Teenage Diet Syndrome

For someone who has been considered older than her years for most of her life, I have a strange obsession with the immature. In food, I prefer a Ho-Ho to a creme brulee...hot dogs and mac/cheese to a surf and turf...diet soda to a fine glass of merlot. At 43, I still treat my palate as if it had barely outgrown baby food and Captain Crunch cereal.

Similarly, my taste in television and movies can sometimes turn sophomoric....chick flicks be damned if there is a teeny bopper movie on, I'm all for it.

Lately I've found if it wasn't for the hour of NPR I catch each morning as I'm trying to drag myself out of the house and off to work, I would be completely disconnected from the adult universe. What might I do if suddenly invited to a swanky cocktail party and asked my opinion of the latest NY Times best seller list. Not that the best seller list is a tribute to great literature of late, but still.... I tried to do the Monday crossword puzzle in the local paper the other day, and felt like I needed a dictionary for some of the clues. To top this all off, the other day, when I realized that changing plans and schedules meant that my master's degree would be put off instead of one semester, a whole year, I found myself GLEEFUL and humming "no more teachers, no more books...."

On Monday, I stayed home from work. Not for any hugely good reason. I convinced myself I needed a sick day (or at least a mental health day). And I actually did feel pretty lousy after a bout of cramps and the added digestive bonuses we women enjoy once a month and a rather sleepless night....but could have sucked it up and headed in anyway.  It felt like a ditch day....

As a responsible working adult I did keep my blackberry handy and did answer all my emails throughout the day, but for the most part I drank ice tea, ate popcorn, and watched movies all damn day. For some unknown reason I watched Twilight...again. Then I watched a good movie called The Lucky Ones....but quickly downgraded to The Proposal....and then upgraded to Real Sports....and then slipped again to....god only knows what.  The mind sucking thing that is cable tv during monday daytime hours is truly astonishing.

It's about time for me to confess and face up that I need to grow up and "adultify" my diet.  I supposed I could try granola and yogurt instead of Frosted Flakes for breakfast.  And dinner could be something that actually represents more than the junk food section of the pyramid.  As for the mental diet, I'm not ready for anything too trying...I'm not going to want to master Tolstoy by the poolside this summer.  But something current and interesting would be appropriate.  I was recently saved and provided some lively conversation by my fortunate audio book picks of late - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and The Help...these two pieces are prime examples of the level of reading I would like to undertake.  Similarly, recommendations for great movies with some "think" in them are also desired.

Help me out here.  My brain is in danger of atrophication from teenage diet syndrome if I don't act soon.  Send me some comment help!