Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk
Aug. 8th, 2005 12:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jakebe
Or, personally, pipe tobacco and zinfandel wine. :P
Also, McDonald's and Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Despite my desire for a belly that doesn't look like I swallowed a boulder, I gave in to the last craving; I had two yesterday, and two today. I figure if I can keep myself from scarfing the *entire* box all at once I'll at least minimize damage.
The McDonald's craving is a bit easier to ignore, since there's a Subway within reasonable distance if I feel I *must* spend money and our local testament to fast food has decided to raise its prices. Why? Well, probably to cover the cost of slightly less rotgut ingredients; in the past month alone they've introduced McSalads, McFruit-and-Yogurt-Bowls, and now, McGourmet Chicken sandwiches. The chicken sandwiches even come on corn-dusted fancypants bread, though it tastes like they added corn syrup just for the hell of it.
I'm talking so much smack about McDonald's in the hopes that I'll actually convince myself, finally, that eating there is not only bad for you, but expensive and worthless, and it really pays to break the addiction. For those of us who haven't seen "Super Size Me," the idea that McDonald's food is addictive isn't an entirely far-fetched one. And of course, having the addictive personality that I do, it pays to know exactly what I respond to in order to break the addiction. You'd think, after watching that movie *and* reading "Fast Food Nation," I'd no longer desire to eat there knowing the havoc companies like McDonald's have wrought on the American business model, agriculture system and job market. But damnit, the Big Mac is just so *good*.
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arrowtwolf left for all parts west early this morning; it was really nice having him over. Yesterday we went to visit my friend Crystal and her boyfriend Brian. We had her meatloaf, the recipe for which had been handed down through her family for generations, and mashed potatoes from spuds she pulled from her own garden. There really is no need to say that it was an amazing dinner, but I'll say it anyway: It was an amazing dinner. For dessert we all had Klondike bars and Lewis Black. The mixture of sweet and tart made the whole dish very palatable going down. :)
There's not much else to report at the moment; I lost a bet with a dear friend of mine, so I'm going to be writing a gothic horror story sometime in the near future. Before anything, though, I have to know exactly what I'm doing. So, I'll likely be finishing off the summer with Lovecraft and Poe, with "Bird By Bird" and "Middlemarch" taking a back seat, at least temporarily. The frustrating thing is I've got a biography about Lord Minimus, a member of the 17th century royal British court, that I can't wait to sink my teeth into. For some reason, I've been growing increasingly fascinated by...a societal fascination with midgets. What is it about little people that make people go so crazy? From royal courts to the travelling sideshow to MTV's Jackass...the fact that people are so taken by the phenomenon makes me very curious about their reasoning for it. It might be related to some kind of latent microphilia, perhaps. I'm sure theories abound.
I've also been trying to track down the "Giant Otto" series of children's books by Rene Pene du Bois. It's an ancient grand-uncle of Clifford the Big Red Dog, as far as I can tell. While Pene du Bois wasn't as prolific as Bridwell with the respective series, it still had a pretty long life -- "Giant Otto" was published in 1936, and four or five more books were published through 1968 or 70. The trouble is the books that are available vary widely in price; you can get a good reading copy of, say, "Otto in Africa" for about $10.00, though you're lucky to find a copy of the first book for less than $200. What's even crazier is I've briefly considered making a run for the collection; the book collector's bug has definitely bitten. ;) For now, I'm going to have to content myself with the hardcover of "Amnesia Moon" by Johnathan Lethem that I've been eyeing. It's a much more palatable $25 or so.
Oh! I've been kicking butt and taking names at cribbage recently. :) Most people are probably sick of me crowing about it by now, but I've made a surprisingly good run on the most recent cribbage tournament over on FM. Made it in as a qualifier, and right now I'm leading in the semi-final match against the no 3 seed, 2 games to 0. Hurrah, I'm happy! You know, I really think I can take the whole thing. I'll keep folks updated.
This week, work will be a little bit easier; Charles and Don are going off to a book show in Little Rock on Thursday, so no buying books through the weekend! It's like Christmas comes early! :D Though this likely means being stuck at the desk for long periods of time, it also means that I'll have time to catch up on duplicates, straightening sections, and reorganizing duplicates...all the things I never have time to do. I'm looking forward to it, actually.
Now, a bit of writing and reading this afternoon...followed by the last three episodes of the latest incarnation of Dr. Who. :)
Also, McDonald's and Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Despite my desire for a belly that doesn't look like I swallowed a boulder, I gave in to the last craving; I had two yesterday, and two today. I figure if I can keep myself from scarfing the *entire* box all at once I'll at least minimize damage.
The McDonald's craving is a bit easier to ignore, since there's a Subway within reasonable distance if I feel I *must* spend money and our local testament to fast food has decided to raise its prices. Why? Well, probably to cover the cost of slightly less rotgut ingredients; in the past month alone they've introduced McSalads, McFruit-and-Yogurt-Bowls, and now, McGourmet Chicken sandwiches. The chicken sandwiches even come on corn-dusted fancypants bread, though it tastes like they added corn syrup just for the hell of it.
I'm talking so much smack about McDonald's in the hopes that I'll actually convince myself, finally, that eating there is not only bad for you, but expensive and worthless, and it really pays to break the addiction. For those of us who haven't seen "Super Size Me," the idea that McDonald's food is addictive isn't an entirely far-fetched one. And of course, having the addictive personality that I do, it pays to know exactly what I respond to in order to break the addiction. You'd think, after watching that movie *and* reading "Fast Food Nation," I'd no longer desire to eat there knowing the havoc companies like McDonald's have wrought on the American business model, agriculture system and job market. But damnit, the Big Mac is just so *good*.
arrowtwolf left for all parts west early this morning; it was really nice having him over. Yesterday we went to visit my friend Crystal and her boyfriend Brian. We had her meatloaf, the recipe for which had been handed down through her family for generations, and mashed potatoes from spuds she pulled from her own garden. There really is no need to say that it was an amazing dinner, but I'll say it anyway: It was an amazing dinner. For dessert we all had Klondike bars and Lewis Black. The mixture of sweet and tart made the whole dish very palatable going down. :)There's not much else to report at the moment; I lost a bet with a dear friend of mine, so I'm going to be writing a gothic horror story sometime in the near future. Before anything, though, I have to know exactly what I'm doing. So, I'll likely be finishing off the summer with Lovecraft and Poe, with "Bird By Bird" and "Middlemarch" taking a back seat, at least temporarily. The frustrating thing is I've got a biography about Lord Minimus, a member of the 17th century royal British court, that I can't wait to sink my teeth into. For some reason, I've been growing increasingly fascinated by...a societal fascination with midgets. What is it about little people that make people go so crazy? From royal courts to the travelling sideshow to MTV's Jackass...the fact that people are so taken by the phenomenon makes me very curious about their reasoning for it. It might be related to some kind of latent microphilia, perhaps. I'm sure theories abound.
I've also been trying to track down the "Giant Otto" series of children's books by Rene Pene du Bois. It's an ancient grand-uncle of Clifford the Big Red Dog, as far as I can tell. While Pene du Bois wasn't as prolific as Bridwell with the respective series, it still had a pretty long life -- "Giant Otto" was published in 1936, and four or five more books were published through 1968 or 70. The trouble is the books that are available vary widely in price; you can get a good reading copy of, say, "Otto in Africa" for about $10.00, though you're lucky to find a copy of the first book for less than $200. What's even crazier is I've briefly considered making a run for the collection; the book collector's bug has definitely bitten. ;) For now, I'm going to have to content myself with the hardcover of "Amnesia Moon" by Johnathan Lethem that I've been eyeing. It's a much more palatable $25 or so.
Oh! I've been kicking butt and taking names at cribbage recently. :) Most people are probably sick of me crowing about it by now, but I've made a surprisingly good run on the most recent cribbage tournament over on FM. Made it in as a qualifier, and right now I'm leading in the semi-final match against the no 3 seed, 2 games to 0. Hurrah, I'm happy! You know, I really think I can take the whole thing. I'll keep folks updated.
This week, work will be a little bit easier; Charles and Don are going off to a book show in Little Rock on Thursday, so no buying books through the weekend! It's like Christmas comes early! :D Though this likely means being stuck at the desk for long periods of time, it also means that I'll have time to catch up on duplicates, straightening sections, and reorganizing duplicates...all the things I never have time to do. I'm looking forward to it, actually.
Now, a bit of writing and reading this afternoon...followed by the last three episodes of the latest incarnation of Dr. Who. :)
