Updated philosophy on fast food (and Nevada)

I have to confess, the reflections in this post are quite horribly belated. During the road trip I took at the end of the summer, I jotted down thoughts and ponderings by hand as a way to get me off the blog (without forcing me to abstain entirely from writing), and during one afternoon of staring at dull Nevada scenery I managed to crank out an entry that actually bears sharing. Back in August of last year I'd posted about ordering food from McDonald's ["http://amidthenoiseandhaste2.blogspot.com/2009/08/i-ate-at-mcdonalds-this-evening.html"] and how it was such a big deal to me at the time. Now? I probably get fast food once a week; it's become that mundane to me. Read on to find out why (but first, here's a microcosmic pic of what I spent all of that particular day starting at):

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Afternoon: somewhere between Winnemucca and Reno

As I'm starting this, the time is 2:56 PM. Hard to believe that it's 5 PM in Chicago already. Weird to think of places that I usually am as being later in the day than wherever I am at the moment.

As expected, Nevada hasn't been all that interesting to look at, scenery-wise. There were a couple cool scenes in the eastern part of the state, but the middle section has been flat-out boring. I guess I shouldn't complain, as it makes for easier (and safer!) driving, esp. when dealing with trucks and steep grades. Currently, Michael Jackson is playing on the iPod, and a few hours ago I was pretty excited to hear "Thriller" when it came on (at Dylan's wedding last month, a bunch of us guys actually did the dance at the reception -- had a couple practices too!).

I've spent most of the day staring either at the road and the blah scenery, or at a roadmap, keeping tabs on our progress the old-fashioned way. (Man, how I miss the pre-Garmin days!) But I wanted to write a little bit about my thoughts on me and fast food. Last year I was roadtripping with Chris, and we were coming back from Ohio. We were getting hungry at the next oasis had a McDonald's, a Dairy Queen, and nothing else. I was very hesitant to eat at McDonald's, but Chris, the driver, made the executive decision and got off. At that time, eating at McDonald's was a big deal for me, as I'd been on a years-long streak of eschewing it and its fatty brethren Burger King, Wendy's, etc.

Today, Chris and I grabbed lunch at a Burger King in Elko, Nevada. It was the first time I'd eaten there in years (I've been to Wendy's and McDonald's several times since, but more on that in a bit), but I'm not about to blog about that just because it's Burger King (like I did last year with McD).

Reason I'm writing here is to jot a few thoughts because I do plan on updating the McD blog post from August 2009. I used to have an anti-fast food stance that began in 2003 (I think during the month of preparation before our choir tour to England), in which I would absolutely eschew McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell, etc. There are a few exceptions in that span, but for the most part I'd stayed fast-food-free.

However, since I moved back to Chicago last December and made new friends in that span, I've been going to fast-food restaurants more, most often to Wendy's and only occasionally to McDonald's. I reasoned that maintaining a low frequency of visits to these places was important for my health, but I didn't have to be so hard-line about it. After all, I'm still quite skinny, and I'm generally conscious about what I put in my body, anyway. That's the key right there: know yourself and what you need and what you can handle.

The other issue deals with corporations and the McDonaldization of the world. I'm not a fan of anything remotely representing monopolization and/or "the big boys" deciding what's good for us and for the world. In my opinion, only God can do that, and the idea of anyone else playing God, especially those in positions of power and influence -- that bugs me immensely. After all, in the Book of James, God judges those who have positions of leadership and power more harshly (though it more specifically referred to those in the Church, I would argue for an expansion to those same corresponding positions in the State world too).

I guess my point in mentioning this is that I used to hate them back in the day. Today I don't hate corporations or excessive American influence as much. As long as those in power operate with a good mind, heart, and a set of ethics, I don't mind. Nowadays I merely shrug at McDonald's and say "OK" to eating their food.

__________________________________________

OK, the above pic is far more interesting than most of what we saw in Nevada. I think by this time in the road trip I more or less stopped taking scenery pics. I took quite a few while in Wyoming and Utah, and I was probably tired by this point. Just imagine driving through the cornfields of Illinois or Iowa and replace the cornfields with brown slabs of nothingness (and the occasional mountain in the distance).

If you could do it all over again, would you?

I just filled out a survey my college asked me to fill out. It was arts-specific, so I believe only artistically-inclined people received them (I could be wrong, perhaps my biology-major friend, my economics-major friend, and my Classics-major friend all got them as well). And, well, you know how surveys are: it asks a bunch of questions that you probably never really gave much thought to in the first place, so you actually have to sit and think about it (that is, if you actually care). Most of the questions I didn't really care; I always make sure to answer honestly, but I just don't spend that much time on them.

But there was one question that hit me like a ton of bricks: "if you could do it all over again, would you still choose St. Olaf?" To be honest, I put "unsure" for my answer. Knowing all the things that have transpired in my life over the last seven years (yes, seven; I have to include the college search process as well), there are things that make me say yes, and there are things that would make me say no. Part of why I say yes is that I wouldn't have known the people I was blessed to have known, but then again, I'd say the same thing no matter where I went. I'm sure my choice would have made a difference in quite a few areas, but I still wonder if some of the same things would have happened regardless of where I went. I mean, I look at things now, and the people I see regularly now I probably would have seen regardless of where I was 2-6 years ago.

I chose the school because it offered me a better financial aid package than Illinois Wesleyan (my other option), and quite frankly because I had better impressions of the Norwegian-Lutheran "Jerusalem on a hill " when I visited. But now it seems that, had I chosen the other school, the only things that would change all exist in my periphery. Assuming my folks and I still would have gone to Ashby MN for my cousin's high school graduation, would I have done much (if anything at all) in Minneapolis that one night we stayed over? And, assuming my longtime friend from childhood still chose to move to Santa Cruz CA, would I have left the west the morning after we arrived? The challenge with speculating on these things is that I can only look at events that happened and try to guess how they would have changed. For instance, who is to say that I wouldn't have been invited to a wedding in Colorado or Virginia instead of Kansas City back in August (for all I know, a couple friends who went to Illinois Wesleyan or any other school had I chosen to apply could have tied the knot then)? Or, in the parallel case of my friend moving out west, who is to say that I wouldn't have embarked on a similar trail with another friend to say, Florida, for the exact same purpose?

To be honest, I could seriously apply the "if you could do it all over again..." question to just about anything. And to be fair, I'd probably have to say "I don't know" to many more of these choices.

What about you? If you could do it all over again, would you?

(Un)finished thought

I went onto Biblegateway.com ["http://Biblegateway.com/"] searching for the two-verse passage that my small group discussed last night. They always have a "Bible verse of the day," and it happened to be the second verse out of the two that I was looking for. I thought that was kinda nifty. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. -- Romans 12:1-2 (NIV) ["http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2012:1-2&version=NIV"] I was going to then delve into a personal tangent directly related to this passage (for it had come to me immediately during this study); one good night's sleep later, and it has vanished from my cerebrum. Or cerebellum. Whichever part of the brain that stores things to be retrieved later.

Maybe this delving isn't necessary right now; maybe the Scriptural verse is all that I need to think about today. Even though I still feel like this is an unfinished thought, perhaps the passage is a finished thought by itself.

[I should probably go ahead and say I have no plans to move back to Minnesota at this time or anytime soon. But last night during prayers it hit me that I kinda really want to go and visit for a weekend. If God wills it, I pray that it will happen soon. I have some friends there that I miss and haven't seen for months.]

Saying goodbye to chicken fried rice and other old things

Whenever I go for Chinese food (or that of any eastern Asian cuisine) my default has always been chicken fried rice. I guess I've just never been that adventurous, also with Mexican food (when I was a kid I always ordered chicken burritos), and a few other non-American cuisines. Over the years I've gradually become more adventurous, not just with food but with all sorts of things (I love biking now; I used to hate it when I was a kid).

Then came last night (OK, this morning, as we checked into a Chinatown restaurant sometime after 1 AM). We all ordered a bunch of dishes to share. I of course went with my old standby and dug in right away, savoring every last bit that I had taken. Then I tried all the other dishes. I eventually returned to my chicken fried rice dish and discovered how bland it tasted. (What?!?) Yes, bland. I couldn't believe it; I kept dishing out more and more of it, hoping that the flavor would again return. Nope. Still bland.

Yesterday evening, on the symbolic pagan date of 10-10-10 (in which 10:10 AM and PM were symbolic minutes on this symbolic day) a few of us went to Hub, a very charismatic and free-flowing worship service which involved an hour of intense and free meditation, an hour of very intensive Biblical study (with a bit of overflow for tough theological questions in which others in the room desperately wanted to gain insight from the leader), two hours of prophesying (my friends and I were almost all first-timers), and then some leftover time for prayer. The event started at 7pm; it was midnight when we finally left (there were still quite a few people there at that time).

In a few days I will gladly post in more detail the things that were prophesied about me (one of my friends wrote everything down, and I will write as soon as I get my hands on a copy), but one thing I remember is one of the individuals rightly talked about the pain and the construction that's been going on for almost a month-and-a-half now. Another couple people mentioned my child-like-ness (basically similar to whatever I wrote in this post [“http://amidthenoiseandhaste2.blogspot.com/2010/04/gifts-i-already-have-regardless-of.html”] almost six months ago... I need to revisit it at some point soon to refresh).

Speaking of symbolism, at 10:11 PM last night, a member of Hub read the following passage: [The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10 (NIV) [“http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2010:10&version=NIV”]] Yeah, they were a minute late, but I'm copying and pasting it because the last half of the verse seems quite appropriate right now. Part of me is under massive re-construction, and it's probably to fulfill the idea of having life to the full, which is only possible in Jesus. Last night I ordered chicken fried rice and learned that it wasn't such a great dish after all. I also realized that it would have been wiser if I had just tasted that dish, discovered its blandness, and then moved on to the other, more fulfilling dishes.

I have a general habit of not believing until I see (as evidenced by my continual eating of the fried rice dish). Maybe part of this re-construction is to change that particular aspect as well, and apply it to other things that God will have me do, such as giving up old pains and never looking back. Normally I'd fire back with the excuse that everyone in my bloodline has a terrible time letting go of pain, but then I'm thinking God would fire back and say he is my real Father, my real parent.

Saying good-bye to chicken fried rice and other old things will be hard but I guess it's necessary. Let's do this.

Dreams and stories

So last night I had a pair of dream sequences several hours apart that oddly caught my fancy. Usually when I dream I dream about people or places, but this time I was essentially delivering speeches the entire time (or, at least in the parts I'm going to mention). The first sequence had me visiting a fire-and-brimstone church of the Religious Right (a faction of "Christianity" I've never liked). I don't remember why I got sent there in the first place, but my mission was to talk to some people about their faith and why they believe what they believe. I remember the first person I ran to was a rather subdued personality but very much set in his ways. No matter what argument I tossed at him he would always come back with something else. As the worship service continued (I pretty much spent the entire time hanging out in what one might call a "narthex" in more traditional churches... basically the common area -- a room adjacent to the worship space), I ran into another, more animated personality, and when I asked him the question, "do you think human beings are 100% bad? Do you think you are 100% bad?" I finally started making some headway. We had been on the topic of sin and how people sin so much, and I think I was attempting to tell him my story about how I learned from related experiences. But he stopped and realized, you know, loving other people is important. I managed to run into the first person again, and posed the same question to him (for some reason I didn't think to ask it the first time around). He too came around. I then asked if I could pray for them, that God would give them understanding.

The dream sequence peters out from here. I have no idea if they definitively said yes, but in knowing how fruitful the discussions had finally become, I imagine they would have accepted. Also, the worship service was ending, so more people started to file out into the common area.

The second sequence that I want to share today more or less begins while I'm out at a park where a lot of children are playing. There was a town event focused on recycling that was about to start. I saw a bunch of adults, basically comprised of people that I've run into the last month-plus (well, everyone except for the Vineyard folks and the 'rents), so I decided to join them and see what was going on. At first it seemed we were going to play a game (volleyball, anyone?), because as soon as I joined the circle people started counting off in twos ... one, two, one, two ... and so on. But before we broke into our teams, one of the adults started making some brief introductory remarks -- you know, the "welcome," and "we're glad you were able to make it out here," etc. statements -- and at the end he opened the floor for anyone else to make any remarks. I jumped on the opportunity to make an impassioned speech about recycling while commemorating my high school physics teacher who had died just a year earlier. This went on for about five minutes, during which I'm sure the others spent the whole time waiting for me to wrap up.

Looking back at these particular sequences, I feel like my brain conjured up different mishmashes of memories from the last month and put them together. I suppose that's the mode I'm in now. Yesterday I restarted yet another attempt to write my fictional story, and this time I fished for all sorts of tangents to round it out. This particular version is going to make the actual story much longer than I had originally planned, but I have to say I'm quite well-pleased with it this time around; I think it's a keeper, length and all.