So this morning I went to pick up a parcel that I missed on Friday and whilst gone missed another!
That perfect example of sod’s law aside in my post this morning I had an unexpected delivery in the form of this little critter…no idea that it is or why it was clinging to my co-operative membership letter but he/she is no longer in my house.
Anyone know what it is?
I don’t watch I’m a celebrity but I read some of the tabloid paper’s websites and here’s something that tickled me!
Sunday’s News Of The World detailed how Katie Price’s cage fighter boyfriend was planning to propose in the jungle. The quote from the article read:
“I’m definitely asking her to marry me,” vowed 34-year-old Alex, as his lover ate kangaroo bum in a jungle trial. “And I’m convinced she’s going to say YES.”
Then yesterday Katie Price left the jungle and todays ‘Sun’ had an article titled ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ stating
The 31-year-old glamour girl, real name Katie Price, dramatically broke off her romance with Alex Reid just two hours after quitting as a contestant on I’m A Celebrity.
She said of the break-up: “I want to be on my own. I do not want a relationship.”
Surely this is an example of a man’s judgement being completely and utterly wrong…did make me smile though and actually made me think a little more of Katie Price…I thought she’d be stupid enough to say yes!
The title of this post is perhaps somewhat misleading…as of today I can now eat meat again after my month of seeing what it’s like being a vegetarian, however I still have veggie bolognese left for tea and no meat in for lunch so I still won’t end up with meat today (I hope Cameron has bacon for breakfast tomorrow though!)…perhaps I should just gnaw on some pig skin (pork scratchings) in the pub tonight?
In spite of my light hearted remarks above meat isn’t actually something I’ve missed. My biggest lesson learned from all of this is that I’m not as much of a carnivore as I imagined myself to be and actually the only thing I’ve missed during this time has been fish and chips (the chips aren’t the same without the fish). I don’t think I’d find living as a vegetarian difficult however I have no reason or conviction to become one so I’m fully intending on eating meat (especially with a roast dinner!) but probably not as regularly as before.
My eating habits will certainly move away from the meat-and-two-veg (excuse any genitialia puns there) approach and more often I think I’ll be happy using veggie-alternatives, for exanple the Morissons frozen meat-free mince is actually tastier than any meat mince I’ve had.
A Limiting Lifestyle
The most difficult part of the experiment has not been in the lack of meet but in the lack of variety. Frankie & Bennies left me with nothing but a veggie-burger to munch on and sandwich choices became limited to rabbit food, cheese or egg.
It wasn’t the lack of meat that I missed but the difficulty in finding something to eat when out and about and I feel that being a long term veggie would stop me from eating out as much…you feel like such a pain telling someone you’re veggie when they ask you round for a meal.
Supermarket Labelling
There also doesn’t seem to be a clear labelling system in restaurants and supermarkets starting a product is vegetarian, some products have it on the front with the nutrition information whereas others hide it in the ingredients, making shopping more tedious and difficult.
Onwards to freedom!
So to conclude my experiment I’m looking forward to the freedom that lays ahead, I’m looking forward to the world of shopping and dining out being my oyster (or steak or chicken…you get my point) and although I may choose a vegetarian option more than I would have before I want it to be a choice I make rather than a choice I’m forced into.
It’s been an interesting month and I’ve learnt a lot about myself and what it’s like to be a vegetarian and it’s given me a greater respect for those veggie’s I know because I know it’s a more difficult lifestyle than I thought before.
Long term readers of this blog will know the love I have for Andrew McMahon’s band ‘Jack’s Mannequin’ having seen them live earlier this year and putting their ‘Everything in Transit’ album into my top 5 albums (and to this day it probably remains there).
Those who don’t follow the band may not be aware that after finishing the recording of Everything in Transit Andrew McMahon was diagnosed with Leukemia and spent months in hospital receiving treatment before having a bone marrow transplant and surviving.
During that time he carried a video camera and documented that time of his life, his fears and his feelings and a month ago that was released as ‘Dear Jack’ a DVD to go with his leukemia charity ‘The Dear Jack Foundation’ (link).
I ordered the DVD over the from States as it’s not released over here yet and it arrived this morning and so early this afternoon I watched it.
The documentary isn’t an easy thing to watch but is put together really well combining the excitement of Jack’s Mannequin which was going on in his life with the diagnosis of leukemia. The documentary features interviews with his (now) wife and his family (including his sister who donated bone marrow) and it’s a very moving documentary.
The DVD probably has a fairly niche market made up of primarily fans of Jack’s Mannequin or Something Corporate but gives such an insight to the experience of someone with cancer and their ups and downs making it a very eye-opening DVD to watch.
You can donate to the Dear Jack Foundation by following this link
So tonight I attended my first JCC meeting (same as a PCC but called a Joint Church Council as the church is merged with a methodist church too…I call it the Jesus church council!) and I thought I’d draw some similarities, differences and observations from it comparing it to the Baptist Member’s Meetings that I so joyfully attended at Park Road.
Firstly and most importantly there were less sarcastic comments from me at the JCC because Joel wasn’t sat next to me to make them to!
Secondly a JCC here has more humor, there were a few light hearted comments and some witty banter at various stages.
Thirdly both have a Yorkshire man who refers to the chair as ‘Mr Chairman’ at any given opportunity (the hilarity of this is enhanced by the Yorkshireness)
Fourthly money was talked about in detail - the difference between the lengthy money discussions was that although both discussed lack of the JCC here took a positive look at it, being proud of all things God is doing!
Fifthly tonight 5 decisions were made…in comparison that’s twice as many as a Peterborough member’s meeting would have made.
Finally the JCC lasted under 2 hours…an impressive time to cover around 20 bullets on the agenda!
All in all first impressions show that the JCC is a much more Godly and less painful meeting…let’s see if that stands the test of time.
Last but not least does this extract refer to a lady made of glass?
It’s been ages since I last blogged proving once again that my blogs come in mass or not at all…which probably means I’ll think of loads of things to blog in the next few days.
Veggie Update!
I’m in the last week of my veggiexperiment and next Monday I can eat meat again however other than having the freedom to eat anything again and not have to mess around finding the ‘V’ logo on things I’m not looking forward to it, nor am I dreading it…the thought of meat is met with apathy which is probably the biggest surprise of my experiment…I am however looking forward to fish and chips!
SPARK
On Saturday Hunsley Christian Youth Trust launched SPARK, a monthly inter-church youth service and we saw a full youth band and 35 young people attend the first one which was brilliant, I’ve almost run out of the 250 leaflets I had printed and I’m looking forward to decembers (more info here).
Amish Grace
I’m currently reading a fantastic book called ‘Armish Grace’ looking inparticular at the Nickel Mines shooting and how the community responded with forgiveness that shocked the world…review to follow!
UP
Finally a couple of weeks ago myself and Jo went to see Disney Pixar’s latest offerings in the form of ‘UP’. I love Disney Pixar films and they’re always pretty good and up was no exception however it’s probably the most depressing Disney film I’ve ever seen dealing with the issues of Infertility and death within the FIRST TEN MINUTES!
It had a great storyline though and tackled the issues really well and although I left it feeling sad I was glad that I’d gone to see it and shall eagerly await the DVD release.
2 and a half weeks into my experiment and I have managed to not touch meat and I havn’t really missed it, actually the most difficult thing is the lack of fish and chips (not that I have it often), walking past the shops is horrible…it smells so good.
I think the biggest challenge of this whole thing is not so much everyday living but when you’re out. Jo and myself went to Frankie and Benny’s last week and I didn’t realise how limited the options were for vegetarians. I also found it really difficult to find a non-meaty or fishy sandwich on monday in Market Weighton without having to have a plastic bowl of rabbit food.
I guess the biggest eye-opener so far in my experience is the difficulty faced in finding food out-and-about for vegetarians, the easiest place to find food out and about was during my first week as a veggie in York where I found ‘El Piano’ (thanks to Caroline) which served completely vegan food…here’s me tucking in!
Back when I was living with the Pummells before they departed to New Zealand I experienced a Wii Fit and my little Mii experienced some tough exercising and some running injuries from the comfort of my home (the running injuries were also experienced by the real me!) and alongside this games such as Shaun White Snow Boarding impressed me and along with the options to buy the classic Mario games I was sold to Wii’s.
So in the summer when I was asked to build St Andrew’s Church a new website (and paid for it) I decided that my earnings should be used for something I wouldn’t buy otherwise so I purchased a Wii complete with Wii Fit board.
The concept of Wii Fit is brilliant and Nintendo have really hit the nail on the head however my motivation for Wii Fit (the game) dropped as time went on and so with the release of Wii Fit Plus last week I decided to see if my motivation would increase with Nintendo’s latest offering!
Wii Fit Plus is very similar to Wii Fit but adds a few new features including a calorie counter, routines and a host of new games. On initial thoughts I’ve used it the last 5 consequetive days and really like the routine section because you can create routines based on focus points (legs, arms, tummy etc.), choose the length you want to spend on the Wii Fit and then it chooses the exercises and games for you which is fantastic for me as I was always left with no desire to pick something on the old Wii Fit…but with this one it makes the decisions for me (and I grown accordingly).
The calorie counter doesn’t make a huge amount of difference to me as it doesn’t particularly interest me but I do like the new games…skate-boarding and cycling are especially fun whereas Judo is a little weird.
I’m aiming to use it every day for around 30 minutes to see how my motivation lasts…will keep the blog updated with that and veggie news (tonights tea is: fresh spinich, brocolli, cauliflour, jacket potato and weird chicken replacement thing)
This morning I did my first secondary school assembly in ages with year 7 as part of my job with the Hunsley Christian Youth Trust. I’m still waiting for my CRB to come through so it was great to actually be able to do something in schools and the year 7′s seem to respond to the assembly on values and how we value ourselves and each other (and how God values us).
The assembly is available online at my other site: www.youthworkresource.co.uk in the schools work section
Today The Sun seems to have published an article which takes the right attitude to alcohol. The article titled ‘The Sun joins 2,000 students on Britain’s biggest bar crawl’ (link) lays into the national ‘Carnage’ initiative and for once The Sun seems to have taken the right approach to the ridiculous drinking culture we have in Britain.
The article reports strangers snogging and groping in a way which seems to suggest that The Sun thinks this is unacceptable, it also suggests the excessive drinking is unacceptable.
Following on from my alcohol article a couple of months back it seems positive that a tabloid newspaper is reporting something negative about Britain’s drinking culture…however I suspect this moral highground will only last until the next drunken celebrity flashes some part of their body!
As I mentioned the last week on my Bowling for Soup live blog I’ve been following Bowling for Soup for years and they’re music often reminds me of times gone by (in particular Benvolio singing loudly to ‘a hangover you don’t deserve’ on the way back from Norwich many-a-sunday night).
Their previous album ‘The Great Burrito Extortion Case’ has always dissappointed me, it’s never had the same feel about it as their others and didn’t even include a version of their song Belgium (a bowling for soup tradition!).
However having followed their YouTube updates in the studio I had high expectations of this album and they’re really met those expectations. The album opens with a palm muted guitar and Jaret sining in a style that compares to the days of ‘Girl all the bad guys want’ and as the album continues it’s obvious that this is the album that ‘The Great Burrito Extortion Case’ should have been recapturing the pop-punk sounds of their albums ‘Drunk enough to dance’ and ‘A hangover you don’t deserve’.
Some of the best tracks on the album include the comically titled ‘My Wena’, ‘BFFF’ and of course a polka version of ‘Belgium’. As a fan of the band I’m so happy with this album and that the band seem to have captured their old sound again. Genius!