Have Gone Vegan

vegan video humour

Who says vegans can't be funny?

 

why did the tofu cross the road?

To prove he wasn't chicken.

Ha ha! Alright, maybe that was kinda lame, but it DID make me laugh. And this one's not bad either:

Q: Did you hear about the vegan devil worshipper?
A: He sold his soul to seitan!

Snort. These two vegan nuggets live at the Happy Cow website, but that made me Google vegan humour to see what else is online. Well! First, I was happy to see 519,000 results, and that Happy Cow was on top. And I laughed when I saw my own humble little blog at the bottom of page 1, but laughed even harder when I saw the following book title: Friend or Faux: A Guide to Fussy Vegans, Crazy Cat Ladies, Creepy Clingers, Undercover Sluts, and Other Girls Who Will Quietly Destroy Your Life. Now I'm not gonna link to it, but the fact that I laughed out loud (in a decidedly, um, unladylike manner) just proves that vegans DO have a sense of humour, and that "vegan humour" is NOT an oxymoron. Right? Although, if you spell humour humor, you get 2,150,000 Google results, so does that mean that Canadian or British vegans are three-quarters less likely to enjoy a good guffaw? I doubt that. I bet we just like our humour a tad drier. :)

Darn! Apparently there was a segment on CBC radio exploring vegan humour (appropriately called Why Did The Vegan Cross The Road), but that was back in 2008, so the clip won't play anymore. Hmmm, let's see what else I can find. Okay, here's a page of veggie jokes that are kinda lame as well, but it's a start. And this list of reasons for not going vegan is more interesting than funny per se, but it counts, no? Oh dear, maybe I can find some funny-bone-friendly vegan books instead. Yay, I found one! And it's gotten great reviews, so you'll definitely want to check out The Vegan Monologues.

Well, I'm not going to lie. I'm a little disappointed with the results thus far, so I guess that means that you and I are going to have to prove to the rest of the non-vegan world that vegans are by no means grim, angry, bitter, sour, or humour-challenged. At least, not all of the time. ;)

I do NOT like mushrooms

In fact, as a friend of mine knows all too well, I DETEST them. So you can imagine my surprise then when I found out that the delicious dish I was noshing on (can't remember the specific name) was composed of the fried or breaded (dreaded!) mushrooms. I recoiled when I found out, but have to admit that they were so good that I continued to eat them. ALL of them. That'll teach me! Snort. The buffet to the left at the small but wonderful vegetarian/vegan restaurant called Affinity, was responsible for this minor mushroom miracle. ;)

are there vegan characters on TV?

But before I get to that, I came across a line today while doing a Google search that although offensive, rather made me laugh. This person proposed that a campaign be started which would change the word 'gay' in the derogatory phrase that is so gay, to that is so vegan, snort. Now I've always hated the above line myself, and I think this individual was simply trying to shift a bad connotation from one minority group to another, but instead of being too offended, I thought hey, at least that means that vegans are becoming more visible. Because you certainly don't deride groups you're not even aware of.

So back to the question in the post title, are there vegans on TV? Or in movies? I can't really think of any myself, but I don't have a TV anymore, so am probably media-deprived at the moment. And just like it took forever for gay characters to become mainstream (a good indication that society is still really biphobic is in the lack of any bisexual characters, let alone those portrayed in a positive light), once vegans begin to receive airplay (even if it's initially more negative), there ain't no stopping us.

Or how about in books? There's got to be fictional vegans running around somewhere! And, um, once we do start getting caricatured, let's make sure we're not depicted as lacking a sense of humour, okay? Although, isn't that what they say about feminists? Can't win! LOL

my good vegan deed of the day

Although I could argue that just by being vegan, I'm doing a good deed every day! ;)

Anyway, this morning I spotted the BIGGEST spider I've ever seen in my life. I was both fascinated and repulsed as I saw her/him sitting cozily right by my cat's water bowl, but I knew he/she couldn't stay. Now I have to explain that I used to have this enormous spider phobia when I was younger (and I think there may be something to the theory that you attract what you fear as during the reign of this phobia I once spat out a spider that had been in my coffee, was bitten by one, and encountered countless spiders in beds, bathtubs and basements!), so am not overly fond of these creatures although I no longer fear them. Or attract them, snort. So before Kitty Kazoo could come along and be equally fascinated by the water bowl visitor, I quickly grabbed a plastic container, scooped up Ms. or Mr. Spider, and released the captive outside. And not harming any living being if you don't have to is definitely the right thing to do, but I've already released a cricket and a centipede (a former cat used to eat them -- eeeeww), so I sure seem to live in a buggy place right now!

vegans poop more

It's true! Snort.

So I was in a bad mood the other night when I happened across this "I'm Vegan, and I Poop 3 Times a Day" sticker, and I must say that after laughing out loud I realized that while I had always been regular anyway (thanks to lots of fiber), since turning vegan I probably poop three times in the MORNING already, never mind the whole day! ;)

veganism -- it ain't just about what we won't eat

Veganism denotes a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude--as far as possible and practical--all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals, and the environment.*

Welcome to So I'm Thinking Of Going Vegan!

I think the emphasis of this blog has slowly been changing, and I find that I've become fascinated with questions like what it means to be vegan, how a vegan identity is formed and maintained, how vegans are perceived by others, whether the vegan population is growing, and the influence of the different factions of the animal rights movement. At any rate, while there will still be posts that are food-related, expect more of the posts to be about exploring vegan identity, vegan books, vegan humour (yes, vegans CAN be funny) and of course more serious entries on vegan activism. 

* from The Vegan Society in England

vegan joke

(Taken from Sarah Kramer's La Dolce Vegan!)

Q: How many vegans does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: Two! One to change the bulb ... and one to check for animal ingredients.

Snort.