You say potato, I say "Yes, please!!"

Lately, I've been reading about different diets, organic eating, etc., etc. While some seem helpful, others would simply cost a fortune to follow. Yes, I want to incorporate variety, but no, I don't want my weekly grocery bill to be an average of $200. Dismissed.

What I find truly disturbing, however, is this pattern of not eating potatoes! Too much starch, something else bad, blah, blah, blah. Yes, I want to eat healthier, but if you want me to give up potatoes, you'll have to pry them from my cold, dead hands.

I love the potatoes - mashed, fried, boiled, au gratin, whatever - I'll eat them all...just maybe not at the same time. Although, can't say I haven't done that before.

One magazine went so far as to tell me to replace mashed potatoes with mashed cauliflower. What? Who thinks that is a good idea? I love cauliflower, but not as a replacement. As a stand alone, yes. I'm Irish, we don't just give up potatoes like that.

So for this post, there's no moral, no deep thoughts, no life-changing written words. It's simply me sharing my experience at being appalled, APPALLED, that someone would suggest that life is better without the potato. Perish the thought.

Glass is potentially half empty with a possibility of half full

These past couple of weeks have not been some of my finest. Yes, some of that is my own fault. I'm holding down a couple of jobs, doing my work for the Porchlight board and committees, joining two more DAR committees, helping to plan my 10 year high school reunion, and producing a play. Fine, I overcommitted - again. However, nothing new so that's not really the root of the crappiness.

It's because my arms hurts. There, I said it. I have a high pain tolerance and usually handle it just fine. When I got my wisdom teeth out, I took some Nuprin and went to marching band practice the next day. When I broke my finger, I wrapped it up in a drugstore brace and went about my business. But this endless pain/ache in my right arm and no feeling in my right middle finger for almost two weeks is driving me nuts. I have things to do! None of this semi-handicapedness - "I ain't got time to bleed." (Thanks, Jesse Ventura!) Tests come back negative, doctor give somewhat useless advice - and I'm still hurting.

So...right arm is not cooperating. To top that off, Friday my wallet is stolen. Most irritating part? Not calling all of the banks and filing a police report. Not not being able to take out any money in case of emergency. Most irritating was the loss of the wallet itself! I loved that wallet!! It was cute and tiny and had a leather owl on it...grrrr....

Glass half empty.

However, that said...good things can still happen. I had a great time doing dinner and the theatre with a friend. This morning I'm cutting down the alley to catch the bus and my regular homeless guy wishes me a happy day and to stay warm. After my morning meeting (on a Saturday), two of my fellow committee members offer me a ride downtown. Then I'm looking at movie times and the guy exiting a movie tells me I'm pretty.

Maybe...glass half full.

Now, tonight, I'm chillaxing in my adorable apartment with a happy cat, a good movie, and delicious leftovers. Yeah, my arm hurts and I can't buy online this beautiful coat that is 80% off. Yet in the larger scheme of things, la vie est belle.

Guy Ritchie, we need to talk

Because I'm pretty sure you took the amazing literature of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and crapped all over it. Why do I say this? Because of this monstrosity...

What...what is that? I felt sorry for you when Madonna took away your masculinity and coerced you into making the disaster that was Swept Away. I gave you the benefit of the doubt and actually paid to see RocknRolla.

And what do you do? You take the beloved story of Sherlock Holmes and make it into some twisted action movie with bad comedy and worse (looks like at least) plotlines. For the love of all that is sacred and holy, why? Look, I know that SH was a drug user during his time, but that doesn't mean the audience show be required to do the same just to get through this monstrosity of a film.

And it is going to be released on December 25? What, you're trying to kill my Christmas, too? Bullocks to that, mate.

Because you can take your bare-knuckled fisting, bad joke making, wimpy looking, bad accent using Sherlock Holmes and stuff him somewhere that won't see the light of day. Because, my friend - Jeremy Brett is better than you'll ever be. So put that in your pipe and smoke it.

The Wisdom of The Princess Bride

As Count Rugen said in this classic film, before being killed by everyone's favorite Inigo Montoya, "If you haven't got your health, then you haven't got anything."

So true.

Normally this blog doesn't get overly personal, but tonight, my friends is different. I've put on weight since moving to Chicago. A lot of weight...let's not sugarcoat anything. I finally, finally realized this an hour ago as I tried on dresses for our opening gala in a few weeks and nothing fit. And not in the girl way of just finding an excuse to buy something new...literally. nothing. fit.

This gain is due to a lot of factors: eating as a solution to stress; a lot of late nights; having two jobs, taking classes, being involved in the community, and moving - twice; going out with old friends and making new friends; eating on the cheap; McDonald's when it's convenient.

But I'm out of excuses. As well I should be - no more "I'll start eating healthy tomorrow," or "I'll get up early to work out," (when do I ever voluntarily wake up early?), or "I'll give myself a free day to eat whatever I want." Because obviously folks, that's not working.

And if you can't tell so far, I'm pretty angry at myself. At 27, I should be in great shape - instead my clothes don't fit and I have high cholesterol. Stupid, and I know that. In high school I was always worried about being heavier than my classmates, but now I would kill for that body!

So, done. That's it. No more excuses, no more putting it off, in short, no more bull s***. I've always been a strong, disciplined woman and there's no reason to stop now. If I've survived living on two continents, graduating with my masters at 24, moving across the country twice, and working for one of the best orchestras on earth, I can sure as hell put down the donut.

So while this is a battle cry to myself to eat healthy and work out, I am still cognizant of two things 1) I've said this stuff before to no avail and 2) In the morning light, everything could seem fine. But, I feel different - ready for the challenge and eager to prove myself wrong.

So if someone asks me if I'm going to hit up the salad bar, pound the pavement, hit the weights, or take my racquet to the courts, I'll say, "Tell them I'm coming, and hell's coming with me. " (See Tombstone)

Princess Power

So I'll cop to the fact that when I was but a wee girl I liked the Disney princess movies. I watched the Sleeping Beauty, the Cinderella, the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. My hands-down favorite "princess" was Belle, though, from Beauty and the Beast. She's wicked smart, a brunette, loves to read, doesn't give in to social pressure, has a good relationship with her Dad, and let's be honest, truly saves the day.

However, I'm slightly terrified of the turn the "Disney Princesses" have taken in the past several years. Disney has grouped them altogether in a pastel pink world where little girls can wile away their days with fancy dresses and dreams of a Prince Charming. Barf. And what about the non-princess heroines like Pocahontas, Mulan, or Esmerelda? Are we stashing them away so Disney can subtly indoctrine young girls with a belief in the class system?

I mean, seriously.

However, recently I stumbled across some artwork that warms my heart that is two sizes too small. While spending sometime on Total Film, I read an article about "6 Dark Remakes Starring Disney Princesses." My hope upon hope that Rob Zombie had somehow gotten the rights to The Little Mermaid turned out to be false, but I was introduced to some amazing artwork that meshes my past-love of Disney and my current love of horror films. All thanks to DeviantArt and DeviantArt regular Jeffrey Thomas. And again, my favorite is Belle - now a more feral version with a badder beast (awesome).

A close second? Sleeping Beauty - now as a vampire (brilliant).

You can see TotalFilm's article here and the rest of the princesses here. Enjoy!