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Showing posts from July, 2014

Habit of Mind

Yesterday I decided to do one pig-out weekend before trying to go a whole month with virtually no carbs.  I’ve been trying this crazy Carb Backloading scheme because it let’s you eat donuts and stuff.  Turns out it seems to not be working for some reason.  I think you’re supposed to eat moderate amounts of sweets, but the way my brain works is that once I eat one tiny treat I turn into Cookie Monster. So I’m going to try the program (which includes no breakfast, evening weight lifting and under 30 grams of carbs a day) without the donuts part to see what happens.   Anyway, the point is that while driving to get a haircut, when I was thinking of what delicious thing I’d have for lunch this cheaty weekend, the first thing my brain did was visualize the refrigerator and the things I had cooked that week.  This amazed me, because I remember that several years ago, before I got serious about my weight/health, every time I was in the car it was an opportunity to get fast food.  An opport

Chivalry is Dead. Long live Chivalry!

A friend and coworker of mine prompted an interesting debate on Facebook by asking if it’s sexist for a man to offer his seat to a woman on the bus.   It brings up all sorts of interesting issues, one of which is the concept of chivalry.  Chivalry is in itself a very interesting topic, with a fascinating history that pulls together a variety of institutions and world views, many of which are out of vogue amongst the cultures I circulate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chivalry When I was composing a list of 12 virtues I wanted to articulate through a coming of age ceremony I created for my sons,  ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WOZx1TYuqE ) Chivalry was on the long list.  Though it got cut as I boiled the essence of  that giant list down to just 12.  And I think that same process I did can be used to “salvage” this anachronistic value for our post-modern gender-equality, post-Christian western cultures. What I did was to break down what I thought the heart of chivalry w