diet guidelines, though, it's the same "eat organic foods and exercise" regimen that non-religious hippies and yuppies alike have taken up as a lifestyle mantra. It just has the tagline Because God wants it that way added. (Forgive those on Atkins and South Beach, Father, for they know not what they do).

From an environmental standpoint, this could be good news: more consumers are buying organic foods and (ostensibly) making informed decisions! The "Eco-Christian" movement has its merits, after all. But it's a little disturbing to see a particular diet become such a trend in communities of faith only because a religious person markets eating healthier as a scriptural mandate.

Hey, if people are living healthier lifestyles, who am I to judge?

I were Michelangelo, though, I think I'd have the right to comment...


Monday, April 25, 2005

"Somebody told me..."

Always a good show!

The Killers have enjoyed wild success, despite having released one lone album. Of course, being featured on FOX's AOL promo vehicle, The OC, always helps with album sales and popularity.
Last night's Seattle concert was good -- although all-ages shows sometimes suck. There's nothing worse than obnoxious high school kids who think they're so worldly mingling with their intoxicated middle-aged aunts and uncles who are trying to dance (and very badly at that). Oh, the humanity. . . .

Saturday, April 23, 2005

So cute!!!!

Awww.... how much fun is it to shop for a baby shower? And how did a half-hour turn into two? The tough part is choosing, balancing practicality with blatant frivolity. (How much $$ is too much, if the kid will outgrow clothes quickly anyway? What exactly is the cuteness factor post-diaper? Toys, clothes, or books? Stuff for the parents?)

Then, of course, there are the political issues. Deliberately not get blue or pink? Don't pander to gender stereotypes by getting clothes with imagery of flowers, sports, or transportation? Try to find organic cotton? Sweatshop-free baby clothes? Expediency always wins out in the end ... in the form of Nordstrom, of course, where I've been spending so much time since the election.

And the girls' section was at least three times as big as the boys'! Early socialization and gendered consumerism, or what? Fun, though, to look around. =)

Not that I've had a ton of baby showers to shop for, but normally I get bath books or picture books. In this case, I browsed the kiddie section at Barnes and Noble for a good 20 minutes before it dawned on me that the father-to-be in question is a manager at B&N... Not that my cheap ass was going to buy the bargain books or anything. But I feel like literacy won't be an issue for this kid. Likewise, I usually go out of my way to try and get multicultural/happy tolerance books for kids. Again, this won't be an issue. MF, maybe, at some point.

And in other good news, I found the elusive bottle of Escape.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Okay, forget the Naked Chef... unless he reads this book ;-)

Funny website, to be taken tongue-in-cheek!

Is she a Party Girl? Make her Very Happy Hour: Bar Food and Screaming Orgasms. Is she an Academic Girl who loves Hemingway? Pack up a picnic of Papa's Tapa's: A Moveable Feast. Is she a Gourmet Girl up on the latest trends in
cuisine? Serve her the Spanish Surrealist menu,
There's No Taste LikeFoam.

And apparently one can be a very predictable hybrid....




Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Sometimes life's soundtrack is set to Robbie Williams...

Pop culture texts must, by nature, be polysemic... So I feel no guilt in saying I swear, there's just something post-colonial, post-Empire-national-identity-crisis about "The Road to Mandalay":

...Everything we've ever stolen
Has been lost returned or broken
No more dragons left to slay
Every mistake I've ever made
Has been rehashed and then replayed
As I got lost along the way...


He also has vaguely religous lyrics, and vaguely religious imagery in many of his album liner notes. A fellow tortured ex-religious soul, or just a God complex? SO much to read into it! Or maybe it's just a personal Obsession... since I still can't find Escape...

Monday, April 18, 2005

Not the Naked Chef (although that might be fun...)

But Jamie Oliver aside, why is it so frustratingly difficult to cook a new dish???? (So maybe I shouldn't have multitasked, and just concentrated on watching the chicken bake for 25 minutes, instead of running off to do errands ... Still, though, the gravy recipe needed more clarification!)

I think Gardner should revise his theory of multiple intelligences to include cooking. And speaking of Gardner, last time I had to study his theory, he had seven "intelligences" -- apparently since then he's identified an eighth (!), but it's not in the culinary realm...

Saturday, April 16, 2005

"I have gazed upon the face ..."

In reading through previous posts, it has become apparent that I am obsessed with masks.

Eat your hearts out, Heinrich Schliemann and Paul Lawrence Dunbar!

From J Calvin to Calvin K...

Recently, a good friend recommended that I try to recognize "signs" in life. "Signs" smacking too uncomfortably of predestination, I've become very good at logically explaining away life's freakier moments of coincidence.

But... gasp!!! I can't find my bottle of Escape by Calvin Klein!!! What does this "mean"???

;-)