Book Review: Why Women Need Fat

BlogHer, a website for female bloggers to which I belong, sometimes provides books for bloggers to review through its book club. This month, we read Why Women Need Fat: How "Healthy" Food Makes Us Gain Excess Weight and the Surprising Solution to Losing It Forever.

The word "healthy" on the cover is in quotation marks for good reason. People are buying more and more "healthy" foods, and yet obesity keeps increasing. Could it be that eating more like our ancestors ate could be the solution to the obesity epidemic?

It's no news that fad diets don't work, but this book does provide some new food for thought (pun intended). Its main point is that omega-3 (polyunsaturated alpha-linolenic) and omega-9 (monounsaturated oleic) are good fats and omega-6 (linoleic) is bad fat. To summarize the message, one should eat fish, canola oil, and olive oil but stay away from corn, corn oil, soybean oil, and cornfed meat. It was also interesting to read historical information about our aversion to saturated fats (Eisenhower's heart attack), anthropological studies, etc. I felt that the book could have been better organized and more succinct, however. It makes the same points several times and also could have benefited from providing example meal plans.

Also, it is tempting to take away the message that some fats are good fats and we can eat as many of them as we want, but this is simply not true. It is still important to keep portion size in mind. For example, on page 143, the authors write, "Like plain potatoes and wheat, rice and pasta are low in omega-6 and can be eaten without any restrictions." I don't understand how they can get away with this claim. If you eat a lot of pasta (or almost any food except raw veggies), you are going to get fat. While not all calories are created equal, you still have to be conscious of calories in vs. calories out.

But overall, the book definitely made me stop and think more about what I am buying at the supermarket. I would definitely prefer to buy organic, non-corn-fed chicken, but the $2.99 deals at Market Basket are just too tempting. I guess I should start shopping at Whole Foods. I would probably find fewer punctuation errors there, too.

National Punctuation Day Eve

Tomorrow is National Punctuation Day. I hope all of my readers have bought gifts for me! To me, NPD is more romantic than Valentine's Day.

Not everyone appreciates this wonderful holiday, however. For instance, whoever made this sign (Sid?) somehow managed to mispunctuate every single word.



Thanks to Jeremy for sending in this photo, which he took from a Silver Line bus in Boston's South End.

This Time, Baby, I Feel Bullyproof

Scott sent in this two-for-one apostrophe catastrophe (see the bottom left side of the flyer):


(Click the photo to embiggen.)

Not sure the kid is really yours? This is the martial arts academy for you!

Thanks, Scott!

It Takes One to Know One

This is one of the best catastrophes we've had in a while:


Scott, who uploaded this photo to the Apostrophe Catastrophes Facebook group tells us he had to stare at this guy's t-shirt for 40 minutes while waiting in line for baked potatoes at the Big E in West Springfield, Mass.

Oh, the level of stupidity in this world never ceases to amaze me.

Thanks, Scott!

Nice "Decision," LeBron

Bitterness apparently leads to unnecessary quotation marks, as evidenced by this bizarre letter written by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. That semicolon at the beginning should be a colon, and let's not even talk about the comic sans. Or the passive-aggressiveness. Or the odd reference to death and heaven.

Thanks to my friend Dave for encouraging me to read this letter.

What is Really In This Box?

This product, which may or may not be couscous, was sitting on the counter at my parents' house when I went there on Monday.


Whatever it is, my mom used it to make an awesome "couscous" salad dish.

If you like this kind of catastrophe, check out the Blog of Unnecessary Quotation Marks.

At Least the Food Was Good

This sign that I found in the bathroom at Gargoyles restaurant in Davis Square features just about every type of punctuation problem known to man.


We've got comma splices, unnecessary quotation marks, missing periods, random capitalization, and, of course, apostrophe catastrophes. My favorite part is where they put two apostrophes in Boston's'. What the hell?

But the food was awesome, and I got to have duck for the second time in one week. Life is good.

Perfect for a Friday Afternoon

George writes, "I can't blame them too much, since it's a Mexican restaurant, but... wow."



We've got apostrophe catastrophes inside unnecessary quotation marks! Margarita madness!

OK, I'm thirsty....

Thanks, George!

Health Insurance Catastrophe

I hope there is something in the PPACA to prevent insurance companies from sending out horrific ads like this:


Whoever wrote this ad suffers from a pre-existing condition -- stupidity.

Thanks to Brian for forwarding this e-mail from benefitsstore.com.

Tuesday Is and Thursday Is

My friend Tiff, a frequent contributor to Apostrophe Catastrophes, spotted these terrible signs in LA:


Three apostrophe catastrophes in one photo! And you may not be able to read the small print at the bottom of the Thursday's [sic] sign, but we've also got some unnecessary quotation marks. An early "bird" special?

Thanks, Tiff!

Porn on the Streets of New Orleans

There's only one Larry Flynt, so there ought to be an apostrophe in the name of his club on Bourbon Street.


Apostrophe catastrophes aren't barely legal; they are completely wrong.

I also found some amusing unnecessary quotation marks in the bathroom at the airport.


In fact, the board wasn't welcoming me because I was on my way out of the city at that point. I apologize for the blurry photo. I think had one too many hurricanes.

Hitting My Head on a Rock

When you're painting giant letters on a rock formation, you should probably make sure you proofread the text first. So few letters, so many mistakes...


Eric, who sent us the gorgeous photo above, says he thinks that sign is supposed to say "Hole in the Rock" (not "and"), and the restaurant's web site proves him right. If the quotation mark were an apostrophe, this sign would read, "Hole No the Rock," which doesn't really make sense.

While Eric reports that Hole N" the Rock was consistent with its bizarre quotation mark/double apostrophe throughout, the web site sometimes calls the place Hole "N The Rock and sometimes Hole N" the Rock.

Clearly, the people who designed the signage and web site for this place hit their head on rocks in Arches National Park a few too many times.

Thanks, Eric! You rock!

Let's Try This Again

Not everyone agreed that the quotation marks in Happy "4th" were unnecessary, but here are two examples of bad punctuation from Block Island that definitely qualify as catastrophes:


If only I had known about that place when I was 19!


They'll make you pay in sexual favors.

OK, enough with the quotation mark digression. Back to apostrophes tomorrow.

Good Times Never Seemed So Good

This sign in the Kenmore T station in Boston would have made sense if the fireworks had been postponed until the 5th of July, I suppose.


But finally, after almost a month straight of monsoon conditions, the rain stopped, and Boston was able to hold its famous fireworks display, complete with a performance by Neil Diamond.

Freedom's light burning warm

This blog specializes in apostrophe errors, obviously, but if you want to double your fun, check out the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks.

Is It Really That Difficult?

Spotted at the Modell's sporting goods store in Cambridge, MA


Quotation marks in place of an apostrophe? Really?

iPods and Fake GPS Receivers (?) in New York

Here's a photo that I took in New York a couple of months ago that features an apostrophe catastrophe and unnecessary quotation marks:


But the place looks a little shady, so maybe the quotation marks are necessary after all.

Also, since iPods and all the other items listed on this sign are plural, shouldn't GPS be plural to match? What is the plural of GPS anyway? GPSes looks a little awkward, and I definitely don't want to write GPS's. It seems that the only way around this is to write "GPS receivers," but that's pretty clunky.

New York Times Typesetting Catastrophe

My grandfather gave me this unique example of a punctuation error that he found in the New York Times:


It's a little blurry (my fault!), but you can clearly see that one half of the end quotation mark is on one line, and the other half is on the next. Did the Times fire all of its copyeditors and typesetters?

Thanks, Boppa!

I Hate Fruitcake

I went scrounging for food in my office kitchen and discovered something that may or may not be real fruitcake.


I know I don't like real fruitcake, but these quotation marks indicate that this could be the fake kind. [I take a bite.] Nope, it appears to be real. I can't even swallow a small bite of this stuff. Ugh.

OK, what else is in here? Ooh, leftover goat cheese and crackers from our office party! Now you're talking!

Merry Chrismahanukwanzakah, readers! May your holidays be delicious and fruitcake-free.

Giving My Fake Address

The address of this building may or may not be 85 Sutherland.


Thanks to my brother, Charlie, for sending in this bizarre example of unnecessary quotation marks.

Unfinished Quotes

Looks like this van, seen in New York City, forgot to finish its slogan.