Detox Day 3

Surprisingly I am not sick of cabbage or escarole yet...I do think I am going through some type of withdrawal from caffeine. I usually eat chocolate every day in some form. I have had a headache and am definitely more irritable than usual.

Detox Day 2

I started the detox this morning by eating an apple and drinking plenty of water. I'll probably have a salad for lunch and then some of the escarole soup we made for dinner.

Detox Day 1

So now that the holidays are over and I am done vacationing for a little while, Danny and I are going on a week-long detoxification diet with a one-day fast. We started by eating escarole, cabbage, lots of fruit and other vegetables. It's really hard to make some of the stuff taste good. We basically won't be eating any breads or cheese for the next week. We also won't be drinking any alcohol- not even wine. We're following the Fast Track One-Day Detox Diet by Ann Louise Gittleman.

Hooked on a Feeling...

I'm back from Boston. It was so nice to see Kat and Meghan. I can't say I did much sightseeing, but I did get to catch up with friends.
Now that I'm back, it's time to start school again. I took my postponed final yesterday and start the new semester tomorrow. What a break! Work is starting to get more hectic just as the schoolwork is starting to pile up again. If you're in need of a laugh right now, click here. Thanks Mel!

Million Dollar Idea

So yesterday I was reading a newspaper article about a kid in the UK who came up with an idea that earned him $1 million in five months. I know it sounds like an infomercial that you click through at 3am, but you have to visit his website. The site is called MillionDollarHomepage.com. He decided to divide his homepage into 1,000,000 pixels and sell each pixel for $1 to advertisers and people that would be interested in buying a piece of internet history. The idea is so simple that I am ashamed that I didn't think of it first! This 21-year-old kid earned $1,000,000! He is a millionaire because he came up with a fantastic idea.
I need to find my $1,000,000 idea before someone else takes it.

Ooo La La

me...updated

Plombier

So Danny and I just got back from Paris. This time we went for four days instead of for just a weekend. We saw some old friends, ate at some of my favorite restaurants, took advantage of "Les Soldes" (sales for all of your non francophiles), visited Versailles, and stood on top of the Arc de Triomphe. It was nice to get back to New York though. I just can't get used to French plumbing. The tiny shower in our hotel made me feel like a fatso and the water pressure was just not what I am used to. Why do French showers all have a handheld shower head? Are we expected to hose something down while we're in there or something?
I also cannot get used to the many different ways in which you are supposed to flush a French toilet. There is the standard handle on the side of the cylindrical toilet tank, the foot pedal, the chain, the automatic self-cleaning street toilets, and the constantly running water fountain like in the McDonald's on the Champs Elysees. I'm sure you are wondering why I know what the toilet is like in a French McDonald's. Well even though the food will kill you and it tastes terrible, you can be sure that every McDonald's will have a toilet. They act as American embassies all throughout the world, welcoming Americans through the Golden Arches to use the toilets.
Believe it or not, we counted three Starbuck's Coffee restaurants while we were in Paris. I did not venture inside to check out the plumbing situation, but I did realize that the only people coming out of Starbuck's were French. Trust me, Starbuck's will leave if you stop drinking their coffee...

Brokeback Mountain

So I read Annie Proulx's original short-story "Brokeback Mountain". After posting my comments about the movie the other day, I decided I really should read the story to see if Annie Proulx or Ang Lee are to blame for such a terrible movie. It turns out that Ang Lee's adaptation of the story is very similar to the original text. I think one of the major problems with the film is that it expanded a thirty page story into a 2 hour movie.

A Bad Year for Movies

So 2005 was one of the worst years in Hollywood movie-making history. I'm sure you remember not going to see any movies this past summer and are not looking forward to watching the Oscars. If you've listened to the radio, watched a TV, or read a magazine lately, I'm sure you've heard that the award-winning film this year is supposed to be Brokeback Mountain.
The fact that Ang Lee's new movie is supposed to be the award winner this year is a testament to just how bad 2005 was for Hollywood movie-making. The film is about two cowboys that fall in love with one another and have a covert homosexual relationship over the span of twenty years. Unfortunately, you cannot understand much of the dialogue; Jake Gyllenhal is unconvincing as a rough cowboy; and the sound and film editing are atrocious. The film is based on a short story by Annie Proulx that should never have been adapted for the big-screen.
As expected, the conservative Christians are boycotting the film on moral grounds because it depicts homosexuals. The fact that the film is about a gay couple and the difficulties they face in expressing their love for one another is the one redeeming quality about the film. Avoid the film because it is simply a bad movie, not because you may feel uncomfortable watching a story about gay people. Isn't one of the main functions of art to challenge our view of the world?
Shame on the Conservative Christians for once again remaining so close-minded and shame on Ang Lee for not doing justice to what should have been a heart-wrenching story.

Le Francais Cool...

It's not often that the mainstream media covers a story on something I am studying in my courses. I found this article on the internet today. It discusses "Verlan" and its usage in France. "Verlan" is a formal type of pig-latin that is actually used in France by suburban teenagers. The words in "Verlan" are actually formed by reversing syllables in traditional French words. The word "Verlan," for example, is derived from the French word "L'Envers" which means reverse or inside-out in English.

Danny, Kevin, Laura and I were in a car accident during the New Year's Holiday. We are all fine, but you can't say the same for Kevin and Laura's car...

Christmas 2005

Resolutions

So it's 2006 and time to make a New Year's
Resolution. Since I usually break mine midway through
January, I decided to make two resolutions this year.
The first one is to try to volunteer to help others.
The $50 annual dues to the Kiwanis Club won't cut it
anymore. I am going to look into mentoring or becoming
a Big Brother. My only fear is that I won't have
enough time with school and work, but we'll see.
My second resolution for 2006 is to run a marathon.
I'm 26 years old, so it's time to run 26 miles. I am
borrowing a marathon training book from the library
and it looks like I might start training for the Long
Island Marathon in May. It never seems to be the right
time to train for a marathon. From what I've read, you
should train for a few months. The winter is too cold
and slippery, but the summer is way too hot. Fall and
Spring are just too short. At least the LI Marathon
has the option of running only half of it.
By the way, listen to "You Are My Sister" by Antony
and the Johnsons. The video and soundclip is at

http://www.scjag.com/mp3/sc/youaremysister.mov