Autumn Sky

Studies have shown that vegetarians (following a well-balanced low-fat high-fibre vegetarian diet) often have lower incidence of coronary artery disease, hypertension, obesity and some forms of cancer. ₍₁₎

A recent thread at Snark and a post by Hannah of Creativeburst inspired me to make this post. It’s quite obvious that I’m not ashamed of being a vegetarian. Having been a vegetarian (and partial vegan) for more then two years, I’d like to talk a little more on this subject.

It’s hard living in a state that produced 95, 848 livestock for consumption (not counting chicken) in 2005 alone. ₍₂₎ It’s not hard because I look out my window (our neighbors are ranchers) to see sweet cows happily grazing on the country side and I know they’re bound to turn into your next cheeseburger. It’s hard because of the way people treat me when they find out I’m a vegetarian. I’m a vegetarian for two reasons. The first is that I don’t like the taste of meat. The second is that humans were not made to eat meat. ₃ I hope that you read the provided sources because it is not my intent on educating you. If you wish to debate my stance on this issue, especially via comments, I will please ask you to read my recommended articles first. Otherwise, I’ll just be responding with information you can find in those articles. Read the rest of this entry »

_{Above: My dog, Tuxedo, buckled up and ready to see the vet}

Boy, what a day! I went to ten different vets and finally got the worst vet in town to see him. I spend two hundred dollars for her to tell me exactly what I already knew (my mom insisted it wasn’t something easily fixable, no it must be LIFE threatening). Bye, bye new pay check. *waves and queues comic book moths to float out of pockets.*

I thought you’d enjoy this super cute picture though. :)

After becoming a vegetarian one of my biggest worries was that I would be mercilessly stereotyped. Although I may fit into many of the “bleeding heart hippy” stereotypes, I’m also quite opposite on occasions. I may care for people, animals, and the environment but I try to take action instead of whine. I’m explaining this to you beforehand because today’s rant is one that focuses on a severe life change that I have dedicated almost a full year to. In November I decided that I literally couldn’t stomach eating meat. I guess it was because I was eating an over-processed hot dog at the time, but I had been thinking about changing my diet before then. My biggest reason for becoming a vegetarian was that meat just disgusted me. I don’t like the thought of eating muscles like mine, nor do I like the texture of meat.

I’m very sensitive about my vegetarianism; it’s already earned me enough ridicule. When I first decided to become an herbivore I had a few conversations with people on the subject. The phrase, “I tried that for a year” popped up quite often, “but I just love meat too much”. I’m beyond understanding that point of view. After three weeks of eating no meat my body felt completely cleansed. I didn’t feel bloated or nauseated, I felt clean and healthy. My first suggestion to anyone thinking of radically changing their diet is to change it for the right reason. Changing your diet for a cause may be heroic, but you’ll eventually crash. When you change your diet, you change your life and outlook. Read the rest of this entry »

Firefox, the number one geek tool of this decade. If Myspace is dumbing my generation down, Firefox is the one picking up its pieces. Firefox may be our One True Savior, but I cannot be the only one tired of people saying, “Everyone and their dog has Firefox, if you don’t you’re totally off my buddy list. It has hundreds of awesome plugins. It’s SO SAFE. IT HAS TABBED BROWSING, OMG.”

I’m not necessarily interested in what browser other people use, unless it’s for site statistic purposes. This Techie Band Wagon everyone is jumping on to is not only annoying, it’s completely unnecessary to advertise. You have no personal gain to advertise what browser you use on the very front page of your web site. Furthermore, you have absolutely no right to tell me which one I should use. There are only two reasons you are advertising Firefox in your blinkie-ridden navigation or tacky splash page. The biggest one is that you want me to think you’re l33t. Well, I know a lot of l33t people. You are not l33t just because the very first thing I see is you commanding me to switch my inferior browser. Read the rest of this entry »