| [BACK]
Go rent the documentary "Supersize Me". Do it today. Almost forgot who I was talking to. Promise you'll make it a priority, and that way I'll know you'll get to it within two months like all your other priorities.
In case you haven't heard about this amazing film, it cronicles one man's journey into the depths of fast food hell. This guy is 6'1", 185 pounds, very athletic and in his mid 30's. He decides to eat nothing but McDonalds food three meals a day for a month, and it wrecks his life. He puts on 26 pounds during the month, is told by doctors and nutritionists that he must stop his experiment or he will die, and he watches his energy slip away. Not only that, he actually gets addicted to the food, feeling depressed without it and feeling elated when he eats. Mixed in are various studies and interviews dealing with health and obesity, and lots of camera shots of giant asses. I mean GIANT asses.
For one thing, this movie will scare you a lot more than yet another Chucky movie. Please - a doll that can breed? Enough already. When it comes to scaring me, I'm less scared of a doll than I am of becoming someone who Richard Simmons has to rescue because I'm too fat to get out of the house.
GIGO - It stands for Garbage In, Garbage Out. It's a more updated version of "You reap what you sow." If you plant seeds of corn, you get corn. If you plant seeds of destruction, you get destruction.
And, here comes the writing corollary:
GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!!
Not only do you need exercise, but you need fuel for your brain and your writing. What you take in on a daily basis is what will come out of you when you sit down to write. How can you create great characters unless you see all the world's characters? How can you related to daily life unless you see it? How can you create stories about extraordinary lives and adventures unless you see the ordinary and feel the longing for something much, much greater?
While you're out, stop by the video store and rent "Supersize Me". Then stop by the Farmer's Market and get a big sack of vegetables. If you pour melted cheese over them, they doesn't taste half bad. |
