Go see that, too.

I consider myself relatively well educated on this sort of topic.

I already knew that at the grocery store, everything that is not in the produce aisle has 90% of its composition rooted in just three things: corn, wheat, soy. I already knew that the myth that a vegetarian lifestyle only makes sense for people who worry about animals’ feelings is just that – myth – since the farmers and factory workers are in equally dire straits. I already knew a lot of it.

I did not know that we are on a path that will land us with 1 in 3 people becoming afflicted with early onset diabetes. Nor that there are really creepy immigration conspiracies going on in the food industry. Nor that they seem to install these things in the cows that leave one of their stomachs permanently open to the air so they can check inside at will. Gross.

Additionally, my fantastically creative self discovered two completely genius business ideas:

1. Pitch fictitious but based-in-truth movie script about corrupt governmental employees in the food business. Because it is straight out of a crappy summer blockbuster.
2. In watching one scene where a bunch of pigs get loaded onto a platform, and then it comes to resemble a drop ride, I started thinking about amusement parks. And I realized that the point of them is to thrill, right? So if people really want to be scared, why don’t we create an amusement park where all the rides are based on factory farming!?!? You know, minus the actual killing part, because we want repeat customers. We’ll call it…Porky’s and Moomoo’s Theme Parks (TM). Hold your applause. Seriously, folks.

So anyway, go see it. You’ll probably learn something. And sure, there are aspects that are sensational (though not as much as you might think – it’s fairly level-headed), but I just recently decided that I’m shit tired of being cynical about everything. I have realized that, sure, you will always be able to find something inaccurate or propagandistic about things like this. You will always find critics. But anything that is suggesting we might question the status quo should be given a bit of a break since, compared to the number of chances the status quo has to drill itself deeper into our subconscious every day (at least hundreds), we question it very little. From where I am sitting and writing this right now, without moving I can count at least a handful of brands and ideals that are in my face every moment of every day without me giving a second thought. So…give the smaller voices a fair shot to compete.

Rent it. Buy it. I don’t care. Just watch it.

There are two kinds of blogs one might read: one read because of the content, or one read because of the author. Sometimes, in the latter scenario, you are interested in the author because you know them personally. It’s like those old irritating annual family update letters. But Way. More. Frequent.

I read several friends’ blogs. At first, this seems like the most brilliant idea. It seems a way to stay close when you are far – a means of connectedness and communication. You read what they write and you hear it as if spoken with their voice, and it automatically installs itself onto the canvas your mind invokes at their mention. But the problem, as these canvases are not perfect replications of every interaction but instead merely a “sense” of that person, is that your forget what you learned where. You forget whether you spoke to them last week about that interview two Mondays back, or whether you read about them speaking about their interview two Mondays back.

So some days you realize that you haven’t spoken with someone in ages, which you completely failed to realize all this time because you feel like you spoke last night online when you read their latest saga. Or you call someone and start to tell them the best story you’ve saved up and then they cut in, “ya…I read about that.” It’s insanely confusing. And more concerning still is that it allows one-sided relationships to develop, wherein one person blogs and another doesn’t, and effectively the writer’s life injects itself into reader’s life, but not the other way around. How lopsided, unfair, and sad. Moreover, the dual blogging friendship creates two feeds that shoot off in each other’s general direction but never (or rarely) mingle or converse. It’s such an odd product of the blogging age.

Um. Ya. And that’s it. My thoughts. Nutshell. End thesis. How’s that for a conclusion?

One day last week my neck ceased to be composed of flesh and instead transformed itself into 100% Organic Spasm.

When this happens at work I do, on occasion, retreat to the file room and lie down on my back, which seems to be the only position in which the Organic Spasm will chill out for one single second. But this fit was more persistent and I figured that no number of five minute file room lie downs would permit sitting at my desk for more than a few minutes.

I stayed home and in the evening had occasion to speak to my friend D on the phone. I relayed my situation and the unfavorable ratio of necessary lie-downs to allowable sit-ups, complaining that the only position that made my neck any better was flat on my back. He concluded

Well, I guess it’s time for a career change. The Boy will just have to deal with it. You can crash on my floor until you find a place in The Valley.

Look for my name in lights any day now…

I don’t know a lot. But I do know that school should be more like this and less like this.

Don’t get me started.