Book List a la BBC

The BBC allegedly believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here:

How do your reading habits stack up? [bold those books you've read in their entirety, italicize the ones you started but didn't finish].

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (seriously, have you tried to read Love’s Labours Lost?)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (currently in the middle of)
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams,
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (why is this separate from #33?)
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Colour Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

You Hand Is Steady

Your hand is so much steadier than mine.

Daily drawing lines on paper with rhythm and purpose,
I think you'd have better luck applying makeup
on these eyes.

Mine is a writer's hand, shaky, and when active,
irregular in chicken scratch mistaken for poetry.

But every day I see you, you paint me beautiful.

You can't seem to stop calling me beautiful,
using words with conviction that I cannot deny.

I wish anything I wrote had that kind of strength of belief.

Day 2-3

Yesterday (Day 2) I finished off the day by eating exactly what I ate on Day 1.

The first two days I've been tired. So tired. Struggling to stay awake at my desk, wanting to nod off. This may be because the lack of coffee that has been my habit, having coffee a few times a week instead of just tea.

And I may have cheated (just a tiny bit!) because I didn't think about my morning tea as part of the project. I don't know why. The first two mornings I've had a cup of tea because I have been so tired. (From not getting usual caffeine or usual calories . . . hmmm?)

Woops. Now I'm trying to get more sleep to make up for it.

But I'll make further amends. I won't have tea either. And I won't spend the 3somedollars I have left to spend to make up for it. Five days without caffeine. Mind-boggling.

Other than the tea, I have not gone to a coffeeshop or out to eat, or had the free hot chocolate from work, or free coffee or mooched off my coworkers. The big test will be Saturday, where I work at a cafe where the food is yummy, and which I love to eat on Saturdays. Damn.

Note: I've been drinking a lot of water, it's a good appetite supressant.

As for today, I expect I'll be eating the same things today as yesterday, though I am almost out of the frozen peas, so will probably switch to either the broccoli/cauliflower mix or red pepper/broccoli/corn mix.

One of my friends had a suggestion for making rice more interesting: soy sauce, rice vinegar and a little bit of olive oil. Whaddaya know? I have those in my cabinet!

But he also stated that if he was doing this thing, all he'd buy was a bunch of ramen. So bad for you! I don't think I've been able to eat straight up ramen since high school. Here's why, courtesy of Wikipedia:

"Ramen and similar products are often criticized as being unhealthy or junk food. A single serving of instant noodles is high in carbohydrates but low in fiber, vitamins and minerals. Noodles are typically fried as part of the manufacturing process, resulting in high levels of saturated fat and/or trans fat. Additionally, if served in an instant broth, it typically contains monosodium glutamate (MSG) as well as a high amount of sodium, usually in excess of 60%, the U.S. Recommended Dietary Allowance.

Instant ramen is half-jokingly referred to as a staple food of typical college students. A package of ramen is incredibly cheap for the amount of food it contains. Its low cost and simple preparation has caused instant ramen to be referred to as "Purina student chow," "ghetto noodles", "Lazy Soup", and even "crackhead soup." Despite the variety of flavors, students may find a "ramen diet" monotonous after some time; fortunately, the rather mild flavor of the noodles themselves lends the product to versatility, and kitchen experiments have resulted in ramen-based desserts, salads, main courses, and more."

Ramen Dessert Recipe:
1 package ramen noodles (minus seasoning packet)
strawberry sauce (like you would get on an ice cream sundae)
1 bottle honey
1 dash cinnamon
1 dash sugar
whipped cream, from a can or Cool Whip, is best.

Cook ramen according to package directions.
Drain.
Place noodles in fridge until chilled.
Remove from fridge and place on a plate.
Add as much honey as desired, use a squeeze bottle for this.
Sprinkle on some cinnamon and sugar.
Add a drizzling of strawberry sauce.
Top with copious amounts of whipped cream and one more drizzling of strawberry sauce for colour. Enjoy!

NASTY!

Day 1-2

Yesterday (Day 1) I ate:

Breakfast
-2 slices of white bread with a thin spread of pnut butter (hey, it's still got a lot of fat in it, and though I like it, I still try to watch what I eat)
-a banana

Still hungry . . . so I eat:
half a cup of quick oats (which is the kind you either cook on the stove, or cook in the microwave at 50% power for 5 minutes. never had any oats that aren't instant, so i seemed to have added too much water and made a very gloopy gruel of yuck. tried to drain some of the water, added salt and pepper and slowly ate it anyway.)

That held me off till noon for . . .

Lunch
-1 small patty of ground turkey (i took the 1.30lbs of turkey and made them into seven small patties around as big as a sand dollar, one for each day)
-approximately 3/4 cup of brown rice
-a heavy drizzle of ketchup over the turkey and the brown rice (brown rice smothered in ketchup tastes pretty good actually)
-10oz of cran-grape juice

Snack @ 4pm
-big bowl of peas with salt and pepper (even though i wasn't too hungry, i needed to get my veggies in and i just knew i wouldn't eat them when I got home)

Dinner @ 6pm
-a piece of white bread, plain
-approximately 3/4 cup of turkey hill mint cookie and cream frozen yogurt (best dinner ever!)

11pm snack
-small amount of cold rice with balsamic vinegar dressing


Day 2

Breakfast (woke up kind of hungry)
-2 slices of white bread with a more liberal spread of pnut butter (compared to Day 1)
-a banana

That held me off till around 11:45am for . . .

Lunch
-small pattie of ground turkey
-3/4 cup of rice
-lots of ketchup poured over both (ketchup on rice lost part of its charm compared to Day 1, tomorrow might switch to soy sauce)

Still hungry . . . off to make oatmeal that hopefully doesn't come out like scary gloop.

Day Zero

So I went to the grocery store to pick up the food I’ll be eating for the $21/7 days thing.

$21 is what the average a person gets in food stamps to cover 7 days.

The following list is what I bought at the Giant store I usually go to in the Towson/North Baltimore area. I often go there, even though it’s not the closest grocery store to my apartment, because the prices are lower and it only takes 15 minutes to drive to. The closest chain grocery store (Superfresh) to me is about a fifteen minute walk, but being in the city, the prices are usually higher and the stores smaller with less variety. Things that were on sale are noted in parentheses.

1Lb 4oz Super G enriched white bread $0.99
1Lb Frozen Broccoli/Cauliflower (on sale 10/$10) $1.00
1Lb Frozen Petite Peas (on sale 10/$10) $1.00
1Lb Frozen Broccoli/Corn/Red Pepper mix (on sale 10/$10) $1.00
1.75qts Turkey Hill Mint Cookie and Cream Frozen Yogurt (on sale -$3.80) $1.99
1Lb Store Brand All Natural Peanut Butter $2.79
2qts Store Brand Cran-Grape Juice $2.29
2Lb Store Brand Natural Brown Rice $0.99
1Lb 2oz Store Brand All Natural Oatmeal (one sale -$0.39) $1.00
1.30Lbs Perdue Ground Turkey $2.59
3.45lbs Bananas (at $.49/lb) $1.69

My total before savings: $24.29
My total savings: $6.96
Total after savings: 17.33
Left to spend if I so choose: $3.67


So after buying all this, what are my thoughts? That this is almost too easy. This seems like plenty of food. I bought 7 bananas. I’ll have one banana a day, though I usually have two a day. I might buy more with the remainder, later. 2lbs of rice will make a lot of grains/carbs to eat and be satisfied. Juice for a sweet drink. Mint Cookie and Cream Frozen Yogurt (my personal all-time favorite) fortuitously on sale for dessert. Plenty of frozen vegetables, also fortuitously on sale. However, I do imagine that I will tire of eating the same thing every day, though the bread and peanut butter (the all natural was a splurge, I could have gotten regular peanut butter for $1.50 for the same size) might be had instead of oatmeal or rice some days. I don’t always eat meat every day, so 1.30lbs of turkey will do me fine, though I may want more.

It’s also seems too easy because we didn’t have to buy spices either. We could use what we already had. I have lemon pepper salt, soy sauce, garlic salt, pepper, ginger, and a few Mrs. Dash flavors, among other things. And those things are expensive, because it takes so long to go through them.

I thought going into this I would be going hungry some days. As of right now, I don’t see that happening.

And I think it might be easier for me because I probably eat less than the average American. I’m 5’1” and weigh approximately 100lbs. I haven’t weighed myself lately, so I don’t know for sure, other than I can tell my body type hasn’t changed in the last . . . 7 years, at least. I still wear jeans from high school. And I was very skinny then. I tend to eat low fat foods and watch what I eat. I don’t eat full fat ice cream at all, really, for example. I do love cream in coffee, however, and carbs. I love breads and noodles and eating a lot of them. I should get more protein in my diet, ’cause it’d probably help to build muscle that I need. I love filling up with vegetables too, which is sort of like eating nothing with a lot of good nutrients. I even like eating them plain.

I never counted the amount of calories I have each day. Each day is different.

But I know what will be difficult not to pick up a morning coffee and bagel at the local café before work. No more of that for these seven days. It’s probably a good thing, because I want to wean myself off coffee and go back to tea. I also won’t be able to have my favorite blueberry banana protein smoothie that I have once or twice a week from the local juice bar.

I still aim on exercising the same, so we will see what happens in the end. Will I eat all the food before the end of the week? It’s a possibility, even though at this moment I think it’s a lot of food.

Food Stamp Diet Challenge

A few of my friends and I are taking part in the letter below.

Day 1 for me is Monday the 11th.

On Sunday the 10 I will go to the store with $21 in my pocket (though it may be only metaphorically, debit cards are awesome) and a calculator. I aim on eating balanced, so I hope to be able buy good carbs (wheat bread or brown rice), fruit (bananas are the cheapest out there and full of good nutrients), meat (whatever's cheapest, beef, chicken, turkey, doesn't matter), and vegetables (canned or frozen, whatever's cheapest). I may also buy the cheapest package of chocolate cookies I can find. For something sweet. I will buy what's on sale or generic, if that's cheaper than the sale. I will update every day on what I eat and drink for breakfast, lunch, dinner and how I feel.

-------------------

Dear Friends,
Can you live on $3 a day for food? This is the U.S. average food stamp allotment - that's $1 per meal. Hunger is a challenge facing many in the District - one out of nine people in the District faces a constant struggle against hunger. This is not acceptable in the capital of the world's richest country.

Join D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray and D.C. Hunger Solutions staff in participating in the Food Stamp Diet Challenge. This challenge was created to raise awareness of hunger in our community, as well as to demonstrate how difficult it is for households to afford enough groceries even with food stamps. While the Food Stamp Program is a great support for many struggling families, the benefits remain too low to allow a typical household to purchase an adequate, healthy diet. But, we have an opportunity to make needed improvements to the program. Congress is taking up the Farm Bill, which includes the Food Stamp Program, in June.

Representatives James McGovern (D-MA) and Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) called on their colleagues to participate in the food stamp challenge. Thanks to their inspiration, others across the country are mounting similar challenges. D.C. needs to be a vocal participant. By taking part in the challenge, you can focus needed attention on hunger in the District, challenges facing residents on a daily basis, and the need to improve the Food Stamp Program.

The challenge will take place the week of June 3rd to coincide with Hunger Awareness Day on June 5th. On Friday, June 8th we will ask participants to voice their support for proposed federal legislation which makes a real effort to end hunger by making a worthwhile investment in the Food Stamp Program.

The guidelines are simple: Participants can only spend $21 per week on food.

For more information on people's experiences around the country taking the food stamp diet challenge, see

Media Blackout

Have you heard about this (caution, gruesome details of a crime to follow):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channon_Christian_and_Christopher_Newsom_murder

If not, now you know. How is Paris Hilton or Anna Nicole or American Idol more important than this?

Thanks to DC101 (101.1FM in Baltimore/DC) and Eliot in the Morning for bringing this to my attention, even though it's the last thing I want to hear within an hour of being awake and driving to work.