Thoughts / comments on 3 weeks being “vegetarian”

I’ve been “vegetarian” for three weeks.

How “vegetarian” have I actually been?

I had a cheesesteak and chicken fingers on Friday when I was hammered.

I haven’t been perfect, but I’d guess I’ve decreased meat consumption by probably 80-90%.

I’ve also been more lenient on eating fish than mammals, though doing my best (for now) to stop both.

Everyone asks WHY?!

Everyone assumes its for health reasons, which it’s not.

I don’t have a great answer for why other than A) I think the meat industry is very unnatural and B) to see what it’s like / if I can do it.

Eating at home has been easier than expected

My go-to-dish is pasta with Alfredo sauce, mushrooms, onions, and garlic.

Fruit consumption is up and I get my protein mostly from yogurt and peanut butter.

Eating out has been the hardest part

I thought this would be easy since most places offer some vegetarian options. There are always a couple, but the choices are limited.

I’m fine getting a flatbread pizza instead of a burger every now and then, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel like I was “settling” every time I order.

How long do I plan on doing this?

Not forever, it’s more sacrifice than I’m willing to make to cut out meat entirely.

But everyone can make a measurable impact without going full vegetarian.

My thought is that I can maintain reduced meat consumption of 50 – 75% compared to my previous-self pretty easily, mostly by not eating meat at home.

I want to be able to order a burger, bacon with my eggs, scallops down the shore, etc. without worry every once in a while.

I’m not preaching to anyone, these are just my thoughts after trying for a bit!

I saw “It” and it sucked

Tom, Laura, and I saw It last night. We watched the whole thing without saying a word and as we walked out, we all agreed it was bad.

Here are my thoughts:

  • The horror itself was repetitive / predictable after the first few scares. It was like a 15 year olds nightmare.
  • Was Pennywise a physical presence only to the kids?
  • I understand him being less powerful as the kids were less afraid of him, but couldn’t he just disappear or something before ‘dying’?
  • The Jewish kid and the black kid were so under-developed as characters compared to the other five.
  • How come the fat kid’s kiss ‘saved‘ Beverly even though she liked Bill?
  • Pennywise bit the shit out of George but didn’t do anything to Beverly, just made her float, WTF was that about?
  • The humor from the Stranger Things kid was too forced / over the top, not very funny.
  • The CGI was over the top. Too many things were too obviously CGI’d.
  • Did the cop’s son kill him because he was possessed by Pennywise? I think yes?
  • If Pennywise can just possess kids, why did he only do that with the cop’s son and not all of them?

There’s probably more but that’s my stream-of-consciousness about why the movie sucked. I don’t recommend spending the $12 to go see it.

The Black Tux Knows What It’s Doing

We used The Black Tux to rent suits for Mike’s wedding and this is a company that knows exactly what it’s doing. This was honestly as easy as it gets.

First, it asks your measurements.

Now, the only measurements any normal guy knows off the top of their head is their waste size, and their penis length, girth, circumference, and average time-of-use.

They give you step-by-step instructions with picture diagrams for each measurement that’s needed. Entering the measurements took 5 minutes.

Then, they send you the suit.

It comes in the mail in a perfectly-put-together package ~2 weeks prior to your event. You try everything on to make sure it fits (mine did), but if it doesn’t, you just let them know and they send you another suit with adjusted measurements, and you don’t even have to send the one you have back (yet).

Next, you look fly as shit at your event.

Self explanatory.

Last, you send the suit back.

Black Tux Job Interview

You get a wonderfully optimized email the day after your event with instructions on how to return. The return label AND tape to reseal the package it came in are included in the initial package. I drove that shit to the Fedex place, dropped it off, and that was it. Done.

This is a company that prioritizes ease of use and they do a hell of a job. Highly recommended.

Congrats Mike & Theresa!

This weekend I went to Mike and Theresa’s wedding and it just confirmed that weddings are the best social event of all time. I was honored to be selected as a groomsman and I must say being in a wedding is a very cool experience.

I won’t get into too much detail but overall it was a 10/10 weekend because of the weekend. Congrats to Mike and Theresa!

Here are some funny animals:




Incognito Birthday

Growing up as a kid, my birthday always fell at the start of the school year which was an unhappy time.

As I got older, I never threw parties, but would usually “celebrate” in some way.

This year, I went totally undercover. I didn’t really realize it was my birthday until Monday and by that point I didn’t care. I didn’t want to do anything.

So yesterday, I did my best to keep things under wraps. Texts and calls from family and close friends came in but that was basically it, as I’d hoped.

I even kept it from my co-workers until CK4 blew my cover around 3:15. They questioned why I was being “weird” about it. What am I supposed to do? March in and demand gifts from everyone? Telling people its your birthday is a bad look.

After work I went on a run, played some COD, then Wacker stopped over and me, him, and Rob just bro’d out for a few hours.

Happiness = Reality – Expectations

I expected nothing different on my birthday and it was everything I thought it would be. Give it a try!

Here’s to 26.

I’m Going Vegetarian… Kind’ve

I watched Earthlings in college and it made me consider going vegetarian.

Then I recently read Schlegel’s post about the book Eating Animals and it revived those thoughts. For the past few weeks I’ve been actively thinking about how easy or hard it would be to cut meat out of my diet.

Then, half way through my Acme trip today I noticed I had no meat products in my cart, and I decided on a whim that I’m going to commit.

Now, my mom is nice enough to buy me turkey for lunch, so I’m going to finish the current batch of turkey she bought me, but after that, I’m done-ish.

I don’t know how long it’ll last, and I can’t guarantee I’ll be 100%. I’d be lying if I said I won’t get a cheesesteak one of the drunken nights, but the idea is there.

I don’t even know WHY I’m doing it. Partly because I believe in better treatment of animals, and that the less dependent we are on animal meat the better, and partly just to see what it’s like.

Any thoughts or advice from those who have done it before are welcome!

My First Auction Draft – Grade My Team

Notes:

  • Dynasty League! This was our first draft and we’re keeping 8 each year.
  • Full point PPR.
  • 12 Teams.
  • $200 budget.
  • I picked two kickers to spite someone, not because I wanted either of them.

Players I got that I was actively targeting: Evans, Crowder, Kelce, and Hill.

Big Ben for $1, despite being 35, is a steal since he’ll put up numbers this year and I like Wentz for the future.

I’m nervous about Gurley and Anderson but there’s upside there.

I’d have changed a few things if I could do it again, but auction drafts are fun and would be open to doing all drafts as auctions as it’s a more level playing field.

My Viral Tweet

There it is, in all its glory, my most liked tweet ever.

  • Twitter trolls are asking me what my secret is.
  • High school runner girls keep DM’ing me to run together.
  • Sports Illustrated reached out and asked me to join their T&F department because of how embarrassed they were about this screw up.

Fame feels good!