And I have a whole list of excuses that do nothing to mask the real issue: it’s easier to consume content than to create it. Also, I’m hesitant to create more white noise, and I haven’t had a lot to say in, oh, eight months or so. But I have recently been at once shamed and inspired by the blog of a coworker (http://elasticwaist.com/) and have decided to suck it up and start blogging. But not about work. Not today. Though sometime I’d be interested to see where you stand on the interesting-work-in-a-scary-urban-center approach versus the crazymaking-dull-work-in-a-freakin-winter-wonderland approach to one’s career. Not that I’m complaining. Happy to have the work.
My favorite site of the week is http://www.davidlebovitz.com. He’s an American cookbook author and gifted food photographer who lives in Paris. Think David Sedaris meets Julia Child. I am so smitten that I’ve kept my browser open for days just so I can look at it in any spare moment. Also, I fear that if I close the window I’ll forget it ever existed and it will be just another unorganized bookmark at the bottom of a list with hundreds of other sites I found on the way to some place else and hastily bookmarked for a time when I can go back and read each closely, along with the complete works of Shakespeare and the Great Books. Sometime after I die, I suspect. But this is different. Every page brings me joy. Really, ditch this loser blog and go there now. If you’re a foodie, that is. If you think that Romano’s Macaroni Grill has it going on, well, go anyway. Great food is a great leveler. True foodies aren’t snobs. They go where the flavor is, whether it’s savoring a dinner at Chez Panisse or tossing back an RC cola and a moon pie at a truck stop. Food sustains us, connects us, comforts us, brings us pleasure. It’s my drug of choice. And David Lebovitz is today’s favorite pusher.
That said, I did okay eating today. Protein shake for breakfast, maybe too much coffee, steak and spinach for a late lunch, couple of slices of pumpkin pie. I made the pumpkin pie with a whole wheat crust, fat free evaporated milk and Splenda, so it wasn’t quite so heavy. Next time I’m definitely springing for the whole wheat frozen pie crust at Whole Foods. Better and easier. Or I might skip the crust altogether and bake it in custard cups, though I think the husband and kids might mutiny. So not the cleanest eating day, but not the worst, either. I’ll do better tomorrow. More veggies, more water, less flour.
I’m taking a few days off from work to burn off some vacation days. That and the upcoming holidays have me even more focused on food than usual. A week of vacation stretches out before me, the chance to do an endless number of useful tasks. But I know me. I’ll waste it. Always do. Don’t get anything accomplished, just wander around the house waiting for a starting gun that never fires. I’ll surf and answer random emails with intense interest and a defensive air of importance. I’ll check Facebook and LinkedIn and Craigslist and look for jobs that don’t exist. I’ll be bored. It used to bother me, my complete lack of time management skills. Now I rationalize it as the price of a rather stressful job. It’s ok. It’s my time off, I can waste it if I want to. But right now, here at the beginning, I’m still hopeful that I can get stuff done–clean my bedroom, do laundry, get ahead on Christmas shopping and cards, rake leaves, cook, spend time with my kids, and maybe, just maybe, blog.