Semi-Daily Scribbles

I've been swept up in the holiday rush that has plucked time and attention away from my once daily (and semi-daily) routines. For example, getting on here and scribbling a word or two. It's so easy to let slip a week and then come staggering away demanding a do-over of December. Incidentally, colleagues and friends have mentioned they'd like a do-over of 2010. I second that motion. But at least we've been feasting and munching and declaring every Friday as Snack Day to take the edge off the long hours we've been putting in at work so as to send '10 off packing on a profitable note.

So…back to the feasting and munching. This holiday season, as you prepare your protein of choice to take center stage at the dinner table, please pass up the Smithfield products when you stroll down your grocer's meat aisle. Not because pork isn't tasty, but because animal cruelty is deplorable. I also want to tell Smithfield's spokesperson, Ol' Miss Pauler, to back away from the trough. I like Paula Deen, but she's made enough cash from her catering/restaurant/Food Network gigs that she doesn't need to shill for anybody. Least of all a factory farm that makes Upton Sinclair's The Jungle sound tame in comparison.

As you celebrate and give thanks over the next two weeks, be good and be mindful of what you eat.