Michelle

I'm sooooo glad that semester is over and done with. veggymeggy, that panic you had sounds like post-traumatic stress disorder. I had a dream a couple nights ago that I slept through my classes and woke up with the same weird disoriented panic. I was trying really hard to remember my schedule, what day it was, and where the clock was, so I could figure out what the time was. For some reason, finding the clock (on my nightstand - same place as always! Duh!) was a real stumper. What a relief when I figured out the semester was over, and the next one hadn't started yet. One of my best friends in the whole world just moved to Dallas, Texas and is finally within reasonable driving distance from me, so I'm going up there to spend a couple days during the break. That'll be fun. Yay!

Heck yeah! Anyone who is in TX and wants to meet up sometime - I'm game. Same goes for anyone who happens to travel through Houston.

(I've always wanted a reason to use that smiley, but haven't found one.)

No, one of the other actors.

I'm so sorry Don't know what else to say... this is so terribly sad, and such a shock.

Debt is about the worst place to be. I was completely debt-free earlier this year, until I had to buy a new car last month. I hate owing money, even if it's not really a lot. My post-divorce credit score was getting better, too... until Capital One VISA screwed me over. I got a payoff quote, closed the account, paid the balance in full, and thought it was a done deal. They decided it would be fun to charge me $0.91 in interest after the fact, then slap finance charges and $29 late fees on top of that the next month. I didn't figure it out until the 60-day lates started hitting my credit report. ARRGGHH!! I'm still fighting that one. It's good to use just enough credit to keep a positive credit rating. You might think you'll never want or need it... until you try to get a small business loan or something.

I'm not a country music fan or really a Cash fan. I mostly went to the movie because everyone else wanted to see it, and because of the novelty of seeing someone who's been on my massage table up on the big screen. That movie was great! I even enjoyed the music.

This is going to sound hypocritical, but I found those fish pictures distasteful, even when I was still eating fish. Wanna know what's even more weird? Fishing tournaments. I had heard of them before, but didn't realize they were such a big deal... until one of my classmates walked into class the other day, bragging about the $10,000 he had won in a bass fishing tournament over the weekend. $10,000 for catching a fish?!?? What the heck?

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b14/purplekoala/random/067.jpg

Cool tests! What does it mean if I can see the numbers that normal people can see AND the numbers that only colorblind people are supposed to see?

HAHAHAHA... I think I've had that exact conversation. My friend said "Well, it could be argued that fish isn't meat" I said "Perhaps, but it can't be argued that fish are fruit or vegetables" The end.

Just add me to the "bags under the eyes" club. I'm sure I looked like a walking zombie during my speech this morning. Someday I'll learn not to leave so much crap for the last minute. I keep telling myself, "Just one more week, then it's over."

Congratulations!

Hey, where's my autographed copy?

The Kashi Organic Promise "Autumn Wheat" here in my kitchen doesn't appear to have honey, just organic evaporated cane juice. That's kind of dumb that they would put honey in so many of their cereals. Maybe if they are contacted by enough vegans, they'll consider using a different sweetener? I like the Kashi cereal, but not as much as I like Peace Cereal's Vanilla Almond Crisp. Another favorite is Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted grain cereal.

I like this quote! So true...

I like the name "Cryptomancer" I would say "welcome" but it appears you've been here longer than I have. Oh well, welcome anyway. I was also raised with milk and dairy products as a major part of my diet. As a teenager in Vermont, we had three small family-owned (and likely organic) dairy farms within a mile radius of our home and a milkman that delivered super-fresh milk once a week. It was so yummy and I was a hardcore milk drinker. I kinda thought sometimes that drinking something intended for a baby cow was stupid, but usually what I'd been taught about the importance of the "milk group" prevailed. When I moved far away to Atlanta 8 years ago, all the milk there tasted like crap and made my stomach hurt too, so I just quit drinking it. That was easy enough. Cheese has proven to be much more difficult to give up, though. It's probably like 100x or more harder to give up than meat was, for me. Giving up cheese and everything else "cold turkey" wasn't working for me, so gave up everything else and have given myself a realistic amount of time (until the end of this year or until the 1/2lb block of raw cheddar in my fridge is gone, whichever happens first) to gradually transition the cheese out of my diet, too. I had never realized how many of my favorite comfort foods (like lasagne and pizza) were all about cheese, but I'm weaning myself and learning to modify the recipes. I'm also learning which of my favorite restaurants I can still eat at, since 90% of the meat-free appetizers and entrees seem to be based upon cheese. This might sound weird, but what's helped me the most in this transition is to read vegan forums (here, on myspace, etc) online at least once every day. Surrounding oneself with fellow vegans would probably work better, but since I don't have any local vegan friends yet, this works for me. I'm sure there's some speculation at this point that I'm stalking some member here because I'm logged in so much, but actually I'm just trying to brainwash my brain to think "vegan" instead of think the "standard american diet" it's been conditioned to think for the past 35 years. It is working. If all else fails, move to Atlanta for a while. All their milk tastes like crap, I have proof.

Sending positive thoughts your way....

This is an interesting argument. If you're comparing a bowl of shredded wheat to a piece of steak, there is absolutely no question which of the two impacts animals' lives and the environment more. I don't think the author is insinuating differently. However, he has made me wonder if I might have reduced my impact further, had I chosen an apple instead of the shredded wheat. I think it would have. Perhaps "freegan" is a misnomer, and defining freeganism as type of veganism is a mistake. I don't see freeganism (contributing as little as possible to the economic system) and veganism (contributing as little as possible to animal cruelty) as synonymous. For example, in my previous shredded wheat vs. steak scenario, if the steak came from a dumpster and the shredded wheat involved a trip to the store, the freegan might be outraged that a vegan would make a purchase and support the economic system, rather than eating the steak. The vegan would be outraged at the freegan for eating an animal. I don't see a freegan as a vegan looking for a loophole, I see them as someone who has a slightly different set of prevailing values. What freeganism and veganism share is the goal to, through our daily choices, reduce our impact on the earth and those we share it with as much as possible. Whether I agree or not with the method of achieving that goal, I applaud the goal.

If the company is going to be the same, regardless of location, then I don't care where the location is! I like this idea. I'm most interested in the Caribbean, but ultimately the cost is what's going to dictate whether I am able to attend.

Thanks for the info, chesty leroux! White cake mix + Fanta Orange Soda = YUM! I don't think I'll even bother frosting them.

During the holidays, I anticipate that I'll work out more than normal since I'll have so much more free time than usual. My kids will be in California with their dad's family for a couple weeks, none of my family is local and I'm not travelling this year, so I don't have any family commitments at all. I don't get into the whole commercialism thing that we do in the US at Christmas, so I won't be wasting my days shopping for gifts. Plus, the gym won't be crowded at all, so I'll want to stay longer and enjoy it.

compassionategirl, thanks for sharing the link for http://www.iamscruelty.com - I've been looking for a list of more responsible pet food companies, so I can at least make an informed choice when I feed my cats. The good news is that one of the brands we have right now is in the list of brands that do not test on animals, so I'm happy about that. The other brand we have, http://www.petpromiseinc.com isn't. I really hope that it's just because they weren't contacted for the survey, because I like everything else about this brand.

If something is naturally meant to be eaten by humans, then theoretically that food should be appealing to us in an raw, unprocessed state. No other animal that I know of cooks food or does anything before eating besides maybe rinsing food in a river, so why should humans? If a food item requires extensive cooking, seasoning, or other disguising in order to be palatable, we should maybe question its importance in our diet. I tried going raw for about a week and a half. During that time, most of what I ate was actually fruit, just because few vegetables and other foods were very enjoyable raw. (I stopped mostly because the cleansing put too much stress on my body, I'll try again when I'm less toxic) So, fruitarianism makes perfect sense to me. As I read that fruitarian site, it's making even more sense. The environmental aspects are especially interesting. Bigbwii, what do you eat in an average day, as a fruitarian? Do you buy fruits at a grocery store, or have you found fruits growing locally?