OH EM EFFING GEE

WWWWWWWhhhhooooooooa I haven't been on here in a long ass time.

Life has been crazy busy and I only really use this blog to vent occasionally, I apologize for anyone who might have thought my rants and raves were interesting enough to read ;)


So we'll get right into it then. The headlines this week have been demonstrating Philadelphia's varied opinions on the Eagles hiring Michael Vick. Le sigh. I'm not going to write too much about it. Gray Francione wrote a very good article about Michael Vick back in 2007, We're All Michael Vick. As for myself, I don't think I'll be watching the Eagles games this season... not to make a statement... just because.

Aside from the news, there's been a lot of talk on the Welfarist vs Abolitionist standpoints in the animal rights movement that I'd like to share my two cents on as well.

I will start out by stating that though I've been vegan since May 2000, I've not always taken the abolitionist view and I haven't always been a strict vegan. Being the only ethical vegan I'd known for close to eight years, I found it hard at time to remain strong in my convictions with lack of support. It's very easy for someone who isn't strongly educated in veganism to waiver when the world around them points to veganism as being a "personal choice" and it's "okay" if they eat products with eggs or dairy in them *occasionally*.

You get into that mentality that your being vegan really isn't a big deal and since you're vegan *most of the time* the occasional "indulgence" in ice cream and cake or something of that nature is "okay."

Really? I don't think like that any longer and I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out. Veganism isn't just a "diet". When you look at it like a "diet" it gives more of an impression that you're "sacrificing" something that you'd rather enjoy in order to do something for the animals. I don't and have never felt like I was making a sacrifice by being vegan, so why did I act that way? Social acceptance? I'd never thought of myself as someone who would do such a thing for social acceptance but as much as I'd hate to say it, that is the reason I believe I did so. I don't wish for anyone to read my blog and think that I'm "elitist" or get the impression in any way that I think I'm a better than anyone else because I most certainly am not and do not think that way.

That being said, back to the topic.

For more information on the abolitionist approach to animal rights I suggest visiting Gary Francione's site, "Abolitionist Approach". It was Gary Francione's interview with Bob & Jenna on Veganfreak Radio that introduced me to the term sometime last year. Before then I would say that I was probably a welfarist vegan.

In a word, I had felt that any "victory" in the animal rights sense was a good one and worth celebrating... now... not so much. When the "victories" we celebrate are helping the oppressors make more money, get positive press as being "animal-friendly" and neutralizes the bigger picture.

While I think it's wonderful that in some ways the animals will be treated better, I have to say... That's just not enough.

In the Welfarist vs Abolitionist argument it seems that the most I've heard argued against abolitionism is that welfarists believe that abolitionists are too elitist. Too focused on veganism and that it's not a realistic approach. In the argument against welfarism it seems the abolitionists believe that welfarists have no backbone, settle for the bare minimum and pat companies on the back even when they're continuing to torture and slaughter animals.

My personal opinion is that both of those views are right and wrong but abolitionism should be the approach taken by animal rights activists. Is it really too much to ask people to go vegan if they're going to stand for animal rights??? I think not.

I've read some blogs and articles from welfarists stating that by suggesting veganism instead of vegetarianism we are alienating people and turning them away from veganism and animal rights altogether when if they make the easier choice and go vegetarian or even just buy "happy meat" they might do more for the cause.

I highly disagree! Most of the people out there that have a distaste for animal rights (AR) in general already see AR activists as hypocrites and uneducated softies. Why would we want to encourage that? Not to say that vegetarians are uneducated softies! But that's what a lot of people think of them! Hypocrites? Well... and no offense to any vegetarian readers out there... but consider this... if you state you don't consume the flesh of an animal for animal rights reasons yet you still purchase and use animal byproducts that are coming from that same animal that's being butchered for meat, are you not being hypocritical?

I believe that by supporting the notion that suggesting veganism is "too elitist" we are in fact supporting the notion that veganism is too elite. It's that whole.. "othering"... scenario.

Bottom line is, if you are an animal rights activist -- you should be vegan. It's truly the LEAST you can do for the cause.

Living a healthy vegan lifestyle not only supports animal rights, but it also demonstrates to the nay-sayers that living a happy, healthy vegan life is POSSIBLE. It shows that we CAN survive without using animals! And we enjoy it! :D It's more effective than picketing, it's more effective than paying PETA or HSUS. Think of it this way... if we spent more time talking openly about veganism, promoting veganism, supporting vegan businesses and pushing for more vegan restaurants (as opposed to campaigning for extremely non-vegan companies to offer a few vegan crumbs) we would accomplish SO MUCH MORE for animal rights! Not only that, but the word VEGAN would no longer be this foreign word that causes people to immediately think of AR activists as terrorists. The word "vegan" would become a more accepted, more acknowledged and more common word -- which in turn would make veganism MORE accepted, more acknowledged and MORE COMMON. Results? More people living animal-free. More demand for vegan businesses. Less productivity for the animal industry.

It's the basic boycotting theory. Boycott animal products. Promote veganism.

Another point I'd like to make is that by suggesting that veganism is "too much" to ask of the average person, we're suggesting that one would have to special in order to go vegan. Like veganism is particularly difficult... It's really not! People are not as afraid of change as we assume they are. It's possible that when we go vegan we put up with so much friction from others that we assume the choice to go vegan isn't for everyone and that it takes a certain "type" of person to go vegan. This is definitely not the case. Just look at the internet, see how many people you can find from different walks of life that choose to go vegan.

People are not as afraid of change as you may think...

Well, that's enough of my ranting for now. Perhaps I'll write again sooner than seven months?

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EEETHAAAN! He turns seven today :)

Using MLK Day To Support My Vegan Agenda!

lol check out this article.

http://animalrights.change.org/blog/...eating_animals

by Stephanie Ernst

This is the day when we annually celebrate the life, spirit, contributions, and philosophy of Martin Luther King Jr. But I'm not going to write about MLK today. I'm going to write, just briefly, about Coretta. Those opposed to the idea of animal rights, those who consider the fight for animal rights to be distinct from and lesser than other social justice movements, and--most clearly--those who consider veganism extreme could learn something from Coretta Scott King.

For more than the last decade of her extraordinary, compassionate, and passionate life, Coretta Scott King was a vegan. Really. Not an "extremist," not a "fanatic," not a "one-note," "single-issue" zealot--just a vegan.

In addition to fighting against racial injustices, Coretta Scott King fought openly and loudly for LGBT rights. She opposed war and violence and championed peace. And for the last 15 years of her life, she improved her own health and life and saved hundreds of animals' lives by refusing to eat their bodies or what came from their bodies.

On her health, she said in Ebony in 2003, "I feel blessed that I was introduced to this lifestyle more than 12 years ago by Dexter. I prefer to eat mostly raw or 'living' foods. The benefits for me are increased energy, a slowing of the aging process, and I have none of the diseases like hypertension, heart disease and diabetes that many people my age seem to get." And Coretta and Martin Luther King's son Dexter, also a vegan and, as noted, the one who introduced his mother to the lifestyle, considers veg*nism the "logical extension" of his father's philosophy of nonviolence, reported Vegetarian Times in 1995 in the write-up of the magazine's interview with him.

Every time someone remarks or implies that vegans are nothing but animal rights "fanatics" or health-obsessed neurotics who care about nothing else, who are vegans to the exclusion of caring about or fighting against any other injustices, one of the many people who comes to mind as proving this wrong is Coretta Scott King. So today I remember and honor not only Martin Luther King Jr. but Coretta Scott King as well. If I must be an extremist or a fanatic simply because I am a vegan, then I am at least happy with the company.

Martin Luther King taught us all nonviolence. I was told to extend nonviolence to the mother and her calf.

-Dick Gregory

Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.

-Martin Luther King Jr.

Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?"
Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?"
Vanity asks the question, "Is it popular?"
But conscience asks the question, "Is it right?"
And there comes a point when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one's conscience tells one that it is right.

-Martin Luther King Jr.

It's been awhile since my last post. A long while. I haven't been inspired enough to take the time out to write and I'm still pretty busy with school/work so...

I was having a conversation with my sister about how difficult it is for me to think of having a serious relationship with someone who is not vegan or even vegetarian.

It is a hard thing for me to consider... and over the past few years my passion and my lifestyle has become more and more a part of who I am when it comes to veganism. I don't just eat this way, I live this way. The mere thought of bringing meat into my home is completely offensive to me... so logically... atleast... logically to me... I would think that the object of my affection would either feel the same way or respect that and not put me in that type of position.

Now, I know, I know... You're thinking... "How can you push your beliefs on someone else" blah blah blah... but really. Wouldn't it be them pushing their beliefs on me if they bring meat into my home and expect me to be okay with it? The thought of meat repulses me, as it does most other vegans. The idea of someone who I'd be exchanging bodily fluids consuming animal parts (and animal bodily fluids) pretty much repulses me as well! Sad, but true.

Now, I've never dated a vegan. In fact, I don't even know any vegans in my own zip code and I have never even met a vegan man. Hence - I am single. I'm not exactly sitting around waiting for a vegan guy, but ideally I'd love to find someone that shares my viewpoints and shares my ideas of what a healthy happy lifestyle is so that we can have a healthy happy vegan family... is that so much to ask?

And is it too much to ask that they be hot as hell, intelligent and funny? LoL

Okay okay... maybe I am asking too much. That's enough whining from me for now, I hope you enjoyed my little uhm.. rant.. or whining session... or what have you.. noone really reads this anyways! :D

Here are some pictures of my awesomely adorable amazing vegan son.

You don't have to agree with me but...

Just a thought on how veganism, anti-racism, anti-sexism and anti-speciesm tie together.

Vegans hear the phrase "But what about human rights" a lot. A lot more than you'd probably realize. And some of us at first scoff... why should we care about human rights when animals have NO rights? That's just the wrong approach all in all. In fact what I've witnessed most is that a lot of vegans relate human rights to animal rights.

Many vegans are anti-sexist. Many vegans are anti-racist. Many vegans are humanitarians. Many vegans are environmentalists. We don't simply choose to value one cause over another... instead we see how they relate to each other.

If you think of it from a feminist point of view... Everyday thousands upon thousands of females of an entire species are being forcibly impregnated, forced to give up their babies and then milked while they are impregnated again. Thousands and thousands of females of an entire species are forced to live in tiny cages in dark buildings, sitting in their own fecies and unable to act out their most basic of instincts so that they can produce eggs for another species to devour... etc.

It shouldn't be too hard to see the parallel between racism and speciesm. To think that the human species is the superior species and that all other species on the planet are free for us to use and exploit is just plain ridiculous. Just as the thought of one race being inferior to another is. Every person has a right to live their lives the way they are naturally meant to live. Every species should have that right as well.

When you see the full picture of what really goes on on a day to day basis in the animal industry... it's overwhelming. Billions of animals are used every year for food, testing and exploitation. Most of which is needlessly done and is merely an excersise of the human race taking advantage of the fact that they can take advantage of something.

Many of you have companion animals. Can you look into the eyes of your companion animal and honestly believe that it doesn't have wants and needs? Have you ever seen the way a mother cow shows affection to her calf? Most likely not unless you were raised around smaller farms that allow them to remain together.

For my honeymoon my ex and I went to Disneyworld and stayed at the Animal Kingdom resort (not vegan, I know, this was years ago so :-P) and the most memorable thing about it was there was a family of African cattle that stayed outside of our room for most of our vacation. They would spend most of their time grazing but the calf would play and the parents would give affectionate nudges to each other. I took a picture of them once when they were all huddled together licking each others faces. The sense of caring and affection was absolutely beautiful.

Did you know that when a mother dairy cow gives birth to her calf she only has hours to spend with him/her before it's taken away, most likely to become someones veal plate or to be brought up as yet another dairy cow? Meanwhile the mother is impregnated again so that it can continue to produce milk. This is their life. Pregnancy, birth, milking, pregnancy, birth, milking, pregnancy, birth, milking... plate.

I recently saw a video of a calf being taken from it's mother... and I couldn't imagine the sense of loss and confusion the poor creatures go through... and yet that's the cycle that we put them through. So we can satisfy "supply & demand." There is so much money tied into the animal industry, of course they're going to tell you milk is the healthiest drink for you. Nevermind that there are too many calories in milk, not to mention hormones that were given to the cows and the fact that if you drink too much it could result in too much calcium which only increases the risk of osteoporosis.

But anyway... this blog is getting lot and it's getting late and I've forgotten where I was going with it so I will end it there.

Stop supporting the speceist, racist, sexist agenda and go vegan.

What's a "vaygun"?

I had written this whole thing in class the other day about the connection between eating meat and power/control issues and I had intention of that being my next blog post... but I wanted to mention something else first.

Veganism - A foreign concept
God & Vegans
Talking to non-vegans and
Animal Rights "Terrorists"


Veganism- A Foreign Concept

I've been vegan for so long now that I don't remember when the concept was foreign to me... in fact... I don't think it ever was foreign to me. I've always been an animal lover so when I found out about it, it just made sense. But lately I've been talking to others about veganism a lot more... and one girl in my class is actually interested in it. I only see her once a week, so the week after she decided she wanted to go vegan I saw her again. She's cut back to vegetarianism she says because she really doesn't know what she can and can't eat. This is a completely new concept for her. None of her friends know what a vegan is, in fact she doesn't even know any vegetarians. She says I'm the only vegan she knows.

I was there once. Eight years ago when I decided to take this path I didn't know any vegans. I didn't even know any vegetarians. Fortunately for me, I was an internet addict, so I had wealth of knowledge and internet communities at my fingertips!!

But all this brings up something that made me think... how are we going to help people come into veganism if it's considered a laughable concept? Asking the world to go vegan is a big dream, I realize this, but some people are so closed minded about it that they don't even give it a chance.

All of the questions that I've gotten so far have had underlying similarities: God, tradition and agriculture. And when those run out, there's always "Oh, but I could never live without..." taste.

God & Vegans

If you are a speciesist ass, sure you can believe that all other creatures were made for you. But that doesn't mean God made that so. I believe in a higher power. I'm Greek Orthodox Christian. I often refer to this higher power as God and as a male - it's just what I'm used to. I don't consider myself a religous person, I don't subscribe to the bible and I think it would be equally awesome if "God" was twelve females hanging out on a cloud and eating (vegan) cupcakes. But this blog isn't about religion. I just wanted to say... God didn't physically write the bible. God's hand did not come out of the sky and scribble some words on a book and hand it to his followers. Love your neighbors does not mean eat them.

If "God put animals on the earth for us to eat" then why are Greek monks vegetarian/vegan?


Talking to non-vegans

If you are a vegan and you want others to go vegan, try to be patient and remember that for some of them veganism is a completely alien and foreign concept to them. Be patient, welcoming and positive. If they're sensitive about it, don't throw down "Earthlings" right away, talk about the positive aspects of veganism. How much of a great impact it's made on you and your environment.

The best responses I've had is when I talk about how great I feel about being vegan. How I feel like I'm making a difference and making my own choices on a daily basis, how happy my son is about eating a cruelty-free diet, how great it feels to have control over my diet and not be a slave to the McDonald's society! You know, all that good stuff.

At first, they separate it from themselves: "That's really great, I wish I had the willpower to do that."

And then you respond with: "You can! It's easy!" :)

This approach has been much more effective than going straight into all of the horrible things that "you meat eaters" condone simply by buying a .99 cent burger. But some people do want to hear the raw facts. Different personalities communicate in different ways... some people would be more affected by "There's a little veal in every glass of milk" than "I find soymilk to be much lighter and healthier than cows milk."

The point is - stay positive and stay informed. If you are the only vegan that they know then you are representing veganism. In their mind, all vegans are just like you. So do the rest of us a favor and don't be an asshole.

And on the topic of assholes:

Animal Rights "Terrorists"

These AR activists in California... that are attacking scientists and shit... need to stop. I don't agree with vivisection. I'm vegan. No animal testing. Seriously though.. the world will never take us seriously if you're going to a persons home and punching their husband during their childs birthday party. Save that shit for Jerry Springer and go find something non-violent and effective instead of making the rest of us look like terrorist assholes, you're only making it harder for the rest of the AR world.



Sidenote: My friend and I are talking about starting a Delaware Vegan group. We'll get together once a month, have some wonderful vegan foods and a discussion group. If you're in the Delaware area and are interested in joining us email me at awesomevita@aol.com :)

Thanks!

Just a lil' update.

I've been busy as hell what with the new job, school and life. I've been writing a lot in my notebooks... while in class... I swear... I'm paying attention... I just have ADD.

Anyways.

I've got some interesting shit to rant about... just not right now.

Oh! BTW! I helped another girl go vegan :D More on that later.

Parenting. Vegan or not.

Warning: Abuse of quotation marks to follow.

Raising a child is an extremely difficult task to begin with... but then you add to that by realizing that not only do you have to make sure this little person eats, sleeps, learns to use the potty and gets an education - you're also a mentor and guide for this being to grow into a well-rounded individual. And I'm not talking about waistline.

At least, in my opinion, as a parent you should be guiding your child and teaching them right from wrong and all that good stuff. How do we do this? Well, how did you learn? It's time to take the "best practices" of our parents and benchmark them. Spanking didn't do a whole lot of good for you, did it? Axe that. What about "time out" did that work? Worked for me.. keep that one..

And how about dealing with society? Is it always good to "shut up and do as you're told"? Well.. not always. Sometimes you have to ask "why".

What about diet? Is it me or is the "normal" size of a child getting bigger? Why do I get questions on my sons "smaller end of average" size when most everyone elses child is overweight?

What about religion? Obviously you're going to want to teach your child whatever you believe, right? If you're Christian, you'll most likely want to raise them Christian. If you're Catholic, the same. And the same goes for Atheists, Jewish and Muslim, etc, etc, etc. Because it's what we know, right? Maybe you believe personally that a child should choose for themselves? That's a choice as well.

So the point of my little bit of rambling is this: If the "normal" thing to do is raise a child according to your beliefs and what you feel is best for their safety and well-being, why do vegan parents get so much shit for wanting to raise their children vegan??

My son is five. He's been vegan since conception. I was vegan throughout the pregnancy and it was a very healthy pregnancy and he was a very very very healthy baby. 10lbs 4 oz healthy, what do you think about *that* "malnourishment"? I had to have a c-section because he went breach, but that was the only complication. He's continued to grow at a steady speed and is rarely sick. He enjoys being vegan, he likes to help cook and he likes to talk about rescuing animals.

In those five years, here are the most common gripes from omnivores that don't agree with my raising my child vegan.

1. You're depriving him.
Seriously. "Depriving" him?! I'm so sorry that I'm "depriving" my son of a higher chance of cancer, high cholesterol and heart disease. I guess I should run out and get him a hamburger to make up for the years of "deprivation". I'm such a horrible mom for not allowing my son to dine on the flesh of the tortured innocent animals!

2. He's malnourished!
Oh yeah. He's the absolute picture of malnourishment.

In fact most vegan children are healthier than children on the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) especially since non-vegan American kids most likely live off of chicken nuggets, cows milk (puss & veal mmmm...), hot dogs, hamburgers and pizza... oh and french fries.

3. It's not right for you to push your beliefs on him, he's just a child!
Oh no! Why on earth would I want to push my moral values upon a poor innocent child? How dare I raise him to be thoughtful and compassionate?? I should be rushing him to the nearest forest with a shotgun and teaching him how to murder the innocent! That's a step in the right direction! First start with deer, then maybe he'll graduate to hurting people too! How dare I teach my child that there is no such thing as "happy meat" and that we don't have to exploit another species just to eat? For shame!

"Imposing our beliefs" on our children... Isn't that what parents do?? If I think a vegan lifestyle is the healthiest and the best way to live, wouldn't I want the best for my child? I don't see a problem with that.

4. What are you going to do when he gets older and wants to eat meat?
What's to suggest that he will *want* to eat it? I accept that he may try it out of curiosity, or whatever reason. Why do people seem to think that vegans secretly want to eat meat? If he decides he wants to "rebel" and start shoveling dead animals into his mouth, that's his problem. I'll still be cooking my tofu at home.


Most of my friends and family are pretty supportive, but I have had run ins with some pretty arrogant and ignorant people. Unfortunately his father is one of those people. Lately my ex-husband seems to think that I am being cruel by "forcing my beliefs" on our son. Apparently when I'm not around, Ethan doesn't want to be vegan. That's funny... because when he's not around, Ethan doesn't want daddy telling him he should eat meat.

Like I said... Ethan's five years old. He's going to tell daddy whatever daddy wants to hear. In fact.. hehe.. he said to me one day...

"Mommy, I'm going to take your side, okay, but I'm going to tell daddy that I will listen to him."

I tried to hold back the laughter and high five by saying, "Ethan, you shouldn't take sides. I'm glad you want to stay vegan, all you have to do is say 'No thank you, Daddy, I'm vegan.' and you don't have to worry about taking sides."

-sigh-

That's all I can think of for now. If you have anything to add - by all means do so!

First Blog!

Hello everyone and thank you for checking out my blog.

I decided to start this to give myself a little place I could go to specifically to ramble on about veganism in any way I please.

So, to kick off this blog I'll go ahead and just tell my "How I went vegan" story. Long as it is, its true.

Don't worry, not all my blogs will be this long.

Enjoy.



I became a vegan when I was seventeen although I think my path to veganism had started when I was just a kid. Like most of us do with any kind of social disfunction, I blame my parents. Unfortunately neither of which are vegan nor do they have an inkling of vegetarian tendencies... rather I spent most of my childhood surrounded by lambs roasting on spits in the backyard, pig heads on the table and the oh so typical Greek uncle telling me that I should eat the lamb tongue because it's good for me. I am of Greek, Native American and Spanish decent, which means in almost every aspect of my upbringing I was taught that eating meat is right. "God put animals on the earth for us to eat" blah blah blah.

But the funny thing was my mother thought animals were so cute and cuddly we'd always be watching the Discovery Channel and movies like "Bambi" and "The Bear" which instilled in me this anger toward hunters and love for wild animals. Sure I thought cows were cute... pigs were cute too atleast until they got older and fatter (for the record, I think the old and fat ones are cute now too..)... and I loved ducks and chickens.. but I never connected the magestic animals in the wild or the many dogs and cats we kept as companions to the animals that were being "raised" for food.. then again I was just a McDonald's eating kid.

After seeing the movie "Charlotte's Web" when I was a kid I remember a brief moment in time when I was going to stand defiant! I was eight years old and I was going vegetarian! No longer would I partake in the disgusting practice of devouring the flesh of those poor defenseless creatures! Well.. until they served sloppy joes in the school cafeteria.. mmmm sloppy joes... (Vegan sloppy joes = way better).

I don't know how long that lasted, but that was my first attempt at vegetarianism and because that failed for me, for the next few years I would not attempt at going veg again because apparently, "I tried it once a few years ago and it just wasn't for me."

A funny story.. (this is getting long.. but I don't care...) I was about 10 years old when I went on a camping trip with a friend, a mother duck had abandoned her egg underneath our camper, I assumed because she sensed it was a dangerous place to keep her egg, and I took the egg home, put it in an incubator and decided to raise it. At that time I decided to stop eating anything duck... and since I never ate duck... "duck sauce" was the only thing I knew of. Would you like some duck sauce for your egg roll? "No thanks, I don't eat duck." hahaha..

Anyway, the egg grew for a little while but unfortunately didn't make it.. I did enjoy the process though, I got to see through the egg by holding it up in the light and seeing the little baby duck inside was very inspiring.

My evil-horrible-disgustinglysexist-pigheaded-childmolesting asshole of a stepfather had absolutely no respect for our animals. We had a dog and a few cats.. he came into the family and brought along with him two St. Bernard's which I adored. For the next two years or so I became very close with these dogs.. especially since I made an arrangement with my stepfather when he suggested we "get rid" of them because they were too big. I could save one! But she had to live in my room. She was just "too big" and "too hyper" to roam free in the house and we couldn't keep her outside all the time.

So this 175 lb dog lived in my room for about a year. She was my dog. She was my best friend. I didn't have a lot of friends because even at eleven years old I was a "freak" in school, so I spent most of my time with her and my one human friend. I took her for walks, I fed her, I trained her as best I could and she in turn kept me warm at night when the heaters weren't working, she cuddled me when I'd cry.. and she'd snarl at my sister when we would get into sibling arguments ("You wanna slap me? Well I've got a 175 lb St. Bernard that wants to BITE YOU FOR IT!") Alas, it wasn't enough. My stepfather took her to the SPCA and replaced her with a smaller dog.. and when that one got annoying, he took that one to the SPCA and replaced it with another... and another... I think we went through about 6 or 7 dogs in like five years...

Did I go vegan then? NO. But it did bring me closer to animals and coincidentally more isolated from humans. Eventually we "got rid" of my stepdad. Good riddance!

So... here's where it gets cheesy..

When I was seventeen I was pretty into the punk scene and of course, so were my friends. I didn't know any vegans or vegetarians even so that wasn't a part of it at all... they were mostly just stoner kids that hated school, hated their parents and wanted to drink, do drugs and play angry music... and they did it all at my house! (My poor mom worked nights...)

One of these nice punker gals that I spent my time with got a happy birthday gift from her father... Blink182 tickets... 2! So she can bring a friend! And she loved Blink182 as much as I did! I fucking HATE Blink182. I can atleast tolerate them now, but I hated them with a vengeance back then. So we decided to go because the tickets were free and we could atleast entertain ourselves by making fun of the stupid brat kids in the pit.

I am so glad I went! The opening band was Silverchair and if I hadn't gone to that concert I would probably have not been reintroduced to this brilliant band (and if you don't like them, I don't care so don't bother telling me) and I would have never been introduced to the word "vegan". Well.. maybe I would have years down the line when I was a lil' more exposed to the world... but being that I was seventeen in a meat hungry town, it wasnt happening anytime soon!

So after learning about veganism through Silverchair's Daniel Johns I decided to stop with my stupid eating disorder (which I had BEFORE seeing Silverchair...) and give vegetarianism another shot. At first, my family hated the idea. They made fun of me for it, they told me it was a fad and I'd get over it and of course they gave me the "You're just obsessed with Daniel Johns and that's why you want to stop eating meat!" crap... Which was not true. My obsession with Daniel Johns is TOTALLY separate from my compassion for animals... (lol).

I was a vegetarian for about three months until I realized how incredibly stupid it was... How could I say I was a vegetarian for ethical reasons and still eat cheese, wear leather and drink milk? My new puppy and I went vegan the day after Mother's Day in 2000 (because I wanted to make my mom a super huge cookie..) and I haven't turned back in the path since, although I have twisted my ankle, fell into pot holes and fallen off the road into a ditch here and there... even played chicken with a few people going back in the wrong direction. Point is, I've always brought myself back to veganism. Not because someone else thought it was cool. Not because it was fashionable. Not because it was healthier. Not because I wanted to be like Daniel Johns. But because it's who I am and who I've always wanted to be.

I'm 25 now and I have a happy, healthy vegan son who is 5 and asks new people he meets whether or not they're vegan and if not, why?

That's all for tonight, I hope you enjoyed the first introductory blog... I don't know how often I will post... depends on my mood ;)

Thanks and goodnight!