Election Day
So on Tuesday Andy and I exercised our rights as Americans and voted. Let me just say, I LOVE to vote. My parents always voted in every election. I remember them looking at the ballot in the local paper and talking about the choices they would make and then we would go down to the local high school and I would get to go into the booth with one of them while they voted. I remember how cool it was to stand behind the curtain and sometimes I would get to pull the levers. It's funny how the atmosphere of the polling station in Brooklyn was exactly the same as small town Louisiana. We voted in the gym at the local elementary school, the poll workers were very friendly, and there were kids there behind the curtains with their parents, just like I had been.
While I was trying to straighten out my voting situation because of the name change, Andy asked one of the poll workers if he could have a ballot for the social studies teacher at his school. The woman instructed him to go ask the information desk, so he walked over there and explained that he was a teacher, etc... and the woman was like, well, we aren't supposed to give them out but go wait in the hall and I'll bring you one. So Andy waits in the hall and she walks up with the ballot folded small enough to fit into the palm of her hand, doesn't say anything, just walks by and slides him the folded up ballot, like they were doing a drug deal. Too funny.
Needless to say I am uber-excited about the results of the election. I really felt like the oppression and the stupidity of the Bush administration was never going to end. I thought that the American people were never going to wake up to the fact that the war in Iraq is/was a terrible idea and based on fabrications by the current administration and that Bush has not done one positive thing for this country. I know the races were local, but I really feel like the races were a referrendum on both the war and Bush policies in general. And then to top this all off with the resignation of Rumsfeld...sooo nice. I really hope this is a new start....and now it's time for the Democrats to step up to the plate...
Labels: politics
Vegetarian, explained (sort of)
Well I was going to post today about my huge sense of relief and excitement over the recent elections and the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld or "Rummy" as I like to call him but instead I will adress the attack on vegetarians in the comments section of Tuesday's post. I'll save the election stuff for tomorrow. Maybe someone even better will resign today...Cheney perhaps?? A girl can dream can't she....
Anyway, here's what I think is commonly accepted:
Vegetarian- does not eat meat or fish but will eat dairy and some will eat eggs
Vegan- no animal products of any kind, dairy, eggs, meat, fish, etc...
Pescatarian- a "vegetarian" who eats fish
I myself am a pescatarian and if someone says I'm a vegetarian but I eat fish, that's wrong. You're not a vegetarian. I usually just say "I don't eat meat" which is true, I don't eat meat but I do eat fish, eggs, and dairy. I have an issue with eggs and have considered cutting them out as well. When cooking vegetarian people often think...oh, I'll just cook a bunch of vegetables, which is what gives vegetarian cooking a bad name. Mushrooms are an excellent meat substitute along with tofu. Potatoes are great, along with my personal favorite, beans.
I also take issue with the fact that people view a vegetarian option as an inconvenience. People become vegetarians for different reasons but I think the main two are animal cruelty and health. So when you scoff at someone for not eating meat you're basically saying either "Why are you being so stupid, stop caring about your health" or "Who cares if animals are pumped full of hormones, inhumanely treated their entire lives and then slaughtered" That person is making a choice that they believe is better for themselves or the world as a whole and you're looking at it as an inconvenience.
A friend of mine who is a vegan told me recently that she feels obligated to cook meat when she has people over for dinner. I told her this was ridiculous. I wasn't complaining about the vegetarian dish at the wedding..it was pretty good. I just thought it was amusing that the caterer was so close minded about what a vegetarian meal could be...just vegetables and pasta? a six year old could have come up with that. This was especially interesting to me since the groom is a vegetarian.
All I'm saying is I think that people tend to be close-minded about what constitutes vegetarian cooking or vegetarian cuisine. Even Andy has become more open to it. It's better for you and it's much more environmentally sound.
Labels: eating, politics
