“Whenever a pleasurable feeling is present, for as long as it is present, there is neither a feeling of pain nor a feeling of distress, nor one together.” – Epicurus, The Principle Doctrines

Last seven days: Colloquium = 6 days away; Japan = 8 days away; number of times I’ve been up past 2am = 5; number of morning I’ve woken up refreshed only because the prior day’s caffeine is still in my system = 2; number of books studying = 23; pots of tea drunk: 20? Times cooked = 1; chocolate bars eaten = 4; movies watched = 3. Even with all the caffeine, I’m relatively stress-free and happy. ONE MORE WEEK TO GO. Woot.

“There is no high-ranking food safety official in the U.S. government. There is no one accountable.” – “Looking to Obama to Bring Logic to Food Safety,” Andrew Martin, The New York Times

“The real conundrum is why we who live in a society which is constantly perfecting the art of mass-producing human bodies on the battlefield find humans good to kill but bad to eat.” – Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses, 1991

This evening Sarah at Tastespotting denied one of my photos again for some misguided reason that had little to do with food. So naturally, I loaded her front page to check out what had been accepted today. Well, I came in contact with the beauty that is food porn, tactile images of amazement, stylistically and photographically perfect and ooooh so inedible. Cheers, Tastespotting, for reminding me again of the reasons besides eating to gaze longingly at food.

“A college professor at Purdue University recalled recently that during the 1940′s he received a state grant ‘to figure out someway to use up all that food in a nonfood manner.’ The professor claimed not to be too successful at creating ‘nonfood.’ But then, he did not need to be. The perfect solution had been found elsewhere: in the American steer.”
- Frances Moore Lappé, 1975 revised introduction in Diet for a Small Planet

“Democratic freedom very largely consists in ignoring politics and worrying, instead, about the threat of scaly scalp, hairy legs, sluggish bowels, saggy breasts, receding gums, excess weight, and tired blood.” – Marshall McLuhan citing an American officer post WWII in Understanding Media

Happy New Year! Holidays behind us (and soon resolutions as well), I am busying myself with my college final, set for Inauguration Day. Two days following I will be shipping off to Tokyo for two weeks! This somehow excuses my lack of updates.

The last time I posted I was making Christmas dinner. After Christmas we went on a road trip with friends from New York down to Tennessee, and celebrated New Year’s Memphis-style. There was The King, blues, luscious barbecue, and good company.