Super Size Me

I finally got around to seeing this unusual documentary
about a guy who eats nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days.

Ever since a kid I have been a sucker for McD’s, especially the fries. Everytime I walk by a McD - even until this day - I am very tempted to buy a pack of fries to munch on. It’s that smell - many think that it’s some addictive ingredient in the oil they use - that weaken my resolve to stop eating those fatty carbo monsters.

Until I was 14 or 15 I ate McD’s regularly - two or three times a week - and loved it. But after that what happened? My body wanted Chinese food instead. You see, when I was a kid my main diet at home was Chinese food and even though my mind favored McD’s, my body gradually told me that it was not right to eat that. So one fine day in my mid-teens something drastically changed: I could never eat McD’s more than once a day, or two days in a row without feeling sick to my bones.

Seeing all those fellow fat and unhealthy Americans in the documentary really made me sick again. I realize I am lucky to have had Chinese food mix into my diet since I was a kid. Because of that, my body knew that there was a healthier choice and it steered me to it. I am not sure most Americans have this choice; if they don’t eat McDs chances are they are stuck with other equally high-fat unhealthy diets such as pizzas, pseudo-Italian or pseudo-Mexican that are present in many strip malls around the country. If not, then there are crazy diet fads - to me anyway - such as Atkins that forces many believers in our country to play unnecessary Russian Roulette games with their own health.

The documentary is a wake up call, as with the book “Fast Food Nation”; too bad many still will fail to heed their advice.

And it is true: you are what you eat.

Wise words from Mr. Buffet of Omaha

1. Don’t save sex for old age.
2. Never buy a stock that you aren’t willing to hold long term.
3. If you ever sit down at a poker table and in 15 minutes you haven’t figured out who the pigeon is, you are the pigeon.

Cars, trucks now outnumber drivers

Cars, trucks now outnumber drivers. Of course, this is one of those things that can only happen in the US, as supposed to the rest of the world, because we don’t like to leave our three-car garages empty and we haven’t learnt to share our cars or use other forms of transportation, even when going to the video store in the next block.

This news comes at a time when California gas prices are hitting over $2 a gallon. That should send a wakeup call to people, but most would ignore it and drive on and on.

A fulfilling life…

“A fulfilling life comes from thinking and living simply.” — Translated from a quote in the book, “Once Upon a Time.”

Happiness

“Happiness is where you will find it.” — R. L.

CA Blues

After being in New Jersey for a couple days last month I now find the arid southern California landscape a bit too harsh for my tastes, especially when coupled with smog.

I appeal to Angelenos to wake up and embrace more well-planned public transport and not half-baked efforts like the current Metro line that hardly goes anywhere. The federal and state government should push for more environmental vehicles. We do, after all, want our kids to live in a city of clean air, don’t we?

Old Houses

Ever have an urge to go and check out the old houses where you once lived? As the author of this story writes, “To go back is to reinhabit, for a moment, selves lost in the past.” I know I would like to go back to the apartment where my adolescent self spent many a time waging wars with my bros, and staring across the harbor at airplanes descending to a airport during frequent bouts of homework procrastination.