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I've been a non-stop vegetarian since I was a 15 year-old who looked sort of like that. A junior hippie and pacifist at the time, it wasn't that illogical a decision. But I gave up meat initially because I had a crush on a boy a little older than me who was always urging everyone to do so. I suppose impressing him was my original impetus. Still, the next time I saw him, he'd suddenly gone back to meat eating, and I stayed the course partly not to seem and feel too pathetic. Growing up in Los Angeles where healthiness is famously a fetish, vegetarianism wasn't that difficult to maintain, apart from annoying my parents, and except when traveling whereupon I often wound up eating a lot of french fries and cheese and bread. Plus, dinner invitations from relative strangers have always been a hassle. The first time I met John Waters, he invited me for lunch at his house in Baltimore. I hadn't thought to warn him, and it was a nightmare at first because, only knowing my work, he cleverly and sweetly served me steak tartare. But I managed to save myself and him embarrassment by telling him if it were River Phoenix, I would eat it. Most of the time I'm just your basic vegetarian -- i.e. I don't eat anything that has an asshole. When I eat meals at home, which is most of the time, my diet tends to circulate around seitan (my favorite and a great, meat-like staple for avoiders), tofu, some grains, salad, a little bread, etc., all of which can be prepared or bought pre-prepared at health food type stores in such a way that it's really quite tasty. When I eat out with friends, I just eat what I want, including a lot of Mexican food and pasta and deli food and whatever. So there's a kind of balance that keeps me happy and not feeling deprived, and also prevents me from gaining weight. Every couple of years I go fulltime vegan for as long as I can, which is generally six to eight months, to clean myself out. In fact, I usually only go back to normal vegetarianism once I grow so skinny my friends get alarmed and half-worry that I'm dying. Being vegan is a hassle unless you eat every meal at home and never leave town. But a vegan diet is a great drug, very speedy without the problems of sleeplessness, blabbermouthing, and teeth gnashing. I've been told all my life there there were big potential health problems associated with a longterm vegetarian diet, but, apart from an iron deficiency a few years ago that got quickly solved with supplements, I've never had any ill effects whatsoever. If anything, I think it helped rid me of some bad shit like acid reflux and the deep depressions I suffered as a kid. Plus, I never got that middleaged spread and fat that's thickened up many of my peers. (Of course rarely drinking alchohol doesn't hurt.) The problem, if you think this qualifies as a problem, is that I literally couldn't eat meat or fish now if I wanted to. My body's too used to getting easy going food and can't digest those kinds of solids anymore. The few times over the years that I've accidentally eaten something with meat in it resulted in total digestive misery. But having meat as a permanent no-no is no big deal since my palate is totally geared toward subtle, bland tastes and smells, and meat and fish are things that don't even begin to seem like they belong in my mouth. Eating meat now would be like going scat queen. I'm not a big preacher for vegetarianism or anything. Obviously, with the potentially cancer causing chemicals and the fact that animals deserve much longer lives and better fates and all of that, there are numerous excellent reasons to give up meat products. Others have stronger, clearer arguments, and I'll reference some of them below. I don't really know how interesting my being a vegetarian is to anyone out there, so I'll leave it at those basics, but if anyone has any questions, feel free to shoot.
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Straight Edge Online: Vegan vs vegetarian philosophies
Retribution: Vegan Straight Edge Site
To be Straight Edge
Vegan and Straight Edge Flophouse Forum
Vegan Hardcore Rock Stars
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The average age (longevity) of a meat eater is 63. I am on the verge of 85 and still work as hard as ever. I have lived quite long enough and am trying to die; but I simply cannot do it. A single beef-steak would finish me; but I cannot bring myself to swallow it. I am oppressed with a dread of living forever. That is the only disadvantage of vegetarianism. -- George Bernard Shaw
If he be really and seriously seeking to live a good life, the first thing from which he will abstain will always be the use of animal food, because ...its use is simply immoral, as it involves the performance of an act which is contrary to the moral feeling -- killing. -- Leo Tolstoy
It is only by softening and disguising dead flesh by culinary preparation, that it is rendered susceptible of mastication or digestion; and that the sight of its bloody juices and raw horror does not excite intolerable loathing and disgust. -- Percy Bysshe Shelley
It is only by softening and disguising dead flesh by culinary preparation, that it is rendered susceptible of mastication or digestion; and that the sight of its bloody juices and raw horror does not excite intolerable loathing and disgust. -- Percy Bysshe Shelley
The thinking man must oppose all cruel customs no matter how deeply rooted in tradition and surrounded by a halo. When we have a choice, we must avoid bringing torment and injury into the life of another, even the lowliest creature; to do so is to renounce our manhood and shoulder a guilt which nothing justifies. -- Albert Schweitzer
When I was old enough to realize all meat was killed, I saw it as an irrational way of using our power, to take a weaker thing and mutilate it. It was like the way bullies would take control of younger kids in the schoolyard. -- River Phoenix
When I was old enough to realize all meat was killed, I saw it as an irrational way of using our power, to take a weaker thing and mutilate it. It was like the way bullies would take control of younger kids in the schoolyard. -- River Phoenix
You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. -- Albert Einstein
Some other famous vegetarians
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4.
International Vegetarian Union
Happy Cow's Worldwide Vegetarian Restaurant Locator
Vegetarian-restaurants.net
Wikipedia: Seitan
Gourmet seitan recipes
Nature Mart (my favorite health food store, pictured)
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Tom Regan has established the moral and rational basis for animal rights in his scholarly work, The Case For Animal Rights. A philosophical tour de force, this book has consumed many within and outside academia.
James Rachels has approached the moral treatment of other animals in light of the implications of evolution. He has fully explored the problematic beliefs in supposed categorical differences between humans and nonhumans.
Carol J. Adams is the author of The Sexual Politics of Meat, which identified how patriarchal thought and structures give rise to the eating of animals. She reveals the interconnection between the oppression of animals and non-dominant humans.
Since the publication of his groundbreaking book, Animal Liberation (1975), the Princeton philosopher Peter Singer has had perhaps the greatest influence on the animal rights movement in America, the U.K. and elsewhere.
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p.s. Hey. I was going to make a quip about what an earnest blogmeister I used to be, but then I realized I feel embarrassed, and then I felt embarrassed by my embarrassment, so I decided to skip the quip and say what I just said. ** Oscar B, "Domby, no, boo hoo, no, Domby, don't die, don't die!" "But Harry, soon you'll have that stone that can raise people from the dead, so ... " "Youre right, Ron! I feel so much better!" ** Adjoun, And how are you liking Christina Stead? ** Tonyoneill, Hey, Tony! Caught in the novel ... I hear that. Exciting that you've ripped it up into something even better. I love when that happens. Yeah, I should have the novel done in two days, barring the weird. Crazy. Yeah, it feels fucking amazing, no? ** David Ehrenstein, The Depardieu doc was a made-for-TV thing, but, this being France, it was nonetheless very good and gradual and detailed. Very interesting early stuff and footage from his pre-fame days. If it was an American doc, I'd say it should be up on youtube any minute and to look for it. French stuff doesn't seem to leap into that realm so frequently, but it's worth a watch if you can find it. You might try Dailymotion, which seems to be where most French TV stuff gets uploaded. That isn't the half of the return of the odious LA. She's trying to reinvent herself as a fashion icon, and apparently she has wormed her way onto the cover of some hip fashion magazine, and she's being promoted by one of the big French fashion blogs. It's fucking nauseating. ** Benjamin S., Hey, Benjamin! It's really nice to see you here. Thanks a lot for coming in. I know the name 'Tesis', but I haven't seen it. I must, obviously. I imagine I can find a torrent of it somewhere. I'm glad you saw and liked 'Jerk'. Yeah, Jonathan is amazing. How are you? What are you working on? Do you ever get to Paris? We should have a coffee together or something, if so. ** Nick, Hi, Nick! So awesome to see you! How are you? How's The Communion? I'd love to do a post on The Communion if you ever feel alerting me to stuff I could use in the post. Anyway, hey, man. ** Math, Math! Hey, pal! So, you're making the move. I don't know the circumstances and details, obviously, but it seems like a great shift. You do love it out there, yeah? Do you have work possibilities squared away there? ** Thomas Moronic, Yeah, I think The Wire had some CP review or something in the last issue that triggered me to get back in touch with his stuff. Very cool about the fanzine and interview, of course, and I'd be totally interested to hear more about the effect or influence of improv and free music on your thinking about your writing. Being a fellow miner of the sonic. ** Lee Deville, Greetings, Lee Deville. Welcome, thanks, and please make it a habit if the mood arises. What was the snuff film documentary you watched? Is it online? ** Steevee, Hope the dizziness is just accustoming stuff. ** Toniok, Hey, man. I got your email, and I've waiting to open it until I finish my novel 'cos I'm in serious nose- and brain to grindstone mode at the moment, and not really coming up for air, but I'm eyeing it furtively and with itchy fingers. Wish I could been there for sure. I'll write you. ** _Black_Acrylic, Now it's the pipes? Well, I'm glad you have that escape route. Great luck with your keynote address tonight, and I hope it gets videoed. Let me know how it goes. ** Creative Massacre, Hey. Thanks again so much for yesterday. It was a hit, obviously. Your car is being so disloyal these days. Sorry to hear that. How weird that the doctors got your mom's problem so wrong. Scary. But good news anyway, for sure. ** Schlix, Hey, man. I'm sorry to hear about your mom, but it's so good and very unusual, actually, that they caught your stepmother's pancreatic cancer early. As you probably know, it can hide for a long time until it's too late. That's what happened to my mom. So, yeah, as hard as that situation is, it is a really good news that it was located so early on. The job situation sounds really complicated. Ugh. When does your contract end? Really soon, I hope. ** Misanthrope, Hey, G. I don't get anywhere near videos of real murders and executions and all that. I have no interest at all, and watching that stuff just makes me feel sick and like my soul or whatever is being corroded. So, I have no idea if watching them desensitizes people. I can't past being overly sensitized by them. 10 to 12 Xanax at a time?! That's insane. I kind of love Xanax, but one and even less does me just fine. Yeah, I was supposed to immediately quit smoking when I got Bronchitis a few years ago. ** Andrew, Oh, I highly recommend watching that Charles Atlas doc on Michael Clark. It's totally wonderful, and I bet you would find it really inspiring. ** Sypha, Mm, I guess my feelings about the Wikileaks thing are complex and in development. In general, I like it, and I like the hackivist movement in a general way too. At the same time, I don't see Assange as a particularly heroic guy so far. There's something kind of indiscriminate and morally vague about his output and motivations that bothers me. Maybe as he becomes more public and explanatory, that will change. I guess my only fear about the Wikileaks thing is that its main impact could be the excuse it'll give governments, etc. to put more restrictions on the freedoms of the internet. So, it's like a valuable door has been opened, and the possibilities are exciting, but what will the cost be? Maybe none, I don't know. That's what I'm wondering about more than anything. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Hey. I think I'm going to buy some crazy Alsace cheese and maybe a wine or something. Yes, I do remember about the snuggie. It's been a while since it was a detail though. Fake slaps can be nice. Ambiguous in terms of their meaning, but nice. Plus, you got some praise. Fake slap, praise, exploding people's preconceptions of you .. not bad. I love the dialogue. You're always good with dialogue. You know what works. I've never heard of that band. But I did like that song, you are correct. So I will see if I like other of their songs. Thank you. You made a cake? What kind of cake? My day: It was good. I finished the 6th chapter. It was pretty ready to go, thankfully So, now I only have one chapter left, and I started polishing it up this morning. It needs work, but I'm hoping not more than two days' worth. So, I'm really close to being finished, and I'm getting a slight rush. I worked on that most of the day. Oh, the best thing was that it snowed heavily here all day. The best snowfall Paris has had since I moved here. It was really beautiful. Of course, today its sunny and the streets are a horrifying mushy mess. Oh, well. Kiddiepunk and Oscar and I ventured out to see the Harry Potter movie in the midst of that. We'd heard the metro was completely shut down, but it wasn't. All the buses were out of action, though. One was kind of crashed up on a sidewalk by the entrance to the metro station. So, we took the metro to Opera, and then walked cautiously through the snowfall to the Gaumont Opera movie theater, and we saw the movie. I thought it was big fun, really a pleasure. I can't say it was my favorite of the series. I sort of missed Hogwarts since this movie takes place mostly in the woods and stuff. But it hit the spot. There wasn't anywhere near enough Snape in the movie. There never is. Rupert Grint was good. He's grown up into this kind of goofball lug of a guy. He's a good foil for the other two because they still act like animated mannequins. But that's okay too. After the movie, we came back here, and I took off my extremely soaked and freezing shoes, and I guess I ate something. I must have. And I worked a bit more on the chapter and finished it. Got sleepy, slept. Your turn. ** The Dreadful Flying Glove, I hear you about 'twinks'. Emos are even more like spray-painted, walking talking version of those invisible man figures. ** Kiddiepunk, Punkster! May? That's not so long to wait. Wait, May in France? "Kiddiepunk, how can it be that my death leaves you so unmoved, muggle?" "I don't know, Domby. It's the darndest thing. Because you kind of remind me of E.T., and I bawled like a baby when I thought he was dead." "Oh, I ... think I'm ... dying ... " "No, Domby, boo hoo, don't die! I love you! I was just being a hard ass! Don't die, please, don't die!" ** All right. Back to work. So, I'm a vegetarian. "No, say it isn't true, Dennis!" I'm afraid it's true, and what are you gonna do about it, eh? " ... " See you tomorrow.
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