bagels, churros, pizza, spaghetti, and garlic knots

So much to write about - what a weekend! I first want to talk about the book I started reading - Wheat Belly. Someone recommended it months ago and although I ordered it right away, I didn't get around to seriously reading it until this past weekend. The information in it is MIND BLOWING. Wheat is not bad for you per say, but the strains we are eating today are very different from ancient wheat strains (aka "real" wheat) and the things it is doing to our bodies are crazy. I'm only halfway finished and I can't wait to read more. Certain parts are pretty dry, as it gets pretty scientific and is full of medical jargon, but the overall message is clear - wheat is not okay. The three facts I can't stop thinking about are:

1. How much wheat is in a grocery store - there is an entire row that is bread and bread products (literally on shelves from top to bottom) and we don't even realize how much wheat is in the rest of a store - cookies, crackers, the entire baking aisle, pasta, frozen foods, and the in-house bakery. It is literally everywhere. 
2. Eating two slices of whole wheat bread raises your insulin levels higher than a Snickers candy bar.
3. When you eat wheat for breakfast you are starving again by eleven o'clock and need a snack before lunch. (Literally just experienced this today, and granted it was only one day, but I switched up my raisin bread with a yogurt and oat parfait and could have lasted a lot longer before eating lunch.)

Does this mean I am never going to eat pizza, or drink beer again? Hell to the no. However, it means I am going to truly think more about what I eat and put in my body and try as much as possible to give wheat the evil eye.

a book I love, a book about food - what else

I am reading Delicious! by Ruth Reichl. I am not quite finished, but I decided to review it anyways because I love it that much. It is her first novel and in my opinion she should write a hundred more. I get so frustrated when I find an author I love and realize either 1. I have already read all the books he/she has written or 2. he/she has only written one book and it is the book I am presently reading. Boo. Pertaining to Ruth, she has written many other books and although they are very different from this book, I have already read them...all. She writes about food and New York (for the most part), which are two things I am pretty into. (Read: Not actually living in New York - just working, visiting, and using it as a playground.) The reviews are all over the map for it - some people really love it, some people really hate it, but I am a fan. If you have a chance this weekend, take a look. I think you will be impressed. Although I am well aware of the saying, how can you not a love a book with a cover that beautiful?!

enjoying an author, more than most

Boy is summer in full swing and not only in my personal life, but at work too. Normally the summer is very slow in the world of development/fundraising, but we are moving full speed ahead - which is why I have not written the past two Mondays. I also have this Friday off, as we have some very special friends visiting from South Carolina. I will try my best to make five posts this week (that has been my goal since getting back), but I cannot make any promises. I have also not had much time to be creative because the small amount of free time I do have has been consumed by Boardwalk Empire (we are on season two, episode five) and Inferno written by Dan Brown. I LOVE Dan Brown books. I loved the Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, The Lost Symbol, and I am totally loving Inferno. Unfortunately, I am going to finish it on my way home tonight. I just did a quick search and realized he wrote two other books I haven't read, but they do not have them for rent at my library for Kindle. Wanh. Are Deception Point and Digital Fortress worth buying?!

I only have purchased two books for my Kindle ever in history - Life of Pi and the Da Vinci Code. I always feel like I shouldn't spend money on books because I can rent (most of) them for free, but I cannot get enough of his writing. I compare my excitement for his books to Hunger Games books. As I pull into my stop either in the morning or at night, I begin cursing because I have to stop reading. I like reading, but it takes a special type of book to get me that amped. Unlike Hunger Games, his books contain elements of reality, art, geography, and religion. It is easier for me to read and watch things that could easily happen in real life. I know that completely goes against everything in the Hunger Games, but you never know...duh duh duh. I actually said to my husband the other night that I loved the Da Vinci Code so much that I would go on a Da Vinci Code vacation. They have those and I think it would be fun. So the question of the day is: will I be the proud new owner of two more Dan Brown books, or will I decide to rent something else.  

negative space and teapots and tears

I cried on the train this morning. I am reading the best book, and you’re probably thinking “how can something be the best when it makes you cry” and trust me, they were not happy tears, they were sad – really sad, but it is amazingly sad. I consider a rush of an overwhelming amount of feelings from reading a book a win (happy or sad). I haven’t had a book make me feel this much in ages, which is partly my fault because I was addicted to Candy Crush and stopped reading for multiple months, but I also hadn't read anything super noteworthy in quite some time even before my weakness to a game on my phone ensued. The book I am reading is called Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt. As soon as I got to work today I searched for all of her books, so I could load them onto my Kindle, but this is her first novel. Ugh. Figures. I don’t want to say too much about the book itself and I haven’t even officially finished yet (25% left). I was torn about mentioning it before I was done, but thought I could risk it. It is amazing and I hope two things 1. she writes more books and 2. you read it.

no more playing games about candy

I recently started reading again - I am no longer a “gamer”. Candy Crush has been deleted from my phone and if I want to play again I have to start over from Level 1 (not happening). I made it to Level 100, as in I beat it and really made it to Level 101. I meant to stop playing when I hit Level 100, but didn't because it is so evil and addicting (scary!). That damn game took up months of my commuting time, which breaks down into weeks and hours and minutes of staring at my phone. It is a little sad, really…

Thankfully, I found some really good books to read as I entered back into a more scholastic lifestyle. I read a book called Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality by Jacob Tomsky. It was a great book; nothing overly profound, just funny and a bit insightful. It is considered the Kitchen Confidential/Anthony Bourdain book of the hospitality industry. There was a lot of helpful advice in it, but the thing I found most interesting is that a twenty dollar bill is sometimes called a “flat”. The book was suggesting that passing along “flats” to bellman, front desk people, maids, etc. was a brilliant idea, of course. I couldn't believe that in my thirty-two years of life, I had never heard that term. Needless to say, I am going to start using it, and think you should read this book.

the funniest things I have ever read

photo from the book cover

(Warning: Swears ahead, along with some other graphic language.)  I know my posts have become somewhat wordy lately and these are not going to help my efforts to shorten future posts by any means, but I have to share them with you.  I have wanted to share these since I started my blog, but hadn't had time to type it out until now.  These come from David Cross' book I Drink For a Reason.  Aside from these two snippets, the book is not one I would recommend reading - the rest of it just isn't that funny. 

Snippet A:  (I Think Rich People Are Boring is the name of the chapter.)

With an apology and all due respect to Louis C.K., who has done a bit using this premise, I think rich people are boring (too).  And by that I mean unimaginative...what do they do with all their money?...I saw footage from Jack Welch’s wife’s birthday where everyone was upset at the lavishness.  I was way more upset at how lame it was, given that he spent a gazzibillionish dollars on it.  “Living statues?”  Come on, that’s bulls@#t.  You’ve got billions and billions of dollars!  Get creative!

(Skipping a few paragraphs)

I would have a HUGE fireworks display, I mean the biggest, grandest one ever.  It would be an annual event and it would last for, like, almost twenty-four hours.  It would fill the sky and be able to be seen for miles.

Snippet B:  (Yourstar.com is the name of the chapter.) 

I don’t get it.  Well, I get it in the sense that I understand what it is.  And I get why, given the intelligence and gullibility of Americans, it not only exists but also truly thrives as a business.  But, come on, paying money to a suspiciously generic-sounding company called the Universal Star Council to have a star named after you or a loved one?!  You’re kidding right?  You’re not?  Go to www.yourstar.com you say, and I’ll see what you’re talking about?  Okay, fine!  I will!

           (Skipping a paragraph)

All right, give me a minute here to let me stop laughing.  Hang on.  Man, this is taking longer than I thought.  Okay, here we go.  Nope, still laughing.  Need another second here...All right, I’m done...hmmmm, I’m imagining a look comprised of a mixture of incredulous outrage and pity.  Is that right?  A look that says, “How motherf!@#ing dumb are you?  You named a star after me?  Which one?  Point it out.  Oh it’s “up there somewhere”?  Wait, you can narrow it down to the Crab Nebula?  Well, that’ll save some time in finding it.  What the f!@# is wrong with you?  I’d rather have a gift certificate to Shit Farm Indian Food Diarrhea Outletters.  I’d rather have forty dollars’ worth of henna tattoos on my face.  What does that even mean, you named a star?  Why not just name a microbe after me?  Or anything else equally intangible and impossible to see after me?  What happened, they ran out of cubic inches of Atlantic Ocean to name for me?...What about the Queen of England’s next fart?  Can I get that named after me as well? 

The twenty-four hour fireworks display and the forty dollars of henna tattoos make me laugh out loud (like gut-busting laughter pouring out) every time.  I also picture him saying all of this as his character in Arrested Development (best show ever, miss it very much) Tobias Funke in his denim cut-off shorts as a Never Nude, which only adds to the hilarity of it all!  

the hunger games

I never really liked movies or books that were overly fictitious (or even a tad bit fictitious), but in recent days my feelings have changed.  I was introduced to the Hunger Games trilogy and finished the last book on Tuesday.  The series is made up of three books; The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and The Mockingjay - and they are ALL amazing.  

 If you have the time, and you do not need much because these books are very easy to get through, read them.  There is a movie coming out about them in March, so you have plenty of time, and I highly recommend reading the books before you see the movie.  

 As much as I want to talk about things, I don't want to ruin anything.  I will say however, that I hope you enjoy reading about Katniss, Prim, Peeta, Gale, Haymitch, and Cinna - those are just some of the characters.  How cool are those names?

 I read the actual books too.  I have yet to make the switch from book to Kindle.  As great as it would be to shlep around that lightweight machine, I don't know if I can give up flipping actual pages.