I'd like fries with that

I finally decided to read Fast Food Nation. It was one of those impulse buys at the airport. Airports always seem like good places to buy books; maybe it's because they have a book stand every twenty feet or so, which is refreshing, I guess.

I bought it on the way back from New York, where I was visiting my family for a couple of days; even though it's time off from my job, it's still a lot of work--running around and making sure I see everyone before I go. It could be worse; when a lot of people go home to see their families, they have to go to shitty places like Fresno or Anderson. I get to go to the greatest city in the world.

I had a really good time--enough of a good time that it made me realize how much I miss the place, and how every other town (that I've been to at least) is just kidding itself. On a ferry ride back to Staten Island, I was reminded that there was a time, when I was a kid, when I didn't believe that anyone lived anywhere else but New York. Now that I'm much more worldly and have seen places all across the country, I know people do live elsewhere. I'm just not sure why.

I saw Fast Food Nation on a pile of Grisham novels at one of JFK's many book stores and figured I'd give it a try. I'd heard so much about it--mostly to the tune of "once you'll read it, you'll never want to eat fast food again." Maybe that's why I picked it up; I could certainly do without fast food. When I was a kid, I could eat anything and stay rail thin. Now, it seems that it all collects in a lump in my abdomen. It's kind of disheartening. I'm not sure how much of the book is accurate, but the author (I know the name, I just don't have it in front of me) writes so well and is so convincing, I find myself reacting with "oh god," "you're kidding me," and "how do they get away with this" on almost every page; I've always been a bit impressionable. I'm only 60 pages in and haven't gotten to the particulars of how the food is prepared yet, but all the social and economic implications are fascinating--whether they're slanted or not--and the author certainly seems as though he's put a lot of work and thought into it. I feel totally used by corporate America, but that's to be expected.

As for entertainment that makes me feel good about myself, I checked out this flick called Shaun of the Dead, which may be the funniest zombie movie parody I've ever seen, and easily one of my top five favorite zombie movies, period. It was nice to see a movie made by people who took the typical Night of the Living Dead premise and still made it fresh and new with clever writing and vivid characters. Plus, it was a UK movie, so everyone had swanky accents and spoke with that unparalleled British slang. Sarah, not only will I have to live vicariously through you for taking Japanese, but for being English as well. Have a "spot" of tea and some cucumber sandwiches in my honor. No crusts!