Ahh...asians.

Against my will and somewhat limited diet, I caved in and went out the other day with Andrew, his sister, and his mom to an all-you-can-eat (which isn't much) Mongolian barbecue restaurant.

One salad and half a plate of noodles/chicken later, I was full. I'm finding that my stomach forbids from eating more than I want to these days. I guess that's a good thing, right? Lately, I've limited myself to salads, various nuts (not those kind, you dirty little pervert), OJ, fruit, and water, among other health-conscious choices with my foods.

Maybe "limited" isn't the right word. That's just all I've really felt like eating. Anything else makes me feel pretty gross.

I've been trying to get more in touch with my [half] Asian heritage. I look over at Japan, a country whose population currently has the longest life expectancy on Earth (and still rising), and wonder what the hell those people are eating that keeps them so healthy. It's pretty interesting. I was watching a documentary earlier tonight by Michael Moore called "Sicko," and he talked about how a poor person in Britain was expected to live longer than a rich person in the US. The movie was mainly about the United States' corrupt health insurance system and the 50 million people in the country who don't have it(I strongly urge you to watch it if you haven't. A lot of people don't like Michael Moore, but I like how he points things out the way they are and brings a lot of issues to the table that nobody in the media is willing to openly and honestly discuss.), but it made me think: if you can afford health insurance in the US, then what is it that differs us from a place like Japan that would cause us to potentially die sooner?


I think it's the food. That's just me, but I'd like to think that Americans eat way more fast food than the Japanese do. Also, take a walk through our grocery stores; the shelves are lined with boxed, processed, fatty foods. I look at all of it and can't help but think that 85% of the stuff that's in our stores aren't part of other countries' regular diets.


Meh, just a thought.


Anyways, on the way out of the restaurant, I couldn't help but notice hand drawn anime drawings on the wall. I thought that was kinda cool. Andrew's sister told me the kid that drew them is a regular there, so they let him put his drawings on the wall.


Very cool of them.

Speaking of asians, here's your daily dose of Engrish:


So awesome. This wins on so many levels.


I've fallen in love with a fantastic cd that I've had for almost a year now. I've been listening to Thrice for ages now, and their most recent cd, Alchemy Index Vol. 3 and 4: Air and Earth is incredible. I'm listening to it on my iPhone as I type this, and I haven't stopped listening to it for the past week. It's helped me get my mind off of a lot of things, and has proven to be therapeutic in a sense. Some would consider it to be a slow cd, but I consider it dense. There's so much depth to it, and the weight of emotion is heavy enough to make up for the lack of traditional "heavy" that Thrice fans are used to.

If you haven't heard of or listened to Thrice, I suggest you go do it.


Now.


Anyways, time for bed. Heading to Sentara in the morning.


I leave with this. I've lived and breathed this song for the past few days:




Peace. Love.