Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Attention Skinny Bitches...


I am reading 3 books right now which is entirely ridiculous. Last night after I dined on salmon rolls and spicy shrimp rolls accompanied by white wine with my co-worker, I dropped by Barnes and Noble because I have found that I seem to happier at bookstores than just about anywhere else.
I have found that in bookstores, I lose all of my self-professed inadequacies and actually just enjoy myself. It’s almost like I even become prettier once I step inside the doors. I wade through the titles in the art section and pretend that I know what I am looking for. I don’t. But I have found that surrealism is my favorite art. (A huge accomplishment for me! It’s taken me 28 years to discover this!) I even have a favorite artist! Her name is Dorothea Tanning. Look her up. Look up the work “The Truth About Comets and Little Girls.” It’s gorgeous and eerie and sadistic and beautiful and faintly hopeful in a way.

Next, I will maneuver about to the poetry section where I might read some Edna St Vincent Millay for a bit or Pablo Neruda. (If you haven’t ever read Pablo Neruda and enjoy poetry with hints of romance and eroticism, read him.)
Last night, I even wandered around the sports section for a bit, staring at the glossy covers of books on “Everything You Need to Know About Running.” Then, I thought better of that and escaped the aisle seemingly unscathed.
If you aren’t able to tell by my writing, I tend to get obsessed with things easily. I will compulsively pick up knitting, buy books, needles, thread…It will dominate my life for days before I quit entirely. I will develop an addiction to peanut butter bars and bake 4 recipes a week for 4 months before I stop, 5 pounds heavier and broke.

I have done this with running. I started jogging in Houston. I was running 4 miles a day…nothing crazy. I then met a running partner who pushed me into running races and soon after (what do ya know?) I was addicted. I was running 6 days a week, 5 miles a day with 1 long run scheduled on Monday evenings.
I ran a marathon.
I quit running.
My compulsiveness, not to mention my impulsiveness, exhaust me. Long story short, I can run and contemplate going back into training and enjoy it. But if I start buying books, it’s all over and I am hooked and then I am committed to a marathon which I am not yet ready to be.
So…I walked away.
But! This presented a different problem. I walked past a stand of books which you may or may not have seen, entitled 'Skinny Bitch,' by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. What’s slightly comical about all of this is that I don’t read books like this. I never even pick them up. I am a “Live to Eater,” and not an “Eat to Live-er.”
But I picked it up anyway and the first few pages made me laugh in that their language is a lot like mine and before I knew it, I was purchasing this book along with a couple of other novels. “Hey,” I thought to myself, “It absolutely never hurts to be healthier.”
I sat down on the couch last night in my Alpharetta, GA apartment and read.
And then I read some more.
And now I have read nearly all of it.
I forced myself to stop reading it due to the sheer graphic horrors presented on slaughterhouse abuse to farm animals.
I was hysterical.
It’s a great book which promotes a vegan lifestyle which I did not realize going in.
Sometimes it’s nice to live in your pretty, pink little shell…safe from the knowledge that exists outside of you. Let’s face it. It’s easier NOT to know. Why else do we buy US Weekly and People instead of Newsweek and TIME? Because we WANT to know if John Mayer regrets breaking up with Jennifer Aniston and NOT the death count in the war. That’s why. It makes us sad. And we don’t like being sad.

Anyway. It’s horrendous, tragic, sickening and SAD.
And I threw up my sushi.
I’m not going to go into what I read because I don’t want to force it on you if you don’t wish to read it. But, if you want to learn more about slaughterhouse abuse and what you can do to help, pick up this book wherever books are sold and give it a go. To read specifically the horrors that I am speaking of (writing of), read pages 69-72 which are excerpts from the book 'Slaughterhouse,' by Gail Eisnitz, chief investigator for the Humane Farming Association who interviewed dozens of slaughterhouse workers across the country.

This book prompted me to delve right back into 'Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food' by Gene Baur who is my personal hero. Again, “Readers Discretion” is advised. The content is graphic. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

So…when all is said and done, it appears that I have once again become compulsive/impulsive. I have already visited
www.goveg.com for a free vegetarian starter kit.

But this one, this compulsion…I fear…may be long-lasting. My poor husband and dogs don’t know what they’re in for.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You ran a marathon? That's pretty cool. 5 miles is not easy as I remember the days when I used to do that every week. I found it is a lot harder to do in high elevations due to the thinner air(Colorado). Nice blog post this one was. You should get back into running! I know I am....I can feel the sluggishness coming back and it needs to go away!