My 8 months as a vegan and how I got here

I don't talk about it much because it is just what it is and those interested pick up on my little mentions of it and ask me. I don't specifically care what you decide to eat so I don't see the point in making a point of trying to sway someone to eat like I do. With that being said if you are interested here is my story.

How I got here, the longish story. I've never been a fan of meat, I just never liked the way it tasted, I didn't hate it but it wasn't my favorite food. In high school or perhaps before I wanted to eat vegetarian but it would have been really hard seeing as I still lived at home and ate at home almost every night. I wasn't going to make my own food when my mom cooked every night so it never happened. In college I thought about it and I would have a hard time eating my chicken, especially when I had just come home from a zoology class and I was thinking more about what I was eating and how it worked in the animal, but my lifestyle got in the way. I just didn't have a strong enough desire to cook for myself, mom was still cooking for the most part. After college I again couldn't be bothered to think about changing my lifestyle and it really never crossed my mind. I didn't eat all that much meat but I didn't not eat it for any reason besides not liking it. When I started living with and then marrying Rich I was the cook and I had to pretty much learn to cook meals and again eating vegetarian never crossed my mind, especially since I married a devout carnivore.

Fast forward to probably the beginning of 2009 when I was full swing into embracing an eco-conscious lifestyle as I could and making all sorts of new and interesting changes to make my life more "green" (I kinda hate that term). Vegetarianism weighed more and more on my mind, especially since I was trying to eat as much organic as I could. In the summer I started reading a lot about meat eating/production/farming and how it drains so much resources. Those things started nagging on my when I would force myself to eat chicken and other meats at almost every meal. Mid November and I just couldn't do it anymore. I gave up meat. It was a pretty simple and easy decision for me.

I went to the library a few weeks later to look for vegetarian cookbooks, needed some inspiration to be able to really commit and do it right. One of the books I picked up was Skinny Bitch. What I read in it about health reasons to be vegan and about farming practices cemented the idea that I needed to eat a vegan diet. It's a good informative read in an everyday type language, I mean bitch is in the title it's not an overly scientific book but it cites sources and has great information.

January 2010 is when I "officially" became vegan. I got a lot of support and my recipes from the PCRM's 21 day vegan kickstart that started at the beginning of the year. That was really helpful and I don't think I would have been able to commit they way I have. I participated in another of their vegan kickstarts in November as well but I was committed to the vegan thing and still ate eggs and cheese products at that point. (FYI PCRM is holding another 21 day vegan kickstart starting next week, if you are interested in that way of eating at all, just out of curiosity I strongly suggest you sign up. They send emails with the weeks meal plan, worst case you unsubscribe from the emails and that's that. Best case you find some great recipes and perhaps eat a bit healthier. Sign up here: http://support.pcrm.org/site/PageServer?pagename=21day_vegan_kickstart&JServSessionIda003=upegog3qg1.app234c )

I did have cravings and things to deal with but I was able to deal with them and have none now. Can't say I miss anything at this point, food wise. Sometimes I miss the simplicity of running down to a fast food joint and picking up a burger or a chicken sandwich but I don't miss the way I felt after eating that crap. I had actually stopped eating that stuff a bit before I changed my diet so it wasn't that hard. One thing I did crave was cheese, pretty much the only dairy product I use to eat regularly. A thick oily quesadilla or a lovely slice of NY style pizza, yum. I spent many dinners eating food like that in my vegetarian pre-vegan days. The first 3 or 4 months of eating vegan I did eat a lot of vegan cheese, I even posted about it: http://mudnessa.blogspot.com/2010/04/even-vegans-can-enjoy-cheesy-pizza.html

I haven't eaten that in a long time, basically I got over my "addiction" to dairy and even though a slice sounds simple I don't drool over one. As for other cravings I thought I would crave a big juicy bloody steak, I always have had occasional cravings for steak and about twice a year I would make my husband take me to a steakhouse so I could get a delicious prime rib. Surprisingly, no cravings for meat of any sort.

What do I crave, tofu, I have always loved tofu but I love it even more now. I also crave a great vegan "mac and cheese" recipe I found, such a great comfort food:

http://agreenspell.com/2010/04/16/15-minute-vegan-mac-n-cheese/

and a delicious tofu noodle soup: http://www.thecasualvegan.com/tofu-soup/

Quite quickly, within a month, of eating vegan, I noticed quite a few great "side effects" of my diet, I didn't notice any changes after changing just to vegetarian. First was my skin. It is not dry, like AT ALL. I often had problems with very very very very dry legs and would scratch myself raw in my sleep. My face is also a million times clearer. It wasn't bad before but I almost always had one or two pimples coming or going. It was annoying, oh don't worry you'll grow out of it in high school NEVER happened. Well it has now and it has NOTHING to do with growing but all to do with the food I was eating. The odd rash I have had on my back for years is also a lot less noticeable, it's not back acne, it's under the skin and no one knows what it is but it definitely isn't as "inflamed" as it use to be. Another great change was digestion and all that TMI stuff I could get into. I'll spare you the details but let's say me and my stomach/digestive parts are happy with each other and I don't have to worry about where I am if they have a restroom close that I won't catch something using or be interrupted when I'm trying to do something.

Last month I ordered a soup I thought was vegan, it wasn't, it had A LOT of mozzarella in it, I took one spoonful and I found it incredible rich and not tasty at all. I ate a few more spoonfuls cause I am an idiot and let's just say for the next 24 hours my stomach was not happy and my toilet became my unwanted best friend again. It was horrible. Lactose intolerance does run in my family (the Asian part) and I guess I have a mild case I never realized before or cared too.

As far as weight loss, I'm already a skinny girl but I have had people tell me that I look like I've lost weight since changing my diet. I think it's more of a people paying more attention looking for me to get all super skinny and sickly since I'm not eating like "most" people. Don't worry, according to the scale I have put on over 5 pounds, I don't care how skinny you are, that's never something you want your scale to tell you. I don't see or feel the 5 pounds and I did also start running so it could be mostly muscle (I'm hoping) and honestly some of my clothes do seem to be fitting a bit better.

I have to say that is the hardest thing, dealing with all the questions. I don't mind explaining to people why I do it and what type of stuff I eat now but having people go on and on about me not getting enough protein or the right vitamin and minerals just because of my vegan diet really pisses me off. If someone is seriously concerned I do get that, a lot of people don't know all that much about the types of food I eat now, but having someone who eats a mostly processed, fast food, meat based, junk food diet get all high and mighty on me about my diet and how it can't be healthy and how they heard that so and so told so and so blah blah blah or that so and so knows someone who knows someone who got sick and blah blah blah, that really pisses me off. If you are interested that is one thing, do some research and then come to me, and not just random sites on the internet that have no sources (yes kinda like this post, but this is just more about me and not why you should or shouldn't eat a certain way).

So what do I eat: Most of my hearty recipes that really satisfy me are from the 21 day vegan kickstart. I eat lots of stew/soups with lentils or beans. I love beans, always have, black beans, white beans, chickpeas, all sorts. Homemade hummus is a favorite of mine. LOTS of fruit and veggies of course, I've always loved most veggies and oranges and pineapple are my go to fruits for my morning breakfast. Rice, mom ALWAYS made rice with each meal and I couldn't live without it. Lot's of greens, I love spinach, bok choy, and kale. Mushrooms, is there anything more tasty than mushrooms? Couscous so delicious, tasty, and easy to make and make/use in different recipes. I don't eat it very often because I'm not that good of a cook and for some reason it eludes me but I love quinoa as well.

As for as specific substitutes, I use soy/rice/almond milk, depending on what I am making. Vanilla almond milk is my favorite for cereals and sweets, rice milk is great for soups and making creamy things. I don't use much soy milk anymore actually. Earth Balance has a great vegan butter substitute, even my mom used it to butter her rolls and liked it, she's one of those persons who would just eat a slice of butter! She comes over every now and then and has dinner with me trying my vegan dishes, she's liked all of them so far, even the one I forgot to put mushrooms in.

I make my own veggie broth, keep all the scraps/extras from all the veggies and things I use, freeze them and every month or so throw them in the crockpot with a water for the day, strain and then freeze in an ice cube tray for use later. Homemade veggie broth is amazing, it is cheap, beyond cheap because I use almost all scraps, which I then throw in my compost bin, and I can flavor it any way I want, more onion or garlic flavor, or use a lot of something/anything specific to get a great flavor. I can control the salt levels to my liking, usually don't add any, add in all sorts of herbs from my patio garden. Use it to cook anything that requires water and it adds flavor and veggie goodness, yum!

This is just a list of things I eat that I can recall off the top of my head so if it seems like I am blatantly missing something important that's why. I do take a multi-vitamin (when I can remember) but I don't take it because I'm vegan, I've almost always taken one (when I can remember).

So that's my story and I am sticking with this vegan thing cause I like it and it likes me.

Tortoise adventure

Remember how just the other day I was saying I needed an adventure, well be careful what you wish for. I got myself quite a little adventure today.

My dads tortoise escaped apparently. He realized this morning that his tortoise, Wimby, hadn't eaten yesterdays food so he went looking around for him. Seems he found a way into the neighbors large yard.

I go over in the morning and first thing I do is, of course check on the little box turtles, they were all happy, healthy, and contained.

Next we, me and my brother, take a walk around the perimeter of dads yard to look for places Wimby could have escaped from and around the yard in general to make sure Wimby isn't just being cool and hiding out somewhere causing drama for no reason.

I find a pretty cool spider web.

Then there is the cat tail that has been in the yard for quite a while (months), not sure why no one has done anything with it. This is the first time I've seen it in person and I have no idea how they didn't notice the whole leg near or that it has a pelvis bones still attached too. (It's probably because no one is willing to look at it for too long or closely like I am.)

Next we take a walk to the corner of the yard and on the way I notice cat ribs and backbone. So clean!

One more step and I see a leg with paw still intact.

I have no explanation or know what to say about this stuff, I find it cool but it's kinda creepy that there are cat parts in the yard, and that they have been there for a while.

We find where we think is the only spot the tortoise could have gotten out and it leads to the neighbors yard, who have a MUCH larger yard with a lot more trees and brush and leaf litter. So I'm standing at the fence calling Wimby, yes he's a tortoise but he does come to people calling him especially since he is a pig and loves food and knows people feed him.

The fence reaches to my neck and it's on a bit of a slope so I'm hanging on to the fence to stabilize myself. I lose grip and my footing at the same time and slip down a bit and the bottom of my jaw is right above this beauty.
Luckily didn't hit it very hard but it didn't feel very good either. Leave it to me to have the soft part under my jaw right above a perfect place to get impaled!

My brother goes over to the neighbors, the proper way instead of hopping the fence and we eventually end up walking around their whole yard twice looking for Wimby. I knew I was going to be doing this but still when I left the house in the morning THESE are the shoes I put on! Seriously what is wrong with me, how stupid am I (don't answer that).
I am walking around in a yard with pretty much every surface you can think of, lots of twigs and thick leaf litter in an area that there are TONS of snakes and spiders and my feet are just SCREAMING taste me don't I look tasty!

We walk the whole yard twice, calling Wimby the whole time. Then we head out their front drive and take a walk down the street. On the way back my brother says, wow I just got REALLY dizzy, I tell him he better not pass out on me because I am so not carrying him anywhere, he may be my younger brother but he definitely isn't my little brother.

When we get back we decide it is lunch time. Have I ever said how much my brother loves bread, he does, A LOT!
After lunch and a stop back at my place for proper shoes we decide to hop the back fence and see if Wimby is hanging out there somewhere.

I sure hope he's not hiding out in the cactus cause I am NOT venturing into them to find him.

I also hoped he didn't decide to go for a long walk in this field. (or in my worst case scenario somehow manage to cross the field, the rather large road, and get through another fence and decide to take a "nap" on the train tracks. I am pretty sure he is big enough to cause a train derailment, especially if we were to put signs up with MY phone number on them, yeah that would not be good, not good at ALL!)
Now it was time to make signs. We found some spray paint but that wasn't going to work (I may or may not have been holding the can towards me when first trying to spray). So we went to the store down the street first to get us some LARGE markers. They didn't have LARGE markers so we got some larger sharpies and went to work.

We took one sign and put it at the top of the street and went to pick my husband up from work and get slurpees, it's hot being in the sun walking around all day looking for a tortoise. They had Barq's Rootbeer slurpees! BARQ'S ROOTBEER SLURPEES!!!! SO F'ING DELICIOUS and REFRESHING.

With the signs all made, nailed to stakes (which we later had to use wire and tape because hammering them in the rock hard ground shook the cardboard right off the stake) we set out to put up more. As we were hammering in the first sign we got a call from someone who's neighbor found a tortoise. They didn't know what to do with it so they called the humane society. We called the humane society, who were already closed so we have to wait until to tomorrow to get our tortoise back.

Not exactly the adventure I wanted but it was an adventure and it's not over yet. Hopefully it will be rather easy to get the tortoise back and I don't have to go through a million and one things to get Wimby back home.

Oh and you know what this brilliant redhead did, she went on an all day adventure WITHOUT sunscreen, yeah I'm just slightly red now. Love the red shoulder, the tank top strap, and then the diagonal bra strap! Luckily I'm not the typical super fair skinned red head and color like this usually fades into a nice tan (yeah cause those lines are nice).
This made me realize how pale I really am, how much sun I really don't get, and why I always need to remember sunscreen if I am going to be outside. Stupid stupid stupid. I've never been one to avoid the sun but I've never been a sun worshiper, especially since I've gotten tattooed, don't wanna prematurely age and fade those babies. My poor mermaid is all sorts of tan herself now.

Need an adventure

I've been having serious issues with boredom.

I don't want to be a zombie in front of the tv or computer but I don't see the point of sitting on the couch doing nothing. I can't decide on a book to read, I started reading Fever Dream by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child last night but I'm finding it hard to read because I have a signed limited edition copy and feel like I shouldn't read it.

I have plenty that needs or could be done but who wants to do that. My pile of laundry is crazy big, the whole apartment is a mess, all my animals could use a good cage clean, there are 3 different piles of junk that need to be dealt with, but again why would I want to do any of that boring mindless "housework".

Boredom seems to grab a hold of me at night when I feel like I should be calm and do relaxing things and not get caught up in a new sewing project or even making noise with my sewing machine. Night definitely doesn't seem like the time I should take out my drill and other tools and finally get back to work on my beer cap light shade. It would be different if I had a garage to go into.

I've been itching to go on a trip, even just a local day trip. It's been YEARS since I've done anything in nature, since I've walked even a trail and taken in the scenery, since I've paid too much attention to some random critter foot prints or droppings, since I've just sat somewhere and watched the wild lives around me go about their business.

Almost every day I think about my trips to the Sea of Cortez and what it was like to walk where very few have before, to spend my day on a small uninhabitable island full of raw wildlife, to visit the nesting site of Elegant Terns and Hermanns Gulls, to spend a day in the water swimming with Sea Lions, having them tug on your flippers and swim away before you could turn around, to have them get right in your face and blow bubbles at you, tide pooling and finding a place with so many beautiful Nudibranchs you end up doing nothing else for the rest of the day, being on jellyfish watch as my new friends jumped off the top deck of the boat, learning that those weren't a string of some sort of eggs but a string of some sort of ctenophore (luckily their sting wasn't too bad), watching someone cursed the "stingray shuffle" and struggled with jellyfish wrapping around his ankles as he tried to walk ashore and being glad I decided to skip that snorkeling trip, making a small fire on an island in the pitch black and have scorpions come crawling out of the wood and straight for you feet in sandals (ok I don't miss that, I hated that).

I think about my 2 week trip to Belize, walking among Howler Monkeys, walking up and down ancient Mayan ruins, being forbidden from lying down on a sacrificial altar because it was creeping out the people I was with, having your new friends drag you and the guide over to a local at every new town and asking them what slang term they use for a redhead and then having the guide translate it (match head is the only unique one I remember), taunting a tarantula with a long blade of grass so we could get a picture, spending the day snorkeling, trying to follow and keep up with a large Spotted Eagle Ray (failed miserable), realizing that tropical waters are too warm for a wetsuit, having cute little tropical fish nip at my purple bathing suit, always knowing that if you looked over your shoulder you'd see at least 2 Barracuda "stalking" you, diving for conch and making fresh conch fritters on the boat, watching a small child in a tiny row boat smash fish to death as his father was spear fishing some where below and tossing his catch into the boat, seeing Manatee nostrils take a breath, learning that covering yourself with a sheet only up to your head at night results in mosquito bites ALL over your face, waiting to see if the enormous lump/bite on your leg was going to go all sci-fi movie on you and bare some sort of insect out of it (it never did), seeing for the first time and falling in love with Frigate Birds.

There are the family trips I've taken, many Yosemite trips, crossing a large stream via a fallen tree, travelling up and down the California/Oregon coast, summer in Vermont playing in the stream for hours on end making our own rock dams and creating a small pool, walking in the forest, looking for newts and toads, stepping on a garter snake barefoot and wondering why the grass feels like it is moving beneath your foot, being a co-pilot on the search for covered bridges on back dirt roads with no signs, finally finding a bridge getting out and finding ourselves in the thickest swarm of mosquitos, family trips to Baja to see the grey whales, fresh ceviche, giving chocolate chip cookies to the Federales while we change flat tires, being told not to get out of the cars because whenever I did I would hear a slow leak in a tire, petting grey whales that would come to the side of the boat, spending a day on a beach with the bluest water that was knee high for as far as you could see (or go because you knew you had to walk all the way back too), attempting snorkeling in freezing cold waters, always finding and visiting unique and cool places no matter where we were, my honeymoon in Maui snorkeling and watching a small eel among the rocks having everyone ignore me because they were just there for the turtles that I guess were further out, I just stayed at there watching the eel and little invertebrates moving around, walking to a black sand beach.

No wonder I've been so bored lately, I've never spent this long in one place without going on some sort of adventure. Doesn't help that my boss always tells me how great I would be in the field because he's impressed by my ability to spot creatures, being told how I don't seem to bother the animals with my presence, I just walk among them for the most part and they don't feel the need to flee like they do with others. (For the record Kinkajous do not fall under my spell, quite the opposite actually, I've worked with 8 or 9 different individual kinks at 2 different facilities and they ALL hate me, even the one that others could do anything to screamed at me!) Of course of late these creatures are the doves and bunnies that are in the back yard at work.

I would never use the word adventurous to describe myself but I think I might need to change that thinking. It was just normal for me, not adventurous in my eyes.

ABC's of me

I've really been lacking in posting lately, if you couldn't tell. I have ideas but I never get around to them. So I am going to post this which I found over at The Goat.

Now I have a post that has a bit of form and you can learn something about me, or not, without having to read a stream of babbling thoughts by me since I can't get most thoughts straight in my head right now, the real reason I haven't been posting.

ABC's of me

A- My AIR CONDITIONER is set on: it's actually unplugged (it's a window/wall unit thing) and a piece of duct tape is over the outlet because it doesn't work well and the cat started to play with the plug and outlet

B- My BEDROOM theme is: um girls I guess you could say, I don't think I ever really have a theme with anything. I have a few framed posters in my bedroom, this Erte, three of Bettie Page, a maid one and devil one and a classic pinup one, and another pinup girl poster. I don't spend much time but sleep time in my bedroom. My sewing machine is in there but haven't been doing much sewing lately. Otherwise there is just the bed and my clothes.

C- The CAR in the driveway is: the same car I've had for more than half my life. Thank you Honda. It is also beyond filthy at the moment, like really really filthy.

D- My DESK looks: Has my sewing machine and tons of excess fabric and stuff all over it.

E- The EXACT time I wake up daily is: Usually before ten, recently around nine, sometimes eight sometimes a lot later.

F- The FIRST thing I wash in the shower is: my hair

G- My GARAGE is filled with: don't have a garage.

H- My HOUSE is: a second/top floor corner 2 bed 2 bath apartment.

I- If you peeked INSIDE my bedroom you'd see: clothes EVERYWHERE, mine and my husbands, and an ALWAYS unmade bed.

J- My favorite JUICE is: I enjoy cranberry and cranberry blends don't drink much of it, mostly drink tea.

K- The best part of my KITCHEN is: the large amount of cabinetry

L- The LAST person who visited my home was: I think Rich's cousin came over the other night for a bit.

M- The last piece of MAIL for me was: That wasn't a bill or junk mail....I have no idea!

N- My NEIGHBORS think I'm: no idea, probably weird, I don't talk to my neighbors, call me anti social I guess, they come and go a lot too.

O- If you OPENED my fridge you'd see: lots of veggies, mmmmm veggies.

P- My last house PARTY was: a few months ago, Rich had a stout tasting night. It was a lot of fun.

Q- A QUICK meal I like to fix is: either tofu noodle soup or vegan "mac and cheese" neither are super quick but also aren't too time consuming and they are easy, very tasty, and my fav comfort foods.

R- My favorite ROOM of the house is: hmmmm, i really enjoy my animal room but it is always a mess and there is nothing to just relax on in there, I spend most of my time on my couch with my laptop next to me.

S- The SHAMPOO brand I use is: Alaffia Neem and Shea Butter Scalp Recovery Shampoo. Thinking of trying their shampoo with Shea and Henna when I need a new bottle.

T- My largest TELEVISION is: 36 inches. The only one we have.

U- UNDER my bed you will find: 2 long boxes one with various magazines and paper and things the other with my sleeping bag. My cute little kitten is under there a lot, especially if it's not the weekend or we have company or something random frightened her.

V- The last time I VACUUMED was: *whispers* 2 weeks ago

W- Looking out my WINDOW I see: palm trees, pine trees, other various trees, apartment building, medical building, and blue skies

X- I wish I had X-TRA: motivation

Y- My YARD is: non existent.

Z- ZZZZZZZ My bedtime is: between 1130 and 1. I usually get to bed in the midnight hour.

POTD- Hot kitty

Summer has FINALLY arrived and now I have a poor hot kitty on my hands.

Driving to the sun and trapped bird

Saturday I was driving home a bit before sunset and on a street heading west apparently. I felt like I was driving and about to arrive at the sun, it hurt, it really hurt. When I got home I felt like my face was sunburned and I was seeing spots for a bit too. I was only driving on this road for 5 minutes at the longest I'd guess. The pictures don't really show how bright the sun was in my eyes but they sure did turn out rather pretty I think. (please ignore my dirty/pitted windshield)

Sunday I came across a bird that had trapped itself in a friends bird feeder.
I guess it had gone into the hole used to pour the seed into.

Luckily I was able to unscrew the top easily and lift the top parts off to let the bird fly off all happy to be free.....eventually. I think it had been there for a bit, it was huffing and puffing a lot.
Bird feeder put back together all free of trapped bird. Looks much better this way, don't you think?

Sunday Garden Update

Apparently Sundays are when I seem to tend to my garden and take pictures.

My strawberries are doing a bit better, got a single delicious berry this week. So sweet and melted in my mouth. Is there anything better than a home grown berry. YUM!

Tomatoes looking good. Can't wait for them to be ripe.

Rich's banana peppers are growing. Wish I could say can't wait to try this but I don't care for hot peppers, (even though these aren't that hot, still not a fan).

Basil still growing away.

Three new cucumbers forming. Hopefully I am doing a good job getting them pollinated seeing as there are rarely any pollinators (bees, etc.) around here since the complex has an exterminator do the rounds once a week.

POTD

Some days I look at my hair and think, "Wow my hair is really and truly red."

*for the record this is half my hair in the photo, the other half is behind my back.

*technically it is only a bit more than a quarter of my hair since I shave the lower/under part of my head, start from just below the top of my ears, totally unnoticeable unless I have my hair tied up high and tight.

POTD

My cute little cuddly kitten. She loves to snuggle up in the blanket with me (or without me).

POTD

Oh how my garden grows

Jalapeno flower

Tomato-YUM

Banana Peppers

Bell Peppers

Basil

Cucumber

Loofah

Lavender-one of my fav smells

Lavender flower

A lil cucumber forming

Rosemary

Sage

MINT!!

More mint=mojitos in my future!

Thyme-it's so tiny and pathetic

Cinnamon Basil

On the fail list so far this year: Catnip, have no idea why I can't get it to grow, it grew like CRAZY last year. Oregano, it was on fail list last year too. Tarragon, still alive but just a green stalk at this point, no leaves. Strawberries, also still alive but the berries are disgusting.

A little Mahut anecdote

Years before Nicolas Mahut's marathon match against John Isner at Wimbledon 2010 I had a soft spot for the guy and felt for him. A friend had a little run in with Nicolas Mahut during the tournament in Indian Wells CA in 2007.

The first Friday night of the tournament, we had a few drinks before having dinner at the hotel restaurant. It was prime rib buffet night at the restaurant so we got right to eating. We were eating and talking and seeing what players were around also enjoying the bufffet. Most if not all the Frenchies were in the back area and there were a few other players and coaches spreckled around the place. N and L went to the buffet together, I saw them getting some salad and then they disappeared around a corner I couldn't see from the table. L comes back with an odd look on her face and walking kinda fast and shaking her head. Apparently Mahut was at the buffet at the same time as them and N started talking to him. Before N could get more than 2 words out L looked at Mahut, who already looked like a deer in headlights apparently, and said something like, "Walk away, just walk away it's ok." He didn't listen.

So what is the first things out of N's mouth to Mahut, "I'm old enough to be your grandmother."

That was when L left, it was at least 30 seconds before N finally came back to the table so who knows what else poor Mahut was subjected to. He really should have listened to L and walked away but he's just too nice of a guy.

Let's talk about what we know N said to Mahut. "I'm old enough to be your grandmother."

1. Who in their right mind (we knew WAY before this that N was not and has never been in her right mind, ESPECIALLY when she's had a drink or two) says that to a nice young man. Seriously what did she expect the response to be or where did she expect that to get her, it's just one of those things you don't say.

2. IT'S NOT EVEN TRUE! I didn't do the math but it's definitely not likely and would be quite a set of circumstances to make it happen, if it's even is possible. N's daughter is ten years YOUNGER than Mahut.

Our table was on the way out of the restaurant. I could see Mahut and the rest of the Frenchies walking towards our table on the way out. If I remember correctly Mahut was trying to hide behind some of the other guys and gave our table as wide a berth as he could because he saw that N was at the table. I think he even tried to use a side exit but wasn't successful.

From that night on I always felt bad for the guy and have a special soft spot for him. Who knows what else crazy N said to him. We haven't seen much of him since then especially at Indian Wells but boy did he make quite a jump into the spotlight this year. So that's my little Mahut anecdote hope you find it as funny as we do. There's a reason we keep crazy N around and a reason why we call her La Loca too, haha.

Is this a light bulb joke variation?

From a post on Grist.org:

“BP notes the fall in its share price in US trading last night. The company is not aware of any reason which justifies this share price movement.”

Really?

I read somewhere, can't find it now, that BP's reason for not taking the FREE oil soaking natural fiber booms from Matter of Trust is because they are worried about debris that may be left behind/get loose from the booms.

Really? They are worried about what is mostly hair floating in the ocean and the impact that would have, I'm sorry but you've got to be fucking kidding me right. Even if that is the case and it is a sound case they cannot find a better way to explain it.

A quote from Matter of Trust's site re debris from their booms vs the booms BP is currently using:

Riki Ott PhD, Marine Toxicologist, Author and Exxon Valdez Oil Spill expert - "The oil industry's approach is to use oil based synthetic products to respond to oil spills. After use, this results in mountains of contaminated material that need to be landfilled or incinerated. This creates a secondary pollution problem. At least with hair booms and hair mats, natural material is used that breaks down faster and releases less toxins when incinerated or landfilled. They even have a chance at being composted with bacteria. To suggest that any possible shedding of natural fibers into the gulf are a problem, pales in comparison to methods using hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxic industrial solvents. The benefits of removing oil waste with natural fibers largely outweighs the minimal immediate risk to the environment. Also they reduce the secondary pollution concerns that come with using oil based products, such as only synthetic boom and dispersants."

Again really, the company responsible for the oil disaster in the Gulf is going to cite debris in the ocean. The company that probably makes money off the manufacturing of these synthetic booms because they are made from oil. The company that has been using an oil dispersant is going to cite debris from natural fiber booms. Really?

Here is a bit on the chemical dispersant from an article on ProPublica.org

“There is a chemical toxicity to the dispersant compound that in many ways is worse than oil,” said Richard Charter, a foremost expert on marine biology and oil spills who is a senior policy advisor for Marine Programs for Defenders of Wildlife and is chairman of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council. “It’s a trade-off – you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t -- of trying to minimize the damage coming to shore, but in so doing you may be more seriously damaging the ecosystem offshore.”

Is this a "How many people does it take to change a light bulb" joke happening in real life? Seriously I don't understand why BP is still the one in charge of "taking care" of the Gulf disaster. How many times does one need to prove themselves stupid, incapable, incompetent, unorganized, out of the loop, unreasonable, etc. before someone (government) steps in and takes control of or at least demand to take part in trying to manage the Gulf disaster.

Why are people so afraid/incapable of placing blame? I heard someone ask another person who just pulled out of a BP station why they still give their money to them? Their response, it was an accident! Yes it was an accident and it's not like they did it on purpose, I appreciate that, but in our society you are still held responsible for your actions accident or not, just because it is and accident doesn't make it a get out of jail free card, or it shouldn't be at least because I do realize that a lot of times it is.

Is their total and utter inability to deal with the disaster an accident, no it's negligence. We are required to carry car insurance, in CA at least not sure if that is a nationwide law, in case we are in an accident so we can at least try and financially compensate for the accident we've had. There is blame to be laid and it's on BP and it's even on each and everyone of us, in a way, and our massive dependence on oil.

Yeah it's hard to get away from it and there is no way we, at this point, can just stop using it but there are a lot of relatively easy ways you can cut back. So many of the products we choose to use everyday are petroleum based or contain petroleum. There is probably some in every single room of your home. A lot of them just aren't necessary even though you may think they are. You really want to use a facial/body lotion with petroleum in it, really?

Tree hugger has an article on 50 surprising fashion and beauty products made from oil.

The Daily Green has another article on 60 surprising products made from oil, along with a link, at the bottom of the page, to a list of 144 products.

If you think it's impossible for you to do anything to reduce your dependence on oil, or in regards to anything for that matter, it's not and never is. Every choice you make has an effect, even if it is just making yourself feel like you're doing something. It's not impossible to make a difference even if it is just in your own home. I really liked the recent mnmlist's post on "I could never give up".

Even though at this point BP is refusing the booms made by Matter of Trust they are still taking donations of hair, fleece, and nylons. I sent them a paper lunch sack full of mine and Rich's hair clippings that I had been collecting for the past year. I knew about Matter of Trusts use of hair to make oil soaking mats and booms way before the Gulf disaster. At that time they didn't have extra warehouse space, after the disaster they were donated many warehouses in Gulf states and have been accepting and making booms since the early days of the disasters. Although BP refuses them Matter of Trust is making booms available to local municipalities for use on their shores.

Update: Just came across this article at Your Daily Thread about Getting Unnecessary Oil out of Your Life. Short and simple but easy things to think about changing.

Update: I'll be adding related links as I come across them so if this is something that interests you and wanna see what I'm finding interesting check back on this post every now and again.

~Another article of interest over at Green Living Ideas: Why Don't We Care About Thousands of Other Oil Spills?

Added 6/14

~Where Oil Goes in the US from Treehugger.com

~Gulf Oils Spill by the Numbers: 16 Different Ways to Understand the Disaster from EcoSalon

Added 6/15

~Time to get tough with BP on dispersant from Grist

~EPA data show dispersants plus oil are more toxic than either alone from EDF

~Lightning Strike Oil Spill: Fire on Ship Halts Containment Effort from Huffington Post

Book Review: Stay by Allie Larkin

Let's cut to the chase, read Stay by Allie Larkin you won't be disappointed.

Stay Book Trailer

Allie is a blog/twitter friend, Stay hits shelves Thursday June 10th, as part of the promotion for the book she is doing a blog tour. She offered me the opportunity to host a stop on this blog tour, I of course jumped at the opportunity. Joe, the dog in Stay was inspired by Allie's own german shepard, Argo. So much so that Argo is the dog featured on the cover of Stay. That fact alone made me want to read the book.

I was sent an advanced free signed copy of Stay and was so excited to start reading it. I was hooked after reading the prologue, seriously, that page and a half itself made me really want to know more about the main character, Van. Once I got into the book I couldn't put it down, literally, I normally read a bit before going to bed every night and usually get a chapter or two read before my eyelids get heavy and I have to put the book down. With Stay I picked it up one night at ten, curled up in bed with a mug of tea, at 5 am I was done, I never got tired and I could find a place to stop reading, I had to know what happened next. Throughout the night I laughed and I cried along with and for the characters in the book.

Allie has created a set of characters and situations that draw you in and make you love them. Her voice is so honest and straightforward even if you've never been in a similar situation you feel like you have after reading it. She writes real life like it is which makes reading her book an enjoyable adventure and pleasure.

What I didn't like about the book was that it ended. I know it can't go on forever but I can't wait to see what else Allie has for us to read in the future, what new characters and adventures we will be enthralled with.

For more information about Stay visit AllieLarkinwrites.com the site includes an excerpt, audio clip, reading group guide, and question and answers with Allie.

I leave you with these adorable pictures of Allie and her dog Argo, how could you not want to read the book written/inspired by these two.

Where it all went awry

I'm not what society calls "normal", I don't even know what that means or why one would want to be "normal". While at work the other day my mind started to wander as I got to the "routine" part of my day. I thought, "I think I know when things went awry."

I believe it could have been my childhood over identification with Pippi Longstocking. It must have been my 11th birthday if I am doing my math correctly, which I am probably not because me and math are like oil and water. That summer The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking came out and for my birthday I went to the movies with friends and then had a party.

I share her love of animals and like her I don't necessarily conform to preconceived notions. I don't have super strength like of course but also like her I would not, and still do not, hesitate to jump into a body of water fully clothed even in my best clothes, although now I wouldn't jump in with any of my fave shoes on, you don't mess with a girl and her shoes. ;)

As I've gone into here before I am not obsessed with cleanliness and I always thought of Pippi being the same way, we aren't walking around looking like Pigpen from Peanuts but that's because we're girls and it's cute when girls have a bit of mud smeared on their clothes and/or face. I would have given anything to live in a house with a monkey and a horse. Being older and having actually worked with a few different monkeys I've changed my mind on that one, they are just too damn smart and test you, although I do know a monkey (Gepetto) that loves his human mommy (Jess) and would love to have a relationship like that with one.

To this day I still love horses though. My uncle had a horse that wasn't ridden very often but I didn't hesitate to get on it bareback even on a few occasions. On a family trip to Yosemite me and my dad went on a horse back tour. When we got within sight of the stables my horse took off and I just went for a long bumpy ride all the way back to the stables. A guide was quick to follow me to try and get the horse to stop and make sure I didn't panic, I did quite the opposite. He apologized to my dad for the incident and was amazed I took it so well, I didn't just take it well I quite enjoyed it. It was the highlight of the tour for me, only thing I remember about it actually.

After contemplating all this I texted my mom and said I know where you went wrong (poor choice of words) and told her it was because of her allowing me (again poor choice of words) to over identify with Pippi Longstocking. She got back to me and said, "oh nice blame it on me." I really should have worded my text better. I got back to her and said well I guess I could have identified with Stawberry Shortcake, gotten obese and had friends all named after desserts. We had a laugh.

What other characters was a little red headed girl suppose to identify with? I never liked Annie much , think it was the way she was treated and while the story had a happy ending I didn't identify with her at all. I'm glad I chose Pippi. Even to this day I wouldn't mind being Pippi.