This is the start of my SNAPback Challenge Week.  Like Newark Mayor Cory Booker, I am eating and drinking budgeted solely on what the average SNAP recipient receives for a week ($33).  I've attached my receipt. I went over by 2.89 so the spinach goes to the rest of the family. Loaded up on fresh fruits and veggies. Cereal with non fat milk for breakfast; salad with chicken for lunch and chicken breast w/veggies for dinner. Even got some fresh veg for snacks. Nothing but water to drink though. When you consider that a Starbucks drink consumes almost a day's worth of budget, it really focuses your thinking.  I was having some intense internal dialog about what to buy.  I did a bit better than I thought I would.  Day one is GO!

Just got back from "42." Helgeland paced this inspiring film like a balmy day at the ballpark. Languid stretches are punctuated by staccato bursts of intense emotion and drama. Well-acted by a cast of veteran characters and earnest newcomers, the standout is Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson, who must straddle a line of restraint, determination, nobility and fortitude in the face of withering hatred and racism. For those accustomed to the broad smiles of Robinson's iconic photographs, Boseman's performance will surprise. He plays the legend as a churning engine of emotion; deep love for his wife and child, countered by barely contained resentment at the nigh intolerable slights to which Robinson was exposed during that incredible first season in the majors. Boseman benefits from a clear resemblance to Robinson, an attribute which likely elevated him as a choice for such a pivotal performance. It is a wonderful way to introduce him to a wide audience. Kudos also...

Two songs I could have lived my entire life having never heard... Beyoncé's "Bow Down" and Brad Paisley/LL Cool J's "Accidental (On Purpose) Racist." As my wife said, "I don't need racial healing, I just need people NOT to say stupid ish." Really, Mrs. "I just sang at the inauguration" Carter-Knowles? Your new single has a chorus that makes "Smooth Criminal" sound like Lord Byron. THIS is how y ou choose to represent as a wife and mother? Frankly, this sounds like some post-Bobby Whitney attempting to re-establish street bona fides. IT. DIDN'T. WORK. That is some truly adolescent foolishness right there. And LL... sigh. You're an actor now... on a hot show... You didn't need this. Matter of fact, you needed to NOT do this. That flag represented an entire half of the country LEAVING the United States because they wanted SLAVES. After the end of the war... That same flag was used by generations of people who oppres...