Whine & Cheese

City Of Thieves (#15)

For you book post sticklers, you'll remember we are jumping ahead or jumbling around... my last book post was #13 Michael J Fox's memoir Always Looking Up... but eons ago I already took care of my little write-up about #14 Dead Until Dark to coincide(-ish) with the Season 2 premiere of HBO's True Blood (which really deserves a blog entry of its own)... so that means it's onto Book #15 for 2009...

... David Benioff's City of Thieves.  There seem to be a fairly limited number of ways I "find" books (again, probably worthy of a blog post of its own) and this one falls under... books impossible to avoid when you walk into pretty much any bookstore.  Since Benioff isn't one of those blockbuster authors, typically it seems like it is one of those books that gets good word-of-mouth (or a good PR book publishing work) that eventually landed the book a consistent spot on the bestseller list.  This phenomenon tends to pique my curiosity and, more often than not, there seems to be a good reason for the book's success.

On paper, this book is probably a bit of a tough sell... unless you are a history buff and are interested in the Siege on Leningrad during WWII... but alas this is a lot more than a war novel, but also a coming of age story and often, quite funny... though more in an "war is absurd" kind of way.  Doing a Hollywood pitch meeting on this one, I would say I could envision this being Quentin Tarantino picture (though he already has a WWII flick coming out shortly), but a very healthy sampling of war violence, but at times so macabre that there is a dark humor about it, though from all accounts I read what occurred in this piece of fiction is horrifyingly accurate. 

But there is plenty of things to balance this out, led by a very interesting protagonist, 17-year old orphan (his mother and sister fled before the siege) of Jewish ancestry named Lev Benoiv... and if you think that's similar to the author's name you are correct in a neat little twist to the story (it pretty much occurs right up-front in the novel, but I'll leave it alone/spoiler-free.  Lev gets himself in trouble but ends up being paired up on a life-saving errand with Koyla, a Russian soldier accused of defecting from the army.  It is this odd couple that we follow for about a week's time and again see the very worst and the very best that the human race is capable of.

At about 260 pages, it is more like a novella and quick reading.  My only criticism was a slight interest drag in the middle and some suspension of belief as the lead characters get themselves out some pretty tight situations (and multiple times).  But the book is still a fascinating story, plus an education for you non-WWII buffs.

Roger & Mirka

I know things have been quiet here... after a bit of a flurry of activity last week, it's back to chirping crickets this week.   Again, not putting too much pressure on myself to "produce" unless I feel like it.

Anyhow, I did finally stumble onto some wedding photos of Roger Federer and Mirka earlier this week.  He got married, fairly quietly, back in April in Switzerland and didn't really see much until recently (this some European paper must have finally secured rights to publish them).

But before we get to the wedding pic, it is interesting to see how far both of them have come in just a few years.  You well know I have a thing for Roger, but man he was a bit skeezy just a few years ago.  I think this of Roger and Mirka is circa 2003-04-ish, back when Rog sporting the little ponytail on the court.

Hard to believe that this was only a few years ago, seems more like 1980s prom material

And now onto the wedding pic, and you can definitely see that Rog has definitely benefited from the extreme makeover... and Mirka is looking great too (well, glowing...this was a shot-gun wedding after all).

UPDATE:  Funny enough, I almost was going to wait to post these pictures until they had their baby (which I knew was soon), but then given the dearth of material here this week I went ahead and posted... and what you know, Roger and Mirka became parents last night (probably by the time I had posted this).  The big news was they had twin girls!   I am impressed they kept that a secret, though Mirka was pretty scary big at Wimbledon, that I am relieved for her that there were two babies in there!  The names are a bit unusual but what else is new these days... Charlene Riva and Myla Rose.  Congrats!

Express Lane: Issue 66

Ryan Seacrest made $100k per American Idol 8 episode - I'll tell you how much that pisses me off, after the break... (7/10/09)  (Follow-up 7/13.09: "Idol" host Ryan Seacrest signs $45 million deal... oy!)

Middlesex on the Tube - The beloved Jeffrey Eugenides' novel is headed to TV as a series... thankfully on HBO, which may just be able to pull it off. (7/8/09)

The Best Books of the Year So Far - Amazon comes up with their Top 10s for the first half of 2009, I've read only one of them... so far! (7/8/09)

Avenue Q to Close in September - Another long running Broadway show bites the dust... but we knew it was "Only For Now" anyhow. (6/29/09)

Hair!

I caught this blast from my college past on Facebook and I couldn't pass up sharing it!

Now this was a hairy double-whammy... the 1980s and New Jersey (where, even today, the hair still seems to be taller and bigger).

I have blocked out the faces to protect the guilt!  I didn't feel right about showing the original since it was one of those Facebook instances where one of my old college friends commented on a pic of one of their friends (who is not my friend), but that still allows me to see this picture... got that?  One of the "privacy" loopholes, for sure.  But I was friends with many of these gals pictured above... and will tell you this was not a special occasion or anything  (like Halloween)... just average/normal college day in 1987!

... though it probably does explain the whole global warming/climate change thing!

Free Range

This ad has been popping up (well, not popping but on the side) and I so want to find this t-shirt!

Though I think it is not real, just text superimposed over a picture (BTW, did they really have to crop his face out?  There seems to be some yum-o potential there, but anyhow...)

And also, if you've been following things here lately (thanks for sticking around by the way, know things have been quiet here) you know my interest has nothing to do with wi-fi or cellular roaming...  but, for us meat eaters, the more desirable free-range variety rather than those cooped up in pens or cages (on another side note, we now also laughing at "Grain Fed!" promotions like that's a good thing, but anyhow...)

I have looked around the Internets for a shirt like this... Cafe Press had some items that were pretty close, but nothing quite as simple as what's above.  There are plenty of places to create/design your own t-shirt, so maybe I'll end up doing that, but if anyone finds something close to this let me know!

Always Looking Up (#13)

While I might not have a whole lot of running commentary of what's going on in the world these days, there's always a new... or should I say... and old book to write about.

This next book was a continuation of my "snap out of it"/"get happy" reading, though at this point it was less about my mental health than having just read a series of "darker" books. But after getting some good perspectives from The Geography of Bliss, I hoped to continue that inspiration with Michael J. Fox's Always Looking Up: The Adventure of an Incurable Optimist.  It seemed like a no-lose situation and it's hard to think of someone more likable than Fox or how one couldn't be inspired by his battle with Parkinson's.

My regular readers might know where this is going... going in with high or different expectations and not having them delivered... and that's really tough to admit when it comes to this book, because it is really hard to be critical of Fox, who I do genuinely like... and oddly enough, I did enjoy him on the a television special that was a companion piece to this book.

I had a similar experience several years back when I read Lance Armstrong's memoir.  I certainly respected the guy's athletic accomplishments, even more so coming back from the brink of death... but in the end, I really didn't end up liking the guy very much.  Their was a smugness or bravado, which I think is a requirement to be a world-class athlete, but it still rubbed me the wrong way.  Funny enough, it was Armstrong's appearance in this book that was the initial "expectations" blow in this book.  Fox patterned his own Parkinson's research/charity after Armstrong's own Livestrong program, so they sort of become friends during one of Armstrong's last wins at the Tour de France (way before this year's comeback attempt)... as Fox and family were vacationing in France at the time, with Fox and Robin Williams ending up riding the pace car down the Champs Elysees at Tour's end.

And this is where I had a hard time with the book and it's not Fox's fault, but just my expectations of the book not being met.  What I thought was going to be an inspiring, "how I get through the day" stuff... ultimately it wasn't any different than any other celebrity memoir... but given Fox's likability, not with any dirt or scandal!  So Fox does not emerge as the "every" or common man, but one with a very privileged Hollywood-type lifestyle (though living primarily in NYC).  I suspect it is not so hard to be an "incurable optimist" when your name is a big ole foot in the door and you have millions in your checking account and need not worry about insurance coverage and/or getting the possible best medical care.  Again, I repeat this is not Fox's fault, his success was well-earned and it is admirable what he is now doing with his life... but again, the book was just not terribly relate-able... the only thing to glean, was an appreciation of having a loving family and good friends, which Fox certainly has (again) in spades.  (And again, a bit too "perfect" and only further exacerbated by cloyingly named children: Aquinnah, Schuyler, and Esmé).

Ultimately, the book became a battle between cynic meeting optimist, and the being the former a lot more than the latter, I'll tell you the cynic usually wins... though no regrets having read the book and not to discourage others from doing so, just a caveat that it's more celebrity than inspiration.

Eye-Opener

It's been about a month since I provided any sort of eye candy here on W&C, so what better than a little eye-opener for this Monday!

May I present Fernando Verdasco during a Davis Cup changeover this past weekend!

After the French Open/Wimbledon one-two punch, I tend to not pay much attention to tennis until the US Open warm-up tournaments begin... so just kind of skimmed over this week's minor tourneys and Davis Cup action... but this picture certainly caught my eye (thanks good for female and/or gay photographers who keep their cameras ready during breaks in the on-court play!).

I do know the US suffered a somewhat embarrassing lost to Croatia sans Roddick... who bowed out citing a hip injury, though I think even Roddick would admit it was more of mental beating after that epic Wimbledon final... and not that you could fault him for it.  But given the in-decline James Blake and the clay surface that did no favors to fill-in Mardy Fish (despite two tight 5-set opening matches)... but with that US line-up....

I would have preferred if The Tennis Channel aired the Spain-Germany tie, at least that would have been something prettier to look at... especially the doubles when Verdasco teamed up with the similarly ridiculously hot Feliciano Lopez (and we'll just conveniently ignore rumors that they have egos to match their good looks).  Verdasco lost a tough 8-6 fifth set opening match, but won his other two to advance Spain to semifinals where they should be heavy favorites against Israel, even if Rafa is still not back in action and/or limiting his play.

If you want to see more Shirtless Fernando Verdasco, be sure to browse my special category for him... believe me, it's all pictures all the time!

It Worked

It was kind of funny yesterday as both myself and Todd had doctor appointments since prior to this year and likely the entire time we've known each other you could use your fingers to count the number of time both of us combined had been to a doctor's office.

Mine was a referral to a podiatrist for my feet that have been a mess for several years now.  The good news/bad news is that it's nothing horrific... mostly calluses due to wear and tear (especially since I go barefoot 24/7 for a good part of year) and okay... some warts.  Fun!  Treating hose with some stuff the doc gave me, but nothing super-strength as it is available OTC, but bandaging up my feet which is not easy!  I have a liquid nitrogen option if this doesn't work, but the doc said she prefers to try the "not painful" route first.  Not a bad idea.

While I was in the building, I also got a copy of my lab results from my PCP visit a couple of weeks ago.  I did receive a recorded message with the cholesterol numbers... which were quite good, but rattled off so quickly that I wasn't sure what was what... or if in fact that were that good.   I don't come from the most optimistic genetic pool, so I am a bit of a hypochondriac... but sure enough, in the report all the numbers were very good.... in fact, were called "unremarkable" which made me laugh when I realized that they meant it in the "no remarks to be made" sense and not the fact they were quite remarkable, or dare I even say... awesome. Ha!  The one blip was low HDL (or "good") cholesterol... but I think they were just being nit-picky and trying to find something to say as a 38 when it should be over 39, is not so bad.

Another reason I was so surprised by these results was Todd's cholesterol numbers from three months ago.  They were enough to send him to a dietitian and we did a big 'ole re-boot on our entire eating lifestyle.  Well, to be honest I didn't jump right at the start... but close enough to my doctor's appointment, that I do think even a week of good eating helped out my numbers. 

But one thing I appreciated and am grateful for (now in retrospect) is that Todd's doctor didn't throw some cholesterol meds at him and send him on his way... but instead tried to get to the source of the problem, examining what you eat and how you eat it.  Like I said in the last post on this subject, you are what you eat... and why not regulate your body with food instead of drugs?!  I know this is not possible/the case for everyone, but I suspect a lot of folks on cholesterol drugs didn't were not offered this "dietary intervention" strategy, which is pretty sad.

Anyhow, I've built this up enough.. but, as you have likely suspected the results were amazing!  In 3 months, Todd's total cholesterol and LDL (or "bad" cholesterol) went down by 38% and 43% respectively... both of these were very high and well outside the good range (all his numbers are not in the good range).  His dietitian told him that the LDL change was the biggest 3-month drop she had ever seen!   His Triglycerides also decreased by 53%!   And if those numbers aren't enough, a more visible sign of improvement in this healthier eating is that he has dropped 19 lbs!   (As a quick sidenote, that was, until very recently... without any exercise... we are now doing Wii fitness stuff (and Todd is swimming laps), but that's fodder for another post)

I am very proud of him and admittedly relieved that this worked, since he has made such an effort and really took the time to educate himself with his own research along with the dietitian, which I think really gave us some constructive advice based on what we were actually eating via his food diaries. The best thing is that this isn't a deprivation, it's really just making better choices.  That is, unless you think not eating fast food or a half-dozen cookies is deprivation.  But heck, for me... I am eating more food that I probably have since I moved to Arizona almost (gasp!) 20 years ago!  Best part is that this is very sustainable... again a lifestyle change vs. a diet.

We now find ourselves "selling" this to anyone who'll listen... it's certainly been a wake-up call, light-bulb moment... whatever cliche you could come up with, but the numbers don't lie... and they have worked!

The Geography of Bliss (#12)

Still playing catch-up with these book post, but at least with this one we get into books that I read in the month of May!

The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner had pretty much been on my radar ever since it was originally published.  But it just didn't seem like one of those books to buy in hardcover and so I put it on hold until it came out in soft (which it did at the start of this year), but then, of course, I got the Kindle and that's how I ended up reading this one.  

I was pretty sure I was going to like it... and the book subtitle, "One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World," only added to that certainty... plus I seem to be having a little love affair with the travel/memoir sub-genre.  The only thing that I tend to not like about these books is jealousy over all the places the author gets to go under the auspices of "research"... though despite the title, Weiner does go to some places that were... and still are not.. high on my list. 

Also, there was no mistaking why I chose this book to read at this particular time as well.  I have admittedly been in a funk for a while and on my own search for happiness.  It's pretty hard to admit that one is not happy... though "between the lines" it often seems like more than not are unhappy... but admitting it seems to be a whole different thing.  So Weiner goes to places and examines if the lifestyle or situations on the ground in different places lead to happiness... a couple of examples:  the "anything goes" attitude of the Netherlands, the wealth of Qatar, or even the government sanctioned "Gross National Happiness" of Bhutan.  

But even going in to this book optimistically, you kind of know you are not going to find that magic answer... and while the book has fun challenging cliches, one that seems to prove true is that happiness is not a destination.  

There was a whole bunch of "bookmarking" I did with this book... here are some of my favorite passages:

"... instinctively I reach for my notebook and camera.  But I stop myself.  Experience.  You need to experience.  Recording life is a poor substitute for living it."

That one was funny, since Todd would probably tell you I get a little nutso when it comes to me and my camera.  Though even before reading this particular line (one reason it rang so true), was that I have been trying more lately to just sit down and soak something in even if it's not for long.  I remember when we got up to Great Wall for the first time, I let myself take in that first view ... and then photographed it, instead of vice versa... or having my entire experience be from the other side of the lens.  That said, I'm still a work in progress on that front.

"Travel, at its best, transforms up in ways that aren't always apparent until we're back home."

Oddly enough this might have been part of my reason for my recent funk, since 2008 was such an amazingly outrageous travel year for us.  It was an eye-opening and enlightening trip and I looked forward to doing it more and more... the Pandora's Box opened up and not being able to be contained, so with the whole economic situation and a need to be conservative with cash, that kind of got me down.  I want to get back out into the world...  maybe next year! 

Overall, I really did enjoy this book... though I wouldn't go as far to say that it made me blissful, ha!  But it was thought-provoking and I think it provided some of the impetus for me to start emerging from my own recent grump phase (prone to the occasional relapse!).  Like travel, just seeing things from new and different directions / perspectives is enlightening. 

You Are What You Eat

As I recently mentioned, we've been kind of obsessed with eating in our house... but not obsession as in gorging, but eating healthier. 

I have 'fessed up to my "not entirely bad, but a tad too much" 30+ lb weight gain over the past year or so.  While I always needed to put on some weight (I know!), it just seemed like it kept on going to a point where I wasn't really happy about it.  For awhile I didn't feel like doing much anything about it, "wallowing" would indeed be the perfect word.  But a couple things finally lighted a spark, Todd having some high cholesterol #s... and me somewhat jokingly deciding to "play along" with his food diary, that he had been keeping for his dietitian... and the shocking results of my first day of doing that!

The amount of information we've absorbed over the past couple of months have been amazing and I think we've really made positive steps towards a healthier life.  I thought I would share some of those things... with the caveat that I am not a doctor (nor do I play one on TV) and that works for us (Todd has lost 15 lbs, I have dropped 3 lbs in 2-ish weeks) may not work for you... but still I think this is still stuff that is beneficial whether or not you are trying to lose weight. 

Given all the directions this advice has come from, I don't really know who to give credit to... obviously there is Todd's dietitian which has provided a lot of direct feedback to what he (and thus, indirectly, myself) are eating right/wrong... Todd has read two Michael Pollan books lately ("In Defense of Food" and currently "The Omnivore's Dilemma")... and a lot of it is common sense and/or stuff you've heard over and over again, but here's just some quick stuff we're doing (which Todd may have to correct me on):

Eating 5 times a day - My metabolism had enough and even though I know "it's the most important meal of the day" it was no longer OK with not having a steady breakfast for much of the past 2 decades.  That worked for awhile, not more.  The trick for me was to not make it work-intensive... yogurt, a fruit/nut bar, etc.  Snacks are usually fruits, nuts, a cheese stick.

Keeping a food diary - As I said, this started as kind of a joke... but when my first logged day exceeded 3,000 calories... well, that was an eye opener... though that certainly wasn't a typical day (lunch and dinner out on the weekend).  There are a lot of website that you can keep track of this (and for free)... and I can't imagine anyone won't be surprised by the results.  My first change was the # of calories I was drinking in the morning... there were probably days I was drinking 200+ calories of Coffemate... which leads us to...

Food Your Great-Grandmother Would Recognize - Pretty sure this is from Michael Pollan, but the advice is not to eat anything that your grandmother (or great or great-great depending on your age) would not recognize as food.  This was a light bulb kind of moment... and CoffeeMate was one of these things, I have a feeling Grandma would give you a blank stare if you mentioned stuff like: sodium caseinate, dipotassium phosphate, and sodium aluminosilicate.  Other quick advice:  the less ingredients the better.  That's why I've made the switch to half-and-half!

And we've come to the realization that food has its parallels with smoking and global warming... the dangers having been long ignored and corporations more interested in making money than people.  Stuff like high fructose corn syrup is today's version of nicotine of the 1950s. 

Read, read, read - We've been doing a lot of reading lately, stuff like the Pollan books speak of things like I just mentioned (we plan on seeing the documentary "Food, Inc." - doesn't open here in Phoenix until late July)... we picked up a couple of those Eat This, Not That books, that looked kind of cheesy, but really offer up some great advice in a very accessible way.  And just read nutrutional labels, it'll take you a bit longer to get thru the grocery store... but there is good (or at least) better food options out there if you look.

Eating In/Out - It's challenging to "eat right" at home, but we've learned it virtually impossible when you eat out... and there are just some crazy things out there.  Again, taking a worth looking at one of these nutrition tracking websites to see what a typical meal at a fast-food (or heck, even a regular chain restaurant like Applebee's or Outback) adds up to and quite quickly.

Balancing and Linking - We're not on a food diet per se, but we are watching what we eat and in what combinations.  We try to eat protein at every food session ... and monitor the carbs, which is the closest it ever it feels to being a "diet"... but not totally depriving ourselves of carbs, we strive for a 2-to-1 carb/protein ratio... the more protein the better.  Also, we have found not to get too caught up with "fat" or "cholesterol" ... granted you don't want to go overboard, but those words are really not as bad as their reputations.  Dietitian advice was to only go low or no fat on dairy products.

So that's pretty much some of the very basics... but it's been very interesting making this change and really not as traumatic as expected... drinking (or trying to) drink those 8 glasses of water each day, left little time for a soda (diet or otherwise) and after being a multi-soda a day drinker pretty much all my life, it was quite a surprise that I didn't miss it.  Or that something like an orange for post-dinner dessert was just as satisfying as a handful of cookies.  Well, not exactly or on every night... but more often than not it is.