Quote of the Day

"Luck is merely the temporary state of outrunning your impending disasters."
  -- Colson Whitehead

(This quote brought to you by the letter K.)

Goals 2019 -- November Edition -- Take 2

From K:

No sooner did I decide that I was a failure at food related goals, then the one that I am setting for myself in the month of November is to drink more water. I think I can be successful at this for several reasons a) because I’ve done it before, b) because I’m trying to follow doctor’s orders, so I have fear as a motivating factor and c) because I also want to try to go to yoga more, and I always drink more water that way because otherwise, my hot yoga class may kill me.

Another friend of mine at work is trying this as part of Rachel Hollis’ #last90days, but that would mean that I would have to drink half my body weight in ounces. That’s a lot of water! I would never succeed at that and my work schedule could not accommodate all of the time lost visiting the restroom as a consequence. M is right when she says that one’s goals need to be measurable, so I need to pick a more reasonable measure. For me, that’s going to be 48 ounces (or two full 24 oz. bottles) a day, which is a pathetically small amount of water for a regular human being, but for me, it will be about 36 ounces more than I drink on any given day right now. Perhaps you can see why the doctor had something to say about this.

Here’s to hydration!

Goals 2019 -- October Update

The fridge (and freezer) are clean!

And from K:

In the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, I really wanted to use the month of October to try to return to clean eating. Writing this post is quite stressful as M has shared with me that T reads the blog only to find the ways in which we have failed at our monthly goals. And, this month, I think an objective viewer would say that I failed, but I believe that in that failure, I’ve also learned a few important things.

The failing started early on when work was really stressful and having a glass of wine at night sounded really good. But, I wasn’t supposed to drink. So, I adopted our grandma’s Lenten sacrifice and decided that I would only drink when I was with friends, which I was able to stick to. But, when I needed to skirt around my clean eating, I would just call my friend and neighbor, K, and we would have wine together.

Then, and I don’t know why I picked October for this goal, there was the advent of Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew at Starbucks. And, boy are those things good. So good, in fact, that if I were not trying to eat cleanly, I probably would have had one every day, but I think I made it through the month only having five. So, on this one, I was somewhere between a win and a loss.

And along came Halloween and our annual pumpkin carving party where we serve delicious varieties of chips and dips (a very personal weakness) and, of course, the requisite Halloween candy. On that night, and for several days after, I failed miserably. And then came Halloween when our neighbors had their annual chili and cinnamon roll Halloween pre-game. Well, I think you see where this is going…

So, what were my moments of victory this month? There were a few.

1.     I had very few cups of regular coffee (cold brews aside), and when I did, I used half and half instead of creamer, but by the end of the month, coffee didn’t even taste good to me anymore. So maybe I’ve finally broken that habit!

2.     Mom tried to derail me with Trader Joe’s pumpkin ice cream, and I gave in one night. But, I made myself a tiny ramekin and halfway through I had to throw in the towel because it was…too sweet? Something must have been wrong with me. Or, maybe I have managed to successfully alter my taste buds, which was the goal of the clean eating anyway.

3.     Even when I made a bad food choice, I made it after deciding that I was okay with making it. This feels like a victory to me because I don’t usually think too much about what I eat EVER. I don’t meal plan. I can’t think of what I want for lunch right after I’ve had breakfast. And, when I come home from work starving, I just follow my taste buds wherever they lead me without a second thought. I think the process of making conscious choices about my food, good or bad, marks something of a turning point.

Now that we’re in a new month and I’ve been working on trying to identify a meaningful goal for November, what I’ve learned about myself is that food-related goals are typically not a place where I will find great success. Baby steps, yes. Wholesale life change? Definitively, no. This may not get me anywhere, but I feel like it’s an important thing to have learned about myself. So, while I didn’t meet the goal that I first established for myself, I still got something out of it, and I’m going to call that a win.

Goals 2019 -- November Edition

Now that my pantry is clean and my fridge will soon be, I'm going to work on eating.  At C's suggestion, this month I (and S too, by extension) will eat at least 4 salads per week.  That seems like a lot of salads, but I think it's going to be good for me.

I suppose, since it's Friday as I make this goal, I will have to prorate for partial weeks.

Goals 2019 -- October Recap

My goals for October were one of those things goals should always be -- measurable.  So, how did I measure up?

1. Not eating past 8:30.  I can identify three days out of the month where I broke this rule.  One was when Dad was in town, and I'm pretty sure I was still nibbling on dessert after the 8:30 mark.  The other two were nights that I had to work late and hadn't planned ahead to either order some food in or brought something with me.  One of those nights my stomach was a little upset and I thought food would help (which it did); the other I was just really hungry.

2. Cleaning out the pantry.  Done!  I got rid of a lot of stuff that had passed its expiration date and stuff I decided I would never use even if it was still good.  I also reorganized a bit so things are easier to see and find.

3. Cleaning out the fridge. This one has not happened, but it is scheduled for Sunday, and I'm excited that it will be done, so I know it'll happen!

Movie Recap

I apologize for my lack of writing recently.  Things have been crazy at work!  I have been (over the course of quite a long time) accumulating a list of movies that I have watched but not written about.  So now that I have a hot minute to write some things, here's a rundown of what I've seen.  They're in alphabetical order; the ones I liked best get photos of the cover or poster, so you can review at a quick glance.

50/50 stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, whom I love.  It also stars Seth Rogen; I don't feel the same way about him, but he's tolerably not annoying in this based-on-a-true-story tale of a 20-something who receives a cancer diagnosis that he is, of course, not expecting.







Always Be My Maybe was a Netflix find that was cuter than I expected.  Let's not kid ourselves, it's still a dumb rom-com.  But it's about people in the food world, so I was predisposed to enjoy it.

André the Giant: Even Bigger Than You Imagined would have gotten top marks, except that half of the movie was Hulk Hogan.  It makes sense why, since he and André fought several times over the course of their careers, and Hulk has some very nice things to say about André, including the story that caps off the movie.  But everything about André himself was great, and worth watching.

Bad Day for the Cut is a family drama full of dark secrets.  And it's a revenge thriller that's wonderfully worth watching, if you're into movies where lots of people die and you only figure out why once you're already in deep.  And it's hard not to root for a middle-aged Irish farmer who goes all vigilante when his mother is killed.






Bad Times at the El Royale was a recommendation of my law partner.  He is normally into classic films, so I'm always intrigued when something new comes along that he likes.  I liked this one too.  It was confusing and interesting and weird.  And more than anything else, it was visually and artistically impressive -- not in that weird, artsy-fartsy way, but just interesting to look at.  It's noir-style, and set in 1969, so there are so many interesting things going on that are worth seeing.




Deliverance is one that I had seen the opening scene of several times (because who doesn't love killer banjo music - pun intended).  I had never gotten beyond that scene until a couple of months ago.  Now that I have, I  wish I hadn't. 

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead is a classic from my pre-teen years.  K and I used to watch it and recite all the lines; "I'm right on top of that, Rose!" still pops out every now and then when we're together.  It's not a "good" movie, in the traditional sense, but it's great to me!  Plus, those late-1980s fashions, bright colors and all, hold such wonderful memories.






Doubt is a great movie if self-flagellation is your thing.  That's about all I've got.

Duck Butter is hardly even worth writing about, except that I don't want anyone else to waste their time watching it.

First Man is one that S picked out.  Anything having to do with NASA, the space race, or interplanetary science is bound to pique both our interest.  What was a little disappointing about it was that it wasn't about the space race as much as we'd hoped.  What was surprising about it was that it seemed to portray a much more real, human side of the lives of the astronauts than is typically shown.  On balance, it was good but not great.

Half the Road focuses on the disparate treatment received by female cyclists in the world of professional riding.  It's not surprising, but still worth watching.

Handsome Devil was another cute Netflix find.  It tells the tale of some school-age boys who don't quite fit in, and how they find their way in the less-than-accommodating environment of a high-end boarding school where rugby is a way of life.

I, Daniel Blake is another of the British films I've watched lately.  It's the story of a late-middle-aged widower who is found unfit to work by his doctor after a serious heart attack.  He is denied a support allowance by the government.  The commentary on the struggling middle class is impossible to miss, but what I found more heartwarming was the friendship that develops between Daniel and the single mom he meets who is going through similar struggles.

I Am Mother was a difficult one for me.  I want to like everything that has Hilary Swank in it, because she seems like such an awesome person in real life.  But I just really didn't like it very much once it was over.  I wasn't mad at it while I was watching it, but I feel like it could have been so much better at the end, and it just wasn't.

The Lives of Others is one that I saw quite a long time ago.  I don't know how it escaped my blog for so long, but it did.  It's dark and sad and creepy.  It simultaneously makes me extremely glad I didn't live in Germany 30 years ago, and also heightens my concerns about living in this country, today.  And if that parallel doesn't concern you, you clearly haven't been reading the news in the tech world.

Moonlight was supposed to be great.  It was fine, but I don't really see what all the fuss was about.  I'm certain I'll be accused of being small minded.

Murder Mystery was a little bit funny.  Funnier than a lot of Adam Sandler movies, for what that's worth.

Stripes is a 1981 Bill Murray movie, in the classic tradition of Bill Murray comedy films.  It's stupid, but goofy and enjoyable and I'm glad we stumbled across it.

Suicide Squad was something we picked out when we were looking for an action movie in the Marvel or DC Comics vein.  I didn't realize it at the time, but Suicide Squad actually is a DC Comics film, so it fit the bill perfectly.  Don't expect a lot of plot or character development; just look for a lot of things to be blowing up.

The Upside is a remake of a French film called The Intouchables, which has been on my list for a while but I have been unable to find.  The plot is neither complicated nor surprising, but the characters are so well acted that I didn't even care.  I liked it anyway.







Whisky Galore! is another remake, this time of a 1949 film of the same name.  Set in 1943, a ship carrying whisky to the United States wrecks off the coast of a Scottish island, much to the delight of the islanders, who have been desperate for their favorite drink due to the wartime rations.  Comedy, but not hilarity, ensues.

The GBBS is Back!

In case anyone else loves it as much as I do, this is a PSA that there are more episodes of The Great British Baking Show on Netflix!

The Double Bind -- Take 2

I was fascinated by this book. I have never read The Great Gatsby (I know, you're shocked), so I spent as much time trying to figure out what had happened in that book as I did trying to figure out what was going on in The Double Bind.  But both activities were entertaining.

I don't want to say too much about The Double Bind, for fear of spoiling it for anyone who hasn't read it.  I can't say that I was surprised by the ending, because it was a little bit predictable, but I enjoyed getting there, every step (or pedal turn) of the way.

I need to check out some more Chris Bohjalian.  Suggestions?

What I'm Reading Now -- The Art of the Handwritten Note

In a real change of pace from my recent reading, I just picked up a book I bought a long time ago but never read: The Art of the Handwritten Note.

I have regular or semi-regular postal correspondence with a number of people, but it can't hurt to be better at it, right?

Goals 2019 -- October Edition

It's October!  That means a lot of things for me.  It means fall is coming (if not yet here -- which, much to S's chagrin, it's not).  Along with fall come so many things I love: sweatshirts and hot chocolate and bug-free outdoors and biking without melting.

October also means we're in the last weeks free of the annual 6-week holiday frenzy, because I don't count Halloween.  Although perhaps I should, since something that pretty much everyone struggles with through the holidays is food consumption.  We're always having or going to parties, where beautiful tables full of very unhealthy food are laid out and calling to all of us.

So, in honor of the pre-holiday, relatively party-free time, we're throwing it back to April and focusing on food in one way or another.

I am going to:
1. Clean out the fridge.
2. Clean out the pantry.
3. Not eat past 8:30 p.m.

K was on a really strong clean eating run earlier this year, but then they got attacked by a hurricane or two, and all those rules went right out the window while they chowed down on whatever food remained available at the grocery store by the time they did their shopping run.  So, prior to the holiday glutton-fest, K is going to get back on the clean bandwagon.

Wish us luck, and maybe keep your distance if either of us look particularly hangry!