What The What!?

Just saw this on vegan.com and I was left speechless; I am sitting here just shaking my head, opening and closing my mouth like a fish. Not pretty, I assure you.

http://vegan.com/blog/2011/07/29/uk-government-refuses-to-prosecute-extreme-cruelties-uncovered-in-new-pig-investigation/

So, let me get this straight - it's not your property but you are going to sue for what happened on said property... got it... wait, no I do not. I do not understand anything about this situation, from the using cigarettes to burn animals and beating them with bats, to having the balls to sue when this is what was discovered, I do not get any of it.

I guess today I have a wish as opposed to a lust; I wish that 5 people will take the time to click on the link above, read the post then click the link to original post about this and maybe, watch that video. Just watch a moment of it to see what these animals had to live through only to die. I know that sounds melodramatic but it is really just the sad truth of the situation. If even one of those 5 people questions what they are eating and where their food comes from, I will consider it a small victory.

Lust Item of The Day

So, it would appear that I am not a 30 day-in-a-row blogging kind of girl...in my defence, I am in the middle of moving - complete with a possessed elevator that decided to let me know just how out of shape I am by making me move up three flights of stairs, two weekends in a row - and have no internet at home right now. Clearly I have "the interweb" at work however, I feel as though my boss would appreciate me using my time a bit more wisely - the googling of delicious goodies of a wide variety and watching episodes of My Drunk Kitchen notwithstanding. I do though have all of the Challenges saved and will get to them...no, I will. I think. 

For now though, I feel like reinstating my faith in the Universe and the laws of attraction. I have been basically blah and not into much since my Grandpa passed away. My husband and I feel like our move to this amazing new apartment - I feel like stealing from the Mad Men set...I mean borrowing, not stealing...actually, no, I want to keep that shiz so I guess pilfering it is! - is a new chapter for us. I think he's right and I think I need it; I feel the urge to go blonde, chop off my hair and have an adventure and this is a sure sign for me that change is coming or that I need to make it come if it's not. Short story long, I was perusing my usual vegan sites and came across some of the best nail polish I have ever seen, on The Kind Life. They're from Kaia House and I want them all; I am in LUST. Think OPI mixed with Essie but vegan and without all that nasty crap that is so bad for you and the environment (I can say that because I just painted my toes a lovely pink from OPI because man are old habits hard to put the kibosh on!). What's that, you need more of an incentive to order; how does 30% off sound? Amazing? Yes, I know. If you are a Kind Life reader, there is a discount code you can use for said 30% off - doesn't get much better than that! I picked my super fun colours - St. Barths, Tampa, Miami and the top coat - go to the check out and use my discount to get a super awesome price. Then I switch to CDN and bam, $26 in shipping...cue sad vegan. 

In my goal of being more fiscally responsible - read adult like - I don't think that I can justify spending more on shipping than the polish...that's not being negative, that is just a fact. So, here is where the Universe comes in. I am going to turn on the old attraction laws and see what happens...what say we reconvene in 4 weeks with a happy story that involves me getting my polish without that shipping? Done!

:)

(meet Miami, St. Barths and Tampa!)

St. Barths

Miami

Tampa

 

Day 5 - 30 Day Trust Writing Challenge

Life wastes itself while we are preparing to live. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you had one week left to live, would you still be doing what you’re doing now? In what areas of your life are you preparing to live? Take them off your To Do list and add them to a To Stop list. Resolve to only do what makes you come alive.

Bonus: How can your goals improve the present and not keep you in a perpetual “always something better” spiral?

(Author: Jonathan Mead)

I swear, it really is like the Universe plopped this challenge right in front of me...I have been having a bit of an introspective time lately and realizing that I am just living my life on the sidelines for the most part. I am going to keep this as short as possible and just list off the things I need to put on the "Stop" list and leave it at that. 

- stop watching so much TV

- stop worrying about money all of the time

- stop worrying about what people think of my decisions in life; I am the one that has to live with them and if I am happy that is what should matter

- stop beating myself up over past blunders

- stop being so lethargic

- stop talking about doing things but when the time comes, letting the moment pass by

- stop being so afraid of succeeding in life (I have no idea where this comes from but I am getting really sick of it)

The bonus question...I don't actually feel like there is always something better out there rather I feel a little out of place; it's like a large chunk of the time I feel like I should be elsewhere. I heard a saying the other day and while I can't remember it, the basic gist is that you having the feeling of being homesick for somewhere that you've never been; that is me. I feel like my life should be spent travelling the word, taking pictures and loving life with my husband. I don't feel like I belong behind a desk (which is where I am 40 hours a week - granted it is at a job I like with great people) not really being challenged...

Who knows, maybe this challenge will help me to figure some things out and find what it is I am meant to be doing with my life. 

Day 4 - 30 Day Trust Writing Challenge

If we live truly, we shall see truly. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Not everyone wants to travel the world, but most people can identify at least one place in the world they’d like to visit before they die. Where is that place for you, and what will you do to make sure you get there?

(Author: Chris Guillebeau)

Well, post 3 is missing and I am a few days behind... In my defense (I know, I know, excuses...), we are about to move and are in packing mode. That being said, I am going to catch up this week so forgive me if there are multiple posts. Day 3 will be posted sometime in the next few weeks as I would like to be moved and into my new home before I start it.

One of the lusts of this lusty vegan is travel which, unfortunately, I don't get to do very often so this is a lust that is not often satiated...I am however, determined it will be though, and soon. I can't pick just one place I want to see because there are so many things I need to do; sip coffee in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower; drink a delicious wine with a locally made marinara sauce - from San Marzano tomatoes of course - in Italy; lay on a white sand beach with a great book in hand, just absorbing as much sun as possible all while eating a sweet, ripe papaya and drinking a lovely, girly, fruity alcoholic beverage in Bora Bora; I want to see Scotland and take something that belonged to my Grandfather and bury it there in his honour...this is a quite a small sample of the places I want to see and doesn't really being to cover the all of the places I want to get to or all of the reasons why.

How am I going to get there...? Well, until my X-Men teleportation skills develop I do need a plan I suppose. The problem for me is coming up with said plan - or any plan for that matter. I would love to meld my love of photography and travel but I'm not sure what this looks like. I have heard of people working for Expedia and similar places and their job is to travel to different places, take pictures and possibly write about the experience. The problem for me is that I have no idea how to go about doing this or who to contact. So I suppose that my, how I will make it happen, will be figuring this out. Also, not procrastinating on this because I am a master procrastinator...it would be impressive it wasn't such a bad habit!

Day 2 - 30 Day Writing Challenge

Good Afternoon!

30 Day Writing Challenge of the day is:

It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude. - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

The world is powered by passionate people, powerful ideas, and fearless action. What’s one strong belief you possess that isn’t shared by your closest friends or family? What inspires this belief, and what have you done to actively live it?

This is a very easy one for me to talk about. For me, it is being vegan. I haven't always been vegan as you will read in a moment. I was a meat eating, dairy loving, "normal" person. It was only a year and a half ago that I changed my life. While I have some very supportive people around me, I also have people that do not understand why I have made the choice that I have - to cut animal products and the suffering that comes along with them from my life. This past February, Mercy For Animals released a video called Farm to Fridge. It had a profound effect on me and I felt that it was as good a place as any to start sharing with my family and friends, the reasons why I have made my choice. 

The response to my letter below varied from radio silence to thank you's. My brother, a staunch meat eater, who believed anything I told him was "vegan propaganda", called me after watching about 5 minutes of Farm to Fridge and said in a very sad and quiet voice, "why were they doing that to those piglets?" While my brother is not vegan, he does make smarter choices about where his food comes from and eats more vegetarian than he used to...and this is so huge to me I cannot even begin to describe it to you accurately.

On the flip side, my husband and I recently lost our friendship with another couple over my lifestyle change - I was told this much in an email. It is a story that I don't think needs to be looked at right now, but the long and short of it is that I am actually ok with this. I have come to terms with the fact that sharing the knowledge I am picking up along the way means that I will not always have the popular opinion and that I may lose some relationships in the process. Is it sad? Of course it is sad; it sucks. However, does it mean I feel more at peace knowing that I am doing something good for a cause I believe in with all of my heart; yes it does. And that is worth more than a friendship with people that, as it turns out, aren't very good friends at the end of the day. I also look at this way - if I hadn't shared the Farm to Fridge with people, my brother may have never had his change of heart...again, that means more to me than I can say. It has helped me keep spreading the word as gently as I can.


And, here is the letter I sent out back in February:

Hi Everyone,

 
Let me preface this email by saying a) I apologize for any spelling/grammar mistakes, it's just that I am feeling quite passionate about this subject, and b) that those of you who know me the most, know that I was not always vegan. I loved cooking big feasts that included roasts, maple glazed bacon, buttered beans, cheesecakes... you name it, I loved to cook and eat it. Even as a vegetarian I ate cheese with almost every meal and the thought of having to give up Devon Cream with scones wasn't one that ever crossed  my mind. However...

January 4th, 2010 was a big day for me - it was the day I became vegan and changed my life. I opened myself up to a new way of living and have never been happier or more sure of something I have taken on. I do know though that a lot of people still don't necessarily understand why I did this, so, I thought I would email this video which is 100% the reason why. I started to watch it and was hit with the immediate thought that I had to send it out. Every time I see these videos I am struck by how very helpless I feel at  what has happened to these animals and struggle with how to do something to help the ones that are out there now.  I try not to inundate people with my lifestyle choice, but the longer I am vegan and the more I see and research, this becomes harder. I know the stigma that vegans have - that we are all crazy, standing on soapboxes and shouting our views to the masses. I get it. I used to have the same thought about the new lot I find myself in. Please know that my sending this out is not me preaching that my way is better than yours, it is simply my way of trying to give something back to the animals that have suffered needlessly, all in the name of food, fashion and research; it was watching something like that this that opened my eyes to a new way of living and I am hoping to pass this along to as many of the people I know and love as possible.

I'm not going to lie, this video will be hard to watch but, the way I get through it is by reminding myself that they all had to live through what is shown here and to me, watching is a way to honour them and their lives, however short they were. Every year in North America, we kill approximately 10 billion animals - yes, billion, that wasn't a typo - and despite what the meat industries would have us believe, most of these animals do not live good lives. For most, from the minute they are born they are abused, neglected and terrified for the entirety of their short existences and this video will show you just how bad it is for them. My hope by sending this out to all of you, is that you will watch it, or try to.

The recent outrage over the horrifying killings of the dogs in Whistler got me thinking that if all of these rational people are so angry over this atrocity, then maybe there is hope for more than just dogs and cats. Maybe if people come to the understanding of what happens to factory farm animals everyday, that some of these people will see the correlation between the two; the Whistler dogs and the factory farmed animals that suffer the same and worse, everyday. I thought that maybe if people really start to think about it, they will see the only difference between these sets of animals is that as a society we have chosen to show dogs and cats compassion and love while for the most part, factory farm animals are subjected to things that are horrendous and unspeakable. I know that anyone who watches this video will be appalled by it and will at the very least, start looking for better choices for where their food comes from. My personal belief is that there is no such thing as kind meat, that nothing should have to die so that I can satiate my appetite, but I also know that this is a choice that can be hard to come to. If, after watching this you have any questions about the video or going vegetarian/vegan please let me know, I would love to help you out in any way I can.

Obviously my hope is that one day these videos won't exist and I won't ever again have to send an email out like this but until that time comes I will keep trying to be a voice for those that don't have them.

http://vegan.com/blog/2011/02/08/mfa-releases-from-farm-to-fridge/

As a side note, Vegan.com is a great site for those of you who are passionate about where your food comes from in general. The blogger links to all sorts of stories that will make your heads spin and really get you thinking about what big corporations get away with. It is well worth the read beyond the above link.

Also, I still do cook, and I still love to create a feast for those I love, it's just a different version. Sure, the names of some of the ingredients may not be ones that most people are used to hearing, or ones that people associate with a great meal, but I assure you, just because you choose to eat a different way doesn't mean it tastes any less great. 
 
Love,

Me

Trust 30 Day Writing Challenge

Well, what to say...? I have never written a blog, I suppose that is probably a good place to start. This is all new to me so forgive any errors or blogging faux pas' that may spring from my hands. I decided to start this blog due to the 30 Day Trust Challenge the gist of which is that everyday, you write about a given topic in the format proposed. It seems right that for my first blog, today's challenge is to write about today in one sentence - I really don't know about this blog writing business and don't have much to say at this point but I think I should be able to handle a sentence...

Anyway, here is my one sentence on today

Today: Is the first time I felt panic about money or lack thereof and instead of worrying about it, chose to envision paying off my bills and being sublimely happy about it, all while watching my bank account grow.

If wishes and nuts, eh?

I am really trying to have a positive outlook on things no matter what but since April it has been hard - well since last year really. My Grandfather, who was my father figure growing up due to mine being absent, had a lot of health problems in 2010 and I had issue with said said biological father going on as well. This April my Grandfather went into the hospital with pneumonia and didn't recover. Since then there have been other things that have happened that, while they are not even close to being on the same scale as losing one of the most important people in my life and one of the best men I have ever known, have taken their toll. All of that being said, I am really trying to turn my frown - and sometime pout - upside down. I am hoping this blog with help with that.

Hmm... looks like I had more to say than I thought. Sorry about that! ;)  (can I make little faces like that on blogs - is this deemed acceptable blogging? Seriously, I have no clue...)

See you tomorrow!