Diary of a Mad Old Man

I’m not quite sure what led me to pick up this book.  Whenever I am at one of those gigantic library book sales, multiple bags dangling off my arms, I am up for anything.  I can afford to choose on the cover.  I can afford to just want “something old”.  I can afford to pick up all the classics that I see.  So here was an older looking book, with artwork reflecting the time period. 

The cover of my copy of “Diary of a Mad Old Man” boasted “First Time in Paperback” and was written in 1965 by an acclaimed Japanese author, Junichiro Tanizaki.  I’ve never heard of Jun here, or any of his works.  It’s a thin enough, diary entry type book.  An easy read for someone with piles and piles of books to read.  I don’t like to give up and just give them away without reading them.   I mean, after I’ve actually picked each one up at some point, looked through it and decided to have it as my own.  There was a reason for it and although there are times I will quick clean and give away very few, I usually feel obligated to read it first. 

Diary of a Mad Old Man starts off a bit more interesting than I’ll give the whole thing credit for.  Maybe I just don’t get it.  Maybe I’m a jerk.  Or maybe the time period was more repressive and what is riske there is not so much now, looking back in on it.  In the 1960’s, maybe a parent would freak if they caught their kid smoking pot.  Nowadays, I’m sure many parents are relieved it’s Only Pot and not meth. 

The premise sounds interesting.  This  is the diary of Utsugi, who is super rich.  He’s suffered a stroke previous to the start of the story and is for the most part, doing okay.  He has his ailments on a daily basis – greatest hits such as blood pressure, cholesterol, pains, and the ilk.  Ah, and he is impotent.  Bummer.  REAL bummer.  So what does he do for fun?  He does get to go to plays, takes walks in the garden and writes in his diary.  He has a nurse and sleeps in separate beds from his wife.  He has a huge attachment to his daughter in law, Satsuko, who from my own personal view is advanced in self serving activity and just plain ole mean.  She’s also a bit of a mindf**ker.  And I guess if you’re impotent, it’s the best sort of f**king you can get.  From Utsugi, she manages to procure gifts, most of his thoughts, energy (in the form of imagining up schemes to be alone with her) and I’d have to say his very soul.

It was an interesting enough read for me.   I enjoyed the fact that it was written so long ago so that you can pick up little time pieces here and there.  What people write with, how they think, what they are eating.  Overall while it mostly kept my interest, I’m not sure who’d I would recommend it to.  Perhaps  a lover of possibility – wanting to touch and read literature, just to read it for no other reason than just being open.

Food Matters by Mark Bittman

I could swear that I wrote this book. But due to the fact that meat is optional, I realize that my name is not Mark Bittman.

Mark champions some very common sense and real ideas. Basically, this would be very similar to how Humanling and I are already eating. There is moderation, there is anything you want, however, most of the day's calories should be whole foods - veggies, fruit, beans, as well as meat and fish, although not in huge quantities.

Mark also maintains a lesser of the evils stance with the environment - local food vs organic food that has been shipped a thousand miles and the effect of eating meat multiple times a day as far as raising livestock goes

The main idea here is to eat as many vegetables in a day that you can. The author does not subscribe to the adage of eating like a pauper at night - at least not for himself. He consumes his largest meals at night and enjoys wine with dinner.

Not only does he remind us of the obvious (which in my opinion is good because if people didn't need a reminder we wouldn't have so much obesity, cancer and heart disease) but he walks his talk in the second half of the book with some really decent recipes. Easy recipes and with variations! He is very much about individuality.

It's an easy read with an important factor - how to eat for life. You'll definitely think about your next choice.

Speaking of lifelong dietary changes, tomorrow on Scorpion Equinox, we will be speaking with guest, Christopher Gautrau. Chris, an active 30 something, is a listener of our show who was inspired after hearing our show with Tina Volpe, to try going vegetarian. He broke up with meat over 2 months ago and we are so curious to hear how he is doing, what he misses and how he decided not to look back. Chris also has a wife and two kids and frequently updates his Facebook status with the play by play of what type of excercise he is about to do or has just finished doing!