I spanked The Big Eat, and it spanked me back
Final tally of my self-inflicted San Francisco food challenge: 48 hours, 22 miles walked, and 22 iconic comestibles consumed, 18 of which are on the list of “100 things to eat before you die."
And now I want to die. I haven’t walked that much since I had my ACL replaced 8 weeks ago. It actually felt great to hike these hills and hunt down the best foods from North Beach to the Mission.
Why did I do it, you ask? Well: I love food. I love to walk. I love cities.
But I have a huge confession: I cheated. Hard. That first bite for the camera was pretty much all I would sample from each place. I did eat everything – just not all of it. I tasted a lot but ate nothing.
Here’s a hypocrisy: I hate selfies yet all I posted for 48 hours were selfies. I posted way more selfies in 48 hours than I’ve posted in my whole social media life.
But this was an eating challenge. I had to eat the food, not just take porn shots of it.
It was also a good way to practice modesty. I know – a “modest selfie” seems like an oxymoron. But let’s be real: Some of my photos are super unflattering and others are downright ugly. I broke every glamorous selfie-rule: Horrible lighting; shooting from below my chin makes me look fat (but I did get the food and signs in most photos); my make-up is smudged; you can see every pore and acne scar; my crow’s feet are practically clawing your eyes out, I look both cold and sweaty at the same time (freaking SF weather); my hair is wild, disheveled, and windswept (but not in the super model way…more like the crazy cat lady way); and it’s obvious those are gray hairs, not sun-kissed summer highlights.
So that’s how “modest selfies” can exist. They gave me a steroid shot of humility to help keep my vanity in check. I’m so happy I have a this foodie diary of a great two days running around SF. If I focused on my looks instead of having a good time and enjoying the hunt for all this amazing food, I wouldn’t have had nearly as much fun. No one should wait to have a silly adventure until they look perfect. The adventure will be over.
And admit it: Most selfies do look like crap unless you take 100 and set up the perfect lighting – and then have someone else just take it for you (my best shots these last two days were taken by friends). Amy Schumer lampooned the sexy, impromptu selfie in hilarious sketch on how sexting.
