Have Gone Vegan

take a leap

No, not a hike, a leap. Snort. A leap of faith (the world CAN become vegan), a leap in action (eliminate one animal product if you haven't already), or a leap in beliefs (animals DO deserve to be treated as sentient beings rather than inanimate objects). And do it today while you can because February 29 only comes around every 4 years, so why not celebrate by leaping, especially if you're not vegan yet? :)

"I'm not an animal rights activist, but..."

Funny how this sounds awfully familiar to what I used to hear all the time back in the 80s and 90s when a person would announce to me, "I'm not a feminist, but..." before proceeding to tell me something they believed or did that sure seemed like a feminist thing to say or do, snort. I hear the animal rights line up above quite a bit, so maybe "I'm not a vegan, but..." will soon become an oft-heard line as well? What comes first? Beliefs or actions? :)

drum roll please!

Ahem, it's that time, dear readers, to announce the lucky recipient of my first vegan giveaway contest. So, let's stroll over to the random number generator site. Ready? Let's go!

Ta dah! The number is 6. And that corresponds to joy olivia. Woot! Congratulations, you'll be receiving Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's Vegan's Daily Companion.

I'll email and ship said book before you can even trip over these tongue-twisting words: I have won Have Gone Vegan's (also formerly known as So I'm Thinking of Going Vegan) first vegan giveaway contest! 

Thanks to everyone for participating. Aw, I wanted you ALL to win, but my wallet's not THAT full. It was fun though, so maybe I'll do it again sometime. :)

"you're in here for life"

This cartoon amused me greatly as I happened to be finishing my sociology degree a little over a quarter century ago (why does that sound a lot longer than 25 years?), and it has graced more than one refrigerator. At the time I didn't give much thought to the quite literal prison sentences served by sentient beings in zoos, circuses, laboratories (I hadn't even heard of the term factory farms yet) and all other manner of places, although I could relate to questioning the usefulness of this particular degree. And to be fair, I haven't reaped the economic benefits that post-secondary education usually confers, although that was totally through my own doing.

But I like to think that my relatively useless degree HAS contributed greatly to my "I'm in here for life" vegan journey. I initially wanted to major in psychology as I was interested in what made people tick (although to be honest I bet most psych majors, myself included, enter the field trying to figure out what the hell makes them tick, snort), but soon realized that examining why groups of people behave as they do is even more interesting. My education and on-again off-again career in non-profit community research helped me to develop critical thinking skills (I hope), a healthy disdain of academic jargon, life-long impatience with committees and meetings, an awareness that statistics can be manipulated any which way you like, and if nothing else, shaped how I view pretty much every issue, including veganism. In other words, I'm hopelessly sociologically bent. ;)

p.s. Don't forget that my vegan giveaway contest ends tonight. I'm working tomorrow, so plan to draw and post the results late afternoon or early evening. See you then!

p.p.s. In order to make it easier for drawing purposes I did not respond to any comments in the giveaway post, but would like to thank everyone for participating. Good luck to all! :)

Valentine's Day vegan book giveaway

Yep, don't blink, you read that right. And because today is supposed to celebrate cheesy soppy over the top schmaltzy commercialized sentiment love and generosity, I've decided that the best way to show appreciation for my readers is to hold my very first vegan book giveaway. Plus, it'll be fun, and who doesn't like fun in February?

One of the most loving vegans I know of is Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, and I continually marvel at her ability to show understanding and compassion toward folk who would possibly receive sarcasm and snark if they were on my receiving end, instead of hers. I'm quite sure her strategy is more effective than mine is, and she's a definite vegan hero. So I'm pleased to offer her Vegan's Daily Companion in my giveaway. But, in case you already have the book, and to make this giveaway doubly fun, I will let you choose between her book and the nutritionally wise and easy to read Vegan for Life. Already have both books? Then pass it along as a gift. Woot!

How exactly is this contest going to work? Good question. Leave a comment indicating which book you would prefer, and on February 21 (a week from today) I will pick a winner lucky and-the-book-goes-to recipient using a random number generator. So remember, let me know in the next seven days* which book you would like to receive via Amazon (one comment per person), and always ALWAYS follow your vegan heart.

Three things in human life is important. The first is to be kind.
The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind. -- HENRY JAMES

Speaking of kind, I somehow missed the kind of vegan I want to be back in November, but it's excellent reading for Valentine's Day as well. So go read. Now. 

* deadline for entry is Monday, February 20, 2012, 11:59pm

Psst! Checking to see who won? Then click on the drum roll post pronto.

vegan lit for little ones

Because, after all, A person's a person, no matter how small. -- Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears A Who!

Have to admit I never gave much thought to vegan kid lit until Harry lamented the lack of vegan nursery rhymes in response to my last post. The only children's book I had actually heard of before was Ruby Roth's That's Why We Don't Eat Animals, but luckily, Bea provided a great Vegetarian-friendly Kids Book List. Thanks Bea! And this prompted me to do some rooting around on my own. So here's a few other booklists to peruse in order to help our pint-sized vegan heroes of tomorrow:

• 10 Great Books for Vegan Kids
• Vegetarian & Vegan Friendly Books for Kids
• Top 5 Books for Kids
• Vegbooks -- Reviews of Kids Books and Movies

If there are any specific books that you would like to recommend (To Market, To Market, for example, looks fabulous!), please let us know in the comments.

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better. It's not. -- Dr. Seuss,
The Lorax

p.s. I was actually, and quite tragically, Seuss-deprived as a child (didn't even know any English until I was nearly eight), but I figure it's never too late... ;)