Purely vegan

One of the many things we love about living in Los Angeles is the incredible vegan food scene.

We knew about many of the amazing vegan establishments before moving here, yet I don't think we had a grasp on how far-stretching the food scene was, and how we would just love being right in the middle of it.

We have literally had dozens, if not over 100, vegan meals in a restaurant or at a food truck since moving here last July.

I bring all of this up as recently in LA there has been news that the owners of some of the more popular vegan restaurants here have decided to slaughter animals at their farm and to sell the animal flesh.

I am definitely disappointed.

I have believed for a long time that if a person decides to become vegan for animal rights/animal cruelty issues, they will most likely always be vegan. I personally can never imagine not being vegan.

I don't expect every vegan I know or hear of to always be vegan.

I digress. I call myself vegan. I'm not sure I am purely vegan, or a pure vegan. I suppose these terms mean different things to different people. I have not purposefully consumed animal products in over 20 years.

There is a lot to think about in regards to whether or not I continue to eat at their establishments.  Their chefs, especially those at Gracias Madre, do an impeccable job at showing the world how delicious vegan food is, and that makes a difference to me as someone who fights for the voiceless animals.

What I keep coming back to while paying attention to this news are the vegan places I love that are vegan because of the animals, because of compassion. First on the list are my friends at One Veg World in Pasadena. Compassion hits you like a loving embrace when you walk in, and it continues through their wonderful staff sharing and preparing incredible vegan food. I am grateful for places like One Veg World that add so much to my life.

I was at One Veg World today and will be back soon.

I also have  a few places we have found in LA that are not entirely vegan but do have amazing vegan dishes. I will continue to go dine with them too. As some in the discussion of the recent news have pointed out, and I understand, restaurants like these have never purported to be vegan or having a food vision based on compassion or animal rights.

More to come on this.

Thanks for reading.

Restaurant review: One Veg World in Pasadena

I am ecstatic to write this review!

One Veg World in Pasadena is pretty close to where we live and has become a constant in our lives. The food is perfect for us and the staff bring a level of hospitality and kindness that is rare in the restaurant world these days.

One Veg World in Pasadena is the sister restaurant to One Veg World in West Covina. It opened in July of 2015 and recently began serving breakfast. My review is based mainly on breakfast as it is my favorite meal and there are not a lot of vegan breakfast options around. Or I should say vegan breakfast options on the level of One Veg World.

First, they have donuts! They are delicious. All yeast-raised with either plain glazed, chocolate, cinnamon-sugar or chocolate vanilla. I know from experience that if you love donuts you will love these. I have indulged in many of them!

My next favorite would be the sausage breakfast muffin. They have several types of breakfast muffins and this one is my favorite. You can get it alone or as a combo, which means you can get Vietnamese coffee and garlic kale alongside if you wish. The garlic kale is dreamy. I can't think of another word. If you decide to get the breakfast muffin, it comes with ketchup on it so if you don't like ketchup for breakfast (like me) ask for it without the ketchup.

One Veg World has other options for breakfast, including a delicious tofu scramble.

We have also been for dinner and the cauliflower hot wings are delicious as are the tacos and the zesty serendipity dishes. They also have a lunch buffet Monday through Friday.

As you know, I rate restaurants based on food and service. The staff at One Veg World set the standard for kindness and hospitality. They welcome each customer and bring a refreshing amount of hospitality to the restaurant world. I simply cannot say enough about every single staff member I have encountered.

Go. Dine. Relax. Have a donut. Enjoy a meal. If you live in the area even better. If not, they are located just south of the 210 at the Lake exit. Go south, make a left on Colorado and they will be on the right.

Here is their website for more information: One Veg World

Thanks for reading!

Mario the cow

I think it was 2004.

I was in San Francisco for work and added a few days to spend with my dear friends John and Randy.

They surprised me with a trip to Farm Sanctuary. We spent a night at one of the cabins there, got the tour and met many lovely animals.

And we met Mario.

Mario had recently just gotten back from surgery for his broken leg. He was a calf, saved from a dead pile at a dairy farm. A trucker at the farm saw he was still alive and brought him to Farm Sanctuary.

Mario could walk pretty well when I met him. He totally loved being loved. Several times I watched him run and jump in the air, something I had never seen. I fell in love with Mario. He was honestly the cutest most precious being, and I thoroughly loved every minute I got to spend with him.

I think of him from time to time. He is one of the lucky ones. After being found on the dead pile he never had to know the life that almost every other farmed animal has to go through. And he didn't become veal.

Look at Mario now! I found these gorgeous photos from Cadry's Kitchen blog, from her visit to Farm Sanctuary.

Big love to Mario. And to all those who fight to stop animal cruelty.

Here's a link to Farm Sanctuary: http://www.farmsanctuary.org/

Here's a link to Cadry's post: http://cadryskitchen.com/tag/farm-sanctuary/

Thanks for reading.

My 14 faves of '14: #5

I am vegan because of animals. I love animals, and do all I can in my life to do no harm to them and to create a safer, more kind and compassionate world for them.

This year I met, via Facebook, Lucy the pig.

Lucy is my #5 fave of 2014.

This photo is Lucy now. After a few months of being loved and nurtured back to health by the wonderful folks at Rooterville sanctuary in Florida. I met Lucy through my sweet friend at Indiana Pig Save and for me it was love at first site. This next photo is how I first saw Lucy.

She was in super bad shape. Brought to Rooterville after being found, whoever brought her knew what they were doing and saved Lucy's precious life. It has not been an easy road this this sweet being, but with the folks at Rooterville being her voice and loving on her so much, she has a chance that most farmed animals will never even come close to.

For more information on Rooterville or to donate to their crazy awesome work, go here: www.rooterville.org

Thanks for reading!

Support the newly vegan

Vegans are everywhere these day.

There is diversity in why one is vegan and and how individual vegans feel they can make change.

Go onto a local vegan Facebook page and you can see this.

I recently saw an instance, one of many recently, in which someone was asking for help/support and instead of that got a huge helping of judgment.

I get passion. My passion gets me in trouble sometimes. Passion that turns negative, especially towards folks who are trying to do the right thing, is no good in my book.

Thousands of people get some kind of information about veganism or animal rights every day. Whether it's a pamphlet, an undercover video, watching Ellen or tasting a new vegan food product, the opportunities are out there and people are coming head to head with veganism.

Many start questioning themselves and their own, very personal, ethics.

This is when we as a community can either be there to support them in any way or let our personal piousness get in the way.

This is where we can pass on our experience from when we were first considering veganism or our first weeks of being vegan or we can tell the person they need to get it right now or they are simply just a piece of shit.

These opportunities happen every day.

Each one of us has the power to be the voice for the voiceless animals who suffer.

What does your voice sound like?

Thank you for reading.

Compassion Over Killing's Colorado calves investigation

As I write this I remember that there is cruelty to animals happening probably right down the street from us, right now. I know that animals of all kinds are being tortured and are living in fear right at this moment.

And when I read the details of the most recent Compassion Over Killing undercover investigation, I became sickened, saddened and close to enraged. You see, this investigation was done in Weld County, Colorado, an hour from where Mike and I live. The people torturing animals in the video are Coloradans. I suppose deep down I hold our neighbors to a higher standard, as ridiculous as that is.

It involves calves, some just born. Who couldn't be moved by watching calves being tortured.

I met Mario the calf many years ago at Farm Sanctuary in California. My friends John and Randy had surprised me with a visit there. For me, it was love at first sight. Mario was an adorable calf, saved from a dead pile at a local dairy farm. Broken legs, well, you know the deal.

Watching him run and kick up in the air delighted me.

Something every single one of those calves in the current Compassion Over Killing video never had a chance to do.

I decided a long time ago that I wouldn't put videos that record animal cruelty, abuse, torture or killing on this blog. If you would like to see what human beings do to calves as part of the dairy/veal industry, you can click here for the Compassion Over Killing video: http://www.cok.net/inv/quanah/

From the COK press release:

Animal handling expert Dr. Temple Grandin of Colorado State University decried the cruelty seen in the video, calling it “severe abuse,” and noting that “If this facility had been a slaughter plant, the USDA would have shut them down.”

The cruelty to calves uncovered in this investigation is so shocking and violent that COK turned our evidence over to local authorities and we are now working with them on this case. We are calling upon law enforcement agents to file criminal charges of cruelty to animals, sending a message that such egregious animal abuse is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in Colorado. We’re heartened to report that the Weld County Sheriff’s Office is taking this matter seriously and has already initiated its own independent investigation.

I asked the awesome folks at Compassion Over Killing what we can do. And I mean all of you when I say we.

They said to help spread the word. From their website you can easily connect with all of your social media outlets.

I write a lot about being a voice for the voiceless. We must be the voice for these calves, and the billions of other animals treated in similar fashion just so folks can have veal, bacon or chicken fingers. Please spread the word. If you have the means, support COK financially which you can also do from their website. Investigations like these are vital to be a voice for these beautiful animals.

If you live in Colorado, send the video or the information about the investigation to your state representative and state senator. Let them know that this is unacceptable and ask them to speak out against this abuse/torture.

Caring for a senior companion animal

Note: This is another one of those very personal posts.

Mike and I returned home from vacation to our senior companion animal Rock, a 16 1/2 year old Yorkie who in the time we were gone went from being old and not in great shape to being old and in bad shape and not being able to walk.

We all get to this point. Some more often than others. Mike and I certainly have been here before.

As Rock has gotten older he has lost a good portion of his sight and a lot of his hearing (although his hearing always returns when there is food or a treat involved!). He doesn't like going outside to pee as it's a long walk for an old dog with short legs, so he gets out of bed and pees in the hallway or the living room or the kitchen. He can't jump up on anything and gets uncomfortable easy. He never sleeps through the night and one or both of us are up two to three times during the night to take him out and love on him.

It can be exhausting. And we would do so much more.

His attitude and personality and appetite are all at 100%.

His back and legs are not. Upon return from vacation we took him to the vet and began the conversation around what we can do, and more distressingly for us, when nothing else can be done. After a long exam with our trusted vet and some x-rays, we decided to change the meds Rock is on and to invite another vet who does acupuncture and laser treatment for dogs and cats in a similar condition to our home. Yes, she does house visits!

More importantly, and very difficult for us but so critical for Rock, we decided that if the med change and acupuncture did not work within a week or so, and that Rock could still not walk or get up on his own, that we would do what we believe would be best for Rock and have him euthanized.

The emotions in just writing about this are huge and uncomfortable and in a sense tragic. Rock has been part of Mike's life for over 16 years and part of mine for almost 10. He is our family. He is my little schmeagle beagle.

The day after the vet visit and the change in meds the vet who does acupuncture and laser treatment came over. The treatments lasted an hour. She really impressed Mike and the treatments seemed to help Rock right away, at least in making him more comfortable in his own body.

Two days later Rock has been able to stand outside to do his thing, and has walked from the kitchen to the living room to the bedroom. He is definitely showing signs of being in less pain, and we are cautiously optimistic. Not for ten more years with him, but a life with him that is one day at a time and includes him being in little or no pain with the ability to walk and go to the bathroom on his own.

Thank you so much for reading this post. I will keep you all updated as we continue this process.

Don't be a dick

NOTE: My apologies if this word offends you. Not my intent. It's the word I use to refer to poor behavior on my part.

I have never shied away from writing truly personal blog posts and this one goes along that line.

Many days I say to myself that no matter what goes on today, don't be a dick.

I always try my best to be as loving and compassionate as possible. It might look easy. It's not.

Whether I am driving somewhere, sitting in a meeting, watching someone treat someone else disrespectfully... the list could go on and on.

This has become my main goal every day (well one of two actually): to not be a dick. I guess I could use the word "jerk" instead, but that really isn't as powerful of a word. I suppose super-jerk would be more fitting. In case you're curious, my second main goal is to be as much of service as possible to the world I live in.

Recently I was in a meeting talking about a future plan of action. I was happy, feeling centered. All was well in my world. Another person at the meeting started talking about something (I don't even remember what) and just doesn't stop. I become inpatient, and before you know it everyone around me can tell. My sweet, loving self has started going down the path of becoming a dick. Fortunately I didn't say anything.

To be clear, being a dick and being a voice for the voiceless are two very separate things. I would not hesitate to get in someones face who was being abusive to an animal, using anti-gay words or being violent to someone. What I am talking about is totally different.

Some people jokingly call it their dark side. For me, when I start being a dick, it usually means that something is going on inside of me. Someone says something I disagree with and I get all pissed off.

I am getting better. I have tools and ideas to consider when I start feeling negative or angry. The biggest thing I can do is to remind myself that I do not want to treat others in a way that I do not like to be treated. And that I want to treat everyone I encounter with love, compassion and kindness.

I also remember simple things my mother taught me growing up: take a deep breathe, count to 10, stick and stones.

I would LOVE to hear your experiences around this. Can anyone relate?

Thank you for reading!

Ending animal cruelty in our own lives

One of my favorite vegan dishes: Spinach enchiladas at Tarascos.

The main reason I became vegan is because I made a decision that I did not want to be part of the horrible, innate cruelty that happens to animals so they can become a meal. I wanted to do as least harm as possible to other living beings, and it seemed that not eating them was a good start.

Sure, I enjoyed meat and cheese and loved ice cream. The latter became the hardest item to give up. My last non-vegan hold out was Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream.

After deciding to not consume any animal or any animal by product so I wouldn't be part of the animal cruelty that comes with those things, the transition to a plant-based life was rather easy. And uneventful. The most exciting and dramatic events would be around new vegan products coming along or me learning how to cook an incredibly delicious vegan dish.

In 17 years of being vegan, I have never been bored with food. Veganism catapulted me into a world that I had no idea existed. Flavors and textures and colors, all seemingly very exotic and different, now part of my regular eating habits.

If you are thinking this you are correct: I give up eating animals because I do not want to be part of animal cruelty on any level and I am the one who gets a huge benefit in how I live. Not just by all of the amazing food, but also by becoming healthier because of what I don't put into my body!

It all started with wanting to do the least harm and it has become a strong desire to not only think of that but also to be as compassionate as possible.

I have written about folks who think they could never be vegan and I experience folks who think becoming vegan is overwhelming. I can tell you that it is fun and simple, but I get it. It might not seem that way.

Just because veganism or living compassionately or considering a plant-based way of living might seem overwhelming doesn't mean you can't get started.

Start with one meal or one day. Meatless Mondays is a great way to start. There are also some who have been getting into this vegan before 6pm idea. Sure. A good start. There are so many opportunities for every meal. I know I have said there already, but it really is quite simple.

The internet can be a huge resource. We have links to many helpful sites on the main page of our blog. You can also find a local meetup of people who meet regularly to enjoy a vegan meal, whether at a restaurant or a potluck.

Every meal can become an act of compassion towards animals.

Thank you for reading and keep us posted on your adventure!

Two years of The Gay Vegans

My how time flies.

In June of 2011 Mike and I were headed to Florida to go visit his mom. I had posted a little something about that on my fundraising blog. Then I decided that I didn't want to get personal on that blog so maybe I should create a blog where I could be totally personal. The Gay Vegans blog was born.

In the past two years this blog has become a huge part of my life. I have been able to share the ups and downs of my personal life, my activism, my politics, my goal to be a voice for the voiceless and my struggles.

Since June of 2011 there have been just over 77,000 visits to The Gay Vegans. That number blows me away. I know that there are sites and probably blogs that get that many reads in a day or a week, and for me it's huge to think that that many people take a minute or ten out of their lives to connect and read my latest post.

Here is a brief synopsis of the last two years:

We are a gay, married (not legally, yet) couple in Lakewood, Colorado. That's a west suburb of Denver. And we vote.

Being a voice for the voiceless can include many things: getting to know your state representative; writing to a letter to someone in power over a situation you support or don't support; boycotting an organization; making a donation; practicing a random act of kindness; going to a protest; speaking out.

We love to eat. We have our favorite places to eat and we engage restaurant owners in creating amazing vegan dishes.

We encourage building bridges amongst communities that may disagree on things.

We constantly speak out against hate, against religious extremism and against violence, even amongst those in our gay, vegan and animal rights communities.

We try to promote engagement, civil discourse and just basic conversation under the premise that we all have more in common than not.

Did I say we love to eat! We also love getting to know restaurant owners and supporting them in adding delicious vegan options.

Lastly, we use the blog to promote those rocking it in our world, products we love, people we love and restaurants we love.

It's been an amazing two years. We are grateful to all of you who have supported us and our calls to action!

Thanks for reading!

Heterosexual men

In my days of coming out, back in the late 1980's, it wasn't easy finding loving, compassionate, honorable and honest straight men. I mean men I could look up to, want to be like, and if they were around, be friends with. If I met a guy that seemed super nice and was also straight, nine times out of ten he was a "Christian" wanting to save me, an Amway dude wanting to sell me or a married guy wanting to cheat on his wife.
Anti-gay. Sexist. Self-righteous.  Usually having no compassion and little tolerance of anything that did not mesh with what they believed the world should look like.

The world has changed. Maybe it's me and maybe it's the world. Or a little of both.

To be fair, I was in the military and lived in the South. No, I am not stereotyping as we all know that now and then there are and always have been amazing people even within communities that were not so amazing.

These days I find myself completely surrounded by loving, supportive, compassionate, honorable, non-cheating, honest and inspiring men. Straight men. Totally heterosexual. And completely filled with these attributes.

Social media has helped. I can engage with folks all over the world. Indeed, our blog has connected us with some pretty amazing men who are awesome husbands, boyfriends, partners, activists, voices for the voiceless, fathers and who are filled with love and compassion.

I am grateful. My life is way better having all of these men around. They have opened my mind to a whole new reality. They inspire me to be a better husband, a better friend, a more loving activist, a healthier man and a stronger runner. They are amazing examples of who I want to be as a man.

I am not going to name all of them. I hope they know, that through word or deed, I have made it completely clear to them how grateful I am for them and that they are on this list. I am thinking of many of them while I write this.

To all of you amazing straight men out there, thank you!

And thanks for reading this!

Vida Vegan Con sessions Part I

I have written a couple of posts about my trip to Vida Vegan Con 2013 and wanted to share about a couple of more things. This post is Part I of II around some of the amazing sessions I attended. As a new blogger, I mainly spent time in sessions around blogging, writing, technical information and vegan nutrition. One of the amazing things about Vida Vegan Con 2013 was the huge variety of sessions.

Here are some notes from a couple of the sessions I attended.Please remember that these are just notes based on what I was listening to. My goal here is to give you a little look into attending a session. For more information on the folks giving the session, I included their website.

If the sentence is in quotes it's something I heard at the session from a fellow attendee.

First was Blog writing as writing by Gena Hamshaw. Gena's blog is choosingraw.com . She also currently has notes on her session at her blog.

Ideas from Gena about blog writing:

Common blunders of writing. First thing that an editor looks for is narrative scaffolding. Is there some type of architecture holding this together. A start, middle and end.

We have an obligation to make everything polished and professional.

Consult style guide.

Raise the bar.

Think about what you really want to say and what is in your heart.

About page: here is who I am. Mission statement.

Self edit. Edit yourself.Refining ideas on own. Better to sit on a post for a couple of days, edit it, then press publish.

Make post about the issue not you. Your point of view but not all about you.

Consistency matters more than frequency.

The next session I went to was Vegan Nutrition by Ginny Messina. Her website is http://www.theveganrd.com/ Here are some ideas she presented.

Know your facts.

Consider whole body of data, assign different weights to different studies.

What people think we eat: tofu, grass and granola

Demonizing food is fear based nutrition: never, ever eat this food

Science based nutrition : emphasizes foods we should have in our diet. Don't be afraid to have treats.

Supplements: calcium and B12. Collards highest in calcium.

Ethics beyond the plate: others issues beyond food: social justice, gender politics, etc

Making the most compassionate choices as possible.

Putting compassion into practice: Raising money for different causes. Being a good example. Making veganism look accessible and fun. Forgiving ourselves, forgiving others, compassionate to others.

Privilege! I can be vegan but not everyone can. We need to make veganism accessible to everyone.

Why do folks who care about social justice not care about animals? Be patient with people.

"I don't feel a lot of community with many who call themselves vegan."

"My biggest problem is people presenting a problem with no solution."

More to come. Thanks for reading!

Reinvigorated hope

Many times I have written about not giving up, about keeping strong in the fight to be a voice for the voiceless and in making the world a better place for all living beings.

After a few days with vegan bloggers from around the world at Vida Vegan Con 2013 in Portland, Oregon, my hope is higher than ever!

If you read any vegan blog, most likely the blogger was at Vida Vegan Con, or really wanted to be here.

And this amazing group of bloggers who are changing the world in so many ways inspired me and filled my heart and head with hope.

I am sure that the blogosphere will be filled with stories of Portland, mind-blowing vegan food (and lots of it) food,  as well as notes from sessions that covered the entire universe of what bloggers need to know to become better bloggers.

What I want to make sure you know about is that the conference rooms were filled with sweet, compassionate people. People who take time out of their lives everyday to blog about vegan food, animal rights, nutrition, recipes, human rights and so much more.

I met people from all walks of life, from small towns and big cities. People who have been vegan for a decade plus and people who have been vegan for three weeks.

The common theme was compassion and kindness.

One of my biggest surprises was how many people here actually know our blog and even asked me "Didn't you two just celebrate an anniversary?"!  I was thrilled to know that other bloggers read our blog!

So be warned people who think vegan food sucks. Be warned all of those who make a living off of the suffering of animals. Be warned those who don't want the world to know that a better world is one filled with amazing vegan food and a thought process that does not include the torture and misery of any living being. These hundreds of bloggers are going to leave here and continue to change the world. They will never stop writing about compassion and how even the simplest of actions make significant change.

To all of those who attended Vida Vegan Con 2013, thank you for the love and kindness you expressed to meet over the past few days. You changed me. You reinvigorated my hope that we indeed are making the world a better place for all living beings.

Vegans dating non-vegans?

I was on Twitter today and read a tweet from a young woman who is vegan and is having challenges in her relationship with her boyfriend who is not vegan.

In the 17 years of being vegan I have heard this a lot, and have even heard that people who are vegan should not date people who are not vegan.

That is super crazy for me.

In the gay male world of Colorado there would have been slim pickings for dating if I had stuck to only men who were vegan. Fortunately for me I never asked guys if they were vegan before a date. I would have never dated and fallen in love with Mike had I chosen to only date vegan men.

I totally get the allure of dating only vegan people. It shows they are loving, compassionate and at least on some levels have something in common with you. The again, people choose to go vegan for many reasons. Mine was to do as least harm as possible while experiencing this thing we call life. I want no part in animal cruelty.

For Mike and I, we met at our church. Our first date was a movie, dinner and then dancing. For dinner we went to PF Changs and he ordered his first on-purpose vegan meal. He didn't really know what a vegan was before we started dating and was curious.

For me and dating it was always trying to be in the moment. Of course if it ever got to the point where I would live with somebody and they were not vegan I would have to ask for rules around no former living beings in the house. I never had to do that.

My ex became veg before we moved in together. Mike became vegan long before we even talked about living together or even getting married.

A little over a month after we began dating Mike became vegetarian for my Valentine's Day gift. He told me while we were on a sweet date night. He had not really eaten meat in front of me since we began dating, maybe once, but I don't remember it if he did.

So it boils down to mutual respect. If you know that eating meat bothers me, and you are interested in dating me, perhaps you won't eat meat in front of me. It's really not that big of a deal. Especially if you totally dig me!

Mike continued being a vegetarian for a couple of months. Then, in April, he became vegan as a birthday gift to himself. Not for me, for him and the animals.

There are many people out there who might be an amazing date/time/life partner for you. They may not have all of the information around animal cruelty that you do. They may have never had a conversation with someone about veganism or what veganism even is.

I say that if you are single and meet someone you think right off is pretty nice, go for it.

Respect. Love. Compassion. And of course passion! It all doesn't come instantly, but with the right person it comes.

Thank you so much for reading this! I would totally love your feedback!

Date night -taking care of ourselves

There is a lot going on in our world. Both Mike and I seem really busy with work, civil unions were just passed, the US Supreme Court is hearing arguments on Prop 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act (rulings on both could affect marriage equality) and the list of emails/letters to write in support of animals is endless.

So what do we do?

Date night.

Mike is at his bi-weekly boot camp and I am cooking dinner. The furries have eaten and when Mike gets home we get to enjoy each others company, talk about our days, love on each other.

One of my firm beliefs is that in order to be a strong voice for the voiceless, in order to be a warrior for equality, I need to take care of myself first. That includes eating well, exercising, prayer and meditation, time with friends and definitely date nights with my husband.

When was the last time you had a date night with your other half?

Sometimes it's dinner out. Or a hike. Lately it also includes a run as we both train for our first half marathon. Regardless, it's time alone, just us.

I love it. I highly recommend it.

On date nights we both reinvigorate personally as well as a couple. It's not that we can't do that every day, it's that with the list of things going on that I wrote of above, it's easier to do when the focus is on date night.

Tonight's dinner is simple: blackened tofu with black beans, kale, butternut squash and corn. I tossed in some cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. It's all just cooking together on a low heat. It smells delish.

Of course date night can also include cooking together. That's a blast. When we do that Mike does most of the cooking and I do most of the talking!

We'd love to hear of your date nights!

Take care of yourselves. Make good decisions, ones that are healthy for you, your relationship, the animals and our world.

Thank you for reading!

The big world of blogging

I'm enjoying a relaxing morning at home. It is snowing outside, Mike is at his boot camp, and the furries are stretched out all over me.

I have not been able to put as much time into my blog since starting my new job back in February. Crazy busy is an understatement. And this morning, as I read notes from our readers and other bloggers I feel so fortunate to be part of this community.

I am also preparing to go to my first blogger's conference. Back in 2011 I went to a blogger's reception as part of Creating Change, an annual conference presented by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and I was thrilled to chat with national bloggers from all over the place. At that time I was just starting my fundraising blog and really had no clue about blogging. The Gay Vegans blog wouldn't come around for another few months.

By the way, my profession is fundraising. I use my fundraising blog, Adventures in Fundraising, to support other fundraisers and to show folks in activist communities how fun fundraising can be.

Now, The Gay Vegans blog will be two years old in June. Just before that I will be attending this blogger's conference, Vida Vegan Con, in Portland, Oregon. I am beyond super stoked, if you can imagine what that looks like! There will be a ton of other vegan bloggers, from all over the world. There will be sessions on just about every topic imaginable, and most of all there will be other bloggers who I can learn from and who currently are or in their past have been right where I am in wanting to learn more, make my blog (especially the visual part of it) better and see what their ups and downs are in their world of blogging.

It's going to be a blast.

I am also looking forward to going to other blogger conferences, ones that will include different topics and different focuses. I know there are a ton of bloggers out there who blog about the same things I do, like compassion, equality, marriage, activism and politics, and meeting up with those folks with be just as much fun.

What are your favorite blogs? I would love to know.

If you are going to be at Vida Vegan Con, let me know. I will look forward to meeting you. And if you live in the Portland, OR area, I will be there for five days during the conference.

Thanks to all of you who read our blog, who take action when we ask for help, and who each day work towards making this world a better place for all living beings.

The 17 year vegan

This past January was my 17th anniversary of becoming vegan.

The final step for me was Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream. I had one more pint of it and then was ready.

For vegans, the world was completely different from today. For starters, there was no vegan Amy's mac-n-cheese. There was no Eat Pastry cookie dough and no Mercy for Animals. No vegan food blogs and no cool kale tshirts. There might have been some type of vegetarian festival happening somewhere but certainly not in my part of Virginia. (In fact, there was an annual animal conference in Norfolk, VA!)

The cowards who abuse and torture animals were still pretty much free to do so. It's only been in very recent times that felony charges have been brought against workers in the animal production world for cruelty to animals.

My reasons for becoming vegan were not radical, although many thought my decision to become vegan was radical. I simply had learned enough about what happens to animals that made me realize that I did not want to be part of anything that involved harming another living being. My thought process became one that surrounded the idea that every action I took would be one that would do as least harm as possible to other living beings.

I asked a lot of questions. I went to a lot of potlucks. I read a lot of books. Believe it or not, there was no internet (in my life at least) at that time. My learning about how to be a healthy vegan came from interacting with healthy vegans.

It's not perfect. And it grows. The vegan I am today is different from the vegan I was back in January of 1996. I know that although Pepsi and potato chips are vegan, I don't want to consume them all of the time. I have learned that veganism is a path, and my path of veganism does not have to look exactly like yours. I have learned that people go vegan for different reasons, and those that remain vegan for the most part are those who chose veganism because of the animals. I have learned that my veganism threatens other people, even though it really doesn't have to. And one of the big things I have learned, and experienced, is that becoming vegan is like becoming reborn in the food world. I have enjoyed so many different types of foods that I doubt I would have even considered trying had I not become vegan. The African Peanut Stew I made the other night is a great example.

I learned that I can get along with pretty much anyone out there, that we all have more in common than not. I also learned that harsh words, judgements and unkind actions towards me are unacceptable. One does not have to agree with me or even like me, but I don't give permission to those people to treat me any less. This includes everyone. I am not a Focus on the Family type of vegan or activist, meaning that I am not going to attack you just because we disagree. I am also not going to simply shut up. 

So at 46 (very close to 47) I am just as excited to be vegan as I was when I was 29 (yes I was 29 at one time). I  can only imagine what the next 17 years will bring for veganism and for animals who are tortured, beaten and live in fear just to become food. Or those who live their entire lives in a cage so that humans feel better about the medicines they pump into their bodies. Or the animals who die every day just because some coward has the capacity to kill them, usually without any consequences.

Meanwhile, I will continue on a path of compassion, tolerance, love and bridge building. I will continue to try to be a voice for the voiceless, all of the voiceless. I will continue to learn. And I will definitely continue to engage other in this world of blogging.

Thank you for reading. Will you please pass the kale?

Action of the week - reach out

I am still unemployed (today is day 21) and have been able to take "me" time during my job search. By the way, I did receive an offer letter yesterday and am hoping to take this job after looking into the benefits.

Yesterday I went to the Max Fund, a local shelter here that Mike and I support and where I have been volunteering for 12 years. We have fostered a bunch of dogs from here and last Saturday swung by to check about fostering Chico, a one-eyed Pekingese mix who is 8 years old and they believe would be better off right now in foster.

I had time yesterday after a lunch appointment to go visit with Chico again. He is pretty snappy and I wanted to see if he acted any differently on a slower day at the shelter. His only interest in my was to try to bite me, not in a way to harm me as he doesn't bite down, he just snaps.

While visiting with Chico a gentleman came into the shelter asking if he could pick up some food for his dogs. I am not sure of his situation except that he is experiencing difficult times and was asking for dog food as he could not afford it.

I wanted to tell him that I would buy all the dog food he needed until his times got better, but the Max Fund employee said to him that he would go check to see what they had. The employee came back in less than five minutes with a couple of bags of dog food. I was ecstatic.

If you are still thinking about Chico, more to come on him. I am going back today to bring him home as a foster. And you know that means a Chico blog post soon!

Do you know anyone like the gentleman who came in to Max Fund? Would you reach out to them with some dog food or treats, or a pound of coffee? Perhaps a care package with some treats? Mike and I are financially good right now but the gifts people have given since I lost my job did more than give us something nice, they filled us with love and gratitude. That's the perfect gift!

I have been unemployed for 21 days and have been blown away by the love and support I have received from friends, family, colleagues and people I don't even know. My hope is that all of us can do this, reaching out to those who might be in need. When the economy went downhill I clearly remember shelters I volunteer at getting more and more filled with dogs and cats from families who could no longer afford their care because of loss of a job or home. What can all of us to to support those who aren't quite there yet, but are struggling to care for their beloved companion animals?

Today when I go to the Max Fund going to donate dog and cat food for families struggling. I don't know what else to do but will ask them. I'm not sure how many animal shelters or homeless shelters have options to support those struggling, but I am sure there is something all of us can do.

Will you join us and reach out to those in need?

Thank you for reading!

46 1/2 years

Last night I went to my first ever yoga class. It was amazing and I can't wait to go again.

Towards the end of the 1 1/2 hour class we were finishing up by doing a yoga move/pose where one lays on the back and is completely still, palms up. The instructor went over a list of body parts that would begin melting into the floor. My closed eyes were rolling as I thought "can we just finish up please".

He continued. And before you knew it I totally felt that I was melting into the floor. As I embraced this I realized that yesterday was the half-way point from 46 to 47 years old.

Already.

That six months went by fast.

Yet what a year it has already been. I am in love with my husband, I have the best job in the world, my family and friends are so amazingly supportive, Mike and I love our home filled with furries, and each day I wake up wondering what I can do that day to make the world a better place for all living beings.

Whew, what a list. Gratitude is an understatement.

2012 is the first year I started out as a blogger. I love this blog and all of the wonderful people who I have connected with because of it. I love that through The Gay Vegans I am able to help build bridges and engage in conversation around things that are important to me like animal rights, human rights, marriage equality, bigotry, compassion, and simply being gay and vegan in the burbs.

Thanks to all of you who support this blog!

And as always, thanks for reading. I promise to have a more engaging blog post next time; I just had to share this!