rethinking food

i can't tell you how many people write in their profiles "omg i love food lol!!" or something to that effect. seriously. food these days has become something of an indulgence that isn't treated like an indulgence. true, we all have to eat. and why, you ask, shouldn't we eat good food? you know, something exotic that excites our taste buds, or something that reminds us of home like fresh steamed mantou that mom used to make?

the truth is, good food is often more expensive than simple food. and the second truth is, good food makes us eat more than we need. i believe that gluttony is a sin, and for some of us a potentially deadly one,[1] and food in modern times is much more than simple nourishment. in a world where famine is still a fact of life, we waste a comparatively huge amount of money, natural resources, arable land, and gas to feed ourselves.

malnutritioned children at a Nigerian orphanage. credit: wikipedia.org.

so next time stop and think before you order that $5 slice of tiramisu, or that $27 plate of gnocchi, and ask yourself if you would not be better off going home and whipping up a pot of rice, some fresh veggies with tofu skin and maybe say, shitake mushrooms. just like mom used to make. your wallet, your health, your waistline, and (perhaps aspirationally on my part,) your conscience will thank you.

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[1] Laurie Barclay, Long-term Calorie Restriction Improves Cardiovascular Risk, available at http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/473866.

and it begins

style.com

the much awaited h&m + rei kawakubo/comme des garçons collaboration will be available next thursday 11/13/08 at various h&m locations around the country. get there early - the entire collection is expected to sell out by the weekend, as was the case with previous h&m collaborations.

to be honest, i was never much of a fan of comme des garçons until i saw the spring 2009 collection. note the victorian vampire-cookie monster coat pictured above. i was inspired by designer rei kawakubo's minimal monchromatic weirdness, use of hexagonal panelling, total and complete ignorance of contemporary trends in fashion. this, my friends, is how everyone should dress.

look for me to cop a pair of dropped-crotch pants.


see the collection: http://www.hm.com/us/inspiration__fashion.nhtml#/cdg/

http://www.howisobamadoing.com/

this is a M-F'ing dessert

blissful brownies. the best brownie i have ever tasted. i happened upon an one at a table at school, where people usually leave leftover food from club events. it was like wow. unexpectedly light and flaky, yet so rich. the chocolate chunks melted in my mouth. i've been thinking about it ever since.

repped.

photo: blissful brownies

my new shoes

barneys co-op. i bought them for work and job interviews. a little plain, but they won't  go out of style within 9 months like my last pair did.   >.<   --->   ^_^

i'm totally gonna wear this for halloween

from rick owen's fall/winter '08 collection. 

this dabbler's new scent

by moschino. i was initially attracted to the aqua blue bottle at a macy's counter. my inner raccoon is unable to keep his hands off bright, shiny objects. 

upon first whiff, the initial sweetness insists upon a girl in her teens. the top note strikes fruity flavors of pink pepper, currant and citrus; then the fragrance eases into a light floral accord. after an hour or so of wear, the flowers fall away to very masculine base notes of cedar and ambergris.

this is what intrigues me, the contrast between the girly and masculine. whenever i wear this i ask myself what other people think of a guy with fruity florals fresh on his skin. i question gender and gender associations. what makes a fruity smell a feminine one anyway? is it our socially constructed associations or is it something innate about our genders? and what's so manly about cedar? lumberjacks?