What I've been reading

"The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. I listened to this as a book on CD, read by the author and his wife, and they do a wonderful job. I did keep thinking of Dawkins voice as the voice of the book from "Hitchhiker's Guide" for some reason, perhaps because Dawkins was friendly with Douglas Adams and even dedicated the book to him.

and

"Pattermaster" by Octavia Butler. She's just such a great writer. She really draws you in quick and makes you care. I'm continuing on my quest to read all her books.

My full comments on both books here:

http://community.livejournal.com/50_in_07/28387.html

National geographic feed

I love stories about weird animals, odd animal behavior, and other science news about the strange and wonderful, so I'm really digging the sorts of stories that come with this feed, along with video links.

As an example, this story about how clownfishes (popularized in "Finding Nemo") clack their jaws to communicate:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070517-clownfish.html

Or this video about Galapagos lizards diving for their dinners:
http://syndicated.livejournal.com/natlgeographic/759948.html

Fear of food

I refuse to fear my food.

I will not panic about conventionally grown fruits and vegetables and worry that I'm poisoning myself.

I will not believe that potatoes, carrots, or bananas are "bad" for me because they have too much sugar or simple carbs.

I will not live in fear that the fluoride in my green tea or the soy sausage and broccoli that I eat are going to depress my thyroid fuction.

I refuse to beat myself up for eating french fries or other treats because the trans fat is going to make me die young.

I refuse to live in fear that a couple servings of fish a week are going to make my brain turn to mush from mercury poisoning.

I will not assume that I eat too much wheat and gluten and that I'm making myself sick by eating a whole wheat tortilla or a piece of 12-grain bread.

I understand that some people do have life-threatening food allergies or sensitivities that make them ill when they eat certain foods. I understand people wanting to limit their intake of pesticides and herbicides from their produce. I understand that a lot of whole foods are very unlike the aboriginal seed stock they originally came from and they might be very different nutritionally than their ancient ancestors.

Caution and keeping up-to-date on nutrition and food science is a virtue, but I refuse to obsess about these issues to the point that it makes me live in fear. Food is to be used as fuel and is there to be enjoyed.

I will not fear my food.