Dieting day one and other crap

So, today I started my diet.

I tried to start last night, actually, just to get the jump on JLowe. For dinner, I had some steak, cooked on my own barbie.

However, as I realized it was my last chance for two weeks to enjoy anything remotely interesting, I ended up drinking a beer, eating some of my wife's mint Brussels, eating some pringles chips, drinking some chocolate milk, then drinking some grape juice. I don't know what came over me. I was just ravenous.

Today, however, was different. Woke up, made myself a little omellette (canadian bacon and string cheese), ate some non-fat plain yogurt with Splenda for a snack, some string cheese and turkey breast for lunch, and some string cheese and some almonds for a snack. Now, I'm defrosting a chicken. And eyeing the artichokes in my fridge.

My wife is sick. Sometime Saturday she got hit with the flu that everyone's got, and it hit her hard. She's been laying in bed now for 3 days, in pain and despondent, watching DVD's on the laptop and just wishing the time would go by faster and that she'd feel better.

I, for one, haven't suffered any major illnesses since my last brush with death at Thanksgiving. I did have a minor cold in February, caused by my friend Joe, but other than that I've been doing great.

But this morning I felt the beginning twinges of a sore throat. As I write this, I'm feeling it more. Is this psychosomatic? Probably.

In fact, everyone in the family is sick. Olive went to the vet today, where we were having her checked to see if her mites are gone, and hoping that she'd be well so that she can get fixed. No such luck. A scraping revealed the mites are still hanging out, despite three dips in lovely mite-killer. As I talked to the nurse today about dogs, she revealed that she has a mini-dobie that had mites. In thinking about it, I've realized my childhood dobie, and the dog by which all others must be judged, also had mites at one time. So Ollie's present situation, though somewhat frustrating, is just par for the course. I only pray she holds out on heat another couple of months...

What else is new? Nothing. I spent this weekend tending to my poor, sick wife, doing dishes, doing laundry, washing the dog (more pictures will come, I swear!) and watching movies. So, a couple quick reviews, since that's what I'm good for...

I (heart) Huckabees
This movie is strange. But funny. Not quite the strange funny of Napoleon Dynamite, or even the strage funny of Rushmore, Jason Schwartzman's other foray into offbeat comedy. It's its own strange funny. Follow Jason and his buddy Marky Mark as they search for the meaning of life, delving into the mysterious coincidences and petroleum problems faced by our world with the assistance of an excellent Dustin Hoffman and a so-so Lily Tomlin. This movie is worth renting. Glad I didn't see it in a theater, though.

Closer
The sad tale of a self-inflicted loser-in-love (Jude Law) who learns that the best writers dip their figurative quill into a single figurative ink pot (Natalie Portman) and concentrate on writing that figurative story, instead of following their fancies from one ink pot to another (Julia Roberts) and in the process pissing off her brooding English husband/figurative blotter (Clive Owen). Which brings up a question. You're Jude Law. You have the choice of Natalie or Julia. Assuming neither will physically age, and both will retain their present beauty (okay, maybe we'll let Nat age a little, as for many she's still a little young-looking), which do you take? Clive took Julia. Jude, that imbecile, lost both of them.

Biloxi Blues
I love the Eugene Jerome films. But between Brighton Beach Memoirs, starring a brand-new Johnathan Silverman as the teen-aged Eugene, and Biloxi Blues, with the always-fantastic Matthew Broderick, I opt for the former. The comedy is shot better, but you still get the depth of the experience. Maybe it's the family dynamic that's built in. Maybe it's just direction. Whatever. I like Biloxi Blues, I encourage a rental of both for a rainy day, and now I move on to the only new film I've seen this week:

Sin City
Delightful. Naughty. Funny. Dark. Go see it.

Enough. I need to go make my chicken, check on The Missus, pet the dog, and watch a movie.

Catch ya later.

PS - Due to a serious lack of interest in discussing anything important, I abstain from discussing the passing of the Pope and Terry Schiavo, though both are sad. If you really need me to broach a serious topic, go check out today's metblog.