Nag for hire I—HabitForge
If you’re like me and don’t have a wife to nag you about your bad habits, no problem. Habitforge.com will do the nagging for you. Based on a theory that it takes 21 days to quit an old habit or develop a new habit, HabitForge will send you emails for 21 days asking you to respond yes or no to the goals you had cited. HabitForge will then send your friends an email of your progress and of your success. That way, they can get in on the nagging too. If you mess up, HabitForge starts counting from 1 again.
But you’re right out of luck if you don’t have the habit of checking your email.
Nag for hire II—the Mandometer
Food Tube at Salon.com describes the Mandometer as a plate that scolds you. The device tracks your speed of eating compared to normal eating patterns, and tells you to slow down or speed up your consumption. It also weighs your food, letting you know when you are pigging out.
The Mandometer was developed as psychiatric treatment for anorexia and bulimia. Bless their little hearts: now the rest of us can be nagged into proper eating habits.
Resources
- Mandometer reviewed at MyDigitalLife
- Jess, a 21-day blogger
- Steven Aitchison on the so-called 21-day theory
- Rick Clark: Break a habit by making it a habit
- I am Luca blog
Filed under: Diet | Leave a Comment
Tags: HabitForge, Mandometer, nag, Salon
Women writers who whine too much
In Salon.com women writers continue to whine over male writers getting more attention in best lists and awards.
Some have been whining about this for years. Here’s a 1998 article, Are men better writers than women? reviewing the Harper’s piece, Scent of a woman’s ink: are women writers really inferior? The editors who write the titles could do with a little writing face lift.
And here’s a story about a woman writer who had a hard time making it until she wrote with a male alias. Why James Chartrand Wears Women’s Underpants? But, hey a real male writer would never say, “women’s underpants.” Panties. Babes wear panties. Even my 90-year-old mother wears panties.
Filed under: Books, Writers, writing | Leave a Comment
Tags: Francine Prose, Harpers, James Chartrand, Kate Harding, Laura Miller, Salon.com, whining
A Meatless Monday
With Monday around the corner, I thought of Meatless Mondays, a promotion by Earthsave to get us away from eating meat. In the spirit of Meatless Monday, I got out my vegetarian cookbook and found a recipe for filo filled with vegetables and feta and a little pesto.
I’ve never bought or used filo pastry before. Instead of following the directions on the Krinoz box, which says to thaw first, I pulled the filo box right from the freezer. Of course, filo doesn’t work frozen — it broke off in small pieces. Even when thawed, it appears to be a tricky thing and needs to be covered with a damp cloth so it won’t dry out while preparing the recipe.
I managed to make my recipe with the small pieces of filo. Mmm, good. Certainly worth the hassle. I’ll use the leftover filo to make apple strudel from the recipe on the box or maybe a spinach and feta filo. There’s lots of great filo recipes including the one pictured: Filo and Apricot Purses.
Resources
- See a happy cow at I Want to Hold Your Hand
- Recipe for Sweet Potato-Peanut Butter Bisque
Filed under: Diet, Vegetarian | Leave a Comment
Tags: Earthsave, Krinos filo pastry, Meatless Mondays
Murakami’s perfect reader
Writers’ body parts don’t usually get media attention. The profile of Haruki Murakami in the Globe & Mail described a man with toned biceps and quadriceps. The interview was on the occasion of a new book, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, a memoir of Murakami’s running and sitting life. Murakami, a former jazz club owner and successful novelist prone to reclusiveness, took up marathon running to combat the sedentary life of writing. This resonated with me. As a production artist working at a computer for hours, the pounds are determined to keep an upward trajectory along with my age.
To say Murakami inspired me to start running is giving him too much credit. By the time I read Running, several things were already in place. For one, I’ve always admired people who get up early and run. If you run in the evening, I’m less likely to admire you. Two, I’ve always liked the sound of running. Three, I’ve recently scrapped bottom—my energy has been at a record low while my weight has almost reached a record high. Four, I can’t get the image of tubby people in hover chairs from the movie Wall-E out of my mind.
The day after reading Murakami’s book, I cycled downtown to the public library and found several books on running for beginners. On the way home, I bought a stop watch. The next morning, I typed up a 13-week schedule and hit the road. After the first week of training, I found a tangible goal—a 5k run/walk with the CIBC Breast Cancer Run for the Cure.
I liked the sound of Murakami’s life much more than the reading of it. At times, the writing is simple and repetitive. Murakami even breaks a basic rule: Don’t tell—show. He says he spent a lot of time polishing the manuscript. I felt embarrassed for the guy, but attributed it to the translation and wished I could read the author in his native language.
Critics have not been as kind. He’s called lazy by Geoff Dyer of the New York Times and clichéd by Michael Hingston of the Georgia Straight. Ouch. But as his perfect reader, my interest in his novels is perked. Murakami is on my summer reading list. Sort of.
Bloggers on Murakami
Filed under: Books, Film, Running, Writers | 3 Comments
Tags: Georgia Straight, Haruki Murakami, New York Times, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
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