Blog for Sept 28th

Now that we have finished watching Food, Inc, what do you think? Write about what you saw and learned that had the greatest impact on you and why. What did you think when you saw this in the movie? What impact did it have on you and why? You can also include whether this film has made you think more about what you eat and/or whether it has changed how you eat.

Blog Post DUE Tuesday, September 21st.

For your next blog post, write about a process you follow every day. Include clear steps and remember that with process writing there is always a final result. You might want to review your textbook chap. 8 for some pointers about process writing before you start. The more details, the more interesting. Try to avoid writing a list or recipe (those don't make for very interesting reading). And DON'T use "you" as the subject (you can use I if you want),

Food Blogs Over Time

I remember the first time I wrote about this topic on my blog about a year ago (see 11/04/09 post). I thought maybe things had changed since then and that my eating habits might have gotten worse. But thinking about it, I realize that one thing hasn't changed -- time interferes with eating properly or even just with eating.

Second week of classes, things are crazy busy. My son is back to his school-year schedule, which makes my life even more complicated. Getting meals together is a bit more than this single working mom can do. I make sure my son gets his 3 squares a day, but I'm not so good about taking care of mine.

That said, here's my eating Tuesday
6:00 coffee (and lot's of it). Classes straight through 8-12:20.
son's power bar that I dug out of the bottom of my bag around 12:30
Dr. Pepper -- yum and caffeine!
hummus, crackers, cheese, and carrots, celery when I get home around 3:00 as I sit at the computer answering emails.
6:00 dinner for my son. Very brave, I make chicken for him, broccoli, and quinoa for both of us.
pomegranate popsicles for dessert.
And a blue moon after grading papers 10:30. My reward for a long day.
OK so not bad (better than the last time I blogged about this), except that I didn't really get any "real" food until around 2:30 (hey and where's the fruit?)

Blog Assignment for 9/13

For your blog entry for Thursday, Sept. 9th, record everything you eat on a single day, today or Wednesday. Describe the food and your experience eating it, and offer whatever comment you have about it. This would be a good entry for do piece by piece, adding new foods and your thoughts frequently.

ToXic Environment

My environment is both toxic and not toxic.
Toxic -- use my car to drive to work (public transportation isn't convenient), Trader Joe's with lots of pre-prepared processed foods that make my life easier during the week is a few blocks away, my complicated schedule, being a full time mom and full time professor, food at the College, stress (did we include stress in our definition?)

Not toxic -- not many fast food restaurants near my home, walk to most places once I get home, don't use the car most weekends, try to eat healthy, read food labels, yoga, gym.

What I Ate -- by Aaron Max Simon

Today was my fifth day of basketball camp. For breakfast I ate Gorilla munch Cereal & toast with pb, half a grapefruit with sugar, and oj. I ate a Z bar in the morning. Before lunch, at 11:30, I ate two turkey dogs, half a pear, Jarlsberg cheese, and veggies -- carrots and celery. I went swimming. I played some more basketball. I drank water. My mama picked me up. I demanded McDonald's. Mama said "NO." I begged and said I only wanted to get the dragon toy. Mama said, I HATE McDonald's. I got the kids meal -- 4 chicken nuggets, 4 apple slices (5 but 1 fell on the floor), and milk. I got a purple dragon toy. For dinner, I had no asparagus (Mama said I had to eat it. I said, "Oh my God, I'm not gonna eat my asparagus!") Mama said I used to love asparagus what happened and I had to eat them to make up for the junky nuggets. I ate my pasta with parmesan cheese and olive oil. I wish there was no such thing as asparaguses. I drank my milk. I like broccoli, I like green beans and all those other veggies. I don't like those A veggies -- artichokes and asparaguses. "Aparaguses I do not like" says Sonic. Dr. Evil Asparagus. I held my nose and ate the asparaguses. I ate a lot, Mama.

Mama's Rebuttal --
The cereal and Z bar are organic and pasta whole wheat. There were a lot of negotiations about McDonald's-- I reminded him a friend was probably going to offer to take him to McDonald's this weekend and he can't go twice in less than a week. He said he wouldn't go. He agreed if she offered Wendy's or something else, he would tell her he doesn't want fast food. I also reminded him Wed. is the last day of b-ball practice, usually all the kids go to McDonald's. He said he didn't want to go. I know it isn't true and that come Wed. when all the other kids talk about going and leave to go, he'll want to go. I hate McDonald's. They lure kids in and make parents crazy. And the toy he got doesn't look anything like the pictures from the movie -- it's the wrong color.

Update -- Sunday night
It only got worse. Saturday, he went to Wendy's for lunch with a friend. This was his and James' "reward" for fighting about which healthy restaurant to go to. Today, while on errands with another friend, he had a McFlurry. And this is the friend who Saturday morning was complaining about the same thing I was -- fast food restaurants luring kids in, and she showed him anti-Ronald McDonald info on the Internet.

TV Show --vs-- Novel

I prefer the characters in the book to the characters on the show "Spenser for Hire." For both characters, they seem more interesting and round (yep, I said round as in not flat) and less like stereotypes than in the show. Hawk's story is largely untold. We can guess some things about him, but we really don't know for certain. In the earlier shows, however, Hawk provides specific information about himself so that we know his background and what he does now. In some shows, we even know whom he is working for. Also, in the show Hawk is too pretty and handsome looking. When I read the book, I have a different image -- rougher, harder, more like Shaft, Richard Roundtree (in the movies). Spenser is very much a stereotypical tough former boxer and cop in both the book and show, but in the book, we understand his motives better and that under that tough exterior is a deep thinker who cares about people. That aspect of him doesn't come out as much in the show. Also, Robert Ulrich is way too young and pretty to be Spenser. I imagine him to be more like the author in the photo on teh back cover of the book.