Supersize This

So I just finished watching Supersize Me! and I have mixed feelings about the movie. On one hand, it was really interesting and eye-opening to see just what kind of effect a high-fat diet can have on the human body and how disgusting fast food is. On the other hand, it completely lacked fairness and balance.

The movie makes fast food companies out to be greedy, manipulative engines. Let's just get one thing straight: we live in a capitalistic country. The goal of most businesses is to make money. It would be great if, in the process of making money, they are also doing societal good, but that would only work if people (read: consumers) (read: you) supported these efforts. In order to make money, cosumer goods companies must make their brand top-of-mind. This means money spent on advertising, product placement, consumer research. So, yes, we expect companies like Target, Nike, Dell, Whole Foods, and even McDonald's to spend lots of money in order to make lots of money.

The movie accuses McDonald's of hooking children onto their product, reeling them in at an early age so that, later in their life, warm fuzzy memories of McDonald's playgrounds will lure them back for a Big Mac. Watching the movie, you'd think these execs sat around an office coming up with ways to get those kids at a young age; to hook them for life. Isn't this a bit of revisionist history? This is like interpreting a novel after it's been written when, truly, we have no idea what the author's original intent was. Maybe McDonald's did consumer research and found that, at the time, their main consumer (read: busy mom) needed a quick bite to eat and 5 minutes away from her noisy brats. The McDonald's PlayPlace is born...to appease adult consumers. But now we interpret that as McDonald's devising PlayPlace to implant happy memories into children's minds. Most likely, no.

Where's the personal responsiblity? Everyday, we are bombarded by ads and messages. No one is holding a gun to our head, forcing us to purchase their product or idea. That decision is up to us. It is up to us to teach our children good eating and exercise habits. By now, every person on the planet, all 6.3 billion of us, should have a vague sense of how bad some foods are for us. So don't eat them. And if you do, run an extra mile.

Supersize Me! did make this point...at the very end. The great thing about this country is that we have free choice, free will. Let's exercise that freedom and make the right choices for ourselves and our kids. Stop pointing the finger at the fast food restaurants and pushing the blame and responsiblity off on others. Because if we keep doing that, we'll never stem this epidemic that's slowly killing us.

Global Warming is officially over

Some people have been jealous of North Carolina's 70+ degree weather these past several weeks. Me, I've been terrified. It was hard proof that global warming was alive and well.

But yesterday and today, we have had normal January-degree temperatures. It's been rainy, and cold, and the weather warrants gloves and scarves. I could never be happier. Even though global warming is still upon us, at least the colder temperatures will keep the melting ice caps at bay. For now.

Now if we could only get the oil companies to increase the price per gallon of gas...

Paper or Plastic?

Everytime I am asked this question, I have a brief, internal debate. Which is the lesser of the two evils?

On one hand, plastic prevents the mass destruction of trees and wildlife, preserving habitats for many of our world's species. It is also lighter and more compact, allowing more quantity to be shipped per truck, reducing transportation and decreasing the amount of fuel used and carbon dioxide emitted.

On the other hand, paper bags are recycleable, biodegradeable and use a renewable resource - you can always plant another tree, but you cannot easily replace the petroleum needed to create plastic. You can also fit more stuff in a paper bag, which reduces the quantity of bags needed and, in turn, the amount of waste created.

The ultimate answer would be for everyone to bring their own reusable bag. That would be the least amount of impact on the environment. But what if you forget? Or you're too lazy and cheap to go out and buy these bags?

I guess in the meantime, I'll go with paper. There's something comforting about knowing that my waste won't be hanging around for thousands of years.

A Love Affair with Notre Dame

My parents have an unhealthy obsession. Ever since my sister started school at Notre Dame, my parents have been obesessed with everything about the school. It's not just the engraved beer mugs, etched wine glasses and countless shirts and hats, all emblazened with the Notre Dame logo. It's also the three Notre Dame car stickers and the point they make to go to football games and parents weekends.

When I went to Wake Forest, I wanted to put a Wake sticker on my parents car, to show the world that their precious first-born was a student there. But they balked, saying that it was tacky. So I'm a little stunned that there are three (3) Notre Dame stickers on their car today.

One guess to how many football games, basketball games or parents weekends my parents came to. In fact, my mother only came to Wake Forest three times - once to drop me off, once for my graduation, and once for Scott's law school graduation (and that was four years after I graduated). Granted, Wake is a bit farther from Illinois than is Notre Dame. But still - I thought Rule #1 in Parenting was not to have favorites. I'm feeling unloved!

After pointing out this unhealthy obsession over the past several years, my parents have been tyring to make amends. My mother even called me during the Orange Bowl to say she was watching. Of course, she and my father can't quite understand why Scott and I are still loyal to our alma mater. "You graduated...why do you still care about Wake?" she'll ask.

I have a funny feeling that, despite this sentiment, she'll still be caring deeply for Notre Dame long after Alisa has graduated. And I wouldn't be surprised if another sticker or two pops up on their car window.

Humiliation is...

...standing in front of a mirror in a black leotard and pink tights. I bought a few items for my first ballet class tonight, and the experience was worse than trying on bathing suits. Maybe it was because there was a six-year-old also trying on a black leotard with pink tights. It's not fair that she got to wear a tiara.

It was like something out of a movie: "The Giant, Lumpy Ballerina".

Nothing else has gotten me to the gym faster.

Dear Old Wake Forest

For those of you living under a rock, Wake Forest played Louisville in the BCS Orange Bowl last Monday. It was a sort of Cinderalla story for us, since we are not a football school, and we're one of the smallest schools in Division I. But this season, we stole a lot of touchdowns, and a lot of hearts. One of my favorite articles from the Orange Bowl...

JOSEPH: Demon Deacons charm Orange Bowl
Published January 3, 2007

MIAMI GARDENS -- Opposite world is cool.

That's what we learned here Tuesday night at the FedEx Orange Bowl. In a game featuring a school no one ever expected to be in a BCS game and in a game many thought would be tedious because it had no national championship implications or pre-game hype -- tiny Wake Forest gave Louisville's emerging program and an announced crowd of 74,470 a memorable game. How refreshing. Suddenly, a BCS game didn't have to be life-and-death to be appealing. It didn't have to come down to a coach's job on the line. It didn't have to feature behemoths like Florida State or Miami. It could star a small, tie-dyed school from Winston-Salem, N.C.

And it may wind up rivaling the best bowl game you'll see this season.Yes, the favored Cardinals won, scoring 14 fourth-quarter points to beat the Demon Deacons 24-13. But how could you not come away from this game enamored by the Demon Deacons?

Wake Forest. The little engine that could ... I think I can ... I think I can...

How could you not like a school of 6,700 students, only 4,300 undergraduates, stuffing it to those ACC giants like Florida State and Virginia Tech? How could you not like the smallest school to ever compete in a BCS game? These things don't happen anymore in big-time college football. Heck, even "little" Boise State has 18,000 students, Louisville 25,000. Demon Deacons coach Jim Grobe had to put a team together with local kids who weren't highly recruited or necessarily motivated by the size of a school's stadium or, ironically, its chance of playing in a BCS game. Wake Forest. In a BCS game. Only in opposite world.

Think about it: If every current undergraduate and graduate student at Wake Forest attended Tuesday's game, Dolphin Stadium would have mirrored a Tuesday afternoon game in August between the Marlins and Nationals.

Heck, if every living Wake Forest graduate attended the Orange Bowl, there would still have be 20,000 empty seats Tuesday night.

But here were the Demon Deacons playing in a BCS game in front of probably the largest gathering of Wake Forest alumni in school history. Black-and-gold, tie-dyed crazies from Winston-Salem, N.C. The kind of students who celebrate school victories by covering the center of campus with toilet paper.

Every Deadhead should adopt this school. Jerry Garcia meets Mr. Whipple. The smallest school and coolest. And a team that refused to believe it couldn't succeed.This was the culmination for the Demon Deacons of an improbable year, one that could have been lost back in September when they managed to block a last-second field goal attempt to beat lowly Duke. Despite loses to Clemson and Virginia Tech, the Demon Deacons never went away. They beat Georgia Tech at home and Florida State and Maryland on the road. And they did it all after losing their starting quarterback, running back and left tackle. And now this.

After going down 10-3 after Louisville stole a play from their playbook by scoring on a modified flea flicker, Cinderella got mad.Wake Forest tied the game on a 30-yard touchdown to Nate Morton from Riley Skinner, formerly the Deacons' third-string quarterback. Then they took the lead in the fourth quarter on a 36-yard field goal by Sam Swank.But they fumbled deep inside Cardinals territory twice, and they couldn't stop the No. 5-ranked Cardinals in the fourth quarter. Suddenly, the magic had run out. Midnight had approached.

It was too bad, really. Back to the real world.

What ever happened to New Year's?

For the New Year, Abby and I decided to have a little fun with the New Year's celebrations. So we made Jell-O shots, Pudding Shots (delicious), and stopped by Wal-Mart (yes, the corrupt corporate giant has weaseled its way into little ol' Galena, Illinois) to pick up some New Year paraphenalia. Nothing too exotic - just your run-of-the-mill party hats, party poppers and party horns.

With our husbands drunk back at the ranch, and less than 30 hours to go before 2007, Abby and I scoured the Wal-Mart aisles. Our first instinct was to just enter the store; surely, with so few hours before the big night, there would be endcaps galore of the stuff. But nothing.

So we meandered to the birthday party aisle, thinking they lumped all party stuff together. There were birthday hats and birthday plates. But nothing New Year's.

Finally, we were regulated to asking one of the friendly Wal-Mart workers for advice. "I think they got poppers in the grocery section." Yes...one measly stand-alone in the middle of the aisle with picked-over favors. That was it.

Along the way in our search, we came across any entire aisle of Valentine's Day treats. An entire aisle! In December! But no New Year's stuff.

My point (and I'm eventually getting there) is that we, as consumers, are once again ushered through a holiday, just so we can get to the next milestone. With one foot still in the Christmas (er, holiday) season, we are distracted with another holiday which isn't for another two months. Are we living in a culture that needs constant stimuli? Are we incapable, as a society, of living in the present? Is business that greedy for the next nickel that they try to squeeze money out of consumers every chance they get?

Let's take a collective pause, catch our breath, and recognize where we are before our lives pass us by, marked only by holiday-themed candy and party favors. It is 2007. We have just celebrated Christmas and are still enjoying our holiday goodies.

I, for one, am not even going to think about pink and red hearts until Febraury 14th.