Sundoku (noun) 

I got this from Tim Ferriss’s blog. It’s a great word. (I posted an essay about this recently: “Are You an Information Addict?”)

Ferriss says:  Japanese has wonderfully short words that can replace paragraphs in English. Sundoku is one such example.

Here’s part of the Wikipedia entry:

sundoku (積ん読) is acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up in one’s home without reading them. The term originated in the Meiji era (1868–1912) as Japanese slang. It combines elements of tsunde-oku (積んでおく, to pile things up ready for later and leave) and dokusho (読書, reading books). It is also used to refer to books ready for reading later when they are on a bookshelf. As currently written, the word combines the characters for “pile up” (積) and the character for “read” (読).

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The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability by Lierre Keith

An impressively researched and cogent  argument against vegetarianism by a former vegan. The book is broken into four parts, each representing four lines of argument: the healthfulness of a vegetarian diet, the financial cost of it compared to eating meat, the environmental impact of grain production, and the ethical issues.

The research is deep. The arguments are strong. And the anecdotes are persuasive.

The only thing I didn’t like about the book was a section at the end where the author bizarrely goes off topic and – without providing a shred of evidence – blames all the evils of the world on white men.

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If you are in or around Philadelphia this weekend, check out the Philadelphia Fine Art Fair, where my Miami gallery (Rojas Ford) will be exhibiting some of our better Latin American artists. LINK.

 

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When Is a Vegan Not a Vegan? (Answer: When she has to eat crow.)

My tendency in reading health-related literature is to stay with authors and ideas that support my natural preferences. That’s why I was an early advocate of the Mediterranean diet and then jumped on the Paleo bandwagon. It’s also the reason that prompted me to read The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith. (See my review, above.)

One of the claims Keith makes in her books is that many vegans and vegetarians make a regular habit of “cheating” because their bodies cannot tolerate the nutritional damage that comes from eschewing eggs and flesh completely. She tells an amusing story of being a true believer at a hard-core vegan camp only to discover that they had periodic egg-feasting days that were enjoyed but never discussed.

I was thus amused again to see this bit from Whitney Tilsson:

Yovana Mendoza Ayres, 29, a professional social media influencer known as Rawvana, had made a name for herself on YouTube and Instagram by extolling the virtues of a raw and vegan lifestyle, now often referred to as “plant-based.” Her YouTube channels – she has about 2 million subscribers on her Spanish language channel and another 500,000 in English –  are filled with videos of her sharing vegan recipes and skin care routines. On her personal website, she sells meal plans, including a 21-day “Raw Vegan Detox & Yoga Challenge,” to help people lose weight for $49.

 … The camera found her seated in front of a salad. Her arms dropping to cover the plate did not stop commenters from identifying a distinctly not plant-based item on her plate: fish.

 … In an emotional apology Ayres released on YouTube last week, she explained why she misled her fans. She changed her diet after years of significant health problems that culminated with doctors urging her to eat more food, including protein and eggs, she said.

 The lifestyle of fitness, weight loss, and wellness she had sold to her followers had apparently been making her ill.

Here’s Ayres’s emotional apology.

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