many of you query (okay, two of you) why i would voluntarily attempt to go caffeine-free for 2 weeks. there is really no answer to that very pertinent question. i am re-aligning my health more generally: more leafy greens, less licorice. i have not had any refined sugar since jan 11th either. at least not consciously. so, maybe i'm getting a bit more serious about nutrition (a wee bit) -- afterall, it is almost impossible to live off of popcorn, dr. pepper and icing straight out of the tin forever.
the first week of no caffeine was full o' pain. headaches, irritability, wild ranting (okay, more than usual wild ranting). but after about a week, my detox was getting less painful, until one morning i just didn't get the 10 am coffee headache. i have substituted (if you can call it a substitution -- i'm clearly using that word loosely here) herbal tea for coffee. i am sucking back about a cup or two of ginger tea daily. it don't touch coffee but at least it's hot, in a mug and gives me something to do while i waste time.
but, this caffeine de-tox is not forever, i fear. i will return to coffee soon and with open arms. i will be brave though until i reach that. that first latte after my hiatus will be heaven in my mouth.
on a related note: no soft-drinks! and, actually, no hard drinks either.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
this plan is .... ludicrous
i've gone cold-turkey off of caffeine. yes. despite my passionate love for coffee and coffee culture, despite my (often) desperate search for coffee-places, and despite the fact that coffee offers much-needed succour on the daily trudge to work, i've decided to remove coffee from my diet for 2 whole weeks.
this is crazy. for me, anyway.
the last caffeinated beverage i had was a latte at amorino and that was saturday night. 3 whole days, 2 of them work-days, and i'm still clean.
ohhhh, i've had my temptations though. i've felt the dizzying rush passing a coffee-shop, how the sweet scent of a fine latte beckons me. but i resist. and for what? probably for naught. i'll likely go back to my (hardly) egregious one, maybe two, lattes a day habit. but it's not so much coffee i miss, specifically. though it would be so lovely to get rid of my perma-caffeine-deprivation headache. i miss the holding of the mug in my hand, the hanging out in coffee shops, the socio-ality of coffee. i miss those things more than the actual liquid gliding down my throat into my gullet, mixing with the all sorts of junk i eat.
ironically, however. it is 2:26 AM here. i have had not a speck of caffeine in three whole days, and i can't sleep. ha! i think this is the goddess of coffee's way of showing me just what a fool i've been.
anyway, wish me luck with my 2 week endeavour, and pray i find my sanity soon.
this is crazy. for me, anyway.
the last caffeinated beverage i had was a latte at amorino and that was saturday night. 3 whole days, 2 of them work-days, and i'm still clean.
ohhhh, i've had my temptations though. i've felt the dizzying rush passing a coffee-shop, how the sweet scent of a fine latte beckons me. but i resist. and for what? probably for naught. i'll likely go back to my (hardly) egregious one, maybe two, lattes a day habit. but it's not so much coffee i miss, specifically. though it would be so lovely to get rid of my perma-caffeine-deprivation headache. i miss the holding of the mug in my hand, the hanging out in coffee shops, the socio-ality of coffee. i miss those things more than the actual liquid gliding down my throat into my gullet, mixing with the all sorts of junk i eat.
ironically, however. it is 2:26 AM here. i have had not a speck of caffeine in three whole days, and i can't sleep. ha! i think this is the goddess of coffee's way of showing me just what a fool i've been.
anyway, wish me luck with my 2 week endeavour, and pray i find my sanity soon.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
snow!*
* and not the kind referred to on craigslist postings.
it snowed in new york today. beautiful big puffy flakes of snow. my street is suddenly pristine, unsullied. brooklyn looks clean! no mean feat. i hear it will snow more this week, which many view as a curse. frankly, i think snow is wonderful. seasons are wonderful. i've already witnessed a playful snowball fight. (last winter, L.B. warned me that bratty kids in brooklyn throw frozen dog poo at one another & at others, so i am cautious when encountering brats on the street. thanks L.B.) some of the best snowy things: i get to wear my sorel boots purchased for the g.p. winter & a giant puffy coat i bought in ottawa. other good things -- well the afore-mentioned clean-ness. also, cool outside makes my bedroom more tolerable. ordinarily, due to the arcane heating techniques of new york city apartment buildings -- i.e., one main "heat" switch that goes on at some (no doubt statutorily-designated) date deemed the beginning of winter and goes off at some date deemed end of winter. that these dates don't actually correspond to the temperature outside and have no regard for the comfort of residents, means that for a good chunk of the year, my room is a sauna. and by sauna, i mean: dry, crazy hot & stuffy. (J.H., who lives a few streets over, has an apartment that is freezing. maybe his landlord didn't get the memo, or is operating on australian seasons). in the deep summer (july/august), even with an air-conditioner, my room is a sweltering jungle of lush, thick air. it's kind of lose / lose. but today, i cracked open a window and let a cool breeze waft over me. as i sit here unable to sleep, hitting refresh on my inbox and wondering whether the dinner i ate tonight will wage war on my guts tomorrow. deep thoughts.
it snowed in new york today. beautiful big puffy flakes of snow. my street is suddenly pristine, unsullied. brooklyn looks clean! no mean feat. i hear it will snow more this week, which many view as a curse. frankly, i think snow is wonderful. seasons are wonderful. i've already witnessed a playful snowball fight. (last winter, L.B. warned me that bratty kids in brooklyn throw frozen dog poo at one another & at others, so i am cautious when encountering brats on the street. thanks L.B.) some of the best snowy things: i get to wear my sorel boots purchased for the g.p. winter & a giant puffy coat i bought in ottawa. other good things -- well the afore-mentioned clean-ness. also, cool outside makes my bedroom more tolerable. ordinarily, due to the arcane heating techniques of new york city apartment buildings -- i.e., one main "heat" switch that goes on at some (no doubt statutorily-designated) date deemed the beginning of winter and goes off at some date deemed end of winter. that these dates don't actually correspond to the temperature outside and have no regard for the comfort of residents, means that for a good chunk of the year, my room is a sauna. and by sauna, i mean: dry, crazy hot & stuffy. (J.H., who lives a few streets over, has an apartment that is freezing. maybe his landlord didn't get the memo, or is operating on australian seasons). in the deep summer (july/august), even with an air-conditioner, my room is a sweltering jungle of lush, thick air. it's kind of lose / lose. but today, i cracked open a window and let a cool breeze waft over me. as i sit here unable to sleep, hitting refresh on my inbox and wondering whether the dinner i ate tonight will wage war on my guts tomorrow. deep thoughts.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
filthy mouthed children
on wednesday mornings, i take the bus to the gym. the bus rider-ship in the mornings is essentially: parents with young kids going off to kindergarten, 1st grade or to playschool, elementary-schooled aged kids going on their own to school, people going to their jobs and me. this past wednesday, i boarded and the bus was packed. i got a seat near-ish the back. for the entire bus ride (about 20 minutes), i was subjected to vile, crass, vulgar, homophobic and misogynistic commentary by a group of about 6 or 7 kids (mostly boys, maybe 1 or 2 girls, standing around and trying to look cool). their conversation (if i can call it that) seemed to center around anal penetration & "gayness", colourful phrases like "suck it b*tch", "eat my dick", and other acts of so-called sexual dominance. ewww. bear in mind that these kids looked like they might be in grade 6, maybe 7. tops.
there are children on that bus - children in early elementary. there are parents on that bus who have to hear this hateful disgusting tripe. there is *me* on that bus, a maturing, cranky, moralizer. jeezlouise. this is the kind of thing that sets me off. but, either i'm the only one who can hear these kids -- impossible because are so freakin' loud and obnoxious -- or others are better at ignoring them -- or no one else notices because they hear this crap all the time. i want to tell them to shut the f*ck up, but really i want to make them respect women and appreciate that gays are people deserving of dignity. i don't know how to do that. i'm also scared. another time on a bus, when two adults asked a bunch of junior high kids to stop fighting on the bus, the group of them turned on the couple and basically verbally harassed them until they exited the bus (several stops early, might i add). so i'm scared to say anything, but inside i'm seething. frustrated. despondent.
i remember taking the bus to school. it wasn't the city bus, but the cheese-wagon (yellow school bus). our bus-time commute conversation was punctuated with gripes about french homework, making fun of teachers (playfully, not mean-spiritedly) and generally make fart & nose-picking jokes. the most excitement that ever happened was when a kid named mike flicked pudding from the open window of the bus and nearly hit a pedestrian walking by. the bus driver (a stern, mannish woman with a strange mole on her face) pulled the bus over and kicked mike off. we were nowhere near our subdivision.
i could just scream!
there are children on that bus - children in early elementary. there are parents on that bus who have to hear this hateful disgusting tripe. there is *me* on that bus, a maturing, cranky, moralizer. jeezlouise. this is the kind of thing that sets me off. but, either i'm the only one who can hear these kids -- impossible because are so freakin' loud and obnoxious -- or others are better at ignoring them -- or no one else notices because they hear this crap all the time. i want to tell them to shut the f*ck up, but really i want to make them respect women and appreciate that gays are people deserving of dignity. i don't know how to do that. i'm also scared. another time on a bus, when two adults asked a bunch of junior high kids to stop fighting on the bus, the group of them turned on the couple and basically verbally harassed them until they exited the bus (several stops early, might i add). so i'm scared to say anything, but inside i'm seething. frustrated. despondent.
i remember taking the bus to school. it wasn't the city bus, but the cheese-wagon (yellow school bus). our bus-time commute conversation was punctuated with gripes about french homework, making fun of teachers (playfully, not mean-spiritedly) and generally make fart & nose-picking jokes. the most excitement that ever happened was when a kid named mike flicked pudding from the open window of the bus and nearly hit a pedestrian walking by. the bus driver (a stern, mannish woman with a strange mole on her face) pulled the bus over and kicked mike off. we were nowhere near our subdivision.
i could just scream!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
i've gone viral!
big hearty warm and fuzzy thanks to D.G. for finding the clip of me on ABC News. I didn't even try to find it. D.G. to the rescue.
Diane Sawyer knows me! I practically know her! Here
now, my only hope is that this hits the airwaves with force and i get discovered!
Diane Sawyer knows me! I practically know her! Here
now, my only hope is that this hits the airwaves with force and i get discovered!
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