11.12.2009

I haven't had much at all to report on the "health issues" I've been chronicling over the past 2 1/2 months. Which is a good thing. There were a couple of instances when I felt a bit of discomfort in the region of the heart, but nothing to be alarmed about. So I don't guess there's much point to any further updates...

As a result of the above mentioned health problems I have been more or less faithful to a non-fat diet that limits my fat intake to 20 grams. As a result it has become necessary to develop an appreciation of chicken. This has not been easy for me. I never ate chicken before all this...at least not since I was young. I can't say I've succeeded in this endeavour, but there are a few chicken-based dishes that I don't mind...most of which are part of Lean Cuisine menu. Their sweet and sour chicken isn't too bad, and they've got some other oriental style dish, the name of which escapes me. It's the better of the two. Chicken parmesian is okay, too. Outside of the "TV Dinner" line-up: barbeque chicken is okay. I don't mind Shake 'n' Bake or stir fry. And I really kinda like Subway's buffalo chicken sandwich.

It's amazing how I don't go crazy when I consider just how boring my life is. The only thing that keeps me from it is music...opera and classical in particular these days. Immersed in Wagner and Mahler.

Took the wife to the casino a few days ago. I'm sure she had fun, but we walked out of that place $75 poorer.

I'm thinking about renting "Drag Me to Hell" tonight. Generally I avoid "horror movies", but this one actually got some good reviews. So I'm interested to see what sets it apart from every other shitty scary movie. Same reason I sort of want to see "Paranormal Activity". No less a critic than Peter Travers said it was half decent...

I've cut my "message board posting" down to practically none. It's funny...that used to be one of my favorite things to do on the Internet, and now I could care less. What DO I like to do on the Internet these days? Not too much. I play Facebook Farkle quite a bit. Do a little Stumbling, though I don't light on any site for very long. I still watch the streaming movies on Netflix, and have seen some really good stuff. "Jesus Camp", for instance, a documentary that reminded me of why I walked away from the whole ridiculous phenomenon known as mainstream evangelical Christianity. Then there was "My Little Chickadee", the W.C. Fields/Mae West comic classic. What a pair! I can't remember laughing so much at a movie in a long time. Fields definitely deserves his exalted position in the pantheon of comedic geniuses and I gained an entirely new appreciation of Mae West's bawdy schtick. Also wading through the first few seasons of the British comedy series "Waiting for God". I don't know why I hate American television sitcoms but really enjoy the Brit counterparts.

I've got a "facebook friend" whose pretty deep into his religion (which just happens to be the Evangelical Christian hoo-hah I fled some time ago)...he made a post not too long ago saying that he'd made a commitment to reading the entire bible in a month. I know this guy well enough to be able to tell you that such a resolution will be easilly achieved. He has been a voracious reader since we went to elementary school together.I have no doubt that he reads at least 10 books per month. A very intelligent man, that's for sure (even if I do disagree with his right wing conservative political views). He's probably read the bible, in it's various translations, at least once a year for the last 30. Me? I've read it through two or three times. But even if I hadn't abandoned the literal view of scripture I don't know that I'd want to read it again. So I decided that, instead, I would attempt to read "The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces" in the next year. A small bit of mathematical computation revealed that the project would be do-able with a commitment of only 8 pages per day. It's a THICK book, actually LONGER than the bible...the kind of stuff I always wanted to read but was way too intimidated to embark upon. But if I could do it with "the word of god" I can surely do the same with this Anthology. If I accomplish it I have another book of western literature I may tackle next. It's even longer that the one I'm reading now. I thought it was kind of ironic, though, that I didn't want to read the bible again, yet the first 65 pages of the "World Masterpieces" is...you guessed it...from the bible. I'm done with that now, though, and have begun Homer's "Iliad".

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