Its the vote that counts.

In 2000, Ralph Nader ran for president of the United States as the Green Party Candidate. This was the year that the election was almost too close to call, but the Republicans (led by world wide asshole George W. Bush) claimed they clearly won with no debate necessary, and the Democrats (led by now pop culture icon Al Gore) claimed they won but the courts gave it away to the other side. The fact is that with an election that close, neither side has a lot to crow about.
While I clearly favored the Democratic nominee over (rich kid, failed businessman and overall asshole) George Bush, Ralph Nader connected with me a lot more. I went in to the polls knowing that either Bush or Gore would probably win the election, but I voted for Nader anyway. I knew that a "vote for Nader is a vote for Bush" but still couldn't bring myself to vote against my conscious. The fact is, at the time, I didn't really care for Al Gore. There was nothing about him I really disliked, and he clearly was not the (major) asshole George W. Bush was, but given the choices, I felt Ralph Nader would have made a much better president. Actually, as the last six years has shown, it would be hard for ANYONE to do any worse.
What I really mean, I guess, is that it is better to be on the right side and lose, than the wrong side and win. If all people voted for who they honestly thought the best candidate was, regardless of the candidate's supposed "chances" of winning, that the political system (the same one currently led my an asshole named George W. Bush) would work closer to the way it should, and our country would be a better place. Not only would our government more accurately reflect the thoughts and concerns of our nation, but our people would feel a lot better about the system, regardless of winning or losing.

Until next time... Kucinich '08

Skate or try.

Paw Paw used to have a Big Wheel department store. This was in the eighties. I remember the big red sign, and buying my first CD there, Ugly Kid Joe. They also had a small (three or four games) arcade in the front, back when every store had a few games up front.
The story today starts with a sidewalk (parking lot?) sale at Big Wheel. Amongst the sale items, I came across the skateboard I had wanted since first seeing it wherever. Department store skateboards where expensive then, despite the low quality workmanship. But this sale had it so cheap I could talk my mom into buying it and letting me pay it off.
Veriflex Ramp Rat. The top had the classic eighties two part grip tape with the logo in between, the bottom was white with a graphic of a rat on a ramp in the middle. It came with large orange wheels and yellow plastic rails. Back then, wheels were soft and boards had extra plastic covering the nose, tail, sides (rails) and trucks. I think the idea was the wear and tear would be on the replaceable parts, so you could keep your deck forever. Problem being skateboard decks are like computers, outdated within a year.
So, this white, yellow, and orange monster of a skateboard started me on an obsession that would last all the way through middle and high school. An obsession that has not fully left me even today as I have just now beat my eighth Tony Hawk skateboarding game. In between we have years of mediocre skateboarding, lots of good times with friends, and too many skateboards to count. I haven't really skated in about ten years, save for a time or two. But I still remember winter days just waiting for the sun to dry the roads enough to skate on, wheel bearings that froze up because I couldn't manage to stay inside even though it was raining and wet out, and long long hours by myself just cruising back and forth, never really getting any better.
Back in the day, I would ride my board to school, the store, a friends house, or nowhere at all. I would play with it in my room if I couldn't go outside, I would take it with my on family trips and skate for three minutes at a time while we gassed up the car. I went from a time when I could be no more than ten feet away from by board at any time, to when I didn't have a board at all.

Until next time... gleam the cube.

Y'all eat burger, right?

I cannot recall how many times in my life I've gotten the "What da y'all eat?" question in response to my veganism. Most go through all the stuff I can't eat, listing mainly food that can easily be vegan. Spaghetti, soup, pizza, bread, cookies. Then there are those that think that I can still eat chicken, fish, or even steak.
People have a lot of misconceptions about veganism. The main one being that I am missing out on something. This one is simple: THE ONLY THING I MISS IS CONVENIENCE. I do not miss meat, not in any form. Actually, I believe a dead animal is a carcass, not food.
There is such a great variety of food outside the animal kingdom that it is almost impossible to not find complete satisfying meals. Since going from vegetarian to full on vegan, the quality of my food has vastly improved. I just do more cooking now, and eat less prepared foods. Which is something worthwhile for everyone to do. I eat better now than I ever have, in both quality and flavor.

So, what DO y'all eat?
Tofu. Prepare it ANY way. I fucking love tofu. I have it for breakfast almost every morning. Boil it, mash it, put it in a stew.
Pasta. Top with vegan butter and spices, or marinara sauce, or tvp-meat-sauce, or vegan mock cheese sauce, or peanut sesame sauce.
Classic Americana. Corn on the cob, steamed veggies, mashed potatoes, hot fresh bread, and a vegan mock meat (chicken style, rib style, tofu, baked seitan, fried tvp.
Vegan hot dogs and fries. Vegan hot dogs are made with good stuff, not scraps of barely edible meat, like their meat-world counterparts.
Sandwiches and chips. Tofurky slices are the absolute best.
Tacos. Refried beans or black beans, seasoned tvp, shredded lettuce, and salsa all wrapped up in a nice big soft flour tortilla. I little ingenuity can turn this meal into quesadillas, taco salad, or nachos.
Tvp-loaf. Tvp, cracker crumbs and barbecue sauce. Add corn and mashed potatoes. Eat.
Cold cereal, hot cereal, soup and crackers, mixed bean chili, bagles, PBnJ, fried rice with or without tvp or seitan.
I could go on...

Until next time... eat well.

Spitting In The Face Of "Victory".

Compassion Over Killing and Vegan Outreach have announced "victory" in the battle to get Kellogg's Morningstar Farms to stop using battery cage eggs in their products. Kellogg's has announced that they will reduce the amount of eggs they use in their products by one million eggs in 2008, and that they will make more vegan products. The eggs they still use will still come from some of the most horrid places on earth, the modern egg factory. Hens that live half of their natural life-span, have their beaks sheared off, and live in tight cages without ever seeing the light of day or feeling the ground under their feet.
THIS IS NOT VICTORY.
The move by Kellogg is simply a marketing ploy to regain sales lost to the boycott while still maintaining the same cruel business practices they have been using all along. Yes, they will be responsible for less cruelty, but not enough to warrant lifting the boycott and supporting this spit in the face of all we believe in. This is simply a move to pacify us and distract us from the real issue.
I encourage everyone to write BOTH Kellogg's Morningstar Farms and Compassion Over Killing/Vegan Outreach and let them know that this simply is not enough.

Until next time... Stay Pissed.

An Experience Lost Is An Experience Gained.

We began homeschooling when our oldest boy was 7 in second grade. While we had talked about doing it since before he even started school, it took a few years of public school for us to make the leap into the world of homeschooling. For most people, its seems the biggest problem with homeschooling is the loss of the social experience of public school. I actually had a great time in public school, until second grade, then it all went to shit. I hated second grade, I hated all of middle school (sixth, seventh, and eighth grades), and most of high school. Regardless of how I felt about my public school experience, however, it was important to my development.
The two things people often overlook is, firstly, that education is more important than a social experience, and secondly, that every experience lost is an experience gained. That last statement is true every minute of everyday of your lives. For everything you do, you are not doing something else. Every thought that goes through your mind is a fork in your road. You simply cannot go through life always wondering what is on the other path, the path you choose to leave behind.
My kids are missing out on everything that would happen in public school, but they are doing things at home they would not be doing if they were in school all day. They may miss out on recess, making friends and enemies, detention, field trips, noisy bus rides, and homework, but these experiences are not lost, just replaced with family trips to museums and landmarks, making friends at the local park, watching cartoons until the sun comes up, and spending the day living life with their family instead of in a classroom.

Until next time... no regrets.

Day 1: vegan atheist homeschooler.

The first entry of my first real blog. I am listening to Dio. Its 10 am. Everyone else is asleep. I was born in 1978. I moved to Paw Paw in 1984. I became a vegetarian in 1994. I became a parent in 1999. I began homeschooling my children in 2006.
I am heavily tattooed. I am very interested in hollow earth theory. I used to drink a lot. I am a musician.
I have no real topical aim for this blog. I intend to write about a large variety of topics.

Until next time... I wish you well.