SageAgainstTheMachine

I wouldn't have it any other way.

It's funny, actually...I mentioned conducting an interview with Potato Guy (ate nothing but potatoes for 2 months). Naturally, I inquired about his first non-potato meal. He was embarrassed to admit that it was mashed potatoes. Apparently, he had grown so sick of plain unseasoned potatoes, that the most desirable thing in the world to him was (bizarrely) a seasoned potato dish.

Gotcha. Though I will say that the Aggies work damn hard too.

There's a pretty good chance we've seen 15-20 years stolen from the end of Austin Collie's life. That's a pretty sickening thought...poor guy's brain is going to be jelly when he's 60.

To a certain extent, I believe, but exaggerated iron intake can lead to some serious issues.

In the future, you should try to insult Olbermann without insulting the hundreds of thousands of non-A-holes who graduated from Cornell.

I follow the advice of the playwright when it comes to intelligence..."Show me, don't tell me". Don't go about insipidly reminding people of how smart you are. Rather, let it bring something to the table. Fitzpatrick, according to this article, approaches things the right way. He uses his intelligence to help the team without constantly talking about "Well, back at Harvard...".

Thanks, Tough Guy. Fortunately for me, my brother is a qualified nutritionist, so I'll be using him as a resource. As for the iro...based on the amount of lentils I'll be eating on a daily basis, I'll be getting somewhere between 150-160 percent of my recommended daily value of iron per day. Obviously this isn't ideal, but do you think it's enough to cause a serious iron overload?

I think our only two advantages are wide receiver and defensive backs. Unfortunately, both of those factors are completely mitigated by the existence of one Tom Brady.

There are actually 3.5 questions. Any more or fewer would just be statistically incorrect.

As a side question to anybody who feels like answering... I'm one of the less New Age savvy members of my generation. What would be the best service to host a blog for this sort of thing? Thanks!

And boom goes the dynamite. Clip, thanks for introducing some pragmatism into the discussion. Thanks a million for the info. You can bet that I'll be spending a good portion of the next 10 days researching the implications of my impending diet. I assume you're a health professional of sorts? Or just a hobbyist?

Yep, do indeed plan on cooking them haha. And I have eat plain lentils a couple times before out of pure laziness. Pretty bland, bordering on nasty.

Why? Statistics by the way, but I consider myself an aspiring writer. Thanks Dr. Dank! Out of curiosity...how did the dietary boredom affect you? More importantly, do you view food (and by extension, all of life's other pleasures) differently for the experience?

Well, we'll see. Never bet against a stubborn fool on a mission. Ah yes, fun things indeed, but artificial. Looking for something genuinely visceral.

Of course dining is more than filling one's stomach. That's why this is going to be difficult. I use the term luxury only to mean "non-necessity". Chef, I'm not trying to denigrate the role of food in the shared human experience or the personal human experience...I'm attempting to understand it better. What becomes of the man who denies himself his most common form of joy? That's what I'm getting at. I won't begrudge you the opinion that I'm stupid. I've gotten quite a bit of that, understandably.

I'll take that challenge, good sir. The moment I cheat, I stop.

Off campus, yes. Alone, no.

Yes, but I don't see that happening all TOO much. Yes, that's partially the point. Ceasing to indulge on food, to see how I react differently to life's other indulgences

For those who didn't feel like reading the entirety of the original post, I'll quickly explain the gestalt of my experiment here... The utility of food is for survival. But for humans with means, it is a luxury...a beneficient shared experience of the human condition. Food fills something of a similar role in our culture to music, entertainment media, reading, etc. Something we indulge in. But what if we stopped indulging? What if food was nothing more than the means to an end, like it is for the rest of the living world? Would the remainder of our human experiences become that much more significant? Well, I plan to check that out.

To those who asked, there are no beverage restrictions. In fact, a pound of lentils each day only accounts for about 1,000 calories, so it will probably be necessary. Is it in the spirit of the experiment? Who knows? And yes, one concern is my social life, especially women. But I prefer those females who are a little bit...let's say...off, anyway haha.

Oh, it's most definitely a LAMP. But I figure, what's the point in pretending we're not all after attention? Of course, I'm trying this from the douchebaggy "Aren't I delightfully eccentric?" perspective.

That's right, nothing but lentils. For one year. Wish me luck. Here's the schpiel that I already posted on a facebook note..... Hello friends, family, acquaintances,strangers, and enemies I have some bizarre news. Starting at the beginning of 2011 on January 1, I will be embarking on a year-long journey, during which I will be eating nothing but plain medium green lentils. That's right...365 days of nothing but lentils. No recipes, no seasonings, nothing but plain prepared lentils (and a daily vitamin supplement to make sure I don't find myself dangerously low on any nutrient). Beginning tomorrow morning, I plan to eat nothing else until January 1, 2012. Originally, I planned on starting earlier than January 1, but for the sake of organization, why not bow to the Gregorian calendar as we always do? So what's prompting this? Well, it began when I interviewed Chris Voight of the Washington State Potato Commission several weeks ago for a segment called Weird News on a radio show that I co-host with my friend Kyle. Chris put himself on a potatoes-only diet for two months, for the purpose of proving the health value of potatoes. We performed a follow up interview the other day and Chris had some very interesting things to say about the experience, which he completed successfully and happily. So I thought to myself..."What if I tried this?". Now, unlike Mr. Voight, I have no particular association or relationship to lentils. Simply, they are the most suitable comestible for this type of experiment. Lentils contain an adequate amount of a number of specific nutrients, not to mention more complex carbohydrates, proteins, and fibers than I'd know what to do with. As I mentioned, I'll also be taking a supplement each morning to account for the nutrients the lentils lack. As for why I plan on doing this, the reasons are four... 1. I believe in testing the limits of our human experience. Now, this isn't to suggest that solitary consumption of a nutritious food is some sort of torture. I'm well in tune with the fact that a good portion of the world would kill for such a diet. However, having been raised and developed in a way that stressed dietary variety, I believe it will be more than a significant test of my will and spirit. 2. I want to develop a deeper appreciation for the simple joys in life. Too often, good-tasting foods act as something of a petty treat as a substitute for true visceral experiences. In a way, I will be enhancing all other experiences by denying myself the most readily available of them. By introducing a high degree of blandness into my dietary life, I must seek thrills elsewhere. Sights, sounds, smells will all become more profound...at least, that's the plan. 3. We, as a society, have lost complete touch with the notion that the primary motivation for eating ought to be survival. By limiting myself to one food, I hope to personally reattain this notion. 4. I believe that one ought to do something absurd like this at least once in one's life, and embrace one's eccentricities instead of shunning them. BONUS #5! 5. I'll save a ton of money. So why a year? Why not a week, 2 weeks, a month? Well, I think a year is a happy medium. I don't think that I intend for this to be a permanent change, but I also want to allow myself a long enough time-frame in order for this to become an inherent part of my life, and not just something inside the context of an experiment. A year should be long enough for that. Of course, there are many questions, concerns and doubts. What sorts of health risks do I pose here, being somebody not used to this type of diet? How will this affect me socially? What will the boredom do to me as I first grow accustomed to it? How bad will the cravings become? Well, stay tuned, I suppose... Tomorrow, I begin with the lentils. I fully expect the little buggers to simultaneously become my greatest friends and most bitter enemies. To those of you understandably wondering this...No, I have not gone off the reservation. I simply see this bizarre act as being potentially very beneficial to me. Cheers everybody, Alex Jay Sage .

I'm sorry to hear about your mother. I think that's a secret fear of all Bills fans, that we won't live to see the Superbowl, or that the team moves before they win one.

Umm...what? Ralph admitted that we've drafted poorly, but said we've got some diamonds in the rough that we can build on for next season. The man doesn't exactly have my faith, but this is raising the middle finger how?