From a new Thai restaurant’s excellent mock library
Love, Sex, Money, Tofu
The ever elusive Higgs Boson
Whore’s Glory
I’m a documentary freak. I’ll watch anything.
Food and health documentaries, economic documentaries, crossword competition documentaries, they’re all gravy. Still, I feel a bit of unease at watching any film that is based around sex work, from prostitution to stripping to pornography. Most of these docs veer too far into the realm of manipulation for me.
Whore’s Glory
Netflix’s algorithm suggested that “I might enjoy” Whore’s Glory a week or so ago, and hey, the damn thing was right! Since last week, I’ve been preaching about the movie to nearly everyone I know. This film is a must watch. It’s haunting, it’s depressing, it’s an empathy explosion. Simply put, it covers the daily routines of three sets of prostitutes:
Women who work in an upscale club in Thailand, called the “Fishbowl”
Women and young girls who have been born into/sold into the brothel “The City of Joy” in Bangledesh
Crack addicted women who work a strip called “The Zone” in Mexico
The filmmaker is Austrian documentarian Michael Glawogger, and he’s as restrained as you’d imagine an Austrian filmmaker to be. Beyond the spooky and violent soundtrack (heavy on the CocoRosie), there is no narrative or voiceover to the footage. He allows the women and their customers to speak for themselves. Â That’s really what makes the movie so powerful to me. There are moments of happiness and despair, but the rhythm of the movie gets you to realize that this is just these women’s lives, day in and day out. That was where the real shock and sadness crept in for me.
The movie is fairly even handed, but becomes devastating by the end. A full sex scene is included, which I thought was inappropriate, unnecessary and unfair to the Mexican prostitutes.
Anyways, enough of my blabbing.WATCH IT. Seriously!
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in the old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal-temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.-from “Ulysses” by Tennyson
30 Day Vegan/ I Quit Sugar Update: Day 11. Cravings.
Well, it’s day 11 already! Time to do an update on this whole “I’m gonna go vegan and cut back on my sugar” resolution. Here we go:
Vegan update:
I’ve been staying on track at home and out at restaurants for the most part. I keep slipping up with condiments (aioli you fiend!). Missing bacon and eggs terribly.Starting to lean a little too heavily on the fake meats.
Sugar update:
I got it wrong in my last update- apparently Week #2 of the I Quit Sugar diet is continuing to cut back on Fructose + adding in more fats. So I don’t have to go cold turkey until Week #3. Cutting back on sugar has been going okay since I have been eating blandly at home, but going out is becoming really hard.
Morale update:
Couldn’t track down where the original of this came from…
Oh friends, I am in a bad way.
My roommates are  currently minimally employed, and we’ve created a loving household routine as far as the workdays go. It’s not lonely around the house. Everyone’ s applying to jobs, or working on their website, or pursuing a personal passion. It’s exciting. And everyone is cooking everyday. This is a struggle.
I wake up and shuffle off to the kitchen to make myself a pot of coffee and grab some vegan yogurt, and it smells wondrous- bacon, eggs and homemade bread and butter. Oy. Killing me. Then throughout the day, they just keep cooking. One roommate roasts a whole chicken. Another does steak and a sweet potato mash. So all I can do is look and salivate. I’ve gotta say, I haven’t felt this kind of pit of my stomach hunger and mouthwatering aching for food in ages.
I’ve been busy with work stuff, so I’m not cooking as much as I’d like to. Since I’m feeling these crazy cravings I think that I’m going to try to  focus on all the good stuff that I CAN eat by pulling together some new hearty recipes. Here are a few recipes that look promising:
Red Lentil Soup with Curry and Coconut Milk
Chickpea Tagine with Cinnamon, Cumin and Carrots
Other thoughts
On the plus side, my skin is looking pretty awesome. There are less blemishes overall and the tone is evening. I can’t tell the difference in my energy levels, but I will say- my alcohol tolerance is shot! It makes sense, I just didn’t anticipate it.
PS- I tried making this Vegan Red Lentil + Butternut Squash Soup without the fenugreek. It was out of control delicious. Recommended!
