Dining in the Dark

Years ago, when I was planning a trip to Berlin, I came across this restaurant called Unsicht-Bar. It's a restaurant where you eat in pitch black and have to maneuver and experience dining with your other senses. I wanted to go so badly, but in the end, with all of the other things we were doing on the trip, it just didn't make sense to spend so much money on one dinner.

Fast forward to last November, when I checked my daily Groupon email to see that there was a restaurant based on the same idea in Santa Monica called Opaque, and I could get a half price dinner through this Groupon. It was still expensive (regularly $99/person, so this was $99/for two), but I thought, "I've been wanting to do this for YEARS, so I should just take advantage of the deal." I talked to Ida about going with me initially because she was going to come to LA in December, but then her plans changed, so I needed to find someone else to go with.

Last Friday, I finally used it. I hadn't thought too much about the experience before we got there, but as we were ordering (in the light before you go into the dining part of the restaurant), I suddenly realized that I was nervous. Turns out, I was not alone, as my friend Erica who came with me, felt relieved to hear me say it, and acknowledged that she had suddenly felt a little anxious, too. Neither of us quite knew why - or what we were afraid would happen, but I guess the idea of not being able to rely on our sense of sight throughout the meal was scarier than we thought it would be.

We were led into the dark to our table by our waitress (single file with arms on shoulders so that we would not trip on other tables or chairs). She took our hands to orient us to our table and chairs, pointing out potential dangers, like table corners, along the way. We each had a bottle of sparkling water, which was a daunting task, as we were expected to fill our glasses ourselves. (Actually easier than I expected.)

My nerves began to relax through the first course, as I realized that we would be oriented to the location of each plate and utensil both verbally and by touch. Erica may have ended up putting her fingers in the butter at one point, but nothing too terrible happened.

The best part of the experience to me was the surprise of each bite of food. I had no idea what part of the course would end up on my fork, as I blindly stabbed away at my plate. I was also more aware of myself and my own thoughts than I would typically be at a restaurant. I was not distracted by other tables of people (aside from one man who had an Indiglo watch - who later put it away in a pocket). I was not concerned about whether that bite of salad resulted in salad dressing on my cheek. Instead, once my nerves calmed down, I could just be mindful about the food and the company. And it ended up being really relaxing and peaceful.

Testing

I took a practice licensing exam today. I passed the mock exam, so that is good (although I passed with a 72%, so I'm gonna go ahead and keep studying...). This question made me laugh, though, so I thought I would share:

Al's workplace has added employee monitoring cameras at strategic locations around the building. No one has offered an explanation for the introduction of the cameras. Which of the following is a likely reaction to the installation?

A) Al resents the cameras, and is thinking about job hunting.

B) Al's performance on unfamiliar, difficult tasks has gotten better.

C) Al's personal grooming has improved.

D) Someone steals Al's stapler.

I really hope questions like this appear on the real exam.

Reminders

What happened to doctors offices making reminder calls the day before your appointment? I was in the shower today and thought "Oh shit, I missed a dental appointment yesterday." Then as I'm rinsing shampoo out of my hair, I realize, that I have not YET missed it. But I was about to. It was not yesterday, it was this morning. At 8:45am. I was in the shower at about 8:20am. It takes 20 minutes at least to get to campus, and that's in no traffic. And I had wet hair, dirty teeth, and unfed dog, etc. Shit.

So I bust a move out of the shower, throw on clothes, brush my teeth and dry my hair at the same time (serious feat, let me tell you), fed the dog, took her to the bathroom, then ran out the door. I decided I would drive instead of take the bus since I didn't have time to risk waiting at the bus stop if it didn't arrive immediately. I would suck it up and pay the $10 day-fee to park on campus. I called on the way to tell them I'd be late. They were extremely accommodating, and simply rebooked me for a little later. Awesome.

I get to my appointment. Everything's fine. Then I realize that I CANNOT FORGET that I drove my car to work today. I would not be that surprised if I ended up on the bus to go home only to remember that my car is still parked on campus...

Countdowns

I have a Mac. Macs have this thing called the Dashboard, where you can put various widgets that you want quick access to. I have things like stickies, a calculator, the weather, etc. here. I also have countdown widgets. I LOVE countdowns. They get me motivated and excited for the future. I haven't been using them in the past 6 months for some reason, but started it up again a few weeks ago. Today I did some countdown widget organization and thought I would share.

• 40 days til I get to meet my newest nephew (who isn't born yet, but will be by then)
• 48 days til I take the licensing exam
• 61 days til Academy of Eating Disorders conference in Miami
• 97 days til my amazing friends Kristen and Andrew come to visit
• 106 days til MiniRitt is due (MiniRitt is the nickname of my friends' yet-to-be-named baby because their last name is Rittman).

Those are the only countdowns I have going on right now, although I'm sure things will be added along the way. My brother graduates from high school on June 17th. I could add that one, but I guess 111 days seems too far off. I mean, I have to have limits, right?!

Facebook Ad

An ad on the side of my Facebook today said this: "Were you born at St. Mary Medical Center Long Beach? Was one of your family members born here? Meet and discuss your memories with us."

Now, sure, if your family member was born there, you may have memories of going to visit them in the hospital, but really? "Were you born here" and "discuss your memories." Pretty sure I have no memories of being born. Also pretty sure that no one does...

Skinny Pepsi

So Diet Pepsi is releasing a new can that is taller and skinnier than the old one. I saw it on the End Fat Talk page, which was cranky about it promoting a thin-ideal. So I read the afore-linked-to release about the can, and well, I have to agree with the Fat Talk people... Pepsi talks about supporting "beautiful, confident women" with the new can, but then also announces it at Fashion Week and teams up with fashion and beauty product companies (who also promote a thin ideal in order to sell products). If you felt good about the way you looked and were truly confident, you wouldn't need to buy so many beauty products. The thin-ideal works for them.

I know a lot of people who drink diet soda because (a) they like them and/or (b) they struggle with weight. That's fine, and I'm not bashing the idea of diet soda generally. I wouldn't be complaining if they had updated the shape of their can purely for a change in design and to make it look interesting and novel - to draw attention to it. But to say that it's in support of beautiful, confident women and then promote the new can alongside the beauty industry...they may as well just say "We want you to think you're fat so that you'll drink our diet soda. And we don't really care if it means you'll be unhappy and think poorly about yourself and may actually mean that you WON'T feel beautiful or confident. At least then you'll buy our soda...cause you'll think it will help."

The release also says that the new can design is the "perfect complement to today's most stylish looks." How does a can complement an outfit? Really?

This sort of feels like this pretzel ad I saw a few months ago stating "You can never be too thin." Um, Pretzel Crisps, let me invite you to any eating disorder inpatient unit. Turns out you CAN be too thin...

I work in the eating disorder field. I ALSO work in the obesity field. We need to strike a balance here, folks, or the world is gonna be one messed up place.

5 days in New York

This mother and son were on my flights to and from JFK. This means that we all spent the exact same amount of time in the city. They sat first class and had priority luggage check (meaning that their 5 suitcases (3 Louis Vuittons and 2 TUMIs) came out first). Five days. Two people. Five suitcases. Plus their carry-ons. Checked bags are $25 each on United, plus more for priority. I will never understand the way some people spend money...

I had 1 suitcase and a carry-on that essentially had a laptop and a pair of shoes in it... My suitcase is a sensible one whose brand I do not even recall because it is not emblazoned all over the thing. This is all fine by me.

Side note - I will say that TUMI suitcases seem like a better use of of money than the Louis Vuittons simply because my cheaper suitcases often fall apart sooner than I would like after being tossed around by airlines. Altough the Louis Vuittons seem as though they would also suffer damage, the hardcase TUMIs seem pretty indestructible. At least based on looks.