Many of you may wonder, what happened to the Ganda we once knew and loved? Has she been lobotomized? Is she a frakking Cylon? Has she been listening to too much NPR?
The answers to those questions are: I'm right here, no, I wouldn't tell you if I were, and probably.
None of that can explain this sort of sea change I've been feeling lately. A confluence of events has conspired to unseat me -- an election year/leap year, the tanking economy, the rising cost of food, turning 30, hormonal shifts, pollen counts, star alignments, tight underwear, god knows what else. This hiatus has been an incubation period for a new experiment I've been thinking about for a while. I know it's not going to make sense. It's sort of antithetical to everything this blog was always about. It's probably going to alienate my core readership, if my total neglect over the last few months didn't already do that. But it's an idea that I'm finally ready to get cracking on.
It's called The Abstain Project. It's just what you might imagine. Every so often, I will abstain from something, and I'll report on the effect of the abstinence. I'll keep abstaining until I can't take it anymore. It's really about setting up a parameter and seeing where I come up against obstacles, and finding out whether or not the obstacles are too much for me. Like a rolling permaLent.
The point is not to become someone who abstains completely from all things; the point is more to see what I can live without and what I can't live without. And to find out what life is like for someone who chooses, or has no choice but, to live without.
What really clinched it for me was probably this episode of This American Life, which chronicles the realities of modern pig farming. (Extra bonus which made me never want to go to another wiener house -- the disgusting choads in Act Two who are probably the same dumbass mfs who think race is not an issue in this country anymore.)
I know, I know, I spent the last four years pushing reckless gluttony and guilt-free hedonism. But I'm wondering if a different kind of pleasure can be gleaned from life, one that comes not through consumption but through abstinence. And hey, if I try veganism and decide it's a crock, I can denounce it from the high horse of experience. But what if it isn't?
I don't think I'll be able to give up all meat, but I might try to, just to see how long I can go without. Dairy and eggs? Soy and all soy products? Certainly would be a challenge. Alcohol? Well, that probably wouldn't be too hard, but I don't think I'd enjoy it much. Fruits and vegetables? Now there's a real challenge. Refined sugar? Seems horrifying, but maybe it clears the head. Eating out? E-mail? Cell phone? Lots of possibilities.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. First things first -- I'm going to cut out beef for now. Too easy, I know, but I feel like I need to ease myself into the project if I'm going to sustain it. I'm sure I'll fall off the wagon with certain things; I don't expect refined sugar to be off the table for more than 2 days. But it should be a wacky little ride. And at least now I'll have something to talk about.
The answers to those questions are: I'm right here, no, I wouldn't tell you if I were, and probably.
None of that can explain this sort of sea change I've been feeling lately. A confluence of events has conspired to unseat me -- an election year/leap year, the tanking economy, the rising cost of food, turning 30, hormonal shifts, pollen counts, star alignments, tight underwear, god knows what else. This hiatus has been an incubation period for a new experiment I've been thinking about for a while. I know it's not going to make sense. It's sort of antithetical to everything this blog was always about. It's probably going to alienate my core readership, if my total neglect over the last few months didn't already do that. But it's an idea that I'm finally ready to get cracking on.
It's called The Abstain Project. It's just what you might imagine. Every so often, I will abstain from something, and I'll report on the effect of the abstinence. I'll keep abstaining until I can't take it anymore. It's really about setting up a parameter and seeing where I come up against obstacles, and finding out whether or not the obstacles are too much for me. Like a rolling permaLent.
The point is not to become someone who abstains completely from all things; the point is more to see what I can live without and what I can't live without. And to find out what life is like for someone who chooses, or has no choice but, to live without.
What really clinched it for me was probably this episode of This American Life, which chronicles the realities of modern pig farming. (Extra bonus which made me never want to go to another wiener house -- the disgusting choads in Act Two who are probably the same dumbass mfs who think race is not an issue in this country anymore.)
I know, I know, I spent the last four years pushing reckless gluttony and guilt-free hedonism. But I'm wondering if a different kind of pleasure can be gleaned from life, one that comes not through consumption but through abstinence. And hey, if I try veganism and decide it's a crock, I can denounce it from the high horse of experience. But what if it isn't?
I don't think I'll be able to give up all meat, but I might try to, just to see how long I can go without. Dairy and eggs? Soy and all soy products? Certainly would be a challenge. Alcohol? Well, that probably wouldn't be too hard, but I don't think I'd enjoy it much. Fruits and vegetables? Now there's a real challenge. Refined sugar? Seems horrifying, but maybe it clears the head. Eating out? E-mail? Cell phone? Lots of possibilities.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. First things first -- I'm going to cut out beef for now. Too easy, I know, but I feel like I need to ease myself into the project if I'm going to sustain it. I'm sure I'll fall off the wagon with certain things; I don't expect refined sugar to be off the table for more than 2 days. But it should be a wacky little ride. And at least now I'll have something to talk about.
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