A Little Green

Last Saturday, I went home for my Dad's birthday.  The train ride to my hometown is just an hour though it's not often I have the time to make the trip worthwhile.  My weekend plans are always plentiful and I'm always yearning to just sit and chill out.  But whenever I am able to take the train back, I am always reminded that how much good a little greenery can do.

"Pressure pushing down on me,
Pressing down on you no man ask for."

As soon as I start to see more grass and trees out my train window, I feel a gradual clamp release from my chest that I didn't know was there.  Maybe it's something psychological with the color itself or maybe it's that I have much less I need to do in rural Pennsylvania.  Either way, I am always grateful for the break.

I aspire to one day have a game closet like the one in The Royal Tennenbaums.

For my dad's birthday, I got him a game.  I like getting games for presents because everyone likes them, but hardly anyone ever gets them for themselves.  To celebrate the occasion we had a nice dinner and later my dad, his friend, and I played our ukuleles.

There use to be an orange cat at "home".  I miss him terribly. 

Writing about this makes me want to take a little nap and wake up when it can happen again.

Give Me a Break!

This Monday marks the first time I've had more than a day off in a row since The 4th of July.  This break is much needed!

Currently, I work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  While it is nice to have Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday off, there's a lot that can be said for having two days to unwind.  On this lovely Monday, I feel like a new woman.  The Labor Day Weekend is only half of the reason why.

I don't think I ever desired to be popular.  At least, I hope I never have.  I recall popularity being a thought in my mind in middle school but by the time I got to high school, the issue dissolved.  I never saw a high school movie that I really identified with.  I love some of them (Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Mean Girls) but when I was in high school people seemed to be worrying about different things.  That was my perspective at least.  Maybe just I was worried about other things.  I was a pretty involved student.  I was in marching band, jazz band, concert band, orchestra, Odyssey of the Mind, The Gay-Straight Alliance, and I always had a part-time job.

Ever since I became a vegan, specifically, ever since I became an abolitionist vegan, I've been secretly driven to be a major contributor to the movement.  Part of this is because I think to myself, "Every moment that passes, I already too late for literally thousands of animals!"  I try to stray myself from this way of thinking because it doesn't do much to help either myself or the animals suffering from what I wish to free them from.

The other reason I want to contribute is I've always been drawn to things I strongly believe in.  In high school, I had a friend tell me she found a flier I had drawn saying "Save the Tigers" from when we were in elementary school together.  Once I graduated college though, I didn't really have anything like that anymore.  This shouldn't suggest that I blindly jumped on the vegan wagon without proper research.  I just needed something to believe in and as luck would have it, I stumbled upon some convincing vegan arguments.

A third reason is, on occasion I think to myself, "There's something very great in you."  You might be thinking, "That's called crazy" and maybe you're right, but people generally don't make any real changes in the world acting the same as everyone else.  If I could get whatever this great thing inside me to add some sparkle to the veganism movement, I would be at peace with myself.  I want people to "get it".  I want everyone to enjoy the feeling of contributing to great social change instead of the feeling of  "I'm just one person and what I do doesn't matter."  That reasoning always makes me sad.  I want everyone to realize the power they have on their own.  I want to make things better for everyone.  My veganism isn't about feeling better than others.  It's just about feeling better and making things better.    

So, this is just a long, round about way to say that I am now featured on a website that I have mucho respect for.  I feel closer to being a part of a circle that I admire.  I feels strange for me to desire to be part of something.  In this case, it also feels right.

So, excuse me as I jump around the room but this is kind of a big deal for me!  Did I say kind of?  I meant a really big deal for me!  Thanks Randy!