internet visionaries

i've considered deleting my facebook account and come to these conclusions.

i'm irked by facebook being vilified. facebook isn't the man. i think there are more important "the man" 's to rebel against besides facebook. why delete it, conspiracies about your personal/privacy issues/information aside? conspiracies are fun but the common thread with ALL of them is that you can't prove or disprove them. i'ma say facebook, it's a tool like any other tool, one that possibly makes communication easier.

yes, of course it can be used by narcissists to make a virtual altar to themselves and plead that people pray at steps. we can waste a lot of time. but that's those people. use it within reasonable means, whatever that is to you, and accept your own limitations. if you feel the need to cut it out of your life altogether, by all means do so. but frame it as you overcoming your own personal weakness or gaining your security back, not as some noble act that makes you less narcissistic than everyone who did not. i use facebook for lots of sweet things.

my tangent rant would be about how people have a wrench in their gears and look to something like facebook to blame. but i'm ranted out for a while.

eat beet

Ingredients (serves 2 or 3 less hungry people)

* 1 bunch swiss chard, chopped

* 2 medium beets, peeled and grated

* A handful of roasted walnuts

* Tsp balsamic vinegar

* Extra virgin oil to taste

* A crumbling of goat cheese

Preperation

1. Bring lightly salted water to a serious boil in a large pot.

2. While waiting, peel and grate beets.

2. Chop up stems of swiss chard and set aside; blanch the leaves of swiss chard in the boiling water for 2-3 minutes.

3. When the swiss chard has wilted, strain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking. Press out excess water or the flavor will be diluted. Chop into 2-3 inch sizes and put in bowl.

4. Add the grated beets and walnuts the chopped swiss chard stems (or treat as celery and do what you would with celery) and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Top with goat cheese and serve that shit up.

it's nice because it's raw-ish and raw foods are better. something to do with the nutrients staying intact.

a blog less heavy

i'll write this blog in some more calming colours.

i mostly want to get the serious stuff out of my head, onto the internet. maybe it should be on a piece of paper in a book that no one will read till i'm dead. but that doesn't appeal to me. it's a weight off my shoulders. i'm just very enraptured with how some awesome people changed my life in a dramatic way as far as animals and the environment goes. i've known the same information more or less for a while now, but for me, it took people to get in my face and ask me what i was doing. what are you doing shaun?

what was i doing?

after this last outburst, i think i can relax and reflect a little. it's nice. though some could say "you hardly did anything, you just wrote a long boring blog!" i guess. i guess i'm not punching walmart CEO's in the nuts or lighting fur coats on fire or whatever. maybe only 2 friends read it and think i'm stupider for writing it; i still know what i wrote. it's a tool for me to make sure i stick to what i'm saying. i wonder if others do this too. to keep them on their own toes?

you should read this if you eat

"Because one species is more clever than another, does it give it the right to imprison or torture the less clever species? Does one exceptionally clever individual have a right to exploit the less clever individuals of his own species? To say that he does is to say with the Fascists that the strong have a right to abuse and exploit the weak - might is right, and the strong and ruthless shall inherit the earth." Richard Ryder

what is:
the huge excuse not to act responsibly.

we want purpose and reason for doing something. especially if it involves some sort of sacrifice on our part. why do we seems to have the group mentality of not taking a serious issue, seriously. the jokes used to be funny to me. global warming will make winters awesome. now i cringe. the apathy is transmittable, i see it spread. we set standards for each other, tell each other what is appropriate. i DO feel like a douche saying "holy shit your so wrong we're all gunna die if we don't do something quick!" & telling my friends "don't order the meat-dish you fool. get something better for everyone in general" is hard. but why? no one else is doing it, but the expectations are low in the first place. is this a stigma? why is this frowned upon? it's an uncomfortable topic? or god said in the bible said it was cool to eat animals and that's good enough right?

.outside example.

throw one piece of litter on the ground and it doesn't "matter" in the most obvious sense. but the mindset of it does. other people seeing you do it, or seeing the litter as they walk by, does matter. i do mean that by throwing the litter once on the street, you are less likely to care if other people do it too. there is the contagiousness of it. i'm not under the illusion that everyone will literally start immediately throwing their shit all over the place. the whole city starts emptying garbages out the windows from apartment buildings. no. i'm talkin bout the attitude. the indifference. not being hard enough on each other. we aren't looking out for each other. we are letting ourselves get away with it. if you see someone about to be hit by a bus, do you say, nah i won't bother them? they may not want to be interrupted?

so tell people "ya i guess it's your choice what you eat. go ahead and order the half-cow sized steak. this is just my choice to not eat meat. don't have to listen to me." then expect them to take you seriously when you say you think being vegetarian is important or serious or not just a fucking hipster-fad. i started eating less meat, then being more vegetarian out of curiosity. what's it about? maybe i'll feel better. but meat, i miss you, i like you, i like cooking you. it's hard to give up. i'm not the guy who just doesn't like meat. please someone tell me how i can clean-consciously eat meat! i'd love to change my mind. i can't help but see that this much meat is bad for us. and for the "meat" that are animals. i hate people that can convince themselves of whatever they want. i can't be that.

.boiling down to.

how can it be ok to eat a cow or pig when you don't have to. i think the world would be better off if we were all vegetarian, or at least shifting in that direction gradually, the faster the better. it's about having the same standards across the board. imagine that is just a normal thing one day - people are respectful or at least conscious of what they're eating.

!shock!

the world would be better off with less rapists. people are pretty sure rape is bad. at least around here. now if i crack the case on an unoticed world-wide problem of tons of rapists all over the place, people wouldn't tell me to keep my views to myself or mind my own business or that it's their choice to rape or how much they rape or does a little rape matter that much here and there. i wouldn't be scared or feel unjustified saying something about it. we don't allow each other to do that kind of thing round these parts here. it's not savvy. the standard says no raping. there's no question if one rape really makes a difference in the big picture.

it's wrong no matter how you slice it. that's why i don't see a problem pointing out that eating the amount of meat we do in the world, is wrong. how can it be right? it's right just because it tastes good? we've been doing it a long time? what is there out there even. pro-eat-whatever-how-much-ever-i-want people tend to not say anything, or get defensive.

!solution!

eat less meat. the less, the better. don't tell people it won't make a difference. don't tell yourself that. every little bit matters. and every big bit matters more. challenge your neighbour or brother to be better about eating meat. if you think it's wrong, then don't be passive about it. go about it however you want, but don't cop out and be scared to rock the boat. the more vegetarians there are, the better the chances of me not having to eat some of the shitty veg food out there. the better the odds of finding something without meat on the menu that isn't an appetizer.

so is it wrong to campaign for animals who have no way to debate the subject themselves? it's not like the solution is complicated. the solution won't backfire. it's not solving AIDS in africa or child abduction in uganda. it's changing the way you eat.

*i may be doing this so that i can't turn back now. now if i eat meat, i'm a hypocrite moron. i'm stuck. . . whew!

**if you need non-animal reasons to be vegetarian, there is a slew of them. health. environmental. cost. that's another blog for another day.

1:50 am blog?

value.

expendability.

such important words. it's important to have a personal grasp on these ones. at least i think so. what is valuable in my life? what is expendable? what makes them that way?

effective advocacy - making a point

* disclaimer. you may feel offended or uncomfortable reading this. good.

the first rule is not to insult people. this is especially important when trying to talk to meat eaters, on behalf of animals. due to the fact that meat eaters whine like little bitches when you comment on their lifestyle. just kidding. calm down little bitches. this is just a test of how to effectively advocate something. i wouldn't start broadcasting my opinions on people who don't want to hear about it. that might be frustrating for me.

it'd do no good to insult the people who insist on killing defenceless animals for food when there are lots of pimps, drug lords, crooked cops, and politicians - rich sources of protein - that are roaming around our communities. that would be counter productive.

it'd do no good to walk the back yards of meat eating houses and slit the throats of fellow neighbours pets. and then dismiss the community's subsequent outrage as childish sentimentality. that would be anti-social.

we should be ready to make sure the people who already know better, aren't feeling guilty about their selfish cruel eating choices.

choosing not to eat meat is about being superior and pure. *cough* not about extending moral consideration to the other inhabitants of the planet.

it's ridiculous to think that just because we can't treat a gentle and sentient creature with some decency, that there is some correlation to how we treat our fellow humans, who are even more complex and unique.

nope, it's best not to rock the boat on this one. i'll just eat who i want to eat and you eat who you want to eat.

notes: Self

1. don't be scared to take chances, despite the possibility you could fuck up or face plant.
in following examples
2. try a whole wheat bagel with strawberry cream cheese and black pepper.
why did i think that would work, i don't know; but it does. *
3. playing drunk by yourself is harder than drunk with a band. you can forget your place with a band and people half notice but you can pick it back up pretty quick. by yourself, you're in a whole new game of concentration.
4. playing songs i've known how to play for years, are way easier than the ones i just learnt that week. is learnt a word? like burnt? ...nope. no, it's learned.
5. i can do this. what an attitude change! i played horribly, but felt a scrap of promise and potential. (thanks Blue, wherever you are)
6. i wish i did this years and years ago. i won't make that mistake now. or hopefully again.

*mint would make an awesome addition. and goat cheese?

seduction pt2

seduction is based on lies. fake-ness. on the way things seem, not how they are.

the book states that we look for other people to fill our holes. say if i have a weakness, i will look for someone that has that strength. whether i recognize that's what's happening or not.

this to me now, is true, but is laziness. it seemed natural at first, but in the end it is allowing us to stay weak. and when that person is gone, we're fucked. this should be avoided.

we should take hard looks at our own weakness. we know what we want to change about ourselves. we know we reap what we sow. if we aren't paying attention to what seeds we are planting, we're going to end up with a crazy-ass cluster-fuck.

we are so lacking the focus we need to stay on top of these things. the problem is that it's acceptable. a noble thing for me to set out and change. but i have to be change.

truth is the most important thing. the worst sin against yourself is convincing yourself that a lie, is true. that a wrong, isn't that wrong, and that a past, never happened.

seduction can't be at fault in all of this though. i want to look further into how seduction can be honest. not just oblivious. how can seduction work on a true and noble scale? do they just call that attraction? those two take some careful thinking to determine the differences between them. to see past the "act".

resistance is fertile

are we being sucked into green-consumerism? feel you aren't really helping the Earth unless you spend your income on Earth friendly products from “environmentally conscious” companies? does the green-left convince you that you can rescue this beautiful land by trading in environmentally-unfriendly corporations, vehicles, energy, food, factories, and house cleaning products for environmentally-friendly ones?

i'm not sure this is the way. i see some big problems in big cities because we've got a lot of sheeple. perhaps this is just my distrust of how capitalism works?

i think big companies care about capital, what’s going to make them money; and that is to exploit the consumer’s wants and desires. want to save the planet kids? moms and dads, save your children's future! buy this! it's easy, you hand over the money and you feel better.

corporations are still corporations, mass production is still mass production, industrial agriculture is still industrial agriculture, greenhouse gas emissions are still green house gas emissions, worker and animal exploitation is still worker and animal exploitation. are not a lot of oil, natural resoures, land, being used to produce eco-friendly products? how do we get around that? i'm thinking the only reasonable answer to the problem is keep up research in artificial intelligence and let the robots take over the world. then it's all their problem, and humanity will live in small bands of resistance at the earth's core where it's still warm, worrying more about our survival than blogging about eco-friendly products.

a Deep Impact/ Little Price crossover.

I Ching, you win again.

for the present,
Meng (youthful folly),
there will be progress and success. don't seek the youthful and inexperienced. don't pay attention to the troublesome. dispel ignorance, remove the shackles from the mind. punish too much and regret will come. this is a slowly evolving situation and the Yang is gaining ground.

for the future,
Sun (decrease),
if there is sincerity in sacrifice, there will be great fortune, freedom, and advantage.

in respect to,
Mountain,
the things most apparent, stillness and obstruction.
and
Water transforming to Lake,
where danger and the unknown give way to joy and attraction.

my mind is blown. and scared that sticks know so much about me...

damn.you.john.mayer.

quite possibly the most emo song i've ever admitted to listening to.

When you're dreaming with a broken heart
Then waking up is the hardest part
You roll outta bed and down on your knees
And for a moment you can hardly breathe
Wondering was she really here?
Is she standing in my room?
No she's not, 'cause she's gone, gone, gone, gone, gone....

When you're dreaming with a broken heart
The giving up is the hardest part
She takes you in with her crying eyes
Then all at once you have to say goodbye
Wondering could you stay my love?
Will you wake up by my side?
No she can't, 'cause she's gone, gone, gone, gone, gone....

Now do i have to fall asleep with roses in my hands
Do i have to fall asleep with roses in my hands?
Do i have to fall asleep with roses in my hands?
Do i have to fall asleep with roses in my , roses in my hands?

Would you get them if i did?
No you won't, 'cause you're gone, gone, gone, gone, gone....

When you're dreaming with a broken heart
The waking up is the hardest part