Chanting and Ranting

Quote of the day:
"If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.”
--René Descartes

Quote of the day no. 2:
“By means of all created things, without exception, the divine assails us, penetrates us, and molds us. We imagined it as distant and inaccessible, whereas in fact we live steeped in its burning layers.”
--Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

We were probably the only people on our street to begin today by listening to chants from the Eastern Orthodox tradition. What can I say? We be odd and we be proud.

This is not your everyday, garden variety liturgical chant. It has a seriousness and mournfulness to it, yet paradoxically, it is uplifting.

After listening for a while, it’s hard to escape the sense that there is something fundamental and natural that is being expressed. This may sound trite, but it could be that underlying this music is the rhythm of the created order. Or at least someone’s inspired vision of it.

It’s Monday, the beginning of the week. There is life with all its complexities and crises all around us. And there is promise.

Music of Joy and Sadness

Quote of the day:
“Patriots always talk of dying for their country and never of killing for their country.”
--Bertrand Russell

Quote of the day no. 2:
"I never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with a lot of pleasure."
--Clarence Darrow

It’s been an all-piano-concerto day. We began the day with Mozart and enjoyed it so much that we kept putting on more concertos and different pianists. I think we listened to seven Mozart concertos before switching to Beethoven (no. 1), Rachmaninoff (no. 3) and Bartok (no. 1).

We have some of these works on CD, but all our listening today was to LPs, mostly from the 60s and 70s. Among the Mozart pianists were Rudolph Serkin and his son Peter, Lili Kraus, Alfred Brendel and Geza Anda.

The Beethoven First was a live performance by the reclusive pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, an LP I’ve always loved, released by Deutsche Gramophone in the 1970s.

A few years ago Merrie and I bought the now-famous CD of Martha Argerich playing the Rachmaninoff Third. It is a spectacularly maniacal and totally authentic performance and is incredibly enjoyable. Today though, we heard a performance of elegantly restrained passion and subtlety by Alicia de Larrocha.

You have to be in the right mood to listen to the Bartok First. It’s not for the faint of heart, and is therefore rarely played on the radio or on any of the digital services. It is propulsive, explosive and aggressive. And in the the DG recording with Maurizio Pollini, it’s extraordinary.

What a day! And this was just the beginning.

Selective Use of Intelligence

Quote of the day:
“If someone spends $500 for a television and $2500 for a refrigerator, does that mean they watch the refrigerator five times more than the TV?”
--Preston Creston

Quote of the day no. 2:
“There was precious little consideration, that I’m aware of, about the big picture of what would come next. While some policy makers were eager to say that we would be greeted as liberators, what they failed to mention is that the intelligence community told them that such a greeting would last only for a limited period.”
--George Tenet, former CIA director

That quote comes from Tenet’s book At The Center of the Storm, which is being released tomorrow. He scored an interview with 60 Minutes which will be on tomorrow night.

It looks like we’re hearing from a Bush administration insider about selective use of intelligence leading up to the Iraq war. There may be a theme developing here.

Former counter-terrorism chief Richard Clarke made pretty much the same point in his book Against All Enemies. He said that intelligence about al Qaeda activites and locations was simply being ignored in the months and weeks leading up to 9/11.

Clarke’s book came out three years ago, and his major premise has yet to be credibly refuted. Maybe we’re finally getting the message.

Vinyl is Alive and Well. Wow.

Quote of the day:
“Something psychological and spiritual happens in that vocal break. Maybe it has to do with oxygen added to the blood, but it’s a physical experience of joy, even when it’s melancholy.”
--Bart Plantenga, Dutch radio D.J., talking about yodeling.

I’ve spent the last couple days listening to tons of records. LPs, vinyl, the real thing.

It started after I did what’s called an audiophile “tweak” of the cartridge on my turntable. I constructed and added a little brass arm on the front of the cartridge.

I know this sounds silly to those of you who aren’t into audio. And most of the time I pay no attention to the unending teeny little tweaks people do to (allegedly) improve the sound of a stereo system. Most of these tweaks make no difference or make the system sound worse. Sometimes they’re expensive, like audio cables that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.

There was a fad years ago to keep CDs in the freezer. Something about lower temperatures leading to a more sonically-worthy molecular structure. Bunk, of course. And people got all kinds of frost on their Blondie CDs.

But this brass arm (officially called a “longhorn”) actually has an engineering function--to reduce cartridge vibration. The only thing that’s supposed to vibrate is the stylus, which generates a teeny bit of electricity which is then amplified and sent to the speakers. If the cartridge also vibrates, it causes problems.

As you can tell, I’m not an engineer. I did read the engineering data as well as numerous comments from people who’ve done this over the last 25 years.

The result is a terrific full-range, dynamic sound that is realistic, fun and involving. And so we’ve been listening to a lot of the old tunes, including the Laurie Anderson album pictured above. And how about that Abbey Road? A little Mozart, a little Talking Heads, a little Duke Ellington. To me, it’s as good as CDs. And, believe me, I’m not a fanatic. Really.

Debates: Don't Believe Pundits

Quote of the day:
“Memories were made to fade. They were designed that way.”
--Joe Giella, in Mary Worth, April 25.

Quote of the day no. 2:
“If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace.”
--John Lennon

It’s awfully, awfully early for a presidential debate. The election is more than a year and a half away. Jeez.

But I did watch tonight’s debate among the Democratic presidential candidates, and here’s what I learned: don’t believe the pundits who analyze, summarize and comment on the debate, especially those who appear right after it’s over.

My guess is that the in-studio pundits only watch half the debate or less. The rest of the time they are talking with their producer, talking with each other, having their makeup refreshed, calling their contacts, reading prep material and so on.

The advantage of watching a debate for yourself is that you see the candidates unedited and un-pundified. You see how they react to both what they expect and what they don’t expect. This is much more significant than reading the three or four highlighted quotes or moments from the debate, which is about all that’s reported when these things are finished.

Tonight’s debate really gave a sense of who these people are and how they go about figuring out problems, and how they might (or might not) work with others to get something done.  You don’t have to believe me either, but here’s my summary.

Dodd was interesting and was easy to imagine as president. Too bad he’s not on the radar screen at this point.  I'd have no problem voting for him. 

Biden knows the issues and had his moments. 

Kucinich was Kucinich (meaning that he has good ideas but clearly would instantly rankle anyone he had to work with).

Mike Gravel (former senator from Alaska) was a joke, but very entertaining in his attempt to say big, important things. 

Edwards was his usual nice, sweet, articulate, anecdotal ("let me tell you a story about my dad") self. 

Richardson scowled and had the annoying tic of answering every question by holding up fingers while listing points he was obviously extracting from a convenient bodily orifice.

I had high hopes for Obama, but to me he seemed unprepared and rather vexed by some of the questions.  Other than short news clips, I had never heard him speak before.  He tends to speak in wonderfully idealistic nugget-sized abstractions.

To me, Hilary clearly dominated the debate.  She was confident and clearly knew what she was talking about.  What I most appreciated was that, in her allotted two-minute chunks, she managed to not just say her ideas but lay out the beginnings of a clear, coherent and practical way to realistically achieve them. 

Did you watch the debate? Feel free to comment by clicking below.

Are We Thinking Long Term in Iraq?

Quote of the day:
“It’s great to think outside the box, but some people don’t know where the box is.”
--Preston Creston

Quote of the day no. 2:
“There have been 5,600 years of written history and 14,600 wars have been recorded.”
--James Hillman

Ted Koppel’s most recent documentary for the Discovery channel is called Our Children’s Children’s War. I tuned in, expecting a critique of our military involvement in Iraq. But that’s not what this program was about.

Koppel did some very interesting reporting about some of our long-term military efforts in the Middle East and North Africa. It actually was quite hopeful.

He showed how many small military units have established long-term projects to aid people across the region. One project involves digging wells so villages can begin around them.

The telling moment in the documentary was when an officer said how difficult it is to expand and even continue this effort with 140,000 troops assigned to combat operations in Iraq.

Good News for Merrie!

Quote of the day:
“Perhaps the most important thing that technology does is free the listener to participate in ways that in all previous periods of listening were governed by the performer.”
--Glenn Gould, pianist

Last week Merrie had an echo-cardiogram. It’s a sort of sonogram of the heart, showing how the heart is functioning. She spent the weekend waiting for the results, hoping that things hadn’t gotten worse.

Yesterday she got a call from the nurse practitioner in the cardiology department. She said that the pumping function of her heart is very strong. This was good news.

Even better was her evaluation of the condition of the mitral valve. In the hospital the damage there was characterized as “moderate-to-severe.” After examining the echo-cardiogram, the nurse practitioner said that the damage was actually “mild-to-moderate.”

We are very pleased but trying to restrain ourselves. The consultation with the cardiologist is coming soon. We’ll see what he has to say.

Reporters as Vampires

Quote of the day:
“Our dignity is not in what we do but what we understand. The whole world is doing things.”
--George Santayana

Quote of the day no. 2:
“This deranged young man had a maelstrom of demons swirling about him. But partisans want us to pick one all-explanatory demon.”
--Jonah Goldberg, in today’s Chicago Tribune.

Goldberg is referring to the man who killed 32 people at Virginia Tech last week. He also has a cogent criticism of press coverage of last week’s tragedy:

“It’s difficult to see the line between enough and too much [news coverage] when journalists go wild, competing for the slightest new morsel of information to put on a permanent TV loop until the next fragmentary detail is pried loose.

“Because there isn’t enough new information to fill the infinite void allotted to these stories, the press quickly succumbs to a kind of emotional vampirism, feeding off the grief, fear and anguish of victims clearly incapable of finding meaning in events that defy either understanding or meaning.”

This is an excellent summary of the both the basic problem facing cable news channels and the irksome way the problem is dealt with.

We’ve lived in the era of “events coverage” since the first Gulf war in 1991. People tuned in by the millions to check on the minute-by-minute progress of that war.

Since then, play-by-play “events” broadcasting has almost completely displaced news reporting and issues analysis. News stories that can be easily covered as “events” become the primary focus. We are seeing lots of coverage of police chases and crimes in progress.

And the play-by-play is exceedingly slow. Instead of facts gathered and assembled into a coherent report about a news event, we hear all kinds time-filler between small, new bits of information presented by sometimes barely articulate, ad-libbing anchors.

The time-filler takes the form of “expert” commentary when there is little to really comment on--so it becomes speculation. Or it takes the form of numbingly inconsequential interviews with people who are only remotely connected to the event. Or it takes the form of emotionally invasive questions asked of people in so much pain they can barely think clearly.

None of these time-fillers are especially helpful or informative. Like all good time-fillers, they are there (you guessed it) to fill time.

Goldberg also says this:

“We can be sure the media will continue to milk their role as remorse voluptuaries for as long as conceivably possible.”

I wish I could end on a hopeful note. But as Walter Cronkhite used to say, “That’s the way it is.”

Will a U.S. City Be Nuked?

Follow-up to Goodbye, VCR:
“I remember what TV was like when it was black and white still. My kids can’t imagine it.”
--Marc Canter, California software developer

Quote of the day:
“The threat to the United States now of a 9/11 occurring with a group of terrorists armed not with airline tickets and box cutters, but with a nuclear weapon in the middle of one of our own cities, is the greatest threat we face.”
--Vice President Dick Cheney

I’m willing to believe that the explosion of a nuclear device in one of our cities is a significant threat. I’m not sure about it being “the greatest threat we face.” Just because the current vice president says it doesn’t make it so, for me.

There are two serious problems with this statement. First, the vice president said this in response to questions about the course of the war in Iraq. His assumption (and that of the current White House) is that Iraq is the key “front” in a global war on terrorism.

He responds to criticism of the war by linking Iraq with trafficking in nuclear material or technology. Am I supposed to accept that Iraq is the only or even the primary way that nuclear material can find its way into the wrong hands?

The second problem with the vice president’s statement is that it seeks to play on our fear--a fear that may be in our minds if we are watching the TV drama 24, in which terrorists explode a suitcase nuke in the Los Angeles area.

It’s wrong to simply dismiss the nuclear threat. But it is equally wrong to use our fear of that threat to justify continuation of a war in a country that plays a very small role at best in furthering such a threat.

Visiting Migrants

Quote of the day:
“I just can’t visualize the same government that has been at war against poverty for 43 years, at war against drugs for 36 years, and at war against terror for five years, having much success in a war against the weather.”
--Grant W. Kuhns

San Diego County has more varieties of birds than any other county in the U.S. So I hear. Many avid bird watchers come here from all over the world.

I wouldn’t call Merrie and me “avid bird watchers” exactly. We’re still figuring out our cheap binoculars, years after getting them. But Merrie is an avid bird feeder, and our indoor cats regularly respond to to the results.

We have both resident and migratory birds here. The other day there were three Hooded Grosbeaks crunching on the black sunflower seed. They are striking orange, black and white birds. Merrie tells me they are on their way from Mexico to Canada. They must like it here--they’re still hanging around.

A couple days ago a pair of Western Tanagers appeared. You can’t miss them. They’re yellow with orange hoods. They’re still here, too.

A while back I mentioned Sophie’s battle against our resident ground squirrel. Not only was she not successful in chasing the squirrel away, the other day I saw three in our yard. What a dog.

Mental Illness Among Us

Quote of the day:
“You question authority, eh?”
“No. I annoy authority. More effect, less effort.”
--Darby Conley in Get Fuzzy.

As a result of the Virginia Tech tragedy, we seem to have entered a debate about how to deal with mentally ill people.

The main issue with this kind of conversation is that “mental illness” is not a pure condition. Virtually all of those who have psychiatric problems do not have them 100% of the time. There are moments of clarity and lucidity mixed in.

And sometimes people with psychiatric problems have a charming, interesting, or at least somewhat normal side to their personalities.

When I was the program director of KPBS radio, we would often get letters from interesting people. One who was quite memorable was the correspondent we came to call “Dog Man.”

Dog Man would write to me once or twice a month, and his letters would always begin engagingly and thoughtfully, as he responded to a news or feature item we had aired. But somewhere midway through each letter he would change course, and begin talking about the problem of dogs defecating in local parks.

Every letter we received from him ultimately was about this issue. I would always write back, thanking him for his thoughtfulness, though it was clear there was something going on with Dog Man that needed some attention.

I have to confess that it became quite an event for us when a letter from Dog Man arrived. We became quite curious about exactly how he was going to tie together the subject of his letter and his real obsession--dog feces in local parks.

Unfortunately, one day Dog Man went too far. We received a letter that not only had his usual complaint but also threatened the mayor. We called the police. After that, we never heard from Dog Man again.

I sometimes wonder what happened to him.

Are We All Psychiatrists?

Quote of the day:
“Commuters run to their destinations and away from themselves.”
--Timothy “Speed” Levitch, New York tour guide

Quote of the day no. 2:
“It comes down to a balance between providing a platform to a madman and helping explain a riddle that has confounded many Americans.”
--Jon Klein, CNN president

Klein’s comment has become the standard response to those who have complained about the airing of videos, photos and writings of the man who killed 32 people last Monday at Virginia Tech. The way Klein frames it, I’m not sure it’s a true choice.

He says the good in airing it is “helping to explain a riddle.” To the extent the killer’s actions are a “riddle,” they will remain a “riddle” until all the evidence is thoroughly examined by experienced clinical psychiatrists.

I believe we already know the answer to the “riddle” as much as most of us ever will, or need to. Klein suggests it by using the archaic word “madman.”

Wasn’t it pretty clear before we all saw this stuff that there is no rational reason for this man’s actions? At best, any rational “cause” will wind up being just an irrational trigger for him to act on his delusions.

And “delusions” is the key word. Isn’t it also clear that this man was delusional? His thoughts and beliefs were disconnected from reality.

Of course there is a specific clinical diagnosis for what was wrong with him, and that diagnosis will likely be made sometime in coming days by people who know what they’re doing. Most likely that diagnosis is not going to add much to our understanding of why this happened.

For me, it’s enough to know that 1) he was seriously ill and 2) he was seriously delusional.

The really serious question is: what do we do now?

Hokie Grief, Hokie Hope

Quote of the day:
“We are not moving on. We are embracing our grief.”
--Nikki Giovanni, professor, Virginia Tech

Quote of the day no. 2:
“I remember thinking on Sept. 11th how I was so lucky to be where I was because it was possibly the safest place on earth.”
--Former student, Virginia Tech

My niece is a recent graduate of Virginia Tech. In an e-mail yesterday, she described her reaction to the shootings:

“It's really surreal right now.  Yesterday was a lot of shock and disbelief.  This is just not something that happens in Blacksburg.  The usual crimes are alcohol abuse, fraternity pranks or misbehaving football players.  There's just no frame of reference for violence like this.

“Clearly everyone I know is really upset.  As it sinks in it's been a lot of sadness and grief.  I was telling someone earlier that I've always thought of Blacksburg and Virginia Tech as a safe haven, this place that holds only good memories for me and my friends, and now I feel so violated.  How could someone ruin that peace? 

“I don't know how a person has the capacity to walk into classrooms and do that; much less someone I can see myself walking on campus with.  I remember thinking on Sept. 11th how I was so lucky to be where I was because it was possibly the safest place on earth.  It's been hard to have that feeling destroyed and seeing the VT logo displayed all over the news under the word ‘massacre.’
 
“There are a lot of rumors flying around the e-mail world right now.  But basically the general feeling is grief and loss.  People are pretty upset at the media for trying to blame the administration.  There's a lot of support for President Steger and how well he's handling it all despite the media questions on what he could have done differently in those two hours.  I think we're all hoping this doesn't tear the campus apart in debate.  That would be the only way to make this event sadder.
 
“Anyhow, I expect today and tomorrow to be pretty awful since they'll start releasing names and photos and interviewing families.  I'm sad, very sad.  But after some grieving I think the students, faculty and alumni will move forward together, and that's what I'm looking forward to right now.   
 
“I will be okay, I'm still sort of reeling from it all and processing it.  In true Hokie Spirit, my office-mate is wearing his ugly maroon and orange VT tie today.  That made me smile, because that's what VT is all about. 
 
“It really has been a trying week and I think there are some more tough times ahead before any healing can start.  I have an amazing support system, as well as fabulous Hokie friends, so everyone has really been pulling together and that is always a great comfort. 

“I think we all have a lot of grieving to do before we move forward, but the community spirit of VT and Blacksburg has always been what made it such a wonderful place, so I don't doubt that both grieving and moving on will happen together.  But right now there is just a lot of sadness.

“Keep sending good thoughts and prayers down to Blacksburg, they need it.”

Why?

In the interest of perspective and understanding, I offer two simple quotes.

First:
“We’re trying to find someone who knew him. The university has been calling him a loner.”
--Amie Steele, editor of Collegiate Times, the campus newspaper at Virginia Tech

Second:
“In studying mass murderers over 25 years, my colleague, Jack Levin, and I have identified five factors that exist in virtually all cases.

“First. perpetrators have a long history of frustration and failure and a diminished ability to cope with life’s disappointments.

“Second, they externalize blame, frequently complaining that others didn’t give them a chance. Sometimes they argue that their ethnic or racial group or gender isn’t getting the breaks that others are.

“Third, these killers generally lack emotional support from friends or family. You’ve read the ‘he always seemed to be something of a loner’ quote? It has a grounding in reality.

“Fourth, they generally suffer a precipitating event they view as catastrophic. This is most often some sort of major disappointment: the loss of a job or the breakup of a relationship. In massacres at colleges and universities, it’s often about getting a grade the shooter feels he didn’t deserve.

“Fifth, they need access to a weapon powerful enough to satisfy their need for revenge.”

--James Alan Fox, professor of criminal justice at Northeastern University, in today’s Los Angeles Times.

Time to Restrain Our Opinions

When we see a tragic event such as this morning’s shootings at Virginia Tech, I think there is way too much talking about it.

There are maybe 10 or 12 salient facts about the event that are helpful for all of us to know. Beyond that, most is noisy yakking. Opinions, opinions, everywhere.

Everyone has plenty to say, but who is listening?

I vote for some quiet, reflection, and thought. And listening, especially to those directly devastated by this.

Toys as Cultural Markers

How’s Merrie doing? She’s feeling good, and looking good. And we’re thankful.

Quote of the day:
"I condemn slavery, I banish poverty, I teach ignorance, I treat disease, I lighten the night, and I hate hatred. That is what I am, and that is why I have written Les Misérables."
--Victor Hugo

In last Friday’s Life magazine, there was an fun look at the biggest toys of the last 70 years. Each became a cultural icon.

The View-Master, 1939. They’re still around. 1.5 billion reels have been produced.

Slinky, 1945. Did you know its original intent was to stabilize nautical equipment? More than 300 million have been sold.

Mr Potato Head, 1952. 75 million, many thanks to the movie Toy Story.

Frisbee, 1957. Original name? Pluto Platter. 200 million and going strong, many in the teeth of very fine dogs.

Hot Wheels, 1968. 60 million just last year. That’s five times the number of real cars sold in 2006.

Rubik’s Cube, 1980. 300 million, and currently enjoying a resurgence.

Cabbage Patch Kids, 1983. Came with a birth certificate. Now original buyers are getting them for their children.

Tickle Me Elmo, 1996. Last year an anniversary edition nearly sold out on the day it was released.

Morally Wrong, or Sick?

Quote of the day:
“Over the years, some convergence of gangsta rappers and shock jocks and bloggers have given more and more people license to use words that were once washed out with soap, or blocked with bleeps. Sex sells, hate sells and the combination is boffo biz.”
--Ellen Goodman in Friday’s Boston Globe.

Quote of the day no. 2:
“What is cheating? We need to forget about the past and let us play the game. We’re entertainers. Let us entertain.”
--Barry Bonds

Where is the line drawn between consciously bad (or criminal) behavior and mental illness? This question gets ready answers from extremists on each side. Some think all criminals should be locked up, period. On the other side, some think that bad behavior is always caused by mental illness.

As always, the truth exists somewhere in the large middle, and it can be hard to discern. Here is one observation, from Chip Ward, former assistant director of the Salt Lake City library (from Tomdispatch.com):

“Take the case of a young man who entered the library spouting racial and ethnic slurs. He loudly asked some Latino teenagers doing their homework when they had crossed the border, and they reported his rude behavior.

“When a security guard approached, the young man started yelling obscenities and then took a swing at him. The guard tried to calm him, but on the next lunge, the guard took him down, cuffed his hands behind his back and called the police. They recognized the man. He had been let out of jail just two days earlier.

“That man’s behavior, of course, was not a measure of his character but of his psychosis. He was sick, not bad.

“If we accept that schizophrenia, for instance, is not the result of a character flaw or personal failing but of some chemical imbalance in the brain--an imbalance that can strike a person regardless of his or her values, beliefs, upbringing, social standing or intent, just like any other disease might strike one--then why do we apply to mental illness a kind of moral judgment we wouldn’t use in other medical situations?

“We do not, for example, jail a diabetic who is acting drunk because his body chemistry has become so unbalanced that he is going into insulin shock.”

Goodbye, Radio Legend

Quote of the day:
"The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness."
--Michel de Montaigne

The Don Imus bonfire has about burned out, but I want to poke around a bit in the smoldering ashes.

A good thing to come out of this is the attention we have paid this week to the level of crude and rude coarseness that many of us have come to accept as “just one of those things.” There have also been constructive discussions about freedom of expression, where the line is drawn between art and journalism and what should be allowed on the public airwaves.

I wonder if it ever would’ve crossed Don Imus’ consciousness to say something outrageous, demeaning and insulting about a men’s college basketball team whose players were black? I doubt it. I’m not even sure the language exists to be equally insulting to men.

His comment was certainly racist, but it is even more sexist. And it certainly gives me pause that a broadcaster of Imus’ stature, in a moment of grasping for an audience-provoking and outrageous thing to say, would so easily let this specific statement fall out of his mouth.

It’s true that some hip-hop songs have used this language, and worse. But no one is forced to buy or listen to music that offends them. There is an issue here of freedom of expression--as long as it’s not inflicted on anyone.

But Imus was speaking to the public on the open airwaves, just like shouting it from a few hundred thousand street corners simultaneously. It’s insulting, demeaning and personal.

Fat Warrior

Quote of the day:
“Don’t be angry with the rain; it simply does not know how to fall upward.”
--Vladimir Nabokov

I am a fat warrior. Not a warrior who is fat, but a warrior against fat. Eating fat.

If you get annoyed when someone is constantly pointing out how much fat is in everything you’re eating, you do not want to be around me this week. This started when both my doctor and Merrie’s recommended that we take a nutrition class to lower our blood cholesterol.

There has been so much information in the press for so many years, I thought I knew most everything about saturated, unsaturated and polyunsaturated fat, cholesterol, and what foods to avoid. I was wrong.

Just like a financial planner will ask you to write down everything you spend in a week, our instructor has assigned us to write down everything we eat each day this week. Then we add the fat grams of all the items to see if we’re where we should be according to our risk factors for heart disease. My daily fat intake is supposed to be between 45 and 60 grams.

I thought I knew which foods had fat and which didn’t. But what I didn’t know was how wide a variation there is in fat levels. Did you know that a flour tortilla has 4 grams of fat, while a corn tortilla has 1? How about this: a croissant has 18 grams of fat, a slice of bread has 1. An 8 oz. glass of whole milk has 10 grams, 1% milk has 2, nonfat milk has zero.

If you’re not annoyed enough yet, try this: a bag of microwave popcorn has 32 grams of fat, air-popped popcorn has zero. For eating out, a caesar salad has 40 grams while a chicken fajita pita has 8. And a taco salad with tortilla shell has 55 grams of fat, a teriyaki bowl has 3.

As I said, I’m a food warrior. A somewhat insufferable, self-righteous food warrior. But don’t worry. I’ll get over it soon, and I hope to have better eating habits.

I’ll close with this favorite quote, which comes from Woody Allen’s movie Interiors: “You can live forever if you give up everything that makes you want to.”

Monkeys Are Typing Shakespeare!

Quote of the day:
“If you don’t become the ocean, you’ll be seasick every day.”
--Leonard Cohen

Quote of the day no. 2:
“’If you put a bunch of monkeys in front of typewriters, how long would it take them to compose the works of Shakespeare?’ This question originated as part of the theory of probability, and it has been tested.

“According to Darren Wershler-Henry [author of Iron Whim: A Fragmented History of Typewriting], the world record for Shakespeare-reinvention belongs to the virtual monkeys supervised by Dan Oliver, of Scottsdale, Arizona.

“On August 4, 2004, after the group had worked for 42,162,500,000 billion billion monkey years, one of Oliver’s monkey’s typed, ‘VALENTINE. Cease toIdor:FLP0FRjWK78aXzVOwm)-’;8.t...,’ the first nineteen characters of which can be found in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

“Runner-up teams have produced eighteen characters from ‘Timon of Athens, seventeen from Troilus and Cressida, and sixteen from Richard II.

“Did these monkeys get federal funding?”

--Joan Acocella in the April 9, 2007 New Yorker.