Favorite things in July.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Simply the best film of the series. It took five movies, but the filmmakers have FINALLY made a movie mature and emotional enough to do justice to the books. I’ve been talking about this movie too much. I’m stopping after I post this. Just go see it.

Newton Faulkner Brilliant singer-songwriter from across the pond. Watch this.

Coraline on Blu-ray and DVD One of my favorite movies I’ve seen this year is being released for home media this Tuesday. What’s especially remarkable is that both the DVD and the Blu-ray disc sets come with 4 pairs of 3D glasses. I’m curious to see how the spectacular cinema 3D translates to the small screen, but I imagine it will look stunning on Blu-ray.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins I woke up in the middle of the night last week with an intense craving for lemon poppy seed muffins. They are grossly under-appreciated.

‘Do you have a high sugar intake?’

Words of a TCBY worker who took my parfait order last night.

[My parfait order was, for the record, Oreos pieces, peanut butter yogurt, Reese's cup pieces (not to be confused with Reese's pieces), vanilla yogurt, hot fudge sauce, whipped cream.]

My response: ‘You know, generally speaking… yes.’

Diary of a Mad Vegetarian 2: Cleanse Edition

The long awaited sequel to the most dynamic blog post ever! Confession: I’m not a vegetarian. But I haven’t eaten red meat since part one. [Well I've tried to not eat red meat.]

So for the past week I’ve been on a body cleanse [or purge as I like to call it] I got from Whole Foods. They sure are confirming stereotypes about their store. Basically the purge consists of me taking 13 [!] pills a day, drinking too much water, and feeling sick for two weeks. And supposedly I feel better. Yeah I know.

Being the health nut I am [cough], I’ve complimented the purge with a diet of chips, cookies, processed food, and raw cookie dough. The package warned to refrain from intense exercise while on the purge. This has definitely been a sacrifice [cough] but I’ve forced myself to take it easy and not do any rigorous activity.

Please keep your eye out for Diary…Vegetarian 3: Judgement Day arriving soon.

Diary of a Mad Vegetarian – Part I

A couple of days ago I realized how horribly awful my eating patterns are. Seriously, I may pretend to care what I’m eating, but I honestly couldn’t care less. I’ve also noticed how I feel horrible after eating meat and/or dairy products. And so my friends I have a confession. I have decided to go a whole week without eating any meat or dairy products [except yogurt, which gets a pass].

Day 1 – Thursday, March 20, 2008
Things were going great. I was eating only healthy[ish] food and feeling great about myself until my friend Michael called. A group of people was meeting at the mall to hang out. Of course, they’re going to Johnny Rocket’s. A burger joint. “Stop tempting me demon!” I felt like shouting into the receiver. Of course, I said sure I’ll meet you there.

At Johnny Rocket’s, they have two vegetarian options. [I know right? I was impressed too.] A Boca burger and a salad. I might not be high brow or anything, but I refuse to eat a Boca burger, no matter how dire the circumstances. And a salad? At Johnny Rocket’s? That thing has got to be sick nasty.

I ordered a burger. There, I said it. Oh, and a vanilla shake. But in my defense, I’m so mentally challenged that I didn’t even consider the shake as “dairy” until two hours after I’d finished it. So it wasn’t a conscious betrayal of vegetarianism… right?

Day 2 – Friday, March 21, 2008
I wake up at like 3 in the afternoon, go into the kitchen and ask no one in particular if there are any veg options for “breakfast”. “Just eat some cereal,” my brother responds. Of course, as I write this, I realize that cereal and milk is totally a violation of the no dairy rule. Oops. Perhaps we can change that to no meat and limited dairy…

After the Good Friday service at church, we eat at a family’s house where they inevitably serve meat. But it’s unavoidable, I tell myself. After dinner, I eat ice cream. Again, I am such a dim bulb that I never associated ice cream with dairy until I started writing this sentence.

So in conclusion, I am too stupid for vegetarianism. But I’m determined. Never give up… right?