ANNOUNCEMENT: I never quite knew where to put my responses to reader comments, my updates on past topics, and my corrections and explanations to various items I'd neglected, so time and again I've been in the habit of doing a whole blog entry to attend to those matters. From now on, to keep new topics coming, I'm creating a section at the end of the blog called "LEFTOVERS," where I'll address those items, unless a topic is large enough that I can do a substantial blog entry devoted to it.
Hopefully by now some of my readers are eating more seafood, and perhaps finding the sustainably caught or farmed finfish in stores near them. I know it's not always easy. I thought it would be easier to find responsible shellfish, until I read about them and checked out my local supermarket. It was "slim pickins," but then again I was at a major chain grocery store.
As with the other fish, you can get more information about good seafood choices on the web site www.seafoodwatch.org, from which I boosted most of the below information.
RESPONSIBLE SHELLFISH TO EAT:
1. CLAMS, farmed (apparently farmed anywhere is OK according to seafoodwatch.org)
2. CRAB, stone and Dungeness crabs (this seems too good to be true, as local Bay Area sources tell me that Dungeness crab is fast becoming overfished on the West Coast- hopefully seafoodwatch will have an update on this at some point)
3. LOBSTER, U.S. Spiny lobster(wild)
4. MUSSELS, farmed
5. OYSTERS, farmed
6. SCALLOPS, farmed (Bay scallops only)
7. OYSTERS, wild (unfortunately, there is a "mercury warning" on this one)
8. SHRIMP, U.S. ONLY (farmed or wild, but these are considered OK choices, not "Best Choices"). Alas, it seems that no shrimp are great choices.
YOU'RE MOST LIKELY to find U.S. shrimp, or farmed Bay scallops, at a typical grocery store. Fortunately, these are healthy food choices and at least the farmed Bay scallops are considered a "Best Choice" by seafoodwatch.org. If you're lucky enough to live near the coast, you may commonly find such delicacies as Spiny lobster, wild oysters, and stone crabs. In fact, stone crabs are easy to catch yourself if you live near a pier. And they are simply delicious!
NEXT BLOG: we're going to get more into some more exotic fish, mollusks such as squid, and more about fish you can catch yourself.
LEFTOVERS
1. Tilapia: apparently not all farmed U.S. Tilapia are without problems- check the reader comments on my last seafood blog, a reader has a great link to a site that "fleshes out" the facts about Tilapia.
2. Drug questions? Some of my own patients have brought up some amazing questions about pharmaceuticals lately; questions that have sent me off to hit the textbooks and to hit up my pharmacists for more info. If you're on any drugs, prescribed or otherwise, feel free to ask any questions here.
3. Finally, my favorite: What ILLNESS does Kenley from the show "Project Runway" have?
I spent all day thinking about this one. But I need to restrain myself, because of the following disclaimer, which you must read before reading any further:
-I don't know Kenley at all and have never met her.
-I'm not a psychiatrist.
-She may be acting. After all, she should have been fired at least 3 episodes ago. Why do they keep her on? Because a "crazy person" stirring up drama makes a show more exciting. She may be getting paid under the table to act nuts.
-If she does have a mental illness that she's struggling with, it would be harsh to rip on her about it. Unlike her, I'm actually nice to most people and feel guilty making fun of them, unless they are myself.
SO, I'm simply going to list the diagnoses that I've been WONDERING about, when I see her behavior on television. You'll have to find out more about them on your own.
1. (Most likely, in my limited opinion): Narcisisstic personality disorder, quite possibly with antisocial features.
2. Borderline personality disorder with psychotic features.
3. Bipolar depression (currently in bipolar mania part of the cycle).
How she behaves in future episodes may help narrow down this entirely speculative list.
