21 Things That Happen When You Don't Eat Meat

I have not eaten any meat or chicken in over twenty years. Strictly speaking, I am not a vegetarian, since I do occasionally eat fish, which is clearly not a vegetable. People often ask me why I keep this diet. There are a number of reasons people commonly give:

1.    Health: This is clearly not my motivation, because I continue to enjoy many foods that are far less healthy than meat.

2.   Animal rights: I continue to wear leather belts and shoes and carry a leather purse, and I am not so naïve as to think that the hides of those animals are only available due to other peoples’ meat consumption. In any case, I do not believe that throwing red paint on people is acceptable behavior in a civilized society.

3.   Environment: It would be hypocritical to say that I shun meat because I am concerned about the environment while I sit in my large, well heated/air-conditioned house living a typical American life of over-consumption.

At the end of the day, I do not eat meat simply because I am in some vague way happier not eating it. Perhaps I could say that I am at least mildly concerned about the points above, and not eating meat is the way I can best express that concern. And as a friend pointed out years ago, for someone who eats kosher, and thus separates meat and milk products, the best thing about being a vegetarian is that you can always eat a dessert made with real butter!

People often make “funny” remarks about vegetarians, but more often than not they are laughing at vegetarians rather than with them. I think we may have a reputation as being a bit too serious, as if eating animals is what brings about a good sense of humor. So when I see something about vegetarians that I find amusing, I just have to share it.

So here goes! It was posted on the facebook page of one of our daughters’ friends.

  

Love,

Rebecca

1. You will get overwhelmed at a vegetarian restaurant because you can order ANYTHING from the menu.

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And not just the token vegetarian entree!

2. Someone will be confused about why you can’t just remove the pepperonis from the pepperoni pizza.

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FOUR WORDS: PITS OF PEPPERONI GREASE.

3. You’ll eat your weight in hummus.

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4. The server will enthusiastically explain the restaurant’s specials (which include filet mignon and pork chops), and you’ll have to smile politely the whole time.

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Lol, not ordering that.

5. Jokes about “rabbit food.”

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6. People will constantly tell you how they could “NEVER stop eating bacon.”

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7. You will get paranoid about your roommate using your pans to cook meat.

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Omelette residue :(

8. You will develop laser-sharp vision for identifying meat in buffet salads and sandwiches.

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Thanks for NOTHING, potato salad with secret bacon.

9. Someone will apologize for eating meat in your presence.

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10. Everyone will tell you about that time they stopped eating meat for “like six months.”

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11. You will eat this at every steakhouse:

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12. You develop fervent preferences for store-bought veggie burger brands.

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13. You will be secretly ashamed of how much you look forward to French fries.

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14. You will have to decline three-quarters of hors d’oeuvres.

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And then you’ll get drunk twice as fast as everyone else because you’re not eating.

15. You will develop an overreliance on peanut butter and jelly.

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16. You will develop a really good elevator pitch for “So, why are you a vegetarian?”

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17. You will realize that vegetarian sushi is both super tasty and not good at filling you up.

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2 p.m.: cucumber roll
4 p.m.: ENTIRE PIZZA

18. You will become hyper-paranoid about chicken broth.

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Is this soup made with chicken broth? Was this rice cooked with chicken broth? Are there chicken broth particles floating through the air???

19. You will leave weddings being totally hungry.

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Also, choosing between the steak and chicken options is kind of hilarious, because you’re just going to scarf the mashed potatoes regardless.

20. You will be able to scan ingredient labels for problems in the blink of an eye.

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21. You will forget what meat actually tastes like.

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Just eighteen days to go, but who’s counting?

This will be the perfect image to keep in my head during my MRI on the 28^th! 

Like we had any doubts…

That crazy polar vortex seems to have subsided, but it’s still chilly in a good majority of the United States. Many of you, I’m sure, are dreaming of escaping the cold for warmer weather, white sandy beaches and beautiful turquoise waters. Hmmm, I wonder where that could be…

St. John of course!

Samantha Brown, of Travel Channel fame, just released a list of her favorite Caribbean spots to escape winter and the Virgin Islands made the cut. Here’s what she had to say:

The three islands that make up America’s Caribbean paradise have a lot to offer.  You could spend all your time on one island, but for a little more fun, plan a day or two on all three.  You’ll get a healthy dose of beaches, pampering, wildlife and colonial history.   If you are into hiking, you can explore 22 different trails within the Virgin Islands National Park (St. John) which contains Annaberg Plantation, Caneel Bay, Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay.  Take your camera and beach gear and spend the day at Magens Bay (St. Thomas), well-known for its photogenic coast and amazing swimming conditions.

Also on Samantha Brown’s list were:

·        Cayman Islands

·        St. Kitts & Nevis

·        Barbados

·        Turks & Caicos

Virgin Islands Named Top Place to Escape Winter | News of St. John

Love,

Rebecca

Life is what happens...

For some years, James Taylor has performed at Tanglewood every summer. Two years ago, he gave three concerts over the July Fourth holiday. We had bought tickets for all three, booked a nice little B&B, and planned to spend a few lazy summer days in the beautiful Berkshires. But to paraphrase a line from John Lennon’s song, “Beautiful Boy,” primary CNS lymphoma is what happened to me while I was busy making other plans.

Last year, James did not do the Tanglewood shows. But he is coming back this summer, and we are hoping to make it to one of the two shows. The level of our Boston Symphony Orchestra membership allowed for us to participate in the presale that began at 10:00 am today, but there was an earlier presale for higher level memberships so the best seats were already sold out. As you can see we purchased our tickets this morning at 10:01 am. They are not great seats but they are not bad. Hopefully the weather will be good and we will be able to enjoy a picnic on the lawn before the concert.

YOUR ORDER RECEIPT (Please print this page for your records)

Thank you for your order!

ORDER DATE	01/14/2014 10:01AM
ORDER NUMBER	17755204

Item(s)

Single Tickets(s): Description Location Seat(s) Price Total James Taylor Tanglewood Shed 07/03/2014 8:00 PM Section 11 Price 2 L2 L1 $73.00 $73.00 $146.00 Total Single Tickets Cost: $146.00 Total: $146.00

Definitely something to look forward to!

Love,

Rebecca

 

If You Build It

At the end of last week, before learning the sad news of the horrible accident that took the life of the young son of one of Barry’s colleagues, and before reading the New York Times review of the new documentary, “If You Build It,” we saw that the filmmaker was going to be at a screening at the IFC Film Center in Greenwich Village on Sunday afternoon. We have had the opportunity to attend such events in the past and find them quite enjoyable, so we purchased tickets. We then saw the New York Times review written by Nicolas Rapold, a name unfamiliar to us, in which he had little positive to say about film. But since we had already purchased the tickets, we decided to go ahead and see it. Sadly, and presumably at least in part because of the review, there were fewer than twenty souls in the audience, most of whom appeared to be New York University film students.

Frankly, we thought that Mr. Rapold was a bit too harsh in his assessment of this film. It was not the finest or most exciting or insightful documentary we have ever seen, but it was an interesting story that we felt was well told. The film chronicles two young teachers in a small rural North Carolina high school who embark on an exciting hands-on learning opportunity. When the filmmaker began the project, he must have thought he was simply chronicling a nice story. But as often seems to happen in both life and in the making of documentaries, things do not always go as planned. Shortly after this new course began, the principal who championed it was fired, and the funding for the course was withdrawn. But the two young teachers were determined to see the project through. It would have been fascinating to learn more about just why the school board acted as they did, but during the Q&A after the film, the Director said that the school board denied his repeated requests to interview its members for the film. Nonetheless, “If You Build It” is a compelling testament to the commitment of teachers and their potential to change the lives of their students, themes that resonate with us as the parents of two talented and highly motivated educators.

If You Build It

Speaking of films, I guess the folks responsible for the Golden Globe awards liked “American Hustle” a lot more than I did. We never went to see “Twelve Years a Slave,” another major winner, because from everything we have read and seen it is an extremely painful film to watch, and I just do not have the ability to suffer through it. Interestingly, both the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards were given to “Dallas Buyer’s Club” actors Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto. I wrote about this film back in December, but looking back I see that I mainly focused on my own experience in drug development for the treatment of AIDS. In fact, these two performances were extremely impressive, although I must admit I expected Robert Redford to win best actor for “All is Lost.” I am not sure what distinguishes the selection of the Golden Globe awards from that of the Oscars, but it will be interesting to see how the Oscar awards are distributed.

This morning we attended the funeral service for Cooper Stock, the 9-year-old son of one of the faculty members in Barry’s department whose life ended suddenly while walking with his father less than a block from the family’s Upper West Side apartment last Friday evening. There were an enormous number of people at the service, which overflowed to an upper balcony in the sanctuary. Although many of these people undoubtedly knew each other, the sanctuary was stunningly quiet. Only hugs and brief nods were exchanged. A rabbi spoke, followed by one of Cooper’s cousins (a boy who appeared to be around the same age as Cooper was), two of his uncles, and finally his father. We did not know Cooper, but so many things about him were familiar to anyone who spends time with 9 year old boys, like his love of sports and chicken nuggets. Listening to the moving tributes makes you ask yourself whether you would have the strength to stand up and speak under such unimaginably painful circumstances. Neither of us is sure that we could. As an accomplished physician and clinical researcher, Dr. Stock is not a stranger to public speaking, but even he lost his composure during his closing words. Gut wrenching hardly comes close to describing it.

All I know is that I cannot wait to get up to Sharon in a few days and hug our grandchildren!

Love,

Rebecca

Finding strength

We had a wonderful Sabbath. Friends joined us for lunch and we kept a lively and enjoyable conversation going until just a few minutes before Sabbath ended. We have children and grandchildren who are all close in age and we see the world similarly in many ways, so it is always enjoyable to spend time together.

When Sabbath ended I went to tackle the dishes while Barry went to check his email as he always does just after Sabbath. He usually comes back upstairs fairly quickly, but he did not, and I figured it was some minor issue in a grant proposal or paper under review for publication. When he finally came back upstairs he shared what had kept him downstairs for so long. In his email he saw a few messages from Mount Sinai colleagues about Dr. Richard Stock, a radiation oncologist who joined the Mount Sinai faculty about twenty years ago, two years after Barry did. Although he left a couple of years ago to join a private practice, he has continued as an active collaborator in some of Barry’s research work. Friday evening, Dr. Stock and his 9-year-old son Cooper were crossing the street near their home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan when they were struck by a taxicab. Cooper sustained major injuries and died shortly thereafter. We had never met Cooper but looking at a picture in the paper he looked a lot like his father.

On this morning’s news we heard of yet another accident involving a taxi in which a young mother of twins was killed while walking. New York is a very big city, and I suspect that there are such reports on the news pretty much every day. But most of us barely hear them and do not give them much thought. I suspect I will hear them quite differently for a very long time to come.

We had thought about going out last evening. We knew our friend Leslie Pintchik, a jazz pianist, was performing in nearby New Rochelle and had thought that if we weren’t too tired we might go see and hear her (that is a nod to Leslie, who always thanks her audience for bringing their ears to her shows). After this news we just did not feel like leaving the house.

We are at an age when many of us have lost our parents (both Barry and I have both lost our fathers) and have some friends who have suffered the loss of a spouse. As painful as these experiences can be, I cannot imagine anything more painful than the death of a child. I have unfortunately known a few people whose children have died of illnesses. I think the suddenness of this nearly instantaneous death in such a young child gives it an additional dimension. I just hope that Cooper’s parents and his sister will find the strength to continue their own lives.

Love,

Rebecca