In the land of Megan, I've given up on the idea of eating primarily vegan, because it is just too hard. I know, I know. I've wussed out. After a little while of being pretty good, I figured out that I wasn't getting enough calcium, so then I started taking supplements, but it strikes me as odd that I have to take supplements for something I should be able to get naturally. And I found out that not all soy milk is fortified with calcium, so you have to eat like five heads of broccoli to get a daily serving, and, I mean, I like broccoli and all, but not that much. Then, Monice alerted me to all the dangers of eating too much soy, and I had a near meltdown wondering if it's safe to eat ANYTHING at all. I think the answer is pretty much no, but I'm not giving up soy completely. And then there is my weakness for cheese. I can't really claim a vegan diet when I order the cheese plate, among other deliciousness, with my sisters at the Sapphire Hotel. Or, when I make whole wheat pasta with browned butter and mizithra (and broccoli!). So good! Or when I eat milk chocolate or caesar salad or cheese pizza. Or...

Oh god. I give up.

So, anyway, although my primarily vegan stint in Israel was nice, I'm going back to my mainly vegetarian ways with a few modifications. I'm also going to continue to be mindful of what I buy and go for locally grown foods. I still like my vegan cookies from PCC, though. Maybe veganness is something I'll visit every now and then.

In the past couple of weeks, I've seen Religulous and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. I loved Religulous. It's right up my "Really???" attitude about organized religion. The thing about this movie is that Bill Maher asks a lot of tough questions (and, yeah, he's tough) with humor and intelligence, ones I think people should consider when making decisions about participating in religion. But, my feeling is that the people who already think critically about religious dogmas are the ones likely to be drawn to this movie, and those who don't, won't. Sigh. It's unfortunate. All I can say is, see it!

I'm all for people believing what they want to believe, and there are certainly instances of religion as a catalyst for positive change in people's lives, but I think it's scary when the masses settle in to blind faith and quit asking questions. I feel like our entire purpose here is to ask questions and learn until the day we die. Yet, I felt a lot of complacency on the part of Americans in this movie. People resisted even contemplating the questions asked and seemed to resent, or completely struggled with, coming up with answers. The "just in case" believers are particularly annoying to me, and they had a strong presence in this film. Deciding to believe in religion just in case it's all true is lazy and makes no sense. I mean, come on. This is God we're talking about. If it is all true, I'm pretty sure he's going to be able to tell that you are a faker covering your own ass. Duh!

I loved when Bill Maher made a joke out of this odd reason for believing by saying, "It's like the lotto: You can't be saved if you don't play." And here's to Arkansas senator Mark Pryor who admitted to all that "you don't have to pass an IQ test to be in the Senate, though." Way to go, dude. I'm frightened.

Nick and Norah was of course a lot lighter and very cute. At one point in the movie, when Norah starts rambling awkwardly to Nick in the car, and maybe even inadvertently insulted him, my sister Molly turned to point at me and mouthed, "That's you on dates." I gave her my pursed lip "you be quiet" look in return. Hmph.

In reading news, I'm totally into David Sedaris lately, and I'm making my way through Dress Your Family in Corduroy right now. I adore having a book to read before bed that makes me laugh and laugh. I admire David Sedaris so much. He comes across as completely and hilariously honest in a very simple writing style. This is no small thing. It's difficult to write simply and effectively, and he's insanely talented at it.

One of the things I'm excited about this weekend is my Costco trip with Monice. I'm not a member, but my PCC loving self also hearts the Costco, so Monice offered to let me go with her, even though I tried e-bossing her this week. Yay!

I am the e-boss of you!