I know it's late, I know you're weary

On Thursday evening I started reading Fast Food Nation. Yesterday afternoon I finished it. Red would have wanted it that way.

What interests me most about the phenomenon surrounding this book is how SO much press and talk was about the food -- "I'll never eat at McDonald's again or step inside without feeling nauseous!", is a common reaction -- but the book is only 5% about the food. The majority of the book is about people: workers getting mistreated and underpaid, ranchers being run out of business, communities being changed by fast food culture, slaughterhouse conditions (for people working there not the animals themselves), union busting, false advertising, lack of health inspections, globalization. Even within the book, there's a reference to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and how Upton wanted to hit people in the heart by talking about how miserable it is for slaughterhouse workers but instead he hit people in the stomach and the only thing that changed was food inspection, but not workplace inspection. Same thing happened with this book instead -- people were so preoccupied with learning that fries used to be made in beef fat and the chicken mcnuggets were flavored in beef fat (until very recently) that they ignore the pages and pages about actual people's lives.

On a completely different matter, I've been feeling more like I'm not acting my age and I'm not really being much of an adult in my behavior. I think I'm ready to be an adult. I don't mean that I'm somehow not measuring up to what other people expect me to behave and think and act and be; it's more that I'm not matching the image I have in my head of what sort of maturing, self-actualizing person I hoped to become. I'm still stuck in the "one day" mentality, as if it's a goal not yet attainable. Granted, these fantasies also usually include my dream job and financial responsibility (and a comfortable financial bracket), but somehow I think that my mentality should probably come first before I hope to attain any of these things.

The next book I'm reading? Zen 24/7.

Bond, I believe this mission required stealth.

Dear RAYMOND, here is your Weekly Horoscope for Jan 13 to 19

This part of the year, RAYMOND, the Sun moves through Capricorn, the zodiac sign opposite Cancer. It marks the sixth month since your last birthday. This is an astrological "half time" and it isn't uncommon to feel you need some time by yourself. This week,
especially since Mercury is still retrograde, is a good period to reevaluate where you've been since your last birthday, and to see if birthday wishes combined with New Year's resolutions feel as good in practice as they looked on paper! This is also the time in the yearly cycle when the Full Moon appears in your sign of Cancer. This happens every year during the time the Sun is in Capricorn. This year, the date to note in your calendar is January 18. Take that day, a Saturday, off from work, from socializing, and from chores of any kind. This is the day to sit quietly, walk, meditate, read, nap, and think. Energy stored from this quiet time can be used on Sunday, to celebrate and have fun. The important thing to remember about this week is that a shift downward in mood is quite common six months after your birthday, and especially during the Full Moon occurring in your own sign. You are provided with an opportunity to reflect; make good use of it.

I'll guess I'll be staying in this week and next weekend. It fits into my budget better anyway.