Day TWENTY-ONE!

Breakfast: Puffins with soy milk
Snack: Apple and peanut butter
Lunch: Brown rice spaghetti with marinara; popsicle
Dinner: Yellow curry with brown rice; popsicle

And that's it! I've done twenty-one days of cleansing, and I'm done! I do not know how my body will react to the reintroduction of toxins, but I won't delay finding out.

The cravings haven't been bad at all, especially recently, but I am looking forward to reintroducing some recently forbidden foods. As I've said before, I'm a pretty good quasi-vegan and don't eat much sugar, so this hasn't been a massive change (and won't be a massive change back), but it will be nice not to have to be quite so high-maintenance about everything I eat.

We're having friends over for dinner Friday, and I suggested we have homemade ice cream for dessert. I think we're going to have curry and salad for dinner, though, so there you go.

Finally, I was inspired by Mandy and Erin*'s Wordles. Here's what it came up with for me, from my site feed. My words seem to be primarily food-related.


*Both of their names appear in the image!

Day twenty

Breakfast: Oatmeal with frozen blueberries and soy milk; gluten-free toast with sugar-free raspberry spread
Snack: Apple with peanut butter
Lunch: Mujadara; crudites with hummus; cherries
Dinner: Brown rice spaghetti with marinara; steamed broccoli; popsicle
Later: Another popsicle

People! Did you see that? Day twenty. Finally. Tomorrow this cleanse business ends. It's a bit ironic, because I've finally been feeling really good--lots of energy Sunday, yesterday, and today. However, there's no way I'm sticking with all of my current restrictions forever. It's just too hard to get enough calories!

Reason #57 why I may fail my exams

So I'm reading Anna Karenina, and loving it. I don't know if it's just the Wuthering Heights Effect* or not, but I'm always excited to crack it open when I'm eating or before bed, and would certainly much prefer to read it to whatever is on the exam bibliography for the day. I did not expect to like it this much; although several of you have recommended it, I've had some experience with Tolstoy, and happen to know he's crazy. I've read other Russians, too (including Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life, Chekhov's Three Sisters, Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov, Gogol's Dead Souls, and Nabokov's Pale Fire and Lolita) and figured that the best way to get through a substantial (800 page!) novel like this one would be to contrast it with something I'd rather avoid, like the readings for my exams. I ended up really liking The Brothers Karamazov, but that occurred only after a painful slog through the first THREE QUARTERS OF IT. Anyway, 'turns out that Anna isn't a slog at all. I'm totally digging it and will write more about it later.

So this morning at breakfast, I finished my oatmeal, and wanted to both eat some more and keep reading, so I decided to make toast. When I pulled out the sugar-free blueberry jam from the fridge, I dropped it onto the tile floor and it shattered.

So I cleaned it up, and then, because jam is sticky and there were still glass particles on the floor, I swept and mopped not just the kitchen, but the entire floor, from the entry way and hallway through the living room, dining room, and kitchen.

And then, even though it was getting later and later, but because I still had toast in the toaster, I got out the sugar-free raspberry jam and ate that on my toast while I continued reading.

Then I turned on my computer because I needed to order postage for a book that was due at the Minneapolis Public Library today. After an hour of looking at blogs and news and e-mailing (which is the reason I've been trying not even to turn my laptop on until I've gotten some productive reading in), I ordered the postage.

By the time I got around to finally reading, I kind of wanted a snack. And a nap.

Today wasn't so productive. This is why I'm in trouble. I think there may be people in the world who would overcome and triumph by locking themselves in a bare room and simply forcing themselves to read, but I am not one of them. With some of the books, I've been making good, speedy, progress. With others, I feel like I'm dragging myself across the pages. Then I berate myself because time is flying and I haven't read everything.

Except Anna Karenina, that is. Unfortunately, I'll pretty sure she won't be showing up on my exams.

*I read Wuthering Heights the summer I was in Florence, between sessions, when I should have been fully immersed in Italian. Instead, I sneaked chapters of Wuthering Heights, which an American friend had left behind, and I LOVED it. I haven't revisited the book, but based on others' overwhelming impressions of it, I'm thinking my enjoyment may have had primarily to do with the context of it being my guilty pleasure.

Day nineteen

Breakfast: Puffins with soy milk; gluten-free toast with blueberry spread; cherries
Snack: Apple with peanut butter
Lunch: Quasi-haystack
Dinner: Mujadara; crudites with hummus

When we were in high school, a friend theorized that the best kisses occurred between similarly-shaped lips. It's a hypothesis I have yet to test widely, but after studying Christian Bale's lips on the cover of this week's Entertainment Weekly, I'm thinking that in the interest of science, I'd definitely be willing to research his.

I've always thought that I had kind of narrow lips, but next to his mine look positively plump! Still, I'm thinking the shapes are compatible. No?

Anyway...

I've seen (for me) a lot of this summer's movies. Here are my brief reviews:

Iron Man: Pretty and fun, the whole way through. Robert Downey, Jr., channeled just the right combination of charm and toughness, with a fitting hint of sleaze. There might have been a touch of cyborg subjectivity in there somewhere, but mostly I just liked the very impressive effects. I actually saw this one twice--once with friends in Minneapolis, and then with my parents here.

Indiana Jones: This was one of those rare films I'd actually been excited about for months. I love Indy! I'd been a little concerned about whether a somewhat-aged Harrison Ford could still pull it off, but I needn't have worried. The movie would have benefited from better editing (it was a bit long, mostly due to the meandering first quarter or so), but I had no complaints with Indy. I also loved the way it opened in the bleached-out colors of period photographs. As a fan of the original trio, I was not disappointed.

Sex & The City: I had never seen the series, with the exception of an hour in Hawaii the week before we went to see it, so that certainly colors my opinion. I found it another very colorful and pretty bit of summer fluff, with a few good laughs and what felt like too many rather tedious emotional attempts. We saw it opening weekend in a packed theater, which did make it feel awfully festive. My sister and the other excited fans did plenty of hooting and cheering.

Get Smart: This film was so close to being good! I love Steve Carrell (without whom I can only assume the film would have been terrible) and liked The Rock as a field agent recalled to office duty. There were some very funny moments--both verbal and physical comedy--but overall, it was too long, too loud and explosion-heavy, and just not as good as I had hoped.

I also saw a few movies at the cheap theater with my parents, Shine A Light, and Made of Honor. The former was a good time (although I'd been expecting more documentary and less concert footage), but I cringe to even admit I saw the latter. Ekh. It was like eating something that disagrees with you at the time and then keeps coming back to haunt you. It was one of the worst movies I'd sat the entire way through in a long time. Scott said somewhere that he could appreciate even the worst of pop culture if he just deconstructed it, but I'm either not as good at it as he is or just don't care enough. I did enjoy the wardrobe, though.

Day eighteen

Breakfast: Puffins with soy milk; gluten-free toast with sugar-free blueberry jam
Brunch: Oatmeal with raisins and soy milk
Starbucks: Decaf, sugar-free, iced vanilla soy latte
Dinner: Butternut squash risotto; salad; popsicle

Today I met the inimitable Erin and Mandy at Cabazon. We spent quite a while at Starbucks just chatting; I mostly grilled Erin about genetics (about which I'm [not quite inexplicably--though it might take a while] reading for my upcoming exams), and she clearly and thoughtfully explained all about DNA and genes and transcription. She knew the material and mechanisms so well, as I explained it to my dad later, that it was like having someone studying calculus explain addition. How great is that?

None of us is much of a shopper, but somehow we did the entire circuit of outlets, and all ended up with a bunch of great stuff. They put in a Banana Republic outlet just last month, and everything there was 40% off. I got a pair of jeans, a pair of slacks, two tops, and a jacket, for $153. Elsewhere, I found a pair of brown flats, argyle socks, a teal button-down sweater, and a sun dress (J. Crew! $24!). I don't remember the last time I bought so many clothes. It was nice to be able to stock up, though, and at such good prices. It's probably too much to hope for not to teach sections next semester, but at least if I do now, I'll have something to wear.

Afterward, we sat around and talked some more. I babbled about my "research," which (thanks to the friends who ask me about it and nod encouragingly when I try to make sense out of the different things I've been studying and want to explore) is starting to take a bit more shape in my mind. Mandy spoke much more elegantly and coherently about therapy and life.

I came home exhausted but glowing. "I like those girls so much!" I exclaimed to my mom. "Ahhh, blog friends," she responded. It's kind of funny to me that they are "blog friends," and that if we didn't have our blogs, we wouldn't know each other. It's more than that, though. Through this whole weird blogosphere-deal, I've met two thoughtful, intelligent women, who can discuss the implications and ethics of eugenics, and then help me pick out which color of top looks best.

I have my doubts about Internet dating (although I know I shouldn't knock it till I've tried it, et cetera), but Internet quality-friend-finding? Yes please.

Day seventeen

Brunch: Waffles with peanut butter and applesauce
Late lunch: Butternut squash risotto; salad; sugar-free popsicle

I ended up spending a lot of the day sleeping, which I guess cut down on the eating.

This thing is over after Wednesday!

Days 15 & 16

Day 15
Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins and soy milk; nectarine
Snack: Apple and peanut butter
Lunch: Vegetable-tofu curry; grapes
Snack: Apple and peanut butter
Dinner: Pasta salad; cherries
Later, at the street festival: Sugar-free (strawberry and pina colada) shave ice

Day 16
Breakfast: Puffins with soy milk; gluten-free toast with sugar-free blueberry spread; cherries
Lunch: "Haystacks" (Mine were black beans, brown rice, chopped greens, black olives, and salsa on Fritos)*
Dinner: Roasted butternut squash risotto; dressed mixed greens with toasted pecans and grapes; cherries

Friday Favorite
There is this little place in downtown Palm Springs, on Palm Canyon just south of Amado, that I love. It's where my brother bought me that bead necklace for "like, a buck," and where yesterday I found this fabulous ring ($5, because it was "old sterling") and necklace ($4, because when she rubbed it, it didn't smell like formaldehyde, which I learned is the tell-tale sign of Bakelite. If it had been Bakelite, it would have been expensive; as it is, it only looks like it, and was cheap!):
I don't know what the store is called, but I do know that the woman who seems to co-own it is named Mindy and that her daughter is April. In fact, last night, she remembered me from the last time I'd been in, saying, "You have a sister named April, right?" I whole-heartedly recommend checking it out if you're ever in town.

Finally, the Fourth
Independence Day doesn't tend to be one of those sentimental holidays for many people. But I remember the first one, eating popsicles and catching fireflies on my front porch before biking to see the fireworks; the next one, where he got a ticket at the last minute and flew to Columbus the night of the Fourth--we missed the fireworks, but had a nice little picnic on a floating dock before driving the hours back to BG; and the one after that, where we climbed the hill behind my parents' house and watched four cities' fireworks displays from the top of the world. I think he used to think it was silly the way I would remember those things.

Sometimes I think forgetting would be easier.


*As Mandy has said, it's cultural. Plenty of my "non-card-carrying" friends are still all about the haystack.

Day fourteen

Breakfast: Puffins and soy milk
Snack: Cantaloupe
Lunch: Vegetable-tofu curry; nectarine; pistachios
Snack: Apples and peanut butter
Dinner: Brown rice pasta salad; cantaloupe

So today ended the second week, and quite honestly, I'm feeling pretty over this whole cleanse. For one thing, although it's not too far from my usual fare, I'm getting a little bored with my meal options. For another, despite all my eating, I'm hungry much of the time. (If I didn't have to do all this reading, I could eat all day long, but as it is, it's rather disruptive. Also, I'm trying to keep weight instead of lose it, and so hungry isn't how I want to feel.)

Then there's the fact that I'm not feeling all that great. Once again, it could be anything from the usual list--reading all day, being inside all day, feeling stressed about my exams and life, the heat, the early morning workouts, the not running--and not a direct effect of the cleanse, but I've been feeling tired, headache-y, and depressed instead of cleansed and energetic. For a while I thought my skin was doing better, but then my face broke out again.

Maybe it's like running, where two miles are hard, but three feel great?

Day thirteen

Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins and soy milk
Snack: Apples and peanut butter
Lunch: Taco soup (the last of it!) with corn chips; nectarine
Snack: Dates and almonds
Dinner: Vegetable-tofu curry (tomato/garbanzo/zucchini/carrot) on brown rice; cantaloupe

Also, I drank Gatorade, for the first time since the cleanse started. We did The Butt-Kicking Workout today (we alternate days), and I decided I needed some Gatorade afterward. I don't know if it's exactly Elixir of Life, but it certainly made me feel better. I wasn't able to skip my morning nap (I don't know if it's the heat or the working out or the studying or the cleanse or what, but I've been finding it hard to keep my eyes open), but was much more productive all day long.

Is it the electrolytes? The sugars? The blue food coloring? The fact that I've been wheat-, animal product-, caffeine-, alcohol-, and sugar-free for nearly two weeks? I do not know. But I'm going to keep drinking it.

Day twelve

Breakfast: Oatmeal with applesauce
Snack: Dates and almonds
Lunch: Mujadara; nectarine
Snack: Blueberry and peach soy yogurt smoothie
Dinner: Brown rice spaghetti with tomato marinara; vegetable-laden salad with homemade balsamic vinaigrette
Snack: Apple with peanut butter

I did a lot of eating today, as you can see above. I think I was having so much fun this weekend that I sort of got behind on my calories without noticing.

Another great part of the weekend, which I forgot to mention yesterday, was seeing Mandy on my way back from LA! She met Deanna and me at Starbucks Sunday afternoon and we got to spend an hour or so chatting before my parents, returning from an unrelated LA outing, whisked me back to the desert. I love that girl. And I know it's hard to believe, but she's even cuter in real life than in her pictures.

Today I participated in my first down-to-the-wire eBay auction. I wanted this treadmill, but lost in the last few seconds. I didn't really want to spend more than $75, since I only intended to use it for the next month before trying to resell it or give it away. It ended up going for $77, and I'm not too sad about it... although I do need to figure out how I'm going to get running.

It's still way too hot here (and only getting hotter) to run outside, and although initially I'd thought my parents would be interested in going in with me on a treadmill, they'll be moving at the end of this month, too, and aren't interested. World Gym is apparently offering a 12 days for $12 promotion, although I don't know if those 12 days need to be in a row or could be spread out through the month. The gym is exactly two miles from my parents' house, which would be perfectly doable on a bike (especially the trip there, since it's all downhill!) but a bit far without one. So now, if I can just find a bike...

Days 9, 10, & 11

Day 9
Breakfast: Company oatmeal
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Vegetable curry with brown rice; apricots
Snack: Dates and almonds
Dinner: (At the neighbors' house!) Brown rice spaghetti; vegetable sauce; salad; soy lemon pudding and agave-sweetened strawberries and nectarines

Day 10
Breakfast: Wheat-free pancakes with peanut butter and applesauce
Tea: Iced Passion herbal tea
Lunch-ish: Mixed vegetable chips; rice cracker mix; sugar-free, soy Pom-Blueberry smoothie
Snack: Watermelon, cantaloupe, and cherries
Dinner: Crudite and hummus; corn-flax chips; popcorn

Day 11
Breakfast: Oatmeal with strawberries; fruit salad; pistachios
Lunch: (Green Leaves vegan restaurant!) "Chicken" spring rolls; yellow curry with wild rice; broccoli "beef" with wild rice; Rock 'n' Roll Noodles
Tea: Iced Passion herbal tea + a Splenda
Dinner: Puffins with soy milk

I had a fantastic weekend. Saturday, I met up with Deanna and we drove out to L.A. to meet up with Jeni and her new hubby. We went to Cinespia, which is kind of like Omaha's Shakespeare on the Green, but with a movie instead of a play. And in a graveyard. We brought a picnic and throughly enjoyed watching Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much and the hordes of hipsters. Good times!

This morning the three of us girls headed into the Fashion District. I've never seen anything quite like it. It was something like what you might get if you mixed Florence's open markets with southern California strip malls, Mexico City street vendors, and industrial urban alleyways. I found this website after the fact, which sort of hints at the experience. I saw a few things there that I liked, but was vividly reminded that I really just don't do fashion. I lack the money and energy for it, which is okay since it only really occurs to me to think about it when I'm in southern California. I don't know what might happen to me if I lived here long-term. Baudrillard described fashion as contagion; I don't know if I'd catch it or not.

Day eight

Breakfast: "Company oatmeal"*
Out: Decaf Americano with non-dairy creamer and a Splenda
Lunch: Native Foods' "Rojo y Mojo" salad and their Key Lime Parfait
Later: Apricots; sugar-free, wheat-free, vegan carrot birthday cake**

*Company oatmeal recipe:

2 c. oats
4 c. water
1 c. raisins
1/2 c. sweetened flaked coconut (omitted this time)
1 c. nuts
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1 apple, finely chopped
Combine all ingredients; bake at 350 for 1 hour

**Today was my mom's birthday! We made this cake, but with fresh pineapple instead of dates, and Arrowhead Mills' Gluten-Free Pancake and Baking Mix instead of flour. For frosting, I whipped a tub of tofu cream cheese with orange juice concentrate, finely grated fresh ginger, vanilla, and a splash of soy milk. It was surprisingly good--although, as my mom pointed out, it probably tasted better to us today than it would have a week ago!

Day seven

The end of Week One! 'Just two more to go...

Breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins; almonds
Lunch: Brown rice and garbanzo soup with avocado; avocado wrap in brown rice tortilla; cantaloupe
Snack: Almonds and dates
Dinner: Vegetable curry over brown rice; soy mango smoothie*

Today my brain wasn't really functioning; I had a terrible time concentrating on How we Became Posthuman. Instead, I cooked and cleaned, which at least I could be good at.

The trouble is that books keep arriving--two more came today. I know at least one more is on its way. I feel rather overwhelmed and a bit despondent about finishing them all.

At least I get to be out here in the desert!

*I was thinking at dinner that I could call the smoothie I made a "quasi-lassi," and that got me to thinking of a particular night in Hawaii, the first time we tried to make piña coladas. We used coconut milk instead of coconut cream, and had them over the rocks since we didn't have a blender. As piña coladas, they were dreadful--too tart, and kind of clumpy--but I thought they'd taste better with a different name. I submitted the "Not-a Colada." April liked the "Maui Wowie," and Chris liked the "Honolulu Hammer." By the time April came up with the "Waikiki Why Me?" they were definitely tasting better and better.

Day six

Breakfast: Oatmeal and raisins
Snack: Apple
Lunch: Mujadara; apricots
Snack: Dates and almonds
Dinner: Taco soup with corn chips; grapes

Man, I keep eating the same things. I need to come up with some new food if only to spice up these posts and sound a little more inspiring about this cleanse business. My mom asked me tonight if I was "feeling better." The answer is no, although I think I often feel quite good, and am certainly not feeling any worse.

I spent last night and most of today poodle-sitting, and enjoying pretty much the most awesome back yard ever. Here are some pictures:





Possibly the best part--an outdoor shower:

As an added benefit, this is what sunrise in the neighborhood looks like, which makes getting up at 5:30 to walk three hyperactive poodles totally worth it:


And finally, as I was uploading these, I found some pictures from week before last, when my dad and I drove out to spend the day in San Diego with my sister and brother-in-law:

We went to a Padres-Dodgers game, too, but I somehow didn't get any pictures of that.

Day five

Breakfast: Puffins with soy milk; apricots
Lunch: Skillet fiesta tacos in a brown rice tortilla, with salsa; raspberry soy yogurt; almonds
Dinner: Brown rice pasta salad; cantaloupe

I had heard dire things about soy yogurt, Silk brand in particular. However, when my mom and I saw soy yogurt at Trader Joe's yesterday (the store brand; they didn't even carry Silk brand), we decided to give it a try.

I don't know for whom soy yogurt was created; I can only assume it was designed as a vegan alternative to the real thing. However, I think the only person who could genuinely appreciate it would be someone who had never tasted the real thing. (This is probably the same reason why I think Yves' tofu dogs are pretty good.) It's hard to imagine anyone who has enjoyed real yogurt getting much out of the soy alternative; I think you'd have to miss the former an awful lot to appreciate the latter. I, for one, do not.

Tonight I'm poodle-sitting for a friend of my parents'. In addition to the poodles, she has a pool; I'm looking forward to both.

Day four

Breakfast: Oatmeal almond waffles with peanut butter and homemade applesauce
Lunch: Brown rice pasta salad with tons of veggies and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette; pistachios; apricot
Dinner: Garbanzo and brown rice soup with half an avocado; grapes
Later, at the neighbors' pool: Watermelon

Here is the recipe for the waffles, which is from Teri and which is AMAZING:

1/2 cup almonds
2 cups water
1 1/2 cups oats
1/2 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients in blender until smooth; allow to sit for 5-10 minutes. Bake in waffle iron for 10 minutes. Makes 3-4 square waffles.

Seriously, I like these waffles as well as my mom's Belgian waffles, which she made last weekend and which involve all sorts of separating, whipping, and folding. These are crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside, and have a nice hearty flavor, with much less work. Delicious.

Day three

Breakfast: Cornmeal "mush" and fresh strawberries glazed with sugar-free jam
Snack: Half an apple
Lunch: Mujadara, crudites, and hummus
Snack: Dates and almonds*
Dinner: Taco soup with corn chips

I totally meant to post a Friday Favorite yesterday, and then I forgot! Anyway, here it is: my current favorite lip balm, Alba Botanica's Un-Petroleum Plant Powered Lip Care in tangerine. Jojoba oil, SPF 18, smells like a bag of Skittles (and tastes nice, too!). Awesome.

Also: I only heard about it today, but those of you in the news loop probably already know that the Red Cross is out of money and is having to borrow in order to assist flood and disaster victims in the Midwest. You can donate here; select Disaster Relief Fund.

*This is pretty much my favorite healthy dessert-substitute ever. Sweet, crunchy, and satisfying--with lots of fiber, and no refined sugar.

Day two

Second day and feeling good!

I had oatmeal with raisins for breakfast, and then a sliced apple and a big bunch of grapes mid-morning. Lunch was a huge spinach salad with cucumbers, pecans, and raisins with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and honey (and I'm trying to decide whether or not I should feel guilty about the honey; I've mostly decided against it); and garbanzo brown rice soup with half an avocado. For dinner, I had skillet fiesta tacos with brown rice and corn chips, followed by a quarter of a cantaloupe.

I also had an iced decaf Americano with soy milk at the coffee shop where I went to study this morning. When I asked if they had an herbal iced tea, the girl at the counter said no, but they had these tea bags (she indicated a display of eight boxes) that she could ice for me. Six--six!--were oolong, and the remaining two were Earl Gray. I was at a loss, and sheepishly asked what they did have that didn't have caffeine, dairy, or sugar. That's when she suggested the decaf coffee. I hadn't ordered decaf in the morning in, like, ever, and may not have ever had an Americano without any sweetener. When she asked how many shots I wanted it seemed pretty silly, since I wasn't getting any caffeine, no matter how many shots I ordered. Still, the drink was admittedly pretty tasty.

I drank it sitting on the covered patio, and was actually able to stay outside until 10:30, at which point I realized it was ridiculously hot. That's the difference with the high desert, though--it's generally quite a bit cooler than where my parents live. According to wunderground, it hit 117 here today; our neighbors said the digital thermometer in their car read 138 as they were leaving the theater this afternoon. It's toasty.

I can't eat toast.

Day one

Well, the first day of the cleanse went well! I had oatmeal with raisins and soy milk for breakfast, along with a big handful of almonds. I had vegetable soup for lunch and later a snack of olives and almonds. For dinner, we had taco soup (with soy burger), corn chips, and watermelon.

The vegetable soup was canned, and the ingredients listed sugar near the end of the "less than 2% of the following" range. Obviously I'll be avoiding foods where sugar or corn syrup is a main ingredient, but it's kind of irritating how many processed foods those sweeteners are slipped into. I suppose that's a good reason not to eat processed foods! I was hungry, though, and we hadn't gone shopping. We did go tonight, and got all sorts of lovely produce and legumes. In addition to the taco soup, tonight Mom cooked skillet fiesta tacos and garbanzo brown rice soup.

So far, I am not feeling particularly energetic and wonderful; in fact, since I've been working out with my mom in the mornings (at 5! a.m.! every morning!), I've been finding it hard to make it through the day without a little nap, and today was no exception. The good news on that front is that I think I'm finally starting to not be as sore and may actually be building some muscle (my eternal quest). If these things could just help me work up some enthusiasm, stamina, and focus for my reading list, I'd be set.

Finally, because I'm a little bit obsessed with the coyote and because he came by to visit again this afternoon, here are some more pictures. Find the coyote!

Cleanse

Have you read about Dooce's cleanse? Taking her cue from Oprah and the book that inspired her, she is going off of caffeine, sugar, alcohol, gluten, and animal products for 21 days. I was inspired, too, and so, apparently, was my mom--or at least she agreed to join me!

I already consider myself a quasi-vegan (which is silly, of course, since being vegan is one of those things that's about going all the way), and I've cut way back on caffeine recently, but I think that giving up gluten will be the hardest part. Still, it should be exciting, and definitely make me conscious about what I'm eating, which seems to be the main goal (in addition, naturally, to feeling completely awesome!).

We're going to start tomorrow. Anybody else in?

Unrelatedly, here are a few pictures of San Jacinto, at sunrise and sunset; click for the larger versions.