Last (Really) Day of Classes + BP's Gulf Cataclysm + Griffey Jr. Retires + RIPs + UN: Eat Less Meat

Today, finally, was my last day of classes! It's hard to believe that my quarter is nearly over, but it is. We discussed the final two novellas, all of which will be due, in their revised forms, next week. All of my former fiction students know how enjoyable and difficult--grueling, at times--a process this is, but I must say that even with prior experience and deep enthusiasm, nothing quite prepares you for closely reading, marking up and writing a critical letter (of at least 1-page length) for over 1,590 (or 15students x (2+2+2+5+10+20+20+45 pages each)) pages of fiction* in about 14 weeks. (Just for comparison, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volkonsky's 2007 translation of Tolstoy's War and Peace, sitting beside me on my desk here in Chicago, is a slender 1264 pages.) And I'll still need to read the final versions of all 15 novellas, some of which are approaching 60-80 pages. It nevertheless was an exciting experience, and I can say now that as with my other writing classes, I witnessed ostensible progress and improvement, transformation even, not just aesthetically and technically, but personally, among many of the students. This is one of the things that as a teacher you hope for. Then too there's the reality of their having a portfolio of work they can call their own. By this time two weeks from now, they will have written as much as some writers accomplish in several years: 3-4 complete short stories (during the first half of the sequence), and a novella. Congratulations to all of them!

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I've been wanting to write about the horrific catastrophe BP, Transocean and Halliburton (of course their fingerprints all over this) have created in the Gulf of Mexico, but everytime I think about this cataclysm I start to feel such rage, at these environmental terrorists and criminals, who apparently and knowingly flouted all sorts of regulations to cut a few million dollars off their costs, with this inestimable disaster as the result, and such powerlessness at our impotent federal and state governments, who appear to be doing everything they can to coddle BP, to let them control the non-clean-up, set the agenda, and protect their multibillion-dollar Chernobylesque investment, which continues to spew massive quantities of oil and natural gas into the Gulf.

If we had anything but corporate lackeys running the country, we'd have seen BP's domestic operations nationalized, top scientists and engineers brought in immediately to neutralize the leak, and a strict clampdown on any current and future offshore drilling. Instead, we get a president talking out of both sides of his mouth, federal agencies operating like Keystone Cops to the benefit of the oil industry, and corporate liars, led by the Rowan Atkinsonian Tony Hawyward, so dense and incompetent that they actually believe anyone except the fools in the mainstream media Congress and their own lobbyists are gulled anything they're saying. It was clear when BP talked about putting that giant steel condom atop this gusher that they were on a steady track record of FAIL, and it's been nothing but that since. They are determined not to do anything that would radically block up that gusher, no matter how much damage it's causing, no matter how much dead flora, sea life, careers in the Gulf Region, other countries affected, it engenders. According to the administration, we're supposed to just sit by till August, September, who knows, while BP bumbles forward and drills relief wells (or someone does), whining and dissembling, and finagling Congress into limiting its liabilities.

Really it's as simple as this: US (BP) to Gulf Coast: Drop dead!

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Ken Griffey Jr., 40, one of the best baseball players of his generation, has announced his retirement after 22 seasons. Never carrying the taint of roids, playing full out year after year, even starring alongside his father for a short time, this former Rookie of the Year was one of the on-field leaders during the 1990s. Though he had many amazing years, especially during his initial 10-year stint in Seattle, perhaps the two most remarkable came in 1997, when he hit .304 with 56 home runs, 147 runs batted in, 125 runs scored, a .646 slugging percentage, a 1.028 OPS, and 393 total bases. He won the League MVP, and Seattle finished first in the AL West, though it lost to Baltimore in the League Division Series. The next year, in 1998, he again hit 56 home runs, drove in 146 runs, scored 120, had a .611 slugging percentage, stole 20 bases, and scored 387 total bases. Alongside these outsized years, Junior Griffey had many very good ones, hitting 40 or more homers 7 times and driving in 100 runs 8 times, and was a stellar fielder for nearly his entire career, winning 10 Golden Gloves. His playing time had dwindled this season to benchwarming, and with a .184 average, no home runs, and just 7 RBIs, he decided to bow out. Seattle and baseball fans in general are indebted to all he brought to the game. He'll be sailing into the Hall of Fame.



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Some real RIP goodbyes: Gary Coleman - Louise Bourgeois - Leslie Scalapino - Dennis Hopper - Peter Orlovsky - Ali Ollie Woodson - Tobias Wong - Andrei Voznesensky - Raymond Haysbert Sr. - Art Linkletter - Edoardo Sanguinetti

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Finally, the UN urges, "Eat less meat," save the globe. I didn't pay them, I swear.

On the Road to Vegetarianism Pt. 2 + An Afternoon at Wrigley Field

A while back I posted about switching over to a mostly vegetarian diet, and now I'm nearing the 6-month mark (June 4, to be exact). I have, to my amazement, kept it up.  For some of these months, I've gone weeks without eating any meat, though I still do have some from time to time (this past week I don't think I had any). I also have almost completely given up all processed, prepared foods, unless I'm getting them at a cafe or restaurant (where I have little choice, though I've been trying to patronize restaurants, when I can afford to, that prepare whole foods on the premises). Since January perhaps the only processed, prepared foods I've bought would be oatmeal (and I do also buy the organic rolled oats from a nearby food coop), orange juice, and a few other items like wine.  I haven't bought any frozen dinners or anything else frozen and processed, though I do still sometimes pick up frozen fruits and vegetables, and fish. Other than chocolate, I've stopped buying any candy, and haven't bought any sorts of chips except tortilla chips from restaurants, or an occasional bag made locally. One of the most difficult things to maintain, particularly over the last month, during which I was involved in several very stressful committee assignments (similar versions of which over the past few years led to my having stopped cooking and ordering out food when I felt most under duress), has been the cooking, breadmaking, baking, and so on, but I'm glad to say that I've kept it up.  I note this not for a pat on the back, but just to acknowledge that it amazes me that I've been able to keep this going.

My diet now consists mostly of those hated carbs, and yet, as I noted before, almost as soon as started eating this way I immediately began losing weight (20 lbs, now close to 24 lbs--I've gone from 220 lbs. to about 196 or so, give or take the day) , and I've kept it off.  I had sworn off potatoes after C passed on an article about how bad they are for you (think heavily starchy root vegetable growing in toxic soils!), but I love potatoes, so I've started to reincorporate them into various dishes, where applicable. I have not, however, had French fries more than 1-2 times over the last 6 months. I eat a lot of bread, as any reader of this blog knows. Since the food coop I often shop at in Chicago has had a regular supply of organic sundried tomatoes, I've been regularly baking whole wheat sundried tomato bread, with a few detours, especially during the colder months, to rye bread (I will probably make a pumpernickel loaf again this summer, just because it was so good) or to French bread (which is one of the easiest breads you can make).

I can say that I eat a lot more squash (especially zucchini and yellow squash, which I loathed as a child), eggplant, and beets (which I also wasn't fond of, though I don't know why). I also regularly devour carrots, one of my favorite foods, as well as broccoli, brussel sprouts, and turnips. I eat grains, including couscous and quinoa, and legumes, like lentils and black beans, that I didn't used to eat so much. I don't, however, eat much salad, which I always associated in my mind with 1) healthier eating; 2) weight loss; and 3) vegetarianism. Occasionally I will have salads, and I'll probably eat more once the summer rolls around, but in general, they're not part of the mix. Another bonus of this approach has been that I spend far less money on a weekly basis on food. The coop's prices are decent, but I always end up paying less than I do at the supermarket, and the food usually comes from local (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, etc.) farms (or organic farms in California, Florida, etc.). Interestingly enough, the fruits often seem to last longer that supermarket fruits, which makes me wonder how long they've been sitting on trucks. When I add up how much I will spend at the coop and, say, at Trader Joe's, it's usually far less than I was spending when I primarily hit the supermarket. (Can anyone tell me how Trader Joe's keeps its food prices so low?)  Even when I factor in an occasional visit to Whole Foods, which I was boycotting for a while, my food expenses are still lower than before; and because the food I cook lasts, I spend far less (often nothing) on a daily basis buying lunch, etc., as I once did. (I also avoid the bleached, excess-gluten bread that's overtaken the US market, making many people sick. I often wonder, if more of us baked our own bread, how widespread would the gluten-related problems be that plague us?)



I haven't had my HDL and LDL levels checked since last summer, but I'd be surprised if they haven't gone down. I know that my blood pressure, which often rises during very stressful periods and which I was keeping down with medication, appears--feels--as if it's gone down. I FEEL better on a daily basis, and not just because I can just fit clothes that I'd pushed to the back of the closet. (I do go to the gym regularly and have for years, but that wasn't pulling any weight off or lowering my blood pressure, it seems.) One thing that becomes clearer from eating this way is that the amount of salt in my diet has gone down dramatically; eating fewer processed, prepared foods, I'm getting fewer foods that are drenched or pickled in salt. I check labels assiduously, but I've come to realize that the manufacturers may be underestimating the amount of salt they put into food, and even they aren't, as the New York Times article I link to above makes clear, the salt content of processed foods is dangerous highly for a great many of us. I still eat sugar (I use it in the scones, for example, in sugar cookies, and so on), but I know I'm getting far less sugar, especially of the refined kind, that is wreaking havoc on the people's pancreases. I still eat eggs and butter (I love them!), but I have far more control over both--and dairy products in general in my food--than before. I still do eat fish, and some meat, but as I've noted, in far smaller quantities than ever. Sometimes I miss it, and crave it, but usually I don't. I certainly don't miss fast food at all, and I was never a big consumer of it, but I alongside pizza (which I also make myself), I still occasionally will eat things along those lines, as when I dropped by Hot Doug's, one of Chicago's premier joints, and indulged a few weeks back. (And they handmake all their sausage, fries, and so forth, so....).

One thing I've striven not to do is prescribe my approach for anyone else, including C. I know friends and relatives who are struggling with health issues (diabetes, weight gain struggles, etc.), and I also realize that given all the terrible information we get daily about our diets, all the hectoring and condescension, all the misfocus on pecuniae and far too little on how simple, delicious and easy home cooking whole foods are, how extreme so much of the discussion is (you must eat "raw foods," you must "avoid carbs," you must you must you must), I want to avoid that approach, especially with those close to me, most especially because I feel that it's up to everyone to make personal choices that they feel are best for them. I'm glad that I've finally given up deli meats, one of my favorite lunchtime foods, especially now that I know how awful most of the commercial forms are for people's health, especially when it comes down to blood pressure and overall heart health (how many of us really do go to a butcher's shop and get fresh, locally smoked and prepared meats? I don't think I've had such food in the US since I was very small).

One consideration that presses me, though, when I stop by one of the local supermarkets to grab something or other, is what would happen if a majority of people said No to the industrialized food system we have in this country; what would happen, I think, to all the jobs associated with these businesses, all the workers who I know need these jobs, benefit from them, are hanging on because of them? As I mentioned, I can go weeks now without buying hardly anything at the main supermarkets I used to shop at all the time in Chicago (and Jersey City)--supermarkets which, sadly, send me coupons for bottled water, of all environmentally deleterious products!--and when I am in one, I think, why so much of this pre-packaged foodstuff, this quasi-food, which is wreaking havoc on our bodies and our society, in here? Of course I know the answers, or at least some of them, and they have do with capitalism, consumerism, convenience, and so much more. But if more of us just said enough of this--and, if we so decided, patronized restaurants that weren't part of this industrial system but actually prepared whole foods on the premises, as many do for very little money--what would the effect be on the supermarket world, the industrial food world, the health care industry, as we know them?

I know this is what some people are advocating, and I'm sympathetic to the larger notion of a shifting in food industry paradigms, in farming, in selling food, in how we integrate food into our lives in this country. But at the same time, I'm also worried about the effects these shifts might have on the people at the bottom of this system, the most vulnerable people who rely on the millions of jobs it creates. Given how little concern the federal and state governments, policymakers, and many corporations and their leaders have for the prospects and fortunes of working-class and poor people, let alone middle-class people, all of whom are being devastated by the system as it currently stands, I cannot but worry what will happen if we change the way we operate. And yet it's clear to me, based on the many articles and books (by Michael Pollan and others) I've read, on the many discussions I've had over the last few years, and on my own health experiences, that change is necessary. How to effect it so that it benefits those who most could benefit from it rather than disadvantaging them, as always, in favor of those who already have money, power, and everything else, is one of the questions I keep asking myself every day.

Now, can I keep it up through the summer and on through the end of the year?

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Today I did something I haven't in years, which is go to a baseball game. As J's Theater readers know, I'm a huge baseball fan, and it so happened that one of my teams, the St. Louis Cardinals, were in town to play the Chicago Cubs. I hadn't gone to Wrigley Field since 2001, when I lived just around the corner from it, for various reasons, including its post-game drunken fans, who went so far as to douse my dreadlocks with a cup or more of beer, but I said what the hell, classes are (nearly) over, it's been a brutal quarter, it's the holiday weekend, it's been years since the drenching, it ought to be fun. It was. I scored a ticket right next the stadium (police were everywhere, so it was legal), for a seat just behind the Cubs' dugout, right beside third base. The sightlines were excellent. I found myself wedged between Cubs fans who, when they inquired about my not cheering for their team, were polite enough, and otherwise quite genial. The people booing the Cardinals, and in particular Albert Pujols, were sitting elsewhere. The fight that broke out--I couldn't tell whether it was Cubs fans brawling among themselves, or some Cardinals supporters in the mix--was well down the nearby foul line. My neighbors were mostly concerned with cheering on every single Cubs accomplishment that occurred, and sipping (or quaffing) their beers. And chatting about coworkers and friends.  The Cards had walloped the Cubs the night before behind ace pitcher Chris Carpenter, but today, it was all Chicago. Behind starter Carlos Silva, who'd come over from Seattle with a 5-13 record, the Cubs defeated the Cardinals 5-0. The Redbirds couldn't get a single rally started. And Silva, despite last year's problems, is now 7-0, the first Cubs pitcher to go undefeated that long since Ken Holtzman in 1967. Which is fine, since the Cardinals won the Series that year, over the New York Yankees. Cubs and Cubs fans, it was your day.

Photos:


Cubs second baseman Starlin Castro (isn't that a great name!?) checking the flyness of his pants, as Cardinals coach José Oquendo looks on

Cub outfielder Alfonso Soriano leaving the field

Cubs starter, now temporary reliever, Carlos Zambrano, warming up
Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, on 3rd base, chatting up 3rd base coach José Oquendo

Cubs first baseman Derek Lee

Cardinals relief pitcher Mitchell Boggs, and first baseman Albert Pujols

Cubs pitcher Carlos Silva unleashing a Gibsonesque fastball

Cubs outfielder Keisuke Fukudome, on 3rd base

Alfonso Soriano batting

Alfonso Soriano, on 2nd base

Albert Pujols in his fielding crouch

International Women's Day + On the road to vegetarianism?

Happy International Women's Day!  Today, all over the world, countries are celebrating the lives and contributions of women, and in some countries, like China, Vietnam and Russia, today is a holiday. This year's United Nations global theme is Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all, a goal that we're far from all over the world, including the United States, though we continue to make advances.

Throughout today across the US, there have been some 130 official events, including President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama's tribute and reception in the White House this afternoon.

The first International Women's Day took place in 1911, so next year will mark the centenary. In honor of today and next year's 100th anniversary, think about how you might make a contribution to improving the lives of women and girls across the globe.  One thing I thought of this morning was that poor and working-class women and girls in Haiti and Chile are particularly vulnerable right now, and could greatly use various kinds of assistance.  If anyone knows of organizations that will channel aid of kinds to them, please let me know, and I'll post the links here.

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On a completely different note, I've been trying to figure out a way to write on here about how I've become an almost-vegetarian since January (2010), which has also meant, interestingly enough, that I've lost about 15-18 lbs. (I was 219 lbs. on January 4, and I range between 200-203 lbs. today.) This has happened less from me consciously dieting, but rather from cooking even more regularly than in the past, eating less meat--I've gone long stretches, perhaps the longest a week--following more of a pattern in what I eat (coffee and oatmeal for breakfast, fruits and a sandwich for lunch, a cooked meal for dinner, with wine and dessert), and mostly centering my diet around fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes.  In the process, and while not really changing my daily driving routine and not going to the gym any more (usually 3 days/nights max) than I have in the past, I have shed the pounds and yet I am eating many of the things that people are urged not to eat: lots of CARBS.



Some of these are complex carbohydrates, as in fruits (apples, pears, oranges, kiwi fruit, bananas, tomatoes, all kinds of berries) and vegetables (you name it, I eat it, from beets and turnips to eggplant, carrots and brussel sprouts), and some are semi-refined, as in various breads and pastries, or chocolate, etc. But, here's the deal: I have hardly eaten any store-bought bread since January. All the bread loaves (J's Theater readers know my love of breadmaking), scones (very easy to make, and they include heavy cream, eggs, butter, and sugar), even hamburger buns, I've made myself.  I also have been eating lots of other kinds of grains (in addition to the oatmeal, brown rice and whole wheat pasta, which is so delicious and naturally sweet I don't understand why it's not more popular, I've tried Moroccan big grain couscous, quinoa, and small grain types) and legumes (red and green lentils, black and kidney beans, great Northern beans, etc.). And lastly, I eat lots of walnuts, peanuts, cashews, and other kinds of nuts. And the pounds have come off.

I was trying to think if this mode of eating was inspired by the trip to Sicily (and I've broken the meatlessness mostly with slices of sausage or pepperoni pizza and fish), which is to say, by the sort of Mediterranean diet we experienced there, and perhaps it was, but I also think I've reached an age where I'm able to say, I can do without meat every night and also, I can prepare what I want, try it out, and if it works, let's go with it. And it's worked out. In some cases, I've taken imaginative leaps in terms of meals that I probably wouldn't have in the past.  To give one example, a few nights ago, I decided to make eggplant and yellow squash, seasoned with garam masala, and combine that with a side dish of cooked beets, and as my starch, have the finer grained couscous. I wondered for a minute how the combination would work, but it was delicious. The pungency and sweetness of the seasoned eggplants and squash played well off the sweet beets, and were a perfect complement to the couscous. The combo also filled me up completely, and I had enough for 3 nights. I've found that I don't miss having meat with the meal at all--combinations of several different vegetables usually do the trick--though it would be easy to integrate some in if I wanted.

I mention the carbs above, because the unyielding law I hear from people is that if they're trying to lose weight they cannot eat carbs. No carbs. Zero. Nada. Etc. It's all proteins and heavy exercise, and starvation, and whatever else they've tried. There's also the issue of limiting portions, and so forth. I am not dismissing all of this (though I will say that no one ever got obese eating apples, oranges or carrots), but eating moderately, reasonably, and cutting back on the meat has worked for me. I did take a glance at Michael Pollan's new book, Food Rules just before I headed back to Chicago, and while I think that following any kinds of restrictive rules for eating or anything else is problematic, most were commonsense and in a spirit not of restriction or prescription, but as a helpful guide of the sort Americans love. One of them went along the lines of: you can treat yourself to sweets and so forth but only if you make them yourself. Part of the genius of this is that if you have to make something, you probably won't be craving it all the time once you realize how much effort it takes, but also you'll have enough to last a while and you know exactly what goes into it. I tried this philosophy with blueberry cream scones, since I love pastries (I can really eat anything in the muffin, scone, cake, or pie families), and it worked perfectly. For several weeks, my lunches consisted of three pieces of fruit (usually an apple, which I used to find wouldn't fill me up; an orange or tangerine; and a third piece of fruit, usually either a banana or a kiwi fruit, though I found cheap star fruits (!) at the organic coop I shop at, and those provided a tart and delicious conclusion to the trio) and one of the scones, which are lighter than any scone I've ever bought at the store, and I was full. And, as I've said above, I still lost weight. Eating scones daily. On top of this, I also sometimes would have one for dessert, with or without butter and jam. And I lost weight.

Another effect is that I have more energy, and never feel bloated like I used to. I know many people have diagnosed their stomach issues to gluten, but despite all the bread I eat, I never feel the bloat I used to at times. I think it has everything to do with the fact that I'm baking the bread and know exactly what goes into it, and hyperenriched gluten (or whatever they're calling the gluten that goes into most commercial bread), and all the preservatives, including bromines, are not in my breads. I try to use organic flours and sea salt, and add flavor to the natural sweetness of the wheat, barley or rye flours with additions like rosemary, black olives, pecans, walnuts, raisins, and, my new favorite, sundried tomatoes. Again, despite the daily bread (and oats, and other grains), and snacking (sometimes with crackers and cheese, artichoke spread, etc.), the pounds have come off.

A few things I haven't eaten much of recently are potatoes (though I do love and eat sweet potatoes, but I've found turnips are a more flavorful alternative, and since they're extremely easy and quick to cook, they've done the trick), corn, any prepared spreads (except mustard, which I guess I should start making myself, since it's quite easy), and far less unfermented soy. In fact, the only times I have unfermented soy these days is when I'm drinking hot chocolate made with soy milk. I used to overdose on this stuff, until I read a few too many articles on the dangers of it. I do admit that I miss eating french fries, which are extremely easy to make and one of my favorite foods, but I think that if I'm going to have them, I'll be sure to buy organic potatoes and bake (or fry!) them myself.  One additional effect is that my blood pressure--and, I imagine my bad cholesterol, though my doctor will have to check this--has gone down. This has been the case despite my stress levels remaining relatively equal to prior years. Perhaps it's the loss of weight, especially around my stomach, perhaps it's the absence of the meat, but this does appear to be occurring.

I know that Michael Pollen discusses this with much greater sophistication in The Omnivore's Dilemma and other works, as do others in relation specifically to vegetarianism, locavorism, sustainable and healthy eating, the slow and raw food movements, and so forth. I agree with many of these approaches in and on principle; factory farming, especially of livestock, is inhumane and abhorrent, and industrial farming is doing tremendous destruction to the environment, to the economy, and to our bodies; eating locally, organically, and sustainably will benefit all of us in the long run. We also do not have to eat meat to the degree that we've come to expect in the US, nor should we be eating fast and prepared foods to the extent we do. The effects are visible everywhere, in the landscape and in us. Yet what's motivated me has been less of these beliefs that something perhaps less coherent and articulable; and yet I've felt like I've wanted to say something about my own personal creeping vegetarianism--though, as I said, I still do occasionally eat meat, and fish, and had a turkey burger the other night, on homemade buns no less (they take no time and are delicious!)--thus this somewhat incoherent entry.  Thoughts?